Core Glossary
Core Glossary: Philemon (English → Persian)
Curriculum: Philemon
Destination language: Persian (Farsi)
Baseline authority: Romans Language Package. Terms marked “Baseline reuse” below MUST use the exact recorded Persian rendering from translation_memory.json / bible_term_registry.json — no substitution permitted. Terms marked “New (Philemon)” are proposed additions to translation memory for this curriculum and require the same enforcement rigor going forward once approved.
Section A — Baseline Terms Reused Exactly (no deviation permitted)
| # | English Term | Greek | Persian Term | Transliteration | Risk (baseline) | Doctrine | Philemon Occurrence(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grace | χάρις | فیض | feyz | High | Grace-Motivated Obedience | 1:3, 1:7 (κεχάρισμαι-related sense at 22), 1:25 |
| 2 | Peace | εἰρήνη | سلام | salam | Medium | Forgiveness and Reconciliation (relational peace) | 1:3 |
| 3 | God | θεός | خدا | Khoda | Critical | — | 1:3, 1:4 |
| 4 | Father | πατήρ | پدر | pedar | Critical | — | 1:3 |
| 5 | Lord | κύριος | خداوند | Khodavand | Critical | Lordship of Christ | 1:3, 1:5, 1:16, 1:20 |
| 6 | Jesus | Ἰησοῦς | عیسی | Isa | Critical | — | throughout |
| 7 | Christ | Χριστός | مسیح | Masih | Critical | Messianic Promise | throughout |
| 8 | Thanksgiving | εὐχαριστέω | شکرگزاری | shokr-gozari | Low | Thanksgiving | 1:4 |
| 9 | Faith | πίστις | ایمان | iman | High | Faith | 1:5, 1:6 |
| 10 | Saints | ἅγιοι | مقدسین | moqaddasin | Medium | Sainthood | 1:5, 1:7 |
| 11 | Fellowship | κοινωνία | مشارکت | mosharekat | Medium | Christian Fellowship | 1:6 |
| 12 | Church | ἐκκλησία | کلیسا | kelisa | High | Church as God’s People | 1:2 |
| 13 | Gospel | εὐαγγέλιον | انجیل | Injil | High | Gospel | 1:13 |
| 14 | Holy Spirit | πνεῦμα ἅγιον | روحالقدس | Ruh-ol-Qods | Critical | — | (not directly named; πνεῦμα at 1:25 refers to human spirit — see Section B) |
Section B — New Terms for this Curriculum (Philemon-specific)
| # | English Term | Greek/Translit. | Persian Term | Transliteration | Risk | Doctrine | Occurrence(s) | Alternatives Rejected | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | Slave/Bondservant | δοῦλος (doulos) | غلام | gholam | Critical | Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power | 1:16 | بنده (too devotionally softening — collides with Islamic “bandeh-ye khoda” positive self-designation); برده (too anachronistically clinical/modern legal register) | Real, socially-loaded slave status must be retained (not softened to “servant/employee”) for the letter’s ethical claim to register; must be taught against, not through, the classical fiqh manumission (اعتاق) legal remedy framework, since Paul’s argument is relational reclassification, not legal manumission. |
| 16 | Brother (in Christ, across status) | ἀδελφός (adelphos) | برادر | baradar | High | Christian Brotherhood across Social Status | 1:16, cf. 1:1, 1:7, 1:20 | — | Must be taught as a genuinely new, hierarchy-dissolving family status secured by union with Christ, distinguished from pan-Islamic ummah-brotherhood and from Sufi/guild fraternal-hierarchy traditions (which retain hierarchy even while using brotherhood language). |
| 17 | Love | ἀγάπη (agapē) | محبت | mohabbat | Medium | Grace-Motivated Obedience; Intercession and Appeal | 1:5, 1:7, 1:9 | عشق (too romantic/mystical-erotic register) | محبت is the established, non-erotic, relationally-grounded Persian Christian rendering; do not drift toward Sufi devotional عشق vocabulary despite its poetic prestige. |
| 18 | Appeal/Beseech (personal entreaty sense) | παρακαλέω (parakaleō) | التماس کردن | eltemas kardan | High | Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another | 1:9, 1:10 | تشویق کردن (baseline’s “encourage” sense — too weak here); نصیحت کردن (baseline’s “admonish” sense — wrong register, implies correction) | This is a third, distinct sense of a baseline-tracked verb, specific to a humble personal request from a position of love rather than authority; must not be collapsed into either existing baseline sense. |
| 19 | Partner/Sharer | κοινωνός (koinōnos) | شریک | sharik | Critical | Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another; Christian Brotherhood | 1:17 | همکار (hamkar, “colleague” — too weak, loses equal-standing/mutual-belonging force) | شریک is the precise technical vocabulary of shirk (associating a partner with God), the paradigm tawhid violation in Islamic theology. Closer lexical collision than the baseline’s already-flagged مشارکت (fellowship) root-resonance, since this is the bare “partner” noun itself. Requires mandatory contextual scaffolding at every occurrence, or the compound alternative همقدم و شریک. |
| 20 | Charge to (one’s) account | ἐλλογάω/ἐλλόγα (ellogaō) | به حساب من محسوب کن | be hesab-e man mahsub kon | High | Forgiveness and Reconciliation | 1:18 | به حساب من بگذار (acceptable but loses the deliberate root-echo) | Deliberately reuses the حسب/hesab (“account/reckoning”) root already anchored in the baseline’s Critical عدالت محسوبشده (“imputed righteousness”) entry, creating an explicit typological bridge between Paul’s offer to cover Onesimus’s debt and Christ’s imputed righteousness — must be taught, not left implicit. |
