Log in

or use your email

Search the Library

Keyword search across Doctrine Analysis, Core Glossary, Comparative Theology, and Regional Analysis. Mention a language name for the best results — e.g. "remnant burmese" or "what glossary terms conflict for burmese."

Type at least 2 characters to search.

Work with us

Tell us a bit about how you'd like to work with tri-bible.ai.

Stay informed Get our weekly newsletter. Never sold or shared, unsubscribe anytime.

Let us serve you Church leaders and ministry networks seeking translated curriculum Join our team Volunteers interested in reviewing translations
Download Translation Skill

Core Glossary

Core Glossary — 1 John | English → Polish

This glossary consolidates every load-bearing term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, spanning 1 John chapters 1–5. Terms already present in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json are marked [BASELINE REUSE] and MUST use the identical recorded Polish rendering; their risk tier is inherited unless this curriculum’s context materially elevates it, in which case both tiers are shown with justification. New terms introduced by this curriculum are assigned risk tiers using the same Critical/High/Medium/Low framework as the baseline.

Legend

  • Risk tiers: Critical > High > Medium > Low (per baseline doctrine_risk_registry.json definitions)
  • Doctrine key: GL = God is Light and God is Love · FEL = Fellowship with God and One Another · CFS = Confession and Forgiveness of Sin · LNB = Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth · INA = The Incarnation and Antichrist · ASE = Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life · OTW = Overcoming the World · TTS = Testing the Spirits · XTL = Christology (general) · GEN = general/supporting term
#English termGreek (transliteration)Polish renderingRiskDoctrineChaptersBaseline statusKey risk note / rejected alternatives
1Godθεός (theos)BógCriticalGL1–5[BASELINE REUSE]Standard; must remain the personal, Trinitarian God, not an impersonal “love-force” (see term 3).
2Jesus / ChristἸησοῦς Χριστός (Iēsous Christos)Jezus ChrystusCriticalXTL/INA1–5[BASELINE REUSE: Jezus]Standard forms; confession formulas (2:22–23; 4:2–3, 15) must retain full, unqualified force.
3Loveἀγάπη / ἀγαπάω (agapē / agapaō)miłość / miłowaćCriticalGL, LNB3–4 (core term)NewPolish miłość spans romantic, sentimental, and national-patriotic senses (cf. “Polak-katolik” fusion in baseline); must be anchored to Christ’s self-giving, cross-shaped love, not sentiment or national-religious feeling. Rejected: reducing to romantic/sentimental register.
4God is Lightφῶς (phōs), of God, 1:5światłoHighGL1NewMoral/relational purity and self-revealing transparency, not intellectual “enlightenment”; also counters proto-gnostic private “illumination” claims.
5Darknessσκότος / σκοτία (skotos / skotia)ciemność (mrok)MediumGL1–2NewMoral alienation/concealment of sin, not mere ignorance.
6Fellowshipκοινωνία (koinōnia)wspólnotaHigh (elevated from baseline Low)FEL1[BASELINE REUSE]Baseline warns against conflating with the creedal “świętych obcowanie”; here elevated because it is the letter’s central positive doctrine, grounded directly in relationship with Father and Son, not primarily institutional/intercessory Church membership.
7Sinἁμαρτία (hamartia)grzechCritical (elevated from baseline Medium)CFS1, 3, 5[BASELINE REUSE]Elevated due to (a) the letter’s tension between “no sin” claims (1:8–10) and the new-birth “does not sin” pattern (3:9, 5:18), and (b) risk of conflating “sin unto death” (5:16–17) with the mortal/venial sin (grzech śmiertelny/powszedni) framework.
8Confessὁμολογέω (homologeō)wyznawaćCriticalCFS, INA1, 2, 4NewTwo distinct senses (confessing sin, 1:9; confessing Christ’s identity, 4:2–3,15) share a verb-root identical to sacramental confession (spowiedź, “wyznanie grzechów”); each occurrence’s sense must be made explicit.
9Faithful and justπιστός καὶ δίκαιος (pistos kai dikaios)wierny i sprawiedliwyHighCFS1[BASELINE REUSE: sprawiedliwość/usprawiedliwienie root]Must retain forensic weight of sprawiedliwy; God’s forgiveness exercised justly on the ground of Christ’s atonement, not a waiving of justice.
10Cleanseκαθαρίζω (katharizō)oczyszczać / oczyścićMediumCFS1NewA completed divine act received by confession/faith, not an ongoing ritual-purificatory process (cf. baseline’s purgatory caution).
