Core Glossary
Core Glossary: Revelation 1–22 (English → Persian)
This glossary extends, and never contradicts, the baseline Romans translation_memory.json. Section 1 lists baseline terms reused unchanged in Revelation. Section 2 lists new terms this curriculum introduces, organized by theme, with full risk documentation. Risk tiers and review routing follow the same definitions as the baseline doctrine_risk_registry.json.
Section 1 — Baseline Terms Reused Exactly (No Change)
| English term | Persian rendering | Risk (baseline) | Where it recurs in Revelation |
|---|---|---|---|
| God | خدا | Critical | throughout |
| Jesus | عیسی | Critical | throughout |
| Lord | خداوند | Critical | 1:8; 4:8; 11:15; 19:16; 22:20-21 |
| Christ / Messiah | مسیح | Critical | 1:1,5; 11:15; 12:10; 20:4,6 |
| Holy Spirit | روحالقدس | Critical | 1:4,10; 2-3 (sevenfold “hear what the Spirit says”); 14:13; 22:17 |
| Father | پدر | Critical | 1:6; 2:28; 3:5,21; 14:1 |
| Son of God | پسر خدا | Critical | 2:18 |
| saints | مقدسین | High | 5:8; 8:3-4; 11:18; 13:7,10; 14:12; 16:6; 17:6; 18:24; 19:8; 20:9 |
| holy | مقدس | Medium | 3:7; 4:8; 6:10; 21:2,10; 22:11,19 |
| church(es) | کلیسا (pl. کلیساها) | High | ch. 1-3 (seven churches); 22:16 |
| kingdom of God | ملکوت خدا | Medium | 1:9; 11:15; 12:10 |
| glory | جلال | Medium | 1:6; 4:9,11; 5:12-13; 7:12; 19:1,7; 21:11,23-24; 21:26 |
| faith | ایمان | High | 2:13,19; 13:10; 14:12 |
| grace | فیض | High | 1:4; 22:21 |
| salvation | نجات | Critical | 7:10; 12:10; 19:1 |
| resurrection | قیامت | Critical | 20:5-6 (“first resurrection,” see Section 2) |
| righteousness | عدالت | Critical | 19:8,11; 22:11 |
| adoption / sonship (believers’) | فرزندخواندگی / فرزند | Critical | 21:7 (see Section 2 for adjacent risk) |
| election | برگزیدگی خدا | High | 17:14 (“called, chosen, faithful”) |
| intercession | شفاعت | Critical | 8:3-4; 12:10 (contrast with “the accuser”) |
| covenant | عهد | Medium | 11:19 (ark of the covenant); 21:3,7 |
| prophet | پیامبر | High | 10:7; 11:10,18; 16:6; 18:20,24; 22:6,9 |
| prophecy | نبوت | Low | 1:3; 19:10; 22:7,10,18-19 |
| israel | اسرائیل | High | 2:14; 7:4; 21:12 |
| david | داوود | Medium | 3:7; 5:5; 22:16 |
| gentiles / nations (غیریهودیان-family) | غیریهودیان / ملتها (never امتها) | Medium | 2:26; 7:9; 11:2,18; 12:5; 14:6,8; 15:3-4; 18:3,23; 19:15; 20:3,8; 21:24,26; 22:2 |
| exhort | تشویق کردن | Low | 2-3 (letters), used in teaching commentary, not the biblical text itself |
| amen | آمین | Low | 1:6-7; 3:14; 5:14; 7:12; 19:4; 22:20-21 |
| hallelujah | هللویاه | Low | 19:1,3,4,6 |
Section 2 — New Terms Introduced by Revelation
2.1 Christology / Worship
| Term | Original | Transliteration | Persian rendering | Risk | Doctrine | Chapters | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lamb | ἀρνίον | arnion | بره | Critical | Return and Reign of Christ; Worship of the Lamb | 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 21, 22 | Superficial parallel with Eid al-Adha/Qorbani sacrificial ram; must be taught as unique, once-for-all atoning sacrifice now reigning and receiving worship, not a ritual-commemoration animal. |
| worship | προσκυνέω | proskyneō | پرستش (کردن) | Critical | Worship of the Lamb; Deity of Christ | 4, 5, 7, 13, 14, 19, 22 | Same verb rendered identically for worship of God, worship of the Lamb, and false worship of the beast/idols — the deliberate parallel is the book’s central either/or test of loyalty and must remain visible in translation. |
| Alpha and Omega | Ἄλφα καὶ τὸ Ὦ | Alpha kai to Ō | آلفا و اومگا (پیوسته با «ابتدا و انتها») | Critical | Deity of Christ; Sovereignty of God over History | 1, 21, 22 | Identical title applied to both Father and Son — a co-equality claim; Persian alphabet’s own first/last letters do not map, requiring transliteration paired with the explanatory gloss already in the Greek text. |
| King of kings and Lord of lords | βασιλεὺς βασιλέων καὶ κύριος κυρίων | basileus basileōn kai kyrios kyriōn | شاه شاهان و خداوند خداوندان | Critical | Lordship of Christ; Return and Reign of Christ | 17, 19 | Superlative extension of baseline خداوند; must assert absolute supremacy over every rival authority claim. |
| the Word of God | ὁ Λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ | ho Logos tou Theou | کلمه خدا | Critical | Incarnation; Deity of Christ | 19 | Must match the established Persian rendering of John 1:1/14’s Logos so the titles are recognized as identical. |
| Faithful and True | Πιστὸς καὶ Ἀληθινός | Pistos kai Alēthinos | امین و حق | High | Return and Reign of Christ | 3, 19, 21 | Recurring double-title for Christ and his words; امین’s shared root with Islamic “al-Amin” (a title of Muhammad) requires translator awareness though contextual risk is manageable. |
| tabernacle / dwell | σκηνή / σκηνόω | skēnē / skēnoō | خیمهگاه / ساکن شدن | High | New Heaven and New Earth; extends Incarnation | 7, 21 | Same verb root as John 1:14 (the Word “tabernacled” among us); must be cross-referenced so the final unmediated dwelling is seen as the Incarnation’s consummation. |
2.2 Satanology / The Unholy Triad
| Term | Original | Transliteration | Persian rendering | Risk | Doctrine | Chapters | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| dragon | δράκων | drakōn | اژدها | Critical | Sovereignty of God over History; Judgment of the Wicked | 12, 13, 16, 20 | اژدها derives directly from Zoroastrian “Aži Dahāka” (cf. Shahnameh’s Zahhāk); risks importing specific Persian mythological narrative details rather than the Genesis-serpent identification the text itself supplies. |
| Satan / the Devil | Σατανᾶς / Διάβολος | Satanas / Diabolos | شیطان / ابلیس | Critical | Sovereignty of God over History; Assurance of Final Victory | 2, 12, 20 | ابلیس carries the specific Quranic Adam-prostration backstory (Quran 7:11-18); the biblical identification (ancient serpent = accuser = adversary, explicit at 12:9) must always accompany these titles so the Quranic narrative is not silently substituted. |
| the beast (from the sea) | τὸ θηρίον (ἐκ τῆς θαλάσσης) | to thērion | وحش | Critical | Judgment of the Wicked; Return and Reign of Christ | 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20 | High risk of syncretistic merging with the Sunni/Shia Dajjal figure or Shia-specific Sufyani, reinforcing rather than displacing the baseline’s Mahdi-centered eschatology concern. |
| false prophet | ψευδοπροφήτης | pseudoprophētēs | پیامبر دروغین | Critical | Judgment of the Wicked | 16, 19, 20 | Compounds the beast-family Dajjal/Sufyani risk with the baseline’s own “prophet” High-risk finality-of-prophethood sensitivity; requires careful framing as a specific future/symbolic figure, never a polemic against any historical prophet. |
| mark of the beast | χάραγμα | charagma | نشان (وحش) | High | Judgment of the Wicked | 13, 14, 16, 19, 20 | Must be visibly distinguished from God’s protective “seal” (ch. 7) so the deliberate positive/negative contrast is preserved. |
| 666 / number of the beast | ὁ ἀριθμὸς…χξς | ho arithmos…chi xi stigma | عدد او… ۶۶۶ | High | Symbolic and Apocalyptic Interpretation | 13 | Must be taught as symbolic/apocalyptic, not a cipher to be matched against contemporary individuals or political figures. |