| 21 | Owe/Indebted | ὀφείλω / προσοφείλω (opheilō/prosopheilō) | بدهکار بودن | bedehkar budan | Medium | Forgiveness and Reconciliation | 1:18, 1:19 | — | Debt imagery is culturally accessible in Persian but must not collapse into a generic karmic-ledger reading (cf. baseline’s Chinvat Bridge caution under “sin”). |
| 22 | Repay | ἀποτίνω (apotinō) | بازپرداخت کردن | bazpardakht kardan | Low | Forgiveness and Reconciliation | 1:19 | — | Standard commercial vocabulary. |
| 23 | Useless / Useful (Onesimus wordplay) | ἄχρηστος / εὔχρηστος (achrēstos/euchrēstos) | بیفایده / سودمند | bi-fayede / sudmand | Low | Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power | 1:11 | — | Mandatory translator’s note required: wordplay on Ὀνήσιμος (“useful/profitable”) is not recoverable from Persian text alone. |
| 24 | May I benefit/have joy (Onesimus wordplay) | ὀνίνημι/ὀναίμην (oninēmi/onaimēn) | خیری از تو ببینم / بهرهای ببرم | kheyri az to bebinam / bahre’i bebaram | Low | Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power | 1:20 | — | Same mandatory wordplay note as #23; second occurrence of the Onesimus name pun. |
| 25 | Voluntary vs. Compulsion | ἑκούσιον / ἀνάγκη (hekousion/anankē) | اختیاری / اجباری | ekhtiyari / ejbari | High | Grace-Motivated Obedience | 1:14 | — | اختیار is the exact technical term of the classical Islamic jabr/ekhtiyar (compulsion/free-will) theological debate; risk of the reader mapping Paul’s narrower relational point onto that unrelated metaphysical controversy. Must be taught with explicit disambiguation every occurrence. |
| 26 | Consent/Will | γνώμη (gnōmē) | رضایت | rezayat | Medium | Grace-Motivated Obedience | 1:14 | نظر (nazar, “opinion” — too weak, lacks binding/consent force) | رضایت’s legal-contractual resonance (marriage consent, etc.) is a helpful, not harmful, bridge here. |
| 27 | Obedience (personal-appeal sense, distinct from “obedience of faith”) | ὑπακοή (hypakoē) | اطاعت | eta’at | High | Grace-Motivated Obedience | 1:21 | اطاعت ایمانی (baseline compound — wrong referent; that compound is specifically “obedience of faith” toward the gospel, Romans 1:5/16:26, not Philemon’s obedience to a personal appeal) | Bare اطاعت risks being read through the Shia doctrinal triad of obedience owed to God/Prophet/Imams; must be taught as the voluntary fruit of persuaded love (matching v. 14’s ἑκούσιον argument), not command-obedience owed to an authoritative office. |
| 28 | Command (renounced mode of address) | ἐπιτάσσω (epitassō) | امر کردن / فرمان دادن | amr kardan / farman dadan | Medium | Grace-Motivated Obedience | 1:8 | — | Named only to be explicitly set aside by Paul; acceptable because the text itself renounces this register — must be translated so the renunciation, not merely a softened command, is clear. |
| 29 | What is Fitting/Proper Duty | τὸ ἀνῆκον (to anēkon) | وظیفه شایسته | vazife-ye shayeste | Low | Grace-Motivated Obedience | 1:8 | — | — |
| 30 | Boldness/Confidence (of speech) | παρρησία (parrēsia) | اعتماد / شهامت | etemad / shahamat | Low | Intercession and Appeal | 1:8 | — | — |
| 31 | Old Man / Ambassador | πρεσβύτης / πρεσβευτής (presbytēs/presbeutēs) | پیر (or سفیر if following the ambassador variant) | pir / safir | Medium-High | Intercession and Appeal | 1:9 | — | پیر carries strong Sufi spiritual-master connotation (pir-morad relationship) that could inadvertently increase, rather than humble, Paul’s perceived authority; prefer سالخورده (salkhorde) if avoiding this resonance is a priority. Translator’s note required regardless of textual-variant choice. |
| 32 | Prisoner / Chains | δέσμιος / δεσμός (desmios/desmos) | زندانی / زنجیر | zendani / zanjir | High | Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power; Intercession and Appeal | 1:1, 1:9, 1:10, 1:13, 1:23 | اسیر / اسارت (asir/asarat — REJECTED: collides with the Shia Karbala-captivity devotional category, “اسرای کربلا”) | Must remain the legally neutral زندان root throughout the letter, never drifting into اسیر vocabulary. |
| 33 | Fellow-Prisoner | συναιχμάλωτος (synaichmalōtos) | همزندان | ham-zendani | Medium | Intercession and Appeal | 1:23 | هماسیر (rejected, same reason as #32) | — |
| 34 | Spiritual Child / Spiritual Fathering | τέκνον + γεννάω (teknon + gennaō) | فرزند روحانی / پدر روحانی شدن | farzand-e ruhani / pedar-e ruhani shodan | High | Forgiveness and Reconciliation; Christian Brotherhood | 1:10 | — | Connects to, but must not be conflated with, the baseline’s Critical “adoption” (فرزندخواندگی) doctrine; risk of collision with Sufi pir-morad ongoing spiritual-authority structures — teach as a pastoral conversion metaphor, not a claim of continuing hierarchical authority. |
| 35 | Deep Affection / Heart | σπλάγχνα (splagchna) | دل | del | Medium | Forgiveness and Reconciliation; Christian Brotherhood | 1:7, 1:12, 1:20 | احشا (ahsha, literal “bowels” — rejected as clinically strange/comic in Persian) | دل is the correct Persian idiomatic equivalent for the ancient “seat of affection” idiom; keep anchored to specific compassionate identification with a real person, not generalized mystical/romantic register despite دل’s heavy use in Persian devotional poetry. |