11Blood [of Jesus]αἷμα (haima)krewHighCFS1, 5NewMust retain full atoning-sacrificial force; risk of reduction to a merely symbolic/sentimental image.
12Walk (conduct)περιπατέω (peripateō)chodzić / postępowaćMediumFEL1NewStandard metaphor for lifestyle/conduct.
13Word of Lifeλόγος τῆς ζωῆς (logos tēs zōēs)Słowo życiaCriticalINA1NewSensory-eyewitness verbs (heard/seen/touched) affirm real, tangible incarnation against docetic denial; parallels wcielenie.
14Advocate / Paracleteπαράκλητος (paraklētos)Orędownik (alt. Rzecznik)CriticalCFS2NewDirectly parallels baseline’s Critical wstawiennictwo warning: Marian/saintly intercessory devotion (Częstochowa, “Totus Tuus”) must not displace Christ’s exclusive advocacy before the Father.
15Propitiation / atoning sacrificeἱλασμός (hilasmos)ofiara przebłagalnaCriticalCFS2, 4NewHighest-stakes new term: must be distinguished from the Mass’s re-presentation of Christ’s propitiatory sacrifice; here a completed, unrepeatable historical act.
16Know (relational)γινώσκω (ginōskō)poznać / znaćHighFEL, TTS1–4NewRelational/experiential knowledge inseparable from love and obedience, opposing proto-gnostic intellectual-only “knowledge” claims.
17Commandmentἐντολή (entolē)przykazanieHighLNB2–4 (core term)NewRisk of Decalogue-legalism association (Dziesięć Przykazań); 1 John’s ἐντολή is relational, Christ-derived, love-centered.
18Abide / remainμένω (menō)trwać / mieszkaHighFEL1–4 (core term)NewMutual, active, relational indwelling (God in believer AND believer in God), not passive “staying”; must be rendered consistently throughout.
19Worldκόσμος (kosmos)światHighOTW, GL2, 4–5NewMultivalent: loved-by-God-and-savable (4:9) vs. morally-opposed system to be resisted/overcome (2:15–17, 5:4–5); sense must be disambiguated per occurrence.
20Worldly desire triadἐπιθυμία τῆς σαρκός / τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν, ἀλαζονεία τοῦ βίουpożądliwość ciała, pożądliwość oczu, pycha życiaMediumOTW2NewStandard rendering; “pycha” as arrogant self-display, not mere self-respect.
21Antichristἀντίχριστος (antichristos)antychrystHighINA2, 4NewMust be anchored to the Christological denial-test (2:22–23; 4:2–3), not popular end-times/tyrant-figure speculation.
22Anointingχρῖσμα (chrisma)namaszczenieHighTTS2NewCollides with sacramental anointing (Anointing of the Sick, Confirmation chrismation/bierzmowanie); here the Spirit’s universal teaching-indwelling in every believer, not a specific sacramental rite.
23Truth / Lie / Liarἀλήθεια / ψεῦδος / ψεύστηςprawda / kłamstwo / kłamcaMedium / LowGEN1–2, 4–5NewStandard; ensure “prawda” is understood as revealed divine reality, not abstract philosophical truth.
24Last hourἐσχάτη ὥρα (eschatē hōra)ostatnia godzinaMediumINA2NewEschatological marker; present-age urgency, not a precise chronological calculation.
25Children of Godτέκνα θεοῦ (tekna theou)dzieci BożeHighLNB3NewBirth-derived kinship image, complementary to but distinct from baseline’s legal-adoption usynowienie; not conferred merely by sacramental infant baptism.
26Born / begotten of Godγεννάω (gennaō)narodzony / zrodzony z BogaCriticalLNB, ASE3–5 (core term)NewCollides with Catholic baptismal-regeneration framing (“nowe narodzenie” via chrzest); 1 John’s new birth is evidenced by ongoing love/righteousness, not secured automatically by the rite alone.
27Seed [of God]σπέρμα (sperma)zarodek BożyMediumLNB3NewOpaque metaphor for God’s implanted nature/life; not literal biological substance.
28Lawlessnessἀνομία (anomia)bezprawieMediumCFS3NewMoral-theological rebellion against God’s order, not narrow civic illegality.
29Devil / the evil oneδιάβολος / ὁ πονηρόςdiabeł / ZłyMediumLNB, OTW3, 5NewMinor risk of folk-superstition conflation rather than the letter’s moral-relational allegiance category.
30Passed from death to lifeμεταβεβήκαμεν ἐκ τοῦ θανάτου εἰς τὴν ζωήνprzeszliśmy ze śmierci do życiaHighASE3NewCompleted, decisive transfer (perfect tense); must not be softened into an uncertain ongoing process.
31Laid down his lifeτὴν ψυχὴν ἔθηκενoddał życieMedium-HighLNB3NewSacrificial, Christ-imitating force; not generic altruism.
32Compassion (bowels)σπλάγχνα (splanchna)serce (idiomatic)Low-MediumLNB3NewIdiom-handling: convey withheld compassion naturally, not literal anatomical term.
33Confidence / boldnessπαρρησία (parrēsia)ufnośćCriticalASE2–4 (core term)NewCollides with purgatorial uncertainty about final standing before God; must convey confident assurance grounded in Christ’s finished work.