| the accuser | κατήγορος | katēgoros | متهمکننده / مدعی | Medium | Assurance of Final Victory | 12 | Rhetorical foil to Christ’s intercession (شفاعت); useful teaching contrast, low independent lexical risk. |
2.3 Judgment, Death, and Vindication
| Term | Original | Transliteration | Persian rendering | Risk | Doctrine | Chapters | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| second death | ὁ θάνατος ὁ δεύτερος | ho thanatos ho deuteros | مرگ دوم | Critical | Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints | 2, 20, 21 | No ready equivalent category in Islamic or Zoroastrian eschatology (both speak of one death, then eternal reward/punishment); must be explicitly defined at first occurrence (2:11). |
| lake of fire (and sulfur) | λίμνη (τοῦ) πυρός (καὶ θείου) | limnē tou pyros kai theiou | دریاچه آتش (و گوگرد) | High | Judgment of the Wicked | 19, 20, 21 | Partial structural parallel to Zoroastrian molten-metal ordeal and Chinvat Bridge motif (baseline Critical “sin” note); must be taught as Christ’s own personal, forensic judgment, not folded into that pre-existing framework. |
| the book of life | τὸ βιβλίον τῆς ζωῆς | to biblion tēs zōēs | کتاب زندگی (حیات) | Critical | Assurance of Salvation; Judgment of the Wicked | 3, 13, 17, 20, 21 | Collides with Islamic individual deed-record books (Quran 17:13-14, 18:49), reinforcing the mizan deeds-weighing framework already flagged Critical in the baseline; must be taught as a grace-based register, not a deeds ledger. |
| the great white throne | ὁ θρόνος ὁ μέγας ὁ λευκός | ho thronos ho megas ho leukos | تخت بزرگ سفید | Medium | Judgment of the Wicked | 20 | Distinguish from the white-robe imagery of ch. 6-7, a related but distinct symbolic use of “white.” |
| the first resurrection | ἡ ἀνάστασις ἡ πρώτη | hē anastasis hē prōtē | قیامت اول | Critical | Return and Reign of Christ; extends baseline Resurrection doctrine | 20 | Islamic eschatology expects one unified Qiyamah, not a staged two-part resurrection; must be taught as this text’s own distinct structure without implying two separate Islamic-technical-sense Qiyamahs. |
| a thousand years / millennium | χίλια ἔτη | chilia etē | هزار سال / هزاره | Medium | Return and Reign of Christ | 20 | Interpretive schemes vary across Christian tradition; translation should not silently foreclose that legitimate range of views. |
2.4 Testimony, Perseverance, and Persecution
| Term | Original | Transliteration | Persian rendering | Risk | Doctrine | Chapters | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| testimony / witness (incl. martyr sense) | μαρτυρία / μάρτυς | martyria / martys | شهادت / شاهد | Critical | Perseverance and Faithful Witness under Persecution | 1, 2, 6, 11, 12, 17, 20 | شهادت is the exact vocabulary of Twelver Shia martyrdom theology (Muharram/Karbala complex, baseline Critical “salvation” note); must be taught as testimony to Christ’s own finished work, categorically distinct from martyrdom functioning as intercessory merit for others. |
| the one who overcomes | ὁ νικῶν | ho nikōn | غالب (کسی که غلبه یابد) | High | Perseverance and Faithful Witness under Persecution | 2, 3, 12, 21 | Risk of being read as political/militant conquest given surrounding revolutionary-state rhetoric of “victory”; must be taught as faithful perseverance, not violent triumph. |
| great tribulation | ἡ θλῖψις ἡ μεγάλη | hē thlipsis hē megalē | مصیبت (تنگی) عظیم | Medium | Perseverance and Faithful Witness under Persecution | 7 | Loosely analogous to the Islamic “fitna” (trial preceding the end); keep rooted in this text’s specific referent. |
| cowardly | δειλοί | deiloi | ترسو | Medium | Perseverance and Faithful Witness under Persecution | 21 | Requires pastoral care given the genuine present-day legal danger of exposure for underground house-church believers; condemns faith-denying apostasy under pressure, not legitimate caution. |
| repentance | μετάνοια | metanoia | توبه | High | (supports several doctrines across ch. 2-3, 9, 16) | 2, 3, 9, 16 | Shares vocabulary with Islamic tawbah; must be reinforced as a Spirit-enabled response to grace, not a self-generated meritorious act restoring standing. |
2.5 Ecclesiology, New Creation, and Symbolic Interpretation
| Term | Original | Transliteration | Persian rendering | Risk | Doctrine | Chapters | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| new Jerusalem | Ἰερουσαλὴμ καινή | Ierousalēm kainē | اورشلیم جدید | Critical | New Heaven and New Earth | 3, 21 | Direct collision with Iran’s state-sponsored, politically loaded “Quds Day” (Ruz-e Qods); the heavenly, God-descended, non-territorial nature of the city must be repeatedly and explicitly distinguished from that political register. |
| the Bride (of the Lamb) | ἡ νύμφη (τοῦ ἀρνίου) | hē nymphē (tou arniou) | عروس (بره) | Critical | The Church as Bride of Christ | 19, 21, 22 | Risk of assimilation into the Quranic paradise ḥūr (houri) reward imagery, an individual sensual reward, rather than the corporate, covenantal ecclesiology intended. |
| the great prostitute / Babylon | ἡ πόρνη ἡ μεγάλη / Βαβυλών | hē pornē hē megalē / Babylōn | فاحشه بزرگ / بابل | High | Judgment of the Wicked; Sovereignty of God over History | 14, 16, 17, 18, 19 | Deliberate literary opposite of the Bride, must preserve that contrast; بابل also carries an interesting (and potentially distracting) positive resonance via Cyrus’s historical overthrow of Babylon, which must be distinguished from this symbolic usage. |
| no temple (God/Lamb are its temple) | ναός (οὐκ) | naos | هیکل (معبد) | High | New Heaven and New Earth; extends Intercession doctrine | 21 | Directly engages Iranian Shia shrine-pilgrimage devotion (haram/ziyarat); the final unmediated access to God through the Lamb should be taught as pastorally relevant to that devotional pattern. |
| revelation / apocalypse | ἀποκάλυψις | apokalypsis | مکاشفه | High | Symbolic and Apocalyptic Interpretation | 1 (book title) | Shares its root with Sufi “kashf” (mystical unveiling); must be taught as a unique, Christ-given, authoritative disclosure to John, not generic attainable mystical gnosis. |
| mystery | μυστήριον | mystērion | راز (اسرار) | Medium | Symbolic and Apocalyptic Interpretation | 1, 10, 17 | Pauline/apocalyptic sense (a previously hidden truth now revealed by God), not vague unknowability. |
| Armageddon | Ἁρμαγεδών | Harmagedōn | هارمگدون | High | Sovereignty of God over History; Symbolic and Apocalyptic Interpretation | 16 | Risk of direct real-time political mapping onto current Middle Eastern geopolitics; requires explicit apocalyptic-genre framing. |
| tree of life / water of life | ξύλον τῆς ζωῆς / ὕδωρ τῆς ζωῆς | xylon tēs zōēs / hydōr tēs zōēs | درخت زندگی / آب زندگی (حیات) | Medium | New Heaven and New Earth | 2, 21, 22 | Brackets the whole Bible’s Eden-to-new-creation arc; low independent collision, high thematic weight requiring consistent rendering. |
| the abyss / bottomless pit | ἄβυσσος | abyssos | چاه بیانتها (avoid هاویه as primary) | High | Sovereignty of God over History; Judgment of the Wicked | 9, 11, 17, 20 | هاویه is a specific Quranic proper name for a Hell-level (Quran 101:9); using it risks direct identification with that specific referent rather than a generic demonic prison. |