| 36 | Wronged / Injustice | ἀδικέω (adikeō) | بیعدالتی کردن (preferred) / ظلم کردن | bi-edalati kardan / zolm kardan | Medium | Forgiveness and Reconciliation | 1:18 | — | بیعدالتی کردن deliberately reuses the baseline’s عدالت root, keeping reconciliation within the same forensic-moral universe as Romans’ righteousness/justification theology. |
| 37 | Beloved | ἀγαπητός (agapētos) | عزیز / محبوب | aziz / mahbub | Medium | Christian Brotherhood | 1:1, 1:16 | — | Maintain one consistent choice across both occurrences within this curriculum. |
| 38 | Flesh (social/physical sphere, not sin-nature) | σάρξ (sarx, this specific sense) | در جسم | dar jasm | Medium | Christian Brotherhood; Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power | 1:16 | — | Distinct sense from Romans’ sin-nature σάρξ; must not be doctrinally conflated with material already taught from Romans. |
| 39 | Separated (euphemism for flight) | χωρίζω (chōrizō) | جدا شدن | joda shodan | Low | Forgiveness and Reconciliation | 1:15 | — | — |
| 40 | Forever/Permanent (non-eschatological sense) | αἰώνιος (aiōnios), this occurrence | برای همیشه | baraye hamishe | Low | Forgiveness and Reconciliation | 1:15 | — | Do not confuse with baseline’s قیامت (resurrection) Critical eschatological word-family; different register of use. |
| 41 | Consent-Confidence (trust in character) | πείθω/πεποιθώς (peithō) | اطمینان داشتن | etminan dashtan | Medium | Grace-Motivated Obedience | 1:21 | — | Shares root with baseline’s “Assurance of Salvation” (اطمینان از نجات) doctrine but is a distinct referent (confidence in a person’s character, not doctrinal assurance of one’s own salvation); flag to avoid conflation. |
| 42 | Received/Welcomed | προσλαμβάνω (proslambanō) | پذیرفتن | paziroftan | Low | Intercession and Appeal | 1:17 | — | Matches Romans 15:7’s welcome vocabulary; note continuity for cross-curriculum consistency. |
| 43 | Hospitality/Lodging | ξενία (xenia) | پذیرایی | pazirayi | Low | — | 1:22 | — | Positive cultural bridge via Iranian mehman-navazi hospitality tradition. |
| 44 | Granted as a Favor (grace-echo verb) | χαρίζομαι (charizomai) | بخشیده شدن | bakhshide shodan | Medium | Grace-Motivated Obedience | 1:22 | — | Persian بخشیدن fortuitously bridges “grant” and “forgive,” echoing the Greek’s own χάρις root-play; make the connection explicit in teaching materials rather than assuming it transfers automatically. |
| 45 | Human Spirit (distinct from Holy Spirit) | πνεῦμα (pneuma), human referent | روح شما | ruh-e shoma | Medium | — | 1:25 | — | Must not be conflated with the baseline’s Critical روحالقدس (Holy Spirit) entry; different referent entirely. |
| 46 | Fellow-Worker | συνεργός (synergos) | همکار | hamkar | Low | Christian Brotherhood | 1:1, 1:24 | — | — |
| 47 | Prayer | προσευχή (proseuchē) | دعا | do’a | Low | Intercession and Appeal | 1:4, 1:22 | — | Broadly compatible with shared Islamic devotional vocabulary (do’a). |
| 48 | Full/Experiential Knowledge | ἐπίγνωσις (epignōsis) | معرفت (preferred) / شناخت | ma’refat / shenakht | Medium | — | 1:6 | — | معرفت is the technical term of Sufi mystical gnosis; useful bridge but must not import the Sufi framework of graduated mystical attainment stages. |
| 49 | Joy | χαρά (chara) | شادی | shadi | Low | — | 1:7 | — | — |
| 50 | Comfort/Encouragement (noun) | παράκλησις (paraklēsis) | تسلی | tasalli | Low | — | 1:7 | — | Distinct noun form from baseline’s verb entry “exhort.” |
| 51 | Serve/Minister | διακονέω (diakoneō) | خدمت کردن | khedmat kardan | Low | Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power | 1:13 | — | — |
| 52 | Keep/Retain | κατέχω (katechō) | نگه داشتن | negah dashtan | Low | — | 1:13 | — | — |
| 53 | Send Back | ἀναπέμπω (anapempō) | بازفرستادن | baz-ferestadan | Low | Forgiveness and Reconciliation | 1:12 | — | — |
Section C — Proper Names Requiring Translator Notes (wordplay-bearing)
| Name | Greek | Persian Form | Meaning/Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Onesimus | Ὀνήσιμος | اُنیسیموس (Onesimos) | Means “useful/profitable” (root ὀνίνημι); wordplay activated at 1:11 (ἄχρηστος/εὔχρηστος) and 1:20 (ὀναίμην). Requires translator’s note at both occurrences since the pun cannot be recovered from the Persian text alone. |
| Philemon | Φιλήμων | فیلیمون (Filimon) | Related to φιλέω (“to love/be fond of”); fitting given the letter’s grounding of its appeal explicitly “διὰ τὴν ἀγάπην” (1:9). Note-worthy but non-critical; include in introductory teaching material. |
Risk Summary for Philemon-Specific New Terms (Section B)
| Risk Tier | Count | Terms |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 2 | δοῦλος (#15), κοινωνός (#19) |
| High | 6 | ἀδελφός (#16), παρακαλέω-appeal (#18), ἐλλογάω (#20), ἑκούσιον/ἀνάγκη (#25), ὑπακοή (#27), δέσμιος/δεσμός (#32), τέκνον+γεννάω (#34) — note: 7 entries listed; see full table |
| Medium | 15 | ἀγάπη (#17), ὀφείλω (#21), γνώμη (#26), ἐπιτάσσω (#28), πρεσβύτης (#31), συναιχμάλωτος (#33), σπλάγχνα (#35), ἀδικέω (#36), ἀγαπητός (#37), σάρξ-social-sense (#38), πείθω (#41), χαρίζομαι (#44), πνεῦμα-human (#45), ἐπίγνωσις (#48) |
| Low | 20 | remaining entries |
Note: item count in the High row corrected to 7 to match the full table above (ἀδελφός, παρακαλέω, ἐλλογάω, ἑκούσιον/ἀνάγκη, ὑπακοή, δέσμιος/δεσμός, τέκνον+γεννάω); totals reflect Section B new-term entries only. Baseline-reused terms (Section A) retain their original baseline risk tiers and are not recounted here.