34Testing the spiritsδοκιμάζετε τὰ πνεύματαbadajcie duchyHighTTS4NewLowercase, generic “duchy” (testable spiritual claims) must be sharply distinguished from capitalized Duch Święty.
35Confession of the IncarnationἸησοῦν Χριστὸν ἐν σαρκὶ ἐληλυθόταJezus Chrystus, który przyszedł w cieleCriticalINA4NewThe letter’s sharpest doctrinal test; must retain full force of a real, genuine, fleshly incarnation against docetic softening.
36Spirit / Holy Spiritπνεῦμα / πνεῦμα ἅγιονduch / Duch ŚwiętyCriticalTTS2, 4 (core term)[BASELINE REUSE: Duch Święty]Capitalization distinction is doctrinally load-bearing (Holy Spirit vs. generic/deceiving spirits); must not be blurred.
37Overcome / conquerνικάω (nikaō)zwyciężać / zwyciężyćHighOTW2, 4–5 (core term)NewRetain confident, already-accomplished tense (“have overcome”), not merely aspirational future struggle.
38Perfect / perfected [love]τέλειος / τελειόω (teleios / teleioō)doskonała / dopełniona [miłość]HighGL, ASE4 (core term)NewRisk of moralistic-perfectionism misreading; means love reaching maturity/completion, not flawless moral performance.
39Only [begotten] Sonμονογενής υἱός (monogenēs huios)jednorodzony SynCriticalXTL4 (core term)[BASELINE REUSE: Syn Boży]Must retain uniqueness marker; never confused with believers’ corporate dzieci Boże status.
40Saviorσωτήρ (sōtēr)ZbawicielCriticalASE4 (core term)[BASELINE REUSE: zbawienie root]Universal offer, not evidence that cultural/national Catholic identity confers automatic salvation.
41Son of Godυἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ (huios tou theou)Syn BożyCriticalXTL4–5 (core term)[BASELINE REUSE]Unique, eternal, co-equal divine Sonship; never the adoptive dzieci Boże sense.
42Believeπιστεύω (pisteuō)wierzyćCriticalASE, LNB4–5 (core term)[BASELINE REUSE: wiara root]Personal trust in the specific proposition/person “Jesus is the Christ/Son of God,” not generalized religious disposition or inherited identity.
43Fearφόβος (phobos)strach / bojaźńHighGL4 (core term)NewMust distinguish this verse’s servile, punitive dread (expelled by love) from positive reverential bojaźń Boża elsewhere affirmed in Scripture.
44Day of judgmentἡμέρα τῆς κρίσεως (hēmera tēs kriseōs)dzień sąduHighASE4 (core term)NewDistinguish from Catholic particular-judgment/purgatorial-purification framework; confidence is grounded in Christ’s present, perfected love.
45Brotherἀδελφός (adelphos)bratMediumLNB3–4 (core term)NewRetain established generic masculine per Polish Bible convention; teaching notes clarify inclusive referent (fellow believers).
46Water and blood (threefold witness)τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ τὸ αἷμα, τὸ πνεῦμαwoda i krew (+ Duch)HighASE5NewComma Johanneum textual-critical issue (5:7 longer reading in TR/Vulgate/Wujek tradition vs. modern critical text/current Biblia Tysiąclecia): editorial decision on textual basis must be made explicit and applied consistently.
47Eternal lifeζωὴ αἰώνιος (zōē aiōnios)życie wieczneCriticalASE5 (core doctrine)NewThe letter’s stated purpose (5:13): present-tense, knowable possession by faith now, not a status suspended pending purgatorial purification or final merit-accounting.
48Sin unto deathἁμαρτία πρὸς θάνατονgrzech ku śmierciHighCFS5NewMust not be simply equated with the Catholic mortal-sin (grzech śmiertelny) category and its associated penitential system; likely refers to decisive apostate rejection of Christ.
49Idolsεἴδωλα (eidōla)bożki (alt. idole)HighGL, OTW5NewRender as warning against any rival object of ultimate trust/worship; do not adjudicate Catholic theology of sacred images, but flag for non-polemical teacher handling.
50Testimony / witnessμαρτυρία / μαρτυρέωświadectwo / świadczyćMediumASE4–5NewStandard evidentiary/legal witness-bearing sense.
51Fatherπατήρ (patēr)OjciecCriticalGL, FEL1–4 (core term)[BASELINE REUSE]Standard; personal, relational Fatherhood, God’s own.
52Righteousness / righteousδικαιοσύνη / δίκαιοςsprawiedliwość / sprawiedliwyCriticalCFS, XTL1–3[BASELINE REUSE]Forensic standing/character, not dutiful conduct alone; applied to God’s character (1:9) and Christ’s title (2:1, 2:29, 3:7).
53Prophet (false)ψευδοπροφήτης (pseudoprophētēs)fałszywy prorokMediumTTS4[BASELINE REUSE: prorok root]Litmus test is the incarnation-confession (4:2–3), not merely predictive failure.