| virgins/chaste ones | παρθένοι | parthenoi | باکرهها / پاکان | High | The Church as Bride of Christ (figurative purity) | 14 | Same houri-imagery collision risk as the Bride entry; figurative moral faithfulness of the whole redeemed community, not an individual reward. |
| I am coming soon / Come, Lord Jesus | ἔρχομαι ταχύ / ἔρχου κύριε Ἰησοῦ | erchomai tachy / erchou kyrie Iēsou | بهزودی میآیم / بیا ای خداوند عیسی | Critical | Return and Reign of Christ; Assurance of God’s Final Victory over Evil | 22 | Book’s devotional climax; must reuse خداوند/عیسی exactly per baseline, with the same consistency mandate the baseline applies to Romans 10:9. |
Cross-Reference Summary: New Critical-Risk Terms Requiring Mandatory Theologian Review
| Term | Persian | Primary passages |
|---|---|---|
| Lamb | بره | 5, 6, 7, 12-15, 17, 19, 21, 22 |
| worship (of Lamb/beast) | پرستش | 4-5, 13, 14, 19, 22 |
| Alpha and Omega | آلفا و اومگا | 1:8; 21:6; 22:13 |
| King of kings and Lord of lords | شاه شاهان و خداوند خداوندان | 17:14; 19:16 |
| the Word of God | کلمه خدا | 19:13 |
| dragon | اژدها | 12, 13, 16, 20 |
| Satan / the Devil | شیطان / ابلیس | 2, 12, 20 |
| the beast | وحش | 11, 13-20 |
| false prophet | پیامبر دروغین | 16, 19, 20 |
| second death | مرگ دوم | 2:11; 20:6,14; 21:8 |
| the book of life | کتاب زندگی | 3, 13, 17, 20, 21 |
| the first resurrection | قیامت اول | 20:5-6 |
| testimony / witness (martyr sense) | شهادت / شاهد | 1, 2, 6, 11, 12, 17, 20 |
| new Jerusalem | اورشلیم جدید | 3, 21 |
| the Bride | عروس | 19, 21, 22 |
| Come, Lord Jesus | بیا ای خداوند عیسی | 22:20 |
All entries in this table, together with every Critical/High entry inherited unchanged from the baseline (Section 1), must route to human theologian review per the escalation rules that will be encoded in the Revelation-specific doctrine_risk_registry.json (Phase 1, subsequent step).
This glossary must be loaded together with analysis/07_semantic_analysis.md and the baseline Romans Language Package artifacts (translation_memory.json, bible_term_registry.json, doctrine_risk_registry.json) before any Phase 2 translation work on the Revelation curriculum begins.
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. Khoda is native pre-Islamic Persian, used across Zoroastrian, Christian, Muslim traditions; risk is entirely in content (tawhid vs. Trinity). Recurs constantly throughout Revelation’s throne-room visions (ch. 4-5, 7, 19-22); every occurrence must retain the personal, relational sense, never an impersonal ultimate reality.
Jesus
Approved rendering: عیسی
Transliteration: Isa
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. No naming controversy in Persian; risk is entirely in content (Quranic prophet-only, non-crucified, non-divine narrative). Recurs at Revelation 1:1,5,9; 12:17; 14:12; 17:6; 19:10; 22:16,20-21, with special weight at the closing prayer 22:20 (‘Come, Lord Jesus’), which must reuse this exact rendering with the same non-negotiable priority the baseline assigns to Romans 10:9.
Lord
Approved rendering: خداوند
Transliteration: Khodavand
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: سرور
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Native pre-Islamic word; collision is with tawhid’s exclusive-Lordship objection, not a borrowed Quranic title. Recurs at Revelation 1:8; 4:8,11; 11:15; 19:16; 22:20-21; must retain exclusive, supreme sense at every occurrence, especially the superlative compound at 19:16 (see king_of_kings).
Messiah
Approved rendering: مسیح
Transliteration: Masih
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Original: Χριστός
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Shia displacement risk (Hidden Twelfth Imam/Mahdi as primary eschatological deliverer) intensifies in Revelation’s own return-of-Christ visions. Occurs at 1:1,5; 11:15; 12:10; 20:4,6; must actively assert Christ’s own primary, sufficient reign at every occurrence, not a secondary or supporting role.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: روحالقدس
Transliteration: Ruh-ol-Qods
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον / τὸ Πνεῦμα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Identical Quranic phrase and Jibril/Gabriel tafsir identification risk applies. Recurs in the sevenfold refrain ‘let the one who has an ear hear what the Spirit says to the churches’ (ch. 2-3) and at 14:13; 22:17; the created-being-versus-divine-Person distinction must be maintained at each occurrence.
Father
Approved rendering: پدر
Transliteration: pedar
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Same tawhid-anthropomorphism objection as baseline. Occurs at Revelation 1:6; 2:28; 3:5,21; 14:1.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: پسر خدا
Transliteration: pesar-e khoda
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: برگزیده خدا
Original: ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Reserved exclusively for Christ’s unique divine Sonship (Revelation 2:18). The forbidden-substitution rule (never برگزیده خدا) applies without exception, and this compound must NEVER be used for believers’ derived sonship at 21:7 — see sonship_of_believers below.
Salvation
Approved rendering: نجات
Transliteration: nejat
Doctrine: Salvation
Original: σωτηρία
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Occurs at 7:10; 12:10; 19:1; must remain distinguished from the Karbala/Hussein martyrdom-intercession pattern, now reinforced by Revelation’s own martyr-testimony vocabulary (see testimony_witness).
Resurrection
Approved rendering: قیامت
Transliteration: qiyamat
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Original: ἀνάστασις
Category: Eschatology
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Revelation adds a staged ‘first resurrection’ complication not present in baseline Romans usage — see first_resurrection below. Also underlies 20:5-6.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: عدالت
Transliteration: edalat
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: پارسایی
Original: δικαιοσύνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Occurs at 19:8,11; 22:11; must never collapse into پارسایی (Zoroastrian-inflected piety), consistent with the baseline forbidden-substitution rule.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: عدالت محسوبشده
Transliteration: edalat-e mahsub-shode
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: عدالت کسبشده
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Must be taught alongside the white_robes image at 7:14, where the robes’ whiteness is credited through the Lamb’s blood, never self-achieved.
Adoption
Approved rendering: فرزندخواندگی
Transliteration: farzand-khandegi
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: سرپرستی
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Consummated in Revelation 21:7’s inheritance promise (κληρονομήσει); Iranian civil/religious law’s سرپرستی (custodianship, denying full inheritance) remains the rejected default this doctrine must be taught against — see sonship_of_believers below for the accompanying لغوی distinction.