All Critical and High risk new terms in this glossary require human theologian review before entering final translation memory, per the baseline’s doctrine_risk_registry.json review-routing convention.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: خدا
Transliteration: Khoda
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: الله
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package; unchanged for Philemon. Native pre-Islamic Persian word, preferred over الله for Persian Christian usage. Occurs in salutation, Philemon 1:3-4.
Father
Approved rendering: پدر
Transliteration: pedar
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package; unchanged for Philemon. Shares Arabic’s tawhid-anthropomorphism objection to Father-language for God. Occurs in the salutation formula, Philemon 1:3. Not directly at issue in Philemon’s Adoption doctrine (which concerns God’s adoption of believers); do not conflate with the new ‘spiritual_child’ entry below, which is Paul’s own pastoral fatherhood of Onesimus, a distinct doctrine.
Lord
Approved rendering: خداوند
Transliteration: Khodavand
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: سرور
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package; unchanged for Philemon. Native pre-Islamic Persian word; the collision is with the underlying tawhid objection to supreme Lordship ascribed to a human-born man, not with borrowed sacred vocabulary. Recurs at every major structural hinge of this short letter: salutation (1:3), thanksgiving (1:5), the brotherhood declaration (1:16), and the closing appeal (1:20).
Jesus
Approved rendering: عیسی
Transliteration: Isa
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package; unchanged for Philemon. No competing ‘Yeshua’-style alternative in Persian usage; risk is entirely in content (Quranic prophet-only, non-crucified narrative), which must be actively corrected. Occurs throughout Philemon.
Christ
Approved rendering: مسیح
Transliteration: Masih
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Original: Χριστός
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package (recorded there under the ‘messiah’ key); unchanged for Philemon. Popular Shia messianic expectation centers on the Hidden Twelfth Imam (Mahdi); every occurrence must actively assert Christ’s own primary, sufficient role. Occurs throughout Philemon (1:1, 1:8, 1:20, 1:23, 1:25).
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: روحالقدس
Transliteration: Ruh-ol-Qods
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package; unchanged for Philemon. Not directly named by this exact phrase in Philemon; retained here to anchor the contrast with the new ‘human_spirit’ entry below (Philemon 1:25, ‘with your spirit’), which refers to a different referent and must never be conflated with this Critical term.
Slave
Approved rendering: غلام
Transliteration: gholam
Doctrine: Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power
Rejected alternatives: بنده, برده
Original: δοῦλος
Category: Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power
New term for this curriculum. A person legally owned as property; Onesimus’s status prior to, and (legally) at the time of, the letter (Philemon 1:16). Three converging Persian collision points: (1) بنده is used positively of every believer’s God-relationship in Islamic devotion and would wrongly soften real social-legal bondage into a devotional metaphor; (2) Iran’s historical domestic slavery/concubinage institution sits inside a still-referenced classical Sunni/Shia fiqh manumission framework (اعتاق) that Paul’s argument deliberately bypasses — he asks for a new relational category, not legal manumission; (3) softening toward ‘servant/employee’ vocabulary erases the master-slave power differential v.16-17 depends on. Use غلام, the Tarjome Ghadeem/Mojdeh term for household slaves, exclusively.
Partner
Approved rendering: شریک
Transliteration: sharik
Doctrine: Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another
Rejected alternatives: همکار
Original: κοινωνός
Category: Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another
New term for this curriculum. The single highest lexical-collision risk in the letter: شریک/شراکت is the precise technical vocabulary of shirk (associating a partner with God, لا شریک له), the paradigm tawhid violation. This bare noun (κοινωνός, Philemon 1:17) is a closer collision than the baseline’s already-flagged مشارکت root-resonance since it is not the softened abstract noun but the direct ‘partner’ term itself. همکار (colleague) is rejected as too weak, losing the equal-standing/mutual-belonging force. Never use without an immediate possessive/relational anchor naming both parties and the shared sphere in Christ (e.g. ‘شریک من در مسیح’); never use in any general or abstract statement about God; confine strictly to this one interpersonal occurrence. Mandatory human theologian review at every occurrence.
High Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: انجیل
Transliteration: Injil
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: مژده
Original: εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package; unchanged for Philemon. Injil is shared Quranic vocabulary carrying the tahrif (corruption) assumption; must be taught as the NT record itself. In Philemon 1:13, grounds Paul’s imprisonment as specifically ‘for the gospel,’ tying the domestic Onesimus appeal to the larger gospel mission.
Grace
Approved rendering: فیض
Transliteration: feyz
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: لطف
Original: χάρις
Category: Grace-Motivated Obedience
Inherited from Romans package; unchanged for Philemon. Must always be qualified as a specific, personal gift secured through Christ, not an automatic ontological/emanationist overflow (Illuminationist / Mulla Sadra philosophical loading). Occurs in Philemon’s salutation and benediction (1:3, 1:25) and underlies the verb χαρίζομαι (1:22, ‘granted as a favor’) — see new entry ‘granted_as_favor’ for the deliberate root-echo bridge to forgiveness.
Faith
Approved rendering: ایمان
Transliteration: iman
Doctrine: Faith
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package; unchanged for Philemon. Must be anchored as personal trust in Christ, not creedal assent inclusive of the Imamate. Occurs at Philemon 1:5, 1:6, paired there with the new term ‘love’ (محبت) as a running duo through the letter’s argument.