Notes for Phase 2 Translation Memory Update

The following NEW terms (not present in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json) must be added to translation_memory.json before Phase 2 segment translation begins, incrementing the version number per the baseline’s update protocol: miłość/miłować (#3), wspólnota (elevated risk note only, term itself already present), grzech (elevated risk note only, term itself already present), wyznawać (#8), oczyszczać (#10), krew (#11), Słowo życia (#13), Orędownik (#14), ofiara przebłagalna (#15), przykazanie (#17), trwać (#18), antychryst (#21), namaszczenie (#22), dzieci Boże (#25), narodzony/zrodzony z Boga (#26), zarodek Boży (#27), ufność (#33), badajcie duchy (#34), zwyciężać (#37), Zbawiciel (#40), życie wieczne (#47), grzech ku śmierci (#48), bożki (#49).

All Critical and High risk terms above require human theologian review routing per the baseline’s doctrine_risk_registry.json conventions; this routing will be formalized in the doctrine risk registry extension for 1 John (Phase 1 Step 2 deliverable).


Critical Risk Terms

God

Approved rendering: Bóg
Transliteration: theos
Doctrine: God is Light and God is Love
Original: θεός
Category: God

Inherited from Romans package. In 1 John must remain the personal, Trinitarian God (Father, Son, Spirit; 4:9-14), never an impersonal ‘love-force’ invited by a loose reading of 4:8/4:16.


Jesus

Approved rendering: Jezus
Transliteration: Iēsous
Doctrine: The Incarnation and Antichrist

Inherited from Romans package. Paired with ‘Chrystus’ in confession formulas (2:22-23; 4:2-3, 4:15); these must retain full, unqualified force.


Holy Spirit

Approved rendering: Duch Święty
Transliteration: pneuma hagion
Doctrine: Testing the Spirits

Inherited from Romans package. Must always be capitalized and sharply distinguished from the generic, lowercase, testable ‘duch/duchy’ of 4:1, 4:6, which is not the same referent.


Father

Approved rendering: Ojciec
Transliteration: patēr
Doctrine: God is Light and God is Love
Original: πατήρ
Category: God

Inherited from Romans package. God as personal, relational Father; standard and unambiguous.


Son Of God

Approved rendering: Syn Boży
Transliteration: huios tou theou
Doctrine: Deity and Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: syn Boży w sensie ogólnym stosowanym do wierzących
Original: υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Christology

Inherited from Romans package. Christ’s unique, eternal, co-equal divine Sonship; must never be confused with the believer’s adoptive/birth-derived ‘dzieci Boże’ status which this same letter introduces in chapter 3.


Righteousness

Approved rendering: sprawiedliwość / sprawiedliwy
Transliteration: dikaiosynē / dikaios
Doctrine: Confession and Forgiveness of Sin
Rejected alternatives: sprawiedliwość zdobyta przez zasługi i praktyki religijne

Inherited from Romans package. Applied in 1 John to God’s own character (1:9, ‘wierny i sprawiedliwy’), to Christ’s title (2:1, 2:29, 3:7), and to the believer’s evidenced conduct (3:7,10); forensic/character sense, not dutiful conduct alone.