Intercession
Approved rendering: شفاعت
Transliteration: shafa’at
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Original: (implicit: the saints’ prayers ascending, contrasted with the accuser)
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Directly relevant at 8:3-4 (prayers of the saints) and 12:10 (the accuser overcome); reinforced by the absence of any mediating temple (21:22) — see no_temple below.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: تجسد
Transliteration: tajassod
Doctrine: Incarnation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Consummated in Revelation’s final unmediated dwelling (7:15; 21:3, see tabernacle_dwell) and echoed at 19:13 (the Word of God); the Zoroastrian Amesha Spentas emanation risk applies with added force to this final consummation.
Lamb
Approved rendering: بره
Transliteration: barreh
Doctrine: Worship of the Lamb
Original: ἀρνίον
Category: Christology
NEW TERM. Christ’s dominant title in Revelation (~29 occurrences, ch. 5, 6, 7, 12-15, 17, 19, 21, 22); render identically throughout. Superficial parallel with Eid al-Ghorban/Qorbani’s substitute ram (a one-time commemorative ritual of Ibrahim’s obedience) risks flattening this into ritual commemoration; must be taught as a unique, once-for-all atoning sacrifice now enthroned and worshipped as divine.
Worship
Approved rendering: پرستش (کردن)
Transliteration: parastesh (kardan)
Doctrine: Worship of the Lamb
Original: προσκυνέω
Category: Worship
NEW TERM. Must be rendered with the identical Persian verb in every context — worship of God, of the Lamb, and false worship of the beast/idols (ch. 4-5, 7, 13, 14, 19, 22) — so the book’s central either/or loyalty test remains visible; direct extension of the Deity of Christ doctrine.
Alpha And Omega
Approved rendering: آلفا و اومگا (ابتدا و انتها)
Transliteration: Alfa va Omega (ebteda va enteha)
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: Ἄλφα καὶ τὸ Ὦ, ἡ ἀρχὴ καὶ τὸ τέλος
Category: Christology
NEW TERM. Identical title applied to both Father (1:8; 21:6) and Son (22:13) — a co-equality claim. Persian’s own first/last letters (ا/ی) do not map; transliterate and always pair with the explanatory gloss ابتدا و انتها already present in the Greek text. Must be rendered identically at all three occurrences.
King Of Kings
Approved rendering: شاه شاهان و خداوند خداوندان
Transliteration: Shah-e Shahan va Khodavand-e Khodavandan
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: βασιλεὺς βασιλέων καὶ κύριος κυρίων
Category: Christology
NEW TERM. Superlative extension of خداوند (Lord); occurs at 17:14; 19:16. Must not be softened to a merely honorific title; must assert supremacy over every rival authority claim, including Iran’s own supreme religious-political authority structure.
Word Of God
Approved rendering: کلمه خدا
Transliteration: Kalame-ye Khoda
Doctrine: Incarnation
Rejected alternatives: لوگوس (transliteration, rejected)
Original: ὁ Λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ
Category: Christology
NEW TERM. Must match the established Persian Christian rendering of John 1:1/1:14’s Logos (کلمه) so this title at 19:13 is recognized as identical to that foundational Incarnation text, not a separate or lesser title.
Dragon
Approved rendering: اژدها
Transliteration: ajdaha
Doctrine: Assurance of God’s Final Victory over Evil
Original: δράκων
Category: Satanology
NEW TERM. Derives directly from Zoroastrian ‘Aži Dahāka’ (Shahnameh’s Zahhāk). Occurs at 12, 13, 16, 20. The in-text identification (‘that ancient serpent…the Devil and Satan,’ 12:9) must always accompany this term, never left to stand alone, so the Zoroastrian tyrant-narrative does not silently substitute for the Genesis-serpent identification.
Satan Devil
Approved rendering: شیطان / ابلیس
Transliteration: Sheytan / Eblis
Doctrine: Assurance of God’s Final Victory over Evil
Rejected alternatives: ابلیس used as a standalone, unqualified title
Original: ὁ Σατανᾶς / ὁ Διάβολος
Category: Satanology
NEW TERM. شیطان is safe, shared Quranic vocabulary; ابلیس carries the specific Quranic Adam-prostration-refusal backstory (Quran 7:11-18; 38:71-85), a different founding narrative from Genesis 3. Occurs at ch. 2, 12, 20. The biblical identification (Genesis serpent = accuser = adversary, explicit at 12:9) must always accompany either title.
Beast
Approved rendering: وحش
Transliteration: vahsh
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Rejected alternatives: دجال (Dajjal, rejected as a translation/loan-substitute)
Original: τὸ θηρίον
Category: Satanology
NEW TERM. Occurs at ch. 11, 13-20. High risk of syncretistic merging with the Sunni/Shia Dajjal or Shia-specific Sufyani figures, reinforcing the Mahdi-centered eschatology concern. Must be taught as this text’s own distinct, sufficient antagonist, defeated by Christ’s own return, not requiring a Mahdi’s intervention.
False Prophet
Approved rendering: پیامبر دروغین
Transliteration: payambar-e doroghin
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Original: ὁ ψευδοπροφήτης
Category: Satanology
NEW TERM. Occurs at 16, 19, 20. Compounds the beast-family Dajjal/Sufyani risk with the baseline’s own High-risk ‘prophet’ finality-of-prophethood sensitivity; must be taught as a specific future/symbolic figure, never a polemic against any historical prophet.
Second Death
Approved rendering: مرگ دوم
Transliteration: marg-e dovom
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Original: ὁ θάνατος ὁ δεύτερος
Category: Eschatology
NEW TERM. Occurs at 2:11; 20:6,14; 21:8. No ready-made category exists in Islamic or Zoroastrian eschatology (both assume a single death followed by eternal reward/punishment). Must be explicitly defined at its first occurrence (2:11) as final, relational separation from God, distinct from ordinary bodily death (مرگ) and not flattened into generic دوزخ/جهنم.
Book Of Life
Approved rendering: کتاب زندگی (حیات)
Transliteration: ketab-e zendegi (hayat)
Doctrine: Assurance of Salvation
Original: τὸ βιβλίον τῆς ζωῆς
Category: Eschatology
NEW TERM. Occurs at 3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 20:12,15; 21:27. Collides with the Islamic individual deed-record book (Quran 17:13-14; 18:49), reinforcing the mizan deeds-weighing framework already Critical in the baseline. Must be taught as a grace-based register of those given life through faith in the Lamb, categorically distinct from a deeds ledger, at every occurrence.
First Resurrection
Approved rendering: قیامت اول
Transliteration: qiyamat-e avval
Doctrine: Return and Reign of Christ
Original: ἡ ἀνάστασις ἡ πρώτη
Category: Eschatology
NEW TERM. Occurs at 20:4-6. Mainstream Islamic eschatology (Sunni and Shia) expects a single, unified Qiyamah, not a staged two-part resurrection; must be taught as this text’s own distinct structure without implying two separate Islamic-technical-sense Qiyamahs, and without collapsing the text’s own first-resurrection/general-resurrection distinction (20:12-13).
Testimony Witness
Approved rendering: شهادت / شاهد
Transliteration: shahadat / shahed
Doctrine: Perseverance and Faithful Witness under Persecution
Original: μαρτυρία / μάρτυς
Category: Faith
NEW TERM — SINGLE HIGHEST-RISK NEW TERM IN THIS CURRICULUM. Occurs at 1:2,5,9; 2:13; 6:9; 11:3,7; 12:11,17; 17:6; 20:4. شهادت is the exact vocabulary of Twelver Shia martyrdom theology, central to the Muharram/Karbala devotional complex (baseline Critical ‘salvation’ note). Must be taught as testimony to Christ’s own finished, sufficient work — never as intercessory/redemptive merit generated by the martyr’s own suffering — at EVERY occurrence, not only on first introduction.