Church
Approved rendering: کلیسا
Transliteration: kelisa
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: امت
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package; unchanged for Philemon. Philemon 1:2 names an actual, literal house-church (‘the church in your house’), directly matching the lived reality of Persian-speaking Muslim-background house-church believers today — teach with that reality explicitly in view, not as hypothetical illustration.
Brother
Approved rendering: برادر
Transliteration: baradar
Doctrine: Christian Brotherhood across Social Status
Original: ἀδελφός
Category: Christian Brotherhood across Social Status
New term for this curriculum. Fellow believer as a family category grounded in union with Christ; the letter’s climactic reclassification of Onesimus (Philemon 1:16), also applied to Timothy, Philemon, and Apphia (1:1, 1:2, 1:7, 1:20). Collides with (a) the pan-Islamic ummah-brotherhood concept and (b) Persian Sufi order (طریقت) and craft-guild fotovvat/javanmardi fraternal traditions, both of which retain internal hierarchy despite brotherhood language. Must be taught as a genuinely new, hierarchy-dissolving family status, not a further honorific layered atop the still-standing master-slave hierarchy.
Appeal
Approved rendering: التماس کردن
Transliteration: eltemas kardan
Doctrine: Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another
Rejected alternatives: تشویق کردن, نصیحت کردن
Original: παρακαλέω
Category: Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another
New term for this curriculum. A third, context-specific sense of the baseline-tracked verb παρακαλέω, distinct from the baseline’s ‘encourage’ (تشویق کردن) and ‘admonish’ (نصیحت کردن) senses. Captures the humble personal-request register of Paul appealing from a position of love rather than authority (Philemon 1:9, 1:10). Must not collapse into either existing baseline sense.
Charge To Account
Approved rendering: به حساب من محسوب کن
Transliteration: be hesab-e man mahsub kon
Doctrine: Forgiveness and Reconciliation
Rejected alternatives: به حساب من بگذار
Original: ἐλλογάω / ἐλλόγα
Category: Forgiveness and Reconciliation
New term for this curriculum. A commercial/accounting term (ἐλλογάω, Philemon 1:18) meaning ‘to charge to one’s account’; Paul offers to personally absorb Onesimus’s debt. Deliberately reuses the محسوب root already anchored in the baseline’s Critical عدالت محسوبشده (‘imputed righteousness’) entry, creating an explicit typological bridge to Christ’s substitutionary atonement that must be taught, not left implicit — Persian readers will not automatically supply the connection.
Voluntary Versus Compulsion
Approved rendering: اختیاری / اجباری
Transliteration: ekhtiyari / ejbari
Doctrine: Grace-Motivated Obedience
Original: ἑκούσιον / ἀνάγκη
Category: Grace-Motivated Obedience
New term for this curriculum. Voluntary action versus external compulsion (ἑκούσιον/ἀνάγκη, Philemon 1:14) — the letter’s most direct statement that Philemon’s good response must be freely given. اختیار is the exact technical term of the classical Islamic jabr/ekhtiyar (compulsion vs. free-will) theological controversy, still live in Iranian seminary and popular discourse. Requires explicit disambiguating context every occurrence, always paired in immediate proximity with ‘consent’ (رضایت) and ‘love’ (محبت) so the verse’s narrow relational sense is reinforced rather than left as an isolated abstract philosophical claim.
Obedience Personal Appeal
Approved rendering: اطاعت
Transliteration: eta’at
Doctrine: Grace-Motivated Obedience
Rejected alternatives: اطاعت ایمانی
Original: ὑπακοή
Category: Grace-Motivated Obedience
New term for this curriculum. Compliance with a personal appeal, expected as the free fruit of persuaded love, not command-obedience (ὑπακοή, Philemon 1:21). Distinct referent from the baseline’s Critical compound ‘obedience of faith’ (اطاعت ایمانی, Romans 1:5/16:26) — do not substitute that compound here, the referent is different. Bare اطاعت risks being read through the Shia doctrinal triad of obedience owed to God, the Prophet, and the Imams (ita’at Allah/al-Rasul/al-A’imma); must be taught as the opposite — voluntary compliance flowing from persuaded love, matching v.14’s ἑκούσιον argument. Translate and teach vv.14 and 21 as a single interlocking unit.
Old Man Ambassador
Approved rendering: سالخورده
Transliteration: salkhorde
Doctrine: Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another
Rejected alternatives: پیر
Original: πρεσβύτης / πρεσβευτής
Category: Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another
New term for this curriculum. ‘Old man’ (majority reading, πρεσβύτης) or ‘ambassador’ (attested variant, πρεσβευτής); part of Paul’s self-humbling self-description (Philemon 1:9). پیر is explicitly rejected: it carries strong Sufi mystical loading (a pir is a spiritual master in the pir-morad master-disciple relationship, commanding devotional authority), which would invert Paul’s rhetorical point by increasing rather than humbling his perceived authority. If following the ambassador textual variant instead, use سفیر (Low risk, standard diplomatic vocabulary). Translator’s note required regardless of which textual variant is followed.
Prisoner
Approved rendering: زندانی
Transliteration: zendani
Doctrine: Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power
Rejected alternatives: اسیر
Original: δέσμιος / δεσμός
Category: Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power
New term for this curriculum. One bound in chains (δέσμιος/δεσμός); Paul’s chosen self-identifier (‘prisoner of Christ Jesus’) instead of ‘apostle,’ recurring throughout the letter (Philemon 1:1, 1:9, 1:10, 1:13, 1:23). Must NOT be rendered اسیر, which carries the specific Shia devotional resonance of ‘the captives of Karbala’ (اسرای کربلا), a load-bearing category already flagged in the baseline’s salvation/intercession notes. Use the legally neutral زندانی throughout the letter without exception.