Sin

Approved rendering: grzech
Transliteration: hamartia
Doctrine: Sin and the Believer
Rejected alternatives: drobne przewinienie (minimizing euphemism), grzech utożsamiony jednoznacznie z kategorią grzechu śmiertelnego/powszedniego
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin

Inherited from Romans package; risk elevated here from the baseline’s Medium tier to Critical. 1 John holds together a denial of sinlessness-claims (1:8, 1:10) with the new-birth pattern ‘does not sin’ (3:6, 3:9; 5:18), and introduces ‘sin unto death’ (5:16-17), risking conflation with the Catholic mortal/venial sin (grzech śmiertelny/powszedni) framework.


Salvation

Approved rendering: zbawienie
Transliteration: sōtēria
Doctrine: Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life
Rejected alternatives: zbawienie zapewnione automatycznie przez chrzest, sakramenty i przynależność narodowo-religijną

Inherited from Romans package. Underlies 1 John’s ‘Zbawiciel’ (Savior) title (4:14) and the letter’s assurance doctrine; must not be read as a status conferred automatically by cultural/national Catholic belonging.


Incarnation

Approved rendering: wcielenie
Transliteration: en sarki elēlythota (cf. John 1:14)
Doctrine: The Incarnation and Antichrist
Original: ἐν σαρκὶ ἐληλυθότα (cf. John 1:14)
Category: Christology

Inherited from Romans package. Must never be softened to an apparent or symbolic humanity (docetism); the letter’s diagnostic test formula at 4:2-3 depends entirely on retaining full incarnational force.


Intercession

Approved rendering: wstawiennictwo
Transliteration: hyperentynchanei / enteuxis
Doctrine: Christ’s Advocacy
Rejected alternatives: wstawiennictwo wyłącznie świętych i Maryi jako niezbędnych pośredników

Inherited from Romans package for cross-reference and contrast with 1 John’s new term ‘Orędownik’ (Advocate, 2:1). The baseline’s caution against defaulting intercession to Marian/saintly mediation applies with equal or greater force to 2:1’s claim that Christ alone holds the advocate-before-the-Father office.


Love

Approved rendering: miłość / miłować
Transliteration: agapē / agapaō
Doctrine: God is Light and God is Love
Rejected alternatives: miłość rozumiana jako uczucie romantyczne, miłość jako tożsamość narodowo-religijna (‘Polak-katolik’), miłość jako ogólna, sentymentalna życzliwość
Original: ἀγάπη / ἀγαπάω
Category: Ethics

NEW. Polish ‘miłość’ spans romantic, sentimental, and national-patriotic-devotional senses. Must be anchored to Christ’s cross-shaped, self-giving, prior love (4:9-10, 4:19), not sentiment or national-religious feeling. Core term of the curriculum’s anchor passage (4:7-21).


God Is Love

Approved rendering: Bóg jest miłością
Transliteration: ho theos agapē estin
Doctrine: God is Love
Rejected alternatives: miłość jest Bogiem (odwrócenie panteistyczne), Bóg jest miłością rozumiane jako bezosobowa siła
Original: ὁ θεὸς ἀγάπη ἐστίν
Category: God

NEW. Core doctrinal statement of the core passage (4:8, 4:16). Must not collapse into a pantheistic reversal (‘love is God’) common in generic-spirituality reception, nor be severed from the Trinitarian, personal God of the whole epistle (Father, Son, Spirit, 4:9-14).


Word Of Life

Approved rendering: Słowo życia
Transliteration: ho logos tēs zōēs
Doctrine: The Incarnation and Antichrist
Rejected alternatives: Słowo życia rozumiane wyłącznie w sensie dewocyjnym, bez odniesienia do naocznego świadectwa
Original: ὁ λόγος τῆς ζωῆς
Category: Christology

NEW. The letter’s opening Christological title (1:1-3), verified by sensory-eyewitness verbs (heard, seen, touched). Must retain full incarnational, historical weight against docetic softening into merely figurative language.


Confession Of Incarnation

Approved rendering: wyznaje, że Jezus Chrystus przyszedł w ciele
Transliteration: pan pneuma ho homologei Iēsoun Christon en sarki elēlythota
Doctrine: The Incarnation and Antichrist
Rejected alternatives: Jezus Chrystus, który przyszedł w postaci ciała (docetic softening)
Original: πᾶν πνεῦμα ὃ ὁμολογεῖ Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν ἐν σαρκὶ ἐληλυθότα
Category: Christology

NEW. The letter’s single sharpest doctrinal test-formula (4:2), distinguishing the Spirit of God from deceiving spirits. Must retain full force of a real, genuine, fleshly incarnation.