Two Witnesses
Approved rendering: دو شاهد
Transliteration: do shahed
Doctrine: Perseverance and Faithful Witness under Persecution
Original: οἱ δύο μάρτυρες
Category: Faith
NEW TERM. Occurs at ch. 11. Carries the same μάρτυς/شهادت Critical risk established for testimony_witness above, now narratively concretized in a compressed enactment of witness-death-vindication.
Souls Of The Slain
Approved rendering: جانهای کشتهشدگان
Transliteration: jan-haye koshte-shodegan
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Original: αἱ ψυχαὶ τῶν ἐσφαγμένων
Category: Eschatology
NEW TERM. Occurs at 6:9-11. Extends the testimony_witness Critical risk; reinforce that their vindication comes from God’s own justice, not from their deaths having independent atoning/intercessory merit for others.
New Jerusalem
Approved rendering: اورشلیم جدید
Transliteration: Ourshalim-e jadid
Doctrine: The New Heaven and New Earth
Original: Ἰερουσαλὴμ καινή
Category: Eschatology
NEW TERM. Occurs at ch. 3, 21, 22 (core passage context 21:2). Direct collision with Iran’s state-sponsored, politically loaded ‘Quds Day’ (روز قدس). The heavenly, God-descended, non-territorial nature must be repeatedly and explicitly distinguished from that political register, using a disambiguating clause (e.g. ‘شهری که خدا خود از آسمان نازل میکند’) at every occurrence, not the bare title alone.
Bride
Approved rendering: عروس
Transliteration: arus
Doctrine: The Church as Bride of Christ
Original: ἡ νύμφη
Category: Church
NEW TERM. Occurs at 19, 21, 22 (core passage context 21:2,9). Risk of assimilation into the Quranic ḥūr (houri) individual-reward imagery (Quran 44:54; 52:20). Must never stand alone in a doctrinal passage; always attach the corporate referent explicitly (‘عروس، یعنی کلیسا’).
Marriage Of The Lamb
Approved rendering: عروسی بره
Transliteration: arusi-ye barreh
Doctrine: The Church as Bride of Christ
Original: ὁ γάμος τοῦ ἀρνίου
Category: Church
NEW TERM. Occurs at 19:6-9. The houri-imagery collision risk applies with added force here since the explicit wedding-framing intensifies the individual-reward misreading; must be taught as the whole corporate Church’s covenantal union with Christ, never an individual sensual reward.
Coming Soon
Approved rendering: بهزودی میآیم / بیا ای خداوند عیسی
Transliteration: be-zudi mi-ayam / Bia ey Khodavand Isa
Doctrine: The Return and Reign of Christ
Rejected alternatives: ظهور میکنم (for Christ’s return, rejected — reserved for the Twelfth Imam’s technical reappearance)
Original: ἔρχομαι ταχύ / Ἀμήν, ἔρχου κύριε Ἰησοῦ
Category: Eschatology
NEW TERM. Occurs at 22:7,12,17,20. Book’s devotional climax; must reuse خداوند/عیسی exactly per this file, with the same consistency mandate the baseline applies to Romans 10:9. Must be taught pastorally regarding the nearly two-thousand-year interval, as hope for a persecuted house-church readership, not primarily a chronological prediction.
Sonship Of Believers
Approved rendering: فرزند
Transliteration: farzand
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: پسر خدا (forbidden — reserved exclusively for Christ’s unique divine Sonship)
Original: υἱός (Rev 21:7, of the overcomer)
Category: Salvation
NEW TERM. Occurs at 21:7 (of the overcomer). Must use فرزند (gender-neutral child/offspring, adoptive sense), NEVER the reserved compound پسر خدا. This is the highest-precision single-verse lexical requirement in the curriculum: reusing پسر خدا here would directly contradict the baseline’s forbidden-substitution rule and confuse believers’ derived, adoptive sonship with Christ’s unique ontological Sonship.
Return Of Christ
Approved rendering: بازگشت پرجلال مسیح
Transliteration: bazgasht-e por-jalal-e Masih
Doctrine: The Return and Reign of Christ
Rejected alternatives: ظهور مسیح (rejected — ظهور is the fixed technical term for the Twelfth Imam’s reappearance)
NEW TERM. Standardized descriptive phrase for Christ’s parousia (1:7; 19:11-16; 22:7,12,20), used in teaching commentary alongside coming_soon/king_of_kings. Never use ظهور for Christ’s return; always attach a specific title (خداوند، شاه شاهان) so the returning figure is unambiguously Christ, not read as a placeholder awaiting the Mahdi.
High Risk Terms
Saints
Approved rendering: مقدسین
Transliteration: moqaddasin
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Original: ἅγιοι
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package (risk level elevated to High for this curriculum per Revelation-specific bible_term_registry.json, given the prominence of the saints’ prayers and endurance under persecution). Recurs at 5:8; 8:3-4; 11:18; 13:7,10; 14:12; 16:6; 17:6; 18:24; 19:8; 20:9; must not be read through the shrine-veneration/intercessory-saint lens of popular Shia piety.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: تقدیس
Transliteration: taqdis
Doctrine: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Extended in Revelation by repentance (توبه) vocabulary across ch. 2-3, 9, 16 — see repentance entry below.
Church
Approved rendering: کلیسا
Transliteration: kelisa
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: امت
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Occurs throughout ch. 1-3 (seven churches) and 22:16; must be taught with the underground house-church reality in view, since Revelation’s letters are themselves addressed to persecuted congregations.
Faith
Approved rendering: ایمان
Transliteration: iman
Doctrine: Faith
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Occurs at 2:13,19; 13:10; 14:12; must retain the personal-trust sense, distinguished from Shia iman’s Imamate-succession article, now under the added pressure of martyrdom.
Grace
Approved rendering: فیض
Transliteration: feyz
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: لطف
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Occurs at 1:4; 22:21; the δωρεάν (‘freely,’ 21:6) free-gift language directly extends the baseline’s caution against فیض collapsing into an impersonal metaphysical emanation (Illuminationist/Mulla Sadra loading) — this ‘freely given’ water of life is the exact antidote.
Election
Approved rendering: برگزیدگی خدا
Transliteration: bargozidegi-ye khoda
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Original: κλητοὶ καὶ ἐκλεκτοὶ καὶ πιστοί
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Occurs at Revelation 17:14 (‘called, chosen, faithful’); the Shia Imamate-succession bridge/risk noted in the baseline applies equally here.
Prophet
Approved rendering: پیامبر
Transliteration: payambar
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Original: προφήτης
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Occurs at 10:7; 11:10,18; 16:6; 18:20,24; 22:6,9; the finality-of-prophethood sensitivity is heightened in Revelation by the direct contrast with false_prophet below.
Israel
Approved rendering: اسرائیل
Transliteration: Esra’il
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Original: Ἰσραήλ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Occurs at 2:14; 7:4; 21:12; Iran’s officially propagandized anti-Israel stance requires deliberate pastoral framing, now applied to the New Jerusalem’s gate-naming.
Sin
Approved rendering: گناه
Transliteration: gonah
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Underlies judgment vocabulary throughout Revelation (e.g. 1:5, ‘freed us from our sins by his blood’); the fitrah/Chinvat Bridge deeds-weighing default applies with equal force here.
Gospel
Approved rendering: انجیل
Transliteration: Injil
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: مژده
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Extended in Revelation by the ‘eternal gospel’ qualifier at 14:6 — see eternal_gospel below, which reinforces the tahrif/naskh concern already flagged in the baseline.