Spiritual Child
Approved rendering: فرزند روحانی
Transliteration: farzand-e ruhani
Doctrine: Spiritual Fatherhood and New Birth in Christ
Original: τέκνον / γεννάω
Category: Christian Brotherhood across Social Status
New term for this curriculum. Spiritual child / to beget spiritually (τέκνον/γεννάω); Paul claims spiritual paternity over Onesimus, converted during his imprisonment (Philemon 1:10). Must be distinguished from, not conflated with, the baseline’s Critical ‘Adoption into God’s Family’ doctrine (فرزندخواندگی) — this is Paul’s own pastoral fatherhood through leading someone to faith, not God’s adoption of believers. Also risks collision with Persian Sufi pir-morad structures, in which a ‘spiritual father’ retains lifelong authoritative status over a disciple’s soul; teach strictly as a conversion metaphor, not ongoing hierarchical authority.
Medium Risk Terms
Peace
Approved rendering: سلام
Transliteration: salam
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: آرامش
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package; unchanged for Philemon. Never render آرامش (secular wellness/self-help ‘inner calm’). Occurs in the standard Pauline salutation formula, Philemon 1:3.
Saints
Approved rendering: مقدسین
Transliteration: moqaddasin
Doctrine: Sainthood
Original: ἅγιοι
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package; unchanged for Philemon. Corporate sense for all believers, not an ascetic or shrine-venerated elite class. Occurs at Philemon 1:5, 1:7.
Fellowship
Approved rendering: مشارکت
Transliteration: mosharekat
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Original: κοινωνία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package; unchanged for Philemon. Shares the ش-ر-ک root with shirk; the resonance is uncomfortable but the term is established and context disambiguates. Occurs at Philemon 1:6 (abstract κοινωνία sense) — this abstract-noun usage is lower risk than the bare κοινωνός noun at 1:17, tracked separately as ‘partner’ below because that lexical collision is substantially closer.
Love
Approved rendering: محبت
Transliteration: mohabbat
Doctrine: Grace-Motivated Obedience
Rejected alternatives: عشق
Original: ἀγάπη
Category: Grace-Motivated Obedience
New term for this curriculum; not separately tracked in the baseline Romans glossary. Self-giving, covenantal love, the explicitly stated basis of Paul’s whole appeal (Philemon 1:9; cf. 1:5, 1:7). عشق (the dominant register of Persian devotional/mystical love-poetry) is rejected: it would shift Paul’s sober, ethical, other-directed argument into a romantic-mystical register and undermine the costly weight the appeal requires.
Owe
Approved rendering: بدهکار بودن
Transliteration: bedehkar budan
Doctrine: Forgiveness and Reconciliation
Original: ὀφείλω / προσοφείλω
Category: Forgiveness and Reconciliation
New term for this curriculum. To owe, be indebted, including Philemon’s own greater debt to Paul (Philemon 1:18, 1:19; ὀφείλω / προσοφείλω). Debt imagery is culturally accessible via everyday financial debt but must not collapse into a generic karmic-ledger reading (cf. baseline’s Chinvat Bridge caution under ‘sin’).
Consent
Approved rendering: رضایت
Transliteration: rezayat
Doctrine: Grace-Motivated Obedience
Rejected alternatives: نظر
Original: γνώμη
Category: Grace-Motivated Obedience
New term for this curriculum. A person’s considered will/consent (γνώμη); Paul will not act ‘without your consent’ (Philemon 1:14). رضایت’s legal-contractual resonance (marriage consent, etc.) is a helpful bridge; ensure it is not read as a merely legal formality stripped of relational warmth.
Command Renounced
Approved rendering: امر کردن
Transliteration: amr kardan
Doctrine: Grace-Motivated Obedience
Rejected alternatives: فرمان دادن
Original: ἐπιτάσσω
Category: Grace-Motivated Obedience
New term for this curriculum. To command with authority (ἐπιτάσσω); named by Paul only to be explicitly set aside in favor of appeal (Philemon 1:8). امر carries Islamic legal-command resonance (e.g. امر به معروف); acceptable specifically because the text renounces this register — translation must preserve that the term is renounced, not merely softened into a gentler command.
Fellow Prisoner
Approved rendering: همزندان
Transliteration: ham-zendani
Doctrine: Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another
Rejected alternatives: هماسیر
Original: συναιχμάλωτος
Category: Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another
New term for this curriculum. Fellow prisoner/fellow captive (συναιχμάλωτος); applied to Epaphras (Philemon 1:23). Avoid هماسیر for the same Karbala-captivity reason as ‘prisoner’ above; keep the neutral زندان root consistent across the letter.
Deep Affection
Approved rendering: دل
Transliteration: del
Doctrine: Forgiveness and Reconciliation
Rejected alternatives: احشا
Original: σπλάγχνα
Category: Forgiveness and Reconciliation
New term for this curriculum. Literally ‘inward organs’ (σπλάγχνα); idiomatically the seat of deep affection/compassion (Philemon 1:7, 1:12, 1:20). دل is the correct Persian idiomatic equivalent (احشا, a literal rendering, would be clinically strange/comic). Keep anchored to Paul’s specific compassionate identification with a named person, not the generalized mystical/romantic register دل carries in Persian devotional poetry (Rumi, Hafez).
Wronged
Approved rendering: بیعدالتی کردن
Transliteration: bi-edalati kardan
Doctrine: Forgiveness and Reconciliation
Rejected alternatives: ظلم کردن
Original: ἀδικέω
Category: Forgiveness and Reconciliation
New term for this curriculum. To wrong, do injustice to (ἀδικέω); names the real, personal wrong Onesimus committed, without minimizing it (Philemon 1:18). بیعدالتی کردن deliberately keeps the same عدالت root already anchored in the baseline’s Critical ‘righteousness/justification’ entries, situating Philemon’s reconciliation within the same forensic-moral universe as Romans’ righteousness theology.