Only Begotten Son

Approved rendering: Jego jednorodzony Syn
Transliteration: ton huion autou ton monogenē
Doctrine: Deity and Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Jego Syn (bez znacznika jedyności)
Original: τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ τὸν μονογενῆ
Category: Christology

NEW. Must retain the ‘jednorodzony’ uniqueness marker (4:9) so Christ’s Sonship is never confused with believers’ corporate, adoptive ‘dzieci Boże’ status introduced a few verses earlier in the letter’s argument (3:1-2).


Advocate

Approved rendering: Orędownik
Transliteration: paraklētos
Doctrine: Christ’s Advocacy
Rejected alternatives: Rzecznik (alternatywa rozważana, lecz ‘Orędownik’ zachowuje mocniejszy sens prawniczy), Maryja lub święci jako Orędownicy przed Ojcem
Original: παράκλητος
Category: Salvation

NEW. Directly parallels the baseline’s Critical ‘wstawiennictwo’ warning. Poland’s exceptionally intense Marian devotion (Częstochowa/Jasna Góra, John Paul II’s ‘Totus Tuus’ consecration) creates strong pressure to locate the advocate-before-the-Father function in Mary or the saints; 1 John 2:1 identifies this function exclusively with Jesus Christ.


Propitiation

Approved rendering: ofiara przebłagalna
Transliteration: hilasmos
Doctrine: Propitiation and Atonement
Rejected alternatives: przebłaganie (samodzielnie, bez ‘ofiara’ — zbyt abstrakcyjne), ofiara Mszy jako powtarzane uobecnienie tej samej ofiary przebłagalnej
Original: ἱλασμός
Category: Salvation

NEW. The single highest-stakes new term for Polish Catholic culture: the Mass (Msza Święta) is taught as a re-presentation of Christ’s propitiatory sacrifice offered repeatedly at the altar. Must clarify Christ’s atoning death (2:2; 4:10) as a completed, unrepeatable historical act, without unnecessary polemic against Catholic eucharistic theology.


Confess Sin

Approved rendering: wyznawać (grzechy)
Transliteration: homologeō (1:9)
Doctrine: Confession and Forgiveness of Sin
Rejected alternatives: wyznanie grzechów wyłącznie jako synonim sakramentu spowiedzi, wyznanie grzechów jako warunkowane uprzednią absolucją kapłańską
Original: ὁμολογέω (1:9)
Category: Sin

NEW. Shares its verb-root with sacramental confession (spowiedź, ‘wyznanie grzechów’). Must not be read as prohibiting or replacing that sacrament, nor allow the sacramental association to obscure 1 John’s own emphasis on direct, ongoing personal confession to God as sufficient for immediate forgiveness and cleansing.


Confess Christ

Approved rendering: wyznać
Transliteration: homologeō (4:2-3, 4:15)
Doctrine: The Incarnation and Antichrist
Original: ὁμολογέω (4:2-3, 4:15)
Category: Christology

NEW. Shares its verb-root with confess_sin; each occurrence’s distinct sense (confession of sin vs. confession of Christ’s identity) must be made explicit to avoid conflation with sacramental confession.


Born Of God

Approved rendering: narodzony / zrodzony z Boga
Transliteration: gennaō
Doctrine: New Birth
Rejected alternatives: nowe narodzenie rozumiane jako automatyczny skutek chrztu niemowląt, nowe narodzenie oddzielone od trwającego wzorca miłości i sprawiedliwości
Original: γεννάω
Category: Salvation

NEW. Spiritual new birth evidenced by an ongoing life-pattern of love and righteousness (2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 5:4, 5:18). Collides with Polish Catholic sacramental theology’s close association of ‘nowe narodzenie’ with baptismal regeneration received in infancy independent of personal faith.


Confidence Boldness

Approved rendering: ufność
Transliteration: parrēsia
Doctrine: Confidence in the Day of Judgment
Rejected alternatives: ufność warunkowana niepewnością zasługi i oczyszczenia pokutnego w czyśćcu
Original: παρρησία
Category: Eschatology

NEW. Confident, unashamed standing before God (2:28; 3:21; 4:17). Polish Catholic devotional tradition frequently frames final standing before God with residual uncertainty pending purgatorial purification (czyściec) and the weighing of merit; must be taught as confidence grounded in Christ’s finished work and God’s love already perfected in the believer.