Faithful And True
Approved rendering: امین و حق
Transliteration: Amin va Haqq
Doctrine: Return and Reign of Christ
Original: πιστὸς καὶ ἀληθινός
Category: Christology
NEW TERM. Occurs at 3:14; 19:11; 21:5. امین shares root vocabulary with Islamic ‘al-Amin,’ a title of Muhammad before his prophetic call; low practical risk since context disambiguates, but flag translator awareness especially at 19:11 where it functions as a standalone title for Christ.
Tabernacle Dwell
Approved rendering: خیمهگاه / ساکن شدن
Transliteration: kheyme-gah / saken shodan
Doctrine: New Heaven and New Earth
Original: σκηνή / σκηνώσει
Category: Eschatology
NEW TERM. Same verb root as John 1:14’s ‘the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.’ Occurs at 7:15 and 21:3; must be actively cross-referenced to تجسد (Incarnation) so this is read as the specific consummation of the Incarnation, not generic divine ‘presence.‘
Mark Of The Beast
Approved rendering: نشان (وحش)
Transliteration: neshan-e vahsh
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Original: χάραγμα
Category: Satanology
NEW TERM. Occurs at 13, 14, 16, 19, 20. Must be visibly distinguished in Persian vocabulary from مهرشدگان (God’s seal, ch. 7) so the deliberate literary contrast between the two marks is preserved.
Number Of The Beast
Approved rendering: عدد او… ۶۶۶
Transliteration: adad-e u… shesh-sad-o-shast-o-shesh
Doctrine: Symbolic and Apocalyptic Interpretation
Original: ὁ ἀριθμὸς αὐτοῦ…χξς
Category: Symbolic Interpretation
NEW TERM. Occurs at 13:18. Must be explicitly taught as symbolic/apocalyptic, requiring ‘wisdom’ to interpret, not a literal cipher to be matched against contemporary individuals or Iranian political figures. Retain the numeral; never spell out or paraphrase.
Lake Of Fire
Approved rendering: دریاچه آتش (و گوگرد)
Transliteration: daryache-ye atash (va gogerd)
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Original: ἡ λίμνη τοῦ πυρὸς καὶ θείου
Category: Eschatology
NEW TERM. Occurs at 19:20; 20:10,14-15; 21:8. Partial structural parallel to Zoroastrianism’s own molten-metal ordeal/Chinvat Bridge motif (baseline Critical ‘sin’ note); must be taught as Christ’s own personal, forensic judgment, not folded into that pre-existing framework.
Overcomer
Approved rendering: غالب
Transliteration: ghaleb
Doctrine: Perseverance and Faithful Witness under Persecution
Original: ὁ νικῶν
Category: Faith
NEW TERM. Occurs at ch. 2-3 (refrain closing all seven letters), 12, 21:7. Persian-Islamic revolutionary-state ‘victory’ rhetoric (پیروزی/غلبه) risks reading this as political or militant conquest; must always be taught, and preferably paired in commentary, with پایداری/ایمان (steadfastness/faith) as faithful perseverance, not violent triumph.
Repentance
Approved rendering: توبه
Transliteration: towbe
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: μετάνοια
Category: Sanctification
NEW TERM. Occurs in ch. 2-3, 9, 16. توبه (tawbah) is broadly compatible Islamic vocabulary but often associated with a fresh start achieved through the penitent’s own sincerity/effort; must be consistently reinforced as a Spirit-enabled response to grace (فیض), not a self-generated meritorious act restoring standing.
Great Prostitute Babylon
Approved rendering: فاحشه بزرگ / بابل
Transliteration: fahesheh-ye bozorg / Babel
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Original: ἡ πόρνη ἡ μεγάλη / Βαβυλών
Category: Symbolic Interpretation
NEW TERM. Occurs at 14, 16, 17, 18, 19. The deliberate literary opposite of the Bride; this contrast must be preserved. بابل also carries a distracting positive resonance in Iranian national memory via Cyrus the Great’s historical overthrow of Babylon (Isaiah 44-45); must be explicitly distinguished from Revelation’s symbolic end-time usage.
No Temple
Approved rendering: هیکل (معبد)
Transliteration: heykal (ma’bad)
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Original: ναός (οὐκ εἶδον)
Category: Church
NEW TERM. Occurs at 21:22. Directly engages Iranian Shia shrine-pilgrimage devotion (ziyarat to the Imams’ shrines and to Karbala/Najaf) as the primary lived locus of seeking mediated access to God. The absence of a temple must be taught as direct, unmediated access to God through the Lamb, pastorally relevant to that devotional pattern, not merely an architectural detail.
Revelation Apocalypse
Approved rendering: مکاشفه
Transliteration: mokashefeh
Doctrine: Symbolic and Apocalyptic Interpretation
Original: ἀποκάλυψις
Category: Symbolic Interpretation
NEW TERM. The book’s own title (1:1). Shares its root with Sufi ‘kashf’ (mystical unveiling), a prestigious, popularly attainable category; must be taught as a unique, Christ-given, authoritative disclosure to John alone, not generic mystical gnosis any adept might access.
Armageddon
Approved rendering: هارمگدون
Transliteration: Harmagedon
Doctrine: Symbolic and Apocalyptic Interpretation
Original: Ἁρμαγεδών
Category: Symbolic Interpretation
NEW TERM. Occurs at 16:16. Given Iran’s live geopolitical tensions, requires explicit teaching that Revelation’s symbolic/apocalyptic genre cautions against direct real-time political mapping onto current Middle East conflicts or Iranian political figures.
Abyss
Approved rendering: چاه بیانتها
Transliteration: chah-e bi-enteha
Doctrine: Sovereignty of God over History
Rejected alternatives: هاویه
Original: ἄβυσσος
Category: Satanology
NEW TERM. Occurs at 9, 11, 17, 20. هاویه is a specific Quranic proper name for a Hell-level (Quran 101:9), not a generic term for ‘abyss’; using it risks direct identification with that specific referent. چاه بیانتها is the primary rendering; هاویه must be avoided or used only with an explicit clarifying note.
Virgins Chaste
Approved rendering: باکرهها / پاکان
Transliteration: bakereh-ha / pakan
Doctrine: The Church as Bride of Christ
Original: παρθένοι
Category: Church
NEW TERM. Occurs at 14:4. Same houri-imagery collision risk as bride; must be taught as figurative moral faithfulness of the whole redeemed community (both men and women), not a reward of virgin companions granted to righteous men.
Seal Divine
Approved rendering: مهر / مهرشدگان
Transliteration: mohr / mohr-shodegan
Doctrine: Sovereignty of God over History
Original: σφραγίς / σφραγίζω / ἐσφραγισμένοι
Category: Eschatology
NEW TERM. Two related but distinct uses: scroll-seals (ch. 5-8) and personal sealing of the 144,000 (ch. 7). Must be visibly distinguished in Persian vocabulary from نشان (وحش) (mark of the beast, ch. 13) as its positive counter-image.
Lion Of Judah Root Of David
Approved rendering: شیر… ریشه داوود
Transliteration: Shir… Rishe-ye Davud
Doctrine: The Return and Reign of Christ
Original: ὁ λέων ἐκ τῆς φυλῆς Ἰούδα, ἡ ῥίζα Δαυίδ
Category: Christology
NEW TERM. Occurs at 5:5. The juxtaposition of conquering-Lion Messianic titles with the immediately following slain-Lamb image must not be separated or softened in translation, since this reversal (victory through sacrifice, not violent conquest) must displace, not confirm, any militant-Mahdi-style deliverer expectation.