Beloved
Approved rendering: عزیز
Transliteration: aziz
Doctrine: Christian Brotherhood across Social Status
Original: ἀγαπητός
Category: Christian Brotherhood across Social Status
New term for this curriculum. Beloved, dear (ἀγαπητός); intensifies ‘brother’ (Philemon 1:16) and applied to Philemon himself (1:1). Maintain this one consistent choice across both occurrences for cross-document consistency; do not alternate with محبوب within this curriculum.
Flesh Social Sense
Approved rendering: در جسم
Transliteration: dar jasm
Doctrine: Christian Brotherhood across Social Status
Original: σάρξ
Category: Christian Brotherhood across Social Status
New term for this curriculum. In this specific occurrence (σάρξ, Philemon 1:16), the ordinary earthly/social sphere of existence (‘both in the flesh and in the Lord’) — not Romans’ sinful flesh-nature sense. Must be flagged explicitly as a different register of the same Greek word than Romans’ sin-nature σάρξ, already trained into house-church readers from Romans study, to avoid doctrinal conflation.
Confidence In Character
Approved rendering: اطمینان داشتن
Transliteration: etminan dashtan
Doctrine: Grace-Motivated Obedience
Original: πείθω / πεποιθώς
Category: Grace-Motivated Obedience
New term for this curriculum. Settled confidence/trust based on evidence of character (πείθω/πεποιθώς); Paul’s confidence rests on Philemon’s demonstrated character, not apostolic pressure (Philemon 1:21). Shares the اطمینان root with the baseline’s Critical ‘Assurance of Salvation’ doctrine (اطمینان از نجات) but is a distinct referent — confidence in a person’s character, not doctrinal assurance of one’s own salvation. Flag to avoid conflation.
Granted As Favor
Approved rendering: بخشیده شدن
Transliteration: bakhshide shodan
Doctrine: Grace-Motivated Obedience
Original: χαρίζομαι
Category: Grace-Motivated Obedience
New term for this curriculum. To be granted/given as a favor (χαρίζομαι); Paul expects to ‘be granted’ to Philemon and the church (Philemon 1:22). Shares a verbal root with χάρις/grace in Greek; Persian بخشیدن fortuitously bridges both the grace-gift sense and the forgiveness sense (also used for ‘to forgive’). A valuable teaching connector, but must be made explicit, not left to chance, since the Greek wordplay is not otherwise recoverable in Persian.
Human Spirit
Approved rendering: روح شما
Transliteration: ruh-e shoma
Doctrine: Human Spirit Distinct from the Holy Spirit
Original: πνεῦμα
Category: God
New term for this curriculum. The human spirit of the addressees, in the closing benediction ‘with your spirit’ (πνεῦμα, Philemon 1:25) — a different referent from the Holy Spirit. Render simply روح شما, kept distinct from the baseline’s Critical روحالقدس entry, so the two referents are not conflated by a reader trained primarily on Romans’ Holy Spirit vocabulary.
Full Knowledge
Approved rendering: معرفت
Transliteration: ma’refat
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: شناخت
Original: ἐπίγνωσις
Category: Faith
New term for this curriculum. Full, experiential knowledge (ἐπίγνωσις); the outworking hoped for from the fellowship of Philemon’s faith (Philemon 1:6). معرفت is the technical term of Sufi mystical gnosis (ma’rifat, attained through graduated spiritual stages); useful bridge but must not import that graduated-attainment framework onto ordinary Christian growth in knowledge. This choice is FIXED for this curriculum (not left to per-segment discretion) — do not switch to شناخت mid-document; consistency across Phase 2 workers is required.
Onesimus
Approved rendering: اُنیسیموس
Transliteration: Onesimos
Doctrine: Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power
Original: Ὀνήσιμος
Category: Proper Name
Proper name for this curriculum. Means ‘useful/profitable’ (root ὀνίνημι); the runaway slave whose case occasions the letter. Wordplay activated at 1:11 (ἄχρηστος/εὔχρηστος) and 1:20 (ὀναίμην); the pun is not recoverable from the Persian text alone and requires a translator’s note at both occurrences.
Low Risk Terms
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: شکرگزاری
Transliteration: shokr-gozari
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Original: εὐχαριστέω
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package; unchanged for Philemon. Shukr is also a major Islamic virtue category; broadly compatible. Occurs at Philemon 1:4.
Repay
Approved rendering: بازپرداخت کردن
Transliteration: bazpardakht kardan
Doctrine: Forgiveness and Reconciliation
Original: ἀποτίνω
Category: Forgiveness and Reconciliation
New term for this curriculum. Full financial repayment (ἀποτίνω); Paul’s formal, handwritten pledge (Philemon 1:19). Standard commercial vocabulary, low collision risk.
Useless Useful
Approved rendering: بیفایده / سودمند
Transliteration: bi-fayede / sudmand
Doctrine: Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power
Original: ἄχρηστος / εὔχρηστος
Category: Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power
New term for this curriculum. A direct pun on Ὀνήσιμος (‘useful/profitable’) describing the gospel’s effect on Onesimus (Philemon 1:11). Persian سودمند does not itself echo اُنیسیموس as εὔχρηστος echoes Ὀνήσιμος in Greek. Mandatory translator’s note required at this verse.
May I Benefit
Approved rendering: خیری از تو ببینم
Transliteration: kheyri az to bebinam
Doctrine: Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power
Original: ὀνίνημι (ὀναίμην)
Category: Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power
New term for this curriculum. Second, final pun on Ὀνήσιμος’s name (ὀναίμην, Philemon 1:20), as Paul asks to himself receive ‘benefit’ from Philemon. Same mandatory wordplay note as ‘useless_useful’ above.