Eternal Life

Approved rendering: życie wieczne
Transliteration: zōē aiōnios
Doctrine: Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life
Rejected alternatives: życie wieczne jako nadzieja zawieszona do sądu szczegółowego i czyśćca, ‘abyście mieli nadzieję na życie wieczne’ jako zamiennik dla ‘abyście wiedzieli, że macie życie wieczne’
Original: ζωὴ αἰώνιος
Category: Eschatology

NEW. The letter’s own stated purpose (5:13): present-tense, knowable possession of eternal life by faith now (also 1:2; 5:11, 5:20). The single most consequential rendering-and-teaching decision in the letter for the Polish context; must never be softened into hope-language.


Savior

Approved rendering: Zbawiciel
Transliteration: sōtēr
Doctrine: Deity and Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Zbawiciel świata jako dowód automatycznego zbawienia całego narodu polsko-katolickiego
Original: σωτήρ
Category: Christology

NEW (title built on baseline zbawienie root). Christ’s title as universal Savior, sent by the Father (4:14); a universal offer, not evidence that cultural or national Polish-Catholic identity confers automatic salvation.


Believe

Approved rendering: wierzyć
Transliteration: pisteuō
Doctrine: New Birth
Rejected alternatives: wierzyć rozumiane jako ogólna dyspozycja religijna lub odziedziczona tożsamość narodowo-kulturowa
Original: πιστεύω
Category: Faith

NEW (verb form built on baseline wiara root; inherits the baseline’s Critical tier and forbidden-substitution rules). Personal trust in the specific proposition/person ‘Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God’ (5:1, 5:5, 5:10, 5:13), tying faith directly to the new-birth doctrine.


High Risk Terms

Fellowship

Approved rendering: wspólnota
Transliteration: koinōnia
Doctrine: Fellowship with God and One Another
Rejected alternatives: świętych obcowanie (specific creedal formula)
Original: κοινωνία
Category: Church

Inherited from Romans package; risk elevated here from the baseline’s Low tier to High because fellowship with the Father and the Son is 1 John’s own stated purpose (1:3-4), a direct personal relationship, not primarily institutional Church membership or intercessory relation to departed saints.


Grace

Approved rendering: łaska
Transliteration: charis
Doctrine: Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth
Rejected alternatives: łaska otrzymywana głównie przez zasługi i praktyki sakramentalne

Inherited from Romans package for cross-reference. 1 John does not use this exact term, but 4:10 and 4:19’s grace-priority logic (‘he loved us first,’ not because we loved him first) is structurally identical to the baseline’s grace-versus-merit contrast (Romans 4:4-5; 11:5-6) and must be taught consistently with it.


Obedience Of Faith

Approved rendering: posłuszeństwo wiary
Transliteration: hypakoē pisteōs
Doctrine: The Love Command and Christ’s Commandments
Rejected alternatives: posłuszeństwo nakazom kościelnym i praktykom religijnym

Inherited from Romans package for cross-reference. 1 John’s relational, love-generated ‘ἐντολή’ (commandment) concept runs parallel to this baseline doctrine: obedience flowing from love/faith, not compliance with an external legal code.


God Is Light

Approved rendering: Bóg jest światłością
Transliteration: ho theos phōs estin
Doctrine: God is Light
Rejected alternatives: Bóg jest światłem rozumianym jako oświecenie intelektualne
Original: ὁ θεὸς φῶς ἐστιν
Category: God

NEW. One of the letter’s two ontological statements about God (1:5, paired with 4:8/4:16). Polish secular usage of ‘światło/światłość’ evokes rational enlightenment/insight more readily than moral-relational purity; must anchor to God’s self-revealing, sinless transparency and counter proto-gnostic private ‘illumination’ claims apart from ethical transformation.


Antichrist

Approved rendering: antychryst
Transliteration: antichristos
Doctrine: The Incarnation and Antichrist
Original: ἀντίχριστος
Category: Christology

NEW. Already a fully naturalized Polish loanword; the risk is not the transliteration but its popular cultural over-freight (a single climactic end-times tyrant figure, numerology). Must be anchored to 1 John’s present-tense, Christological-denial definition (2:18, 2:22-23; 4:3), not speculative end-times identification.


Blood Of Jesus

Approved rendering: krew Jezusa
Transliteration: haima Iēsou
Doctrine: Propitiation and Atonement
Rejected alternatives: krew jako obraz wyłącznie symboliczny lub sentymentalny
Original: αἷμα Ἰησοῦ
Category: Salvation

NEW. Retains full atoning-sacrificial force (1:7); risk of reduction to a merely symbolic image divorced from its substitutionary, cleansing function.