White Robes
Approved rendering: ردای سفید
Transliteration: reda-ye sefid
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Original: στολαὶ λευκαί
Category: Salvation
NEW TERM. Occurs at 6:11; 7:9,13-14. Must be taught alongside عدالت محسوبشده (imputed righteousness) so the whiteness is understood as credited through the Lamb’s blood, not self-achieved by the wearer’s own deeds.
Great Multitude Every Nation
Approved rendering: جمعیت عظیم… از هر ملت
Transliteration: jam’iyat-e azim… az har mellat
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Original: ὄχλος πολύς ἐκ παντὸς ἔθνους
Category: Church
NEW TERM. Occurs at 7:9. Extends the baseline Unity of Jews and Gentiles doctrine; must retain full inclusive force without flattening genuine ethnic/national distinction into uniformity.
Prayers Of The Saints
Approved rendering: دعاهای مقدسین
Transliteration: do’a-haye moqaddasin
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Original: αἱ προσευχαὶ τῶν ἁγίων
Category: Faith
NEW TERM. Occurs at 5:8; 8:3-4. Must not be read through the shrine-intercession lens as though the saints themselves function as intercessors analogous to venerated Imams — it is their own prayers, offered directly to God, that are in view.
Key Of David
Approved rendering: کلید داوود
Transliteration: kelid-e Davud
Doctrine: The Return and Reign of Christ
Original: ἡ κλεὶς τοῦ Δαυίδ
Category: Covenant
NEW TERM. Occurs at 3:7. Christ’s exclusive Messianic authority to grant or deny entrance into God’s kingdom (Isaiah 22:22); Davud is a positively-regarded Quranic figure but without this covenant-key/Messianic-authority typology, which must be taught, not assumed.
Eternal Gospel
Approved rendering: انجیل ابدی
Transliteration: Injil-e abadi
Doctrine: Gospel
Original: εὐαγγέλιον αἰώνιον
Category: Salvation
NEW TERM. Occurs at 14:6. Extends the baseline انجیل High-risk doctrine and its tahrif/naskh concerns; ‘eternal’ should be actively taught as excluding any later-superseding-revelation framework.
Medium Risk Terms
Holy
Approved rendering: مقدس
Transliteration: moqaddas
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Occurs at 3:7; 4:8; 6:10; 21:2,10; 22:11,19; retains the baseline’s moral-relational, not ritual-purity, sense.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: ملکوت خدا
Transliteration: malakut-e khoda
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ / ἡ βασιλεία
Category: Kingdom
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Occurs at 1:9; 11:15; 12:10; must be taught as certain future consummation, not a present political claim, given Iran’s own explicitly religious-political governing structure (Velayat-e Faqih).
Glory
Approved rendering: جلال
Transliteration: jalal
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: δόξα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Occurs at 1:6; 4:9,11; 5:12-13; 7:12; 19:1,7; 21:11,23-24,26; when paired with بره (Lamb) at 21:23 the compound becomes doctrinally load-bearing and should be flagged for theologian review per the Deity-of-Christ escalation rule.
Covenant
Approved rendering: عهد
Transliteration: ‘ahd
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: διαθήκη
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Occurs at 11:19 (ark of the covenant) and 21:3,7 (covenant formula renewed).
David
Approved rendering: داوود
Transliteration: Davud
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: Δαυίδ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Occurs at 3:7; 5:5; 22:16; supply the covenant-king typology explicitly for key_of_david and lion_of_judah_root_of_david below.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: غیریهودیان
Transliteration: gheyr-yahudian
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: امتها
Original: ἔθνη
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. In Revelation the broader ‘nations’ sense (ἔθνη) also uses ملتها (never امتها) at 2:26; 7:9; 11:2,18; 12:5; 14:6,8; 15:3-4; 18:3,23; 19:15; 20:3,8; 21:24,26; 22:2.
Peace
Approved rendering: سلام
Transliteration: salam
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: آرامش
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Occurs in the book’s opening greeting (1:4); never use آرامش.
Providence
Approved rendering: تدبیر الهی
Transliteration: tadbir-e elahi
Doctrine: Providence
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Underlies the Sovereignty of God over History doctrine (ch. 4-6, 11:15, 17:17); keep distinct from Sunni qadar-fatalism and from Iran’s own Velayat-e Faqih political-religious governance register.
Accuser
Approved rendering: متهمکننده / مدعی
Transliteration: mottaham-konande / modda’i
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Original: ὁ κατήγορος
Category: Satanology
NEW TERM. Occurs at 12:10. A natural rhetorical foil to شفاعت (intercession); useful for teaching Assurance of God’s Final Victory, since the accuser is explicitly overcome (12:11).
Great White Throne
Approved rendering: تخت بزرگ سفید
Transliteration: takht-e bozorg-e sefid
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Original: ὁ θρόνος ὁ μέγας ὁ λευκός
Category: Eschatology
NEW TERM. Occurs at 20:11-15. White here signals the purity/holiness of the judgment itself; distinguish from the white-robe imagery of ch. 6-7 (white_robes below), a related but distinct symbolic use.
Millennium
Approved rendering: هزار سال / هزاره
Transliteration: hezar sal / hezare
Doctrine: Return and Reign of Christ
Original: χίλια ἔτη
Category: Eschatology
NEW TERM. Occurs at 20:1-6. The Persian rendering itself is straightforward; avoid letting the phrasing silently commit the translation to one specific millennial scheme (pre-, post-, a-millennial) where the source text’s own ambiguity should be preserved for teaching purposes.
Great Tribulation
Approved rendering: مصیبت (تنگی) عظیم
Transliteration: mosibat (tangi)-e azim
Doctrine: Perseverance and Faithful Witness under Persecution
Original: ἡ θλῖψις ἡ μεγάλη
Category: Eschatology
NEW TERM. Occurs at 7:14. Loosely analogous to the Islamic apocalyptic ‘fitna’ (great trial preceding the end); keep rooted in this text’s specific referent.
Cowardly
Approved rendering: ترسو
Transliteration: tarsu
Doctrine: Perseverance and Faithful Witness under Persecution
Original: δειλοί
Category: Sin
NEW TERM. Occurs at 21:8. Requires pastoral sensitivity given the genuine present-day legal danger of exposure for underground house-church believers; condemns faith-denying apostasy under pressure, not legitimate caution.
Mystery
Approved rendering: راز (اسرار)
Transliteration: raz (asrar)
Doctrine: Symbolic and Apocalyptic Interpretation
Original: μυστήριον
Category: Symbolic Interpretation
NEW TERM. Occurs at 1:20; 10:7; 17:5,7. Must be taught in the Pauline/apocalyptic sense (a previously hidden truth now revealed by God), not the vaguer everyday sense of permanent unknowability.
Tree Of Life Water Of Life
Approved rendering: درخت زندگی / آب زندگی (حیات)
Transliteration: derakht-e zendegi / ab-e zendegi (hayat)
Doctrine: The New Heaven and New Earth
Original: τὸ ξύλον τῆς ζωῆς / τὸ ὕδωρ τῆς ζωῆς
Category: Eschatology
NEW TERM. Occurs at 2:7; 21:6; 22:1-2,14,17,19. Edenic restored-paradise imagery bracketing the whole Bible’s Eden-to-new-creation arc; low independent collision, high thematic weight requiring consistent rendering across all occurrences.