Fitting Duty
Approved rendering: وظیفه شایسته
Transliteration: vazife-ye shayeste
Doctrine: Grace-Motivated Obedience
Original: τὸ ἀνῆκον
Category: Grace-Motivated Obedience
New term for this curriculum. That which is proper/fitting (τὸ ἀνῆκον), a moral duty Paul could invoke but chooses not to lead with (Philemon 1:8). Low collision risk; standard Persian vocabulary for propriety/duty.
Boldness Of Speech
Approved rendering: اعتماد
Transliteration: etemad
Doctrine: Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another
Original: παρρησία
Category: Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another
New term for this curriculum. Confident, candid speech (παρρησία); Paul’s standing ‘in Christ’ to speak boldly, set aside in favor of appeal (Philemon 1:8). Ensure the term reads as legitimate standing, not presumption.
Separated
Approved rendering: جدا شدن
Transliteration: joda shodan
Doctrine: Forgiveness and Reconciliation
Original: χωρίζω
Category: Forgiveness and Reconciliation
New term for this curriculum. To be separated/depart (χωρίζω); a euphemism reframing Onesimus’s likely flight as a providentially purposeful ‘separation’ (Philemon 1:15). Low collision risk.
Forever Permanent
Approved rendering: برای همیشه
Transliteration: baraye hamishe
Doctrine: Forgiveness and Reconciliation
Original: αἰώνιος
Category: Forgiveness and Reconciliation
New term for this curriculum. Permanent, contrasted with ‘for a short time’ (αἰώνιος, this occurrence); the temporary loss becomes a permanent relational gain (Philemon 1:15). Do not confuse with the baseline’s Critical eschatological قیامت (resurrection) word-family; this is the everyday ‘permanent’ sense.
Received Welcomed
Approved rendering: پذیرفتن
Transliteration: paziroftan
Doctrine: Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another
Original: προσλαμβάνω
Category: Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another
New term for this curriculum. To actively welcome/receive someone into one’s own company (προσλαμβάνω, Philemon 1:17). Matches Romans 14:1/15:7’s welcome vocabulary; note continuity for cross-curriculum consistency.
Hospitality
Approved rendering: پذیرایی
Transliteration: pazirayi
Doctrine: Christian Hospitality
Original: ξενία
Category: Christian Brotherhood across Social Status
New term for this curriculum. Guest-lodging, hospitality (ξενία); Paul’s request for lodging (Philemon 1:22). A genuinely positive cultural bridge: Iranian mehman-navazi (مهماننوازی) is a widely celebrated cultural virtue; should land naturally and warmly for a Persian audience.
Fellow Worker
Approved rendering: همکار
Transliteration: hamkar
Doctrine: Christian Brotherhood across Social Status
Original: συνεργός
Category: Christian Brotherhood across Social Status
New term for this curriculum. Co-laborer in gospel ministry (συνεργός); applied to Philemon (1:1) and to Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke (1:24). Standard Persian vocabulary, no significant collision. Do not use this term to render κοινωνός (‘partner’); see the ‘partner’ entry above for why همکار is too weak there.
Prayer
Approved rendering: دعا
Transliteration: do’a
Doctrine: Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another
Original: προσευχή
Category: Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another
New term for this curriculum. Prayer (προσευχή); Paul’s prayers for Philemon (1:4) and his hoped-for prayers for release (1:22). Standard Persian Christian and Islamic-shared vocabulary; broadly compatible, low risk.
Joy
Approved rendering: شادی
Transliteration: shadi
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Original: χαρά
Category: Faith
New term for this curriculum. Joy Paul has from hearing of Philemon’s love and faith (χαρά, Philemon 1:7). Standard Persian vocabulary; low risk.
Comfort Encouragement
Approved rendering: تسلی
Transliteration: tasalli
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Original: παράκλησις
Category: Faith
New term for this curriculum. Comfort, encouragement, noun form (παράκλησις, Philemon 1:7). Distinct noun form from the baseline’s verb entry ‘exhort’ (تشویق کردن / نصیحت کردن); low collision risk.
Serve Minister
Approved rendering: خدمت کردن
Transliteration: khedmat kardan
Doctrine: Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power
Original: διακονέω
Category: Slavery and the Gospel’s Transforming Power
New term for this curriculum. To serve, minister to (διακονέω); Onesimus’s hoped-for service to Paul ‘on your behalf’ (Philemon 1:13). Standard Persian vocabulary; low risk. Deliberately kept distinct from any priestly/ritual service register.
Keep Retain
Approved rendering: نگه داشتن
Transliteration: negah dashtan
Doctrine: Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another
Original: κατέχω
Category: Intercession and Appeal on Behalf of Another
New term for this curriculum. To hold fast, retain (κατέχω); Paul’s admitted desire to keep Onesimus with him (Philemon 1:13). Standard Persian vocabulary; low risk.
Send Back
Approved rendering: بازفرستادن
Transliteration: baz-ferestadan
Doctrine: Forgiveness and Reconciliation
Original: ἀναπέμπω
Category: Forgiveness and Reconciliation
New term for this curriculum. To send back (ἀναπέμπω); Paul’s act of voluntarily returning Onesimus to Philemon (Philemon 1:12). Standard Persian vocabulary; low risk.
Philemon
Approved rendering: فیلیمون
Transliteration: Filimon
Doctrine: Christian Brotherhood across Social Status
Original: Φιλήμων
Category: Proper Name
Proper name for this curriculum. Related to φιλέω (‘to love/be fond of’); the letter’s addressee, a slave-owner and house-church host. Fitting given the letter’s appeal grounded explicitly ‘because of love’ (1:9); note-worthy but non-critical, include in introductory teaching material. Also the standard Persian name of the book itself (فیلیمون) — see citation conventions in 12_ai_translation_requirements.md.
Referenced passages