Kainos New
Approved rendering: جدید
Transliteration: jadid
Doctrine: The New Heaven and New Earth
Original: καινός
Category: Eschatology
NEW TERM. Must be rendered with the SAME Persian word every occurrence (new heaven/earth 21:1, new Jerusalem 21:2, all things new 21:5, new song 5:9/14:3, new name 2:17/3:12) since the book’s rhetorical force depends on the repetition being visible in translation. Persian جدید does not distinguish Greek kainos (‘new in kind’) from neos (‘new in time’); compensate through teaching commentary.
Throne
Approved rendering: تخت
Transliteration: takht
Doctrine: Sovereignty of God over History
Original: θρόνος
Category: God
NEW TERM. Occurs 40+ times, ch. 4-22. Must be consistently distinguished from any earthly political throne, given Iran’s own explicitly religious-political governing system (Velayat-e Faqih).
Twenty Four Elders
Approved rendering: بیست و چهار پیر
Transliteration: bist-o-chahar pir
Doctrine: Worship of the Lamb
Original: οἱ εἴκοσι τέσσαρες πρεσβύτεροι
Category: Church
NEW TERM. پیر in Persian religious register can evoke Sufi spiritual-master (pir) figures with their own devotional/authority structures; clarify at first occurrence this is a symbolic representative body, not an endorsement of any human spiritual-guide hierarchy.
Trisagion
Approved rendering: قدوس، قدوس، قدوس
Transliteration: Qoddus, Qoddus, Qoddus
Doctrine: Worship of the Lamb
Original: Ἅγιος ἅγιος ἅγιος
Category: Worship
NEW TERM. Occurs at 4:8. Reuses baseline مقدس root; the threefold liturgical form should be retained (not collapsed into ‘بسیار مقدس’) since the triple repetition is itself theologically significant.
Worthy
Approved rendering: شایسته
Transliteration: shayeste
Doctrine: Worship of the Lamb
Original: ἄξιος
Category: Worship
NEW TERM. Occurs at 4:11; 5:9,12. Must retain the causal link (‘worthy because he was slain,’ 5:9) so worship is seen as a response to accomplished redemption, not generic praise.
Blaspheme
Approved rendering: کفر گفتن / دشنام دادن به خدا
Transliteration: kofr goftan / doshnam dadan be khoda
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Original: βλασφημέω
Category: Sin
NEW TERM. Occurs at 16:9,11,21. کفر (kofr) is a heavily loaded Islamic legal-theological category (unbelief/apostasy) with serious social and legal consequences in Iran; prefer the fuller descriptive phrase دشنام دادن به خدا as the primary rendering to keep the sense anchored to defiant reviling rather than triggering the apostasy-adjacent legal register.
Song Of Moses And Lamb
Approved rendering: سرود موسی و سرود بره
Transliteration: sorud-e Musa va sorud-e barreh
Doctrine: Sovereignty of God over History
Original: ἡ ᾠδὴ Μωσέως…καὶ ἡ ᾠδὴ τοῦ ἀρνίου
Category: Worship
NEW TERM. Occurs at 15:3-4. Joins the Exodus deliverance song with the Lamb’s redemption song as one continuous redemptive story; should be taught as continuity, not two separate or competing covenants.
Gog And Magog
Approved rendering: جوج و ماجوج
Transliteration: Juj va Majuj
Doctrine: Assurance of God’s Final Victory over Evil
Rejected alternatives: یاجوج و ماجوج (Quranic spelling, rejected)
NEW TERM. Occurs at 20:8. Use the established Persian Bible-tradition transliteration, not the Quranic spelling (Quran 18:94; 21:96), to avoid importing that text’s distinct end-times narrative; flag with a clause distinguishing this text’s use from the Quranic Yajuj-Majuj apocalyptic narrative.
Winepress Of Wrath
Approved rendering: چرخشت خشم خدا
Transliteration: charkhosht-e khashm-e Khoda
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
NEW TERM. Occurs at 14:19-20. Vivid agricultural harvest-judgment imagery; translate concretely rather than abstractly to preserve rhetorical force.
Four Horsemen
Approved rendering: اسب سفید، سرخ، سیاه، زرد (کبود)
Transliteration: asb-e sefid, sorkh, siyah, zard (kabud)
Doctrine: Sovereignty of God over History
NEW TERM. Occurs at 6:1-8. Symbolic representations of conquest, war, famine, and death unleashed only as the Lamb opens the seals — must be taught as occurring under God’s own governance, not despite it, and not evidence of a rival power outside God’s control.
Low Risk Terms
Prophecy
Approved rendering: نبوت
Transliteration: nabovat
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Original: προφητεία
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. The book’s own self-designation as prophecy (1:3; 22:7,10,18-19) anchors the Inspiration and Authority of Prophecy doctrine.
Four Living Creatures
Approved rendering: چهار موجود زنده
Transliteration: chahar mojud-e zende
Doctrine: Worship of the Lamb
Original: τὰ τέσσαρα ζῷα
Category: Worship
NEW TERM. Ezekiel/Isaiah throne-vision imagery representing all creation’s worship of God; low independent collision risk.
New Song
Approved rendering: سرود جدید
Transliteration: sorud-e jadid
Doctrine: Worship of the Lamb
Original: ᾆσμα καινόν / ᾠδὴ καινή
Category: Worship
NEW TERM. Occurs at 5:9; 14:3. Keep the same Persian word for ‘new’ used throughout (see kainos_new).
Amen
Approved rendering: آمین
Transliteration: Amin
Doctrine: Worship of the Lamb
Original: ἀμήν
Category: Worship
NEW TERM entry for this file (already a fixed transliteration convention referenced in the baseline requirements doc). Occurs at 1:6-7; 3:14; 5:14; 7:12; 19:4; 22:20-21. Retain the fixed transliteration.
Hallelujah
Approved rendering: هللویاه
Transliteration: Hallelujah
Doctrine: Worship of the Lamb
Original: Ἁλληλουϊά
Category: Worship
NEW TERM entry for this file (already a fixed transliteration convention referenced in the baseline requirements doc). Occurs at 19:1,3,4,6. Retain the fixed transliteration; untranslated Hebrew liturgical exclamation.
Abaddon Apollyon
Approved rendering: آبادون / آپولیون (یعنی «نابودکننده»)
Transliteration: Abadon / Apollyon
Doctrine: Sovereignty of God over History
NEW TERM. Occurs at 9:11. Both names are proper names in the source text itself, which supplies its own translated meaning (‘Destroyer’); transliterate and retain the text’s own built-in gloss rather than substituting a native demon-name.
Trumpet
Approved rendering: شیپور / صور
Transliteration: shipur / sur
Doctrine: Sovereignty of God over History
NEW TERM. Occurs ch. 8-9 (seven trumpets). صور is also the Islamic eschatological term for the trumpet blown by the angel Israfil signaling Qiyamah — a genuine, largely helpful cross-cultural bridge concept, low risk.
Little Scroll
Approved rendering: طومار کوچک
Transliteration: tumar-e kuchak
Doctrine: Symbolic and Apocalyptic Interpretation
NEW TERM. Occurs at 10:2,9-10. Continuity with the scroll imagery running throughout the book (5:1; 20:12; 22:19).
No More Delay
Approved rendering: دیگر تأخیری نخواهد بود
Transliteration: digar ta’khiri nakhahad bud
Doctrine: Assurance of God’s Final Victory over Evil
NEW TERM. Occurs at 10:6. Must be rendered as ‘delay,’ not literally ‘time will no longer exist,’ to avoid a confusing cosmological claim.
Bowls Of Wrath
Approved rendering: جامهای خشم
Transliteration: jam-haye khashm
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
NEW TERM. Occurs at 15:1,7; ch. 16. The third and final judgment series, poured out completely, signaling the finality of divine judgment.
Referenced passages