Faithful And Just

Approved rendering: wierny i sprawiedliwy
Transliteration: pistos kai dikaios
Doctrine: Confession and Forgiveness of Sin
Original: πιστός καὶ δίκαιος
Category: God

NEW (built on baseline sprawiedliwość root). God’s own character (1:9) guaranteeing that confession is met with forgiveness; his forgiveness is exercised justly, on the ground of Christ’s atonement (1:7), not a waiving of justice.


Sin Unto Death

Approved rendering: grzech ku śmierci
Transliteration: hamartia pros thanaton
Doctrine: Sin unto Death
Rejected alternatives: grzech śmiertelny (kategoria sakramentalna) jako bezpośredni odpowiednik
Original: ἁμαρτία πρὸς θάνατον
Category: Sin

NEW. Likely refers to decisive, unrepentant, apostate rejection of Christ (5:16-17), not to be simply equated with the Catholic mortal/venial sin (grzech śmiertelny/powszedni) taxonomy and its associated penitential system.


Know Relational

Approved rendering: poznać / znać
Transliteration: ginōskō
Doctrine: Fellowship with God and One Another
Rejected alternatives: poznanie Boga rozumiane jako wyłącznie wiedza katechizmowa
Original: γινώσκω
Category: Faith

NEW. Relational, experiential, covenantal knowledge of God evidenced by love and obedience, opposing purely intellectual gnōsis claims; risk of assimilation to catechetical knowledge-acquisition given Poland’s strong First Communion/Confirmation preparation tradition.


Commandment

Approved rendering: przykazanie
Transliteration: entolē
Doctrine: The Love Command and Christ’s Commandments
Rejected alternatives: przykazanie rozumiane wyłącznie jako element Dekalogu, oddzielone od miłości
Original: ἐντολή
Category: Church

NEW. Polish ‘przykazanie’ carries strong prior association with the Decalogue (Dziesięć Przykazań) as external legal code; 1 John’s entolē is relational and Christ-derived, centered on love (2:7-11; 3:22-24; 4:21), not rule-keeping divorced from love.


Abide

Approved rendering: trwać / mieszkać
Transliteration: menō
Doctrine: Fellowship with God and One Another
Rejected alternatives: trwać rozumiane jako pasywne ‘pozostawanie’
Original: μένω
Category: Church

NEW. Continuous, mutual, active relational indwelling of God and believer (2:6, 2:24, 2:27-28, 3:6, 3:24, 4:12-16); must be rendered consistently across every occurrence.


World

Approved rendering: świat
Transliteration: kosmos
Doctrine: Overcoming the World
Original: κόσμος
Category: Ethics

NEW. Multivalent: humanity loved and savable by God (4:9) versus the God-opposed moral-spiritual order to be resisted and overcome (2:15-17; 5:4-5). Must be disambiguated per occurrence to avoid flattening into naive world-affirmation or world-rejecting asceticism.


Overcome

Approved rendering: zwyciężać / zwyciężyć
Transliteration: nikaō
Doctrine: Overcoming the World
Rejected alternatives: zwyciężanie jako wyłącznie przyszłe, niepewne zmaganie
Original: νικάω
Category: Ethics

NEW. Decisive, already-accomplished victory (2:13-14; 4:4; 5:4-5); must retain the confident perfect/present tense (‘have overcome’), not merely aspirational future struggle.


Children Of God

Approved rendering: dzieci Boże
Transliteration: tekna theou
Doctrine: Children of God versus Children of the Devil
Rejected alternatives: dzieci Boże jako synonim usynowienia prawnego (Rz 8)
Original: τέκνα θεοῦ
Category: Salvation

NEW. Birth-derived kinship with God, evidenced by love and righteousness (3:1-2, 3:10); complementary to but lexically distinct from the baseline’s legal-adoption image ‘usynowienie’; not conferred merely by sacramental infant baptism.


Passed From Death To Life

Approved rendering: przeszliśmy ze śmierci do życia
Transliteration: metabebēkamen ek tou thanatou eis tēn zōēn
Doctrine: Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life
Rejected alternatives: przenieśliśmy się ze śmierci do życia (osłabia sens dokonany)
Original: μεταβεβήκαμεν ἐκ τοῦ θανάτου εἰς τὴν ζωήν
Category: Salvation

NEW. A completed, decisive transfer of realm/state (3:14), evidenced by love for the brethren; must not be softened into an uncertain, ongoing process. Lock this exact wording across all curriculum materials.


Loved Us First

Approved rendering: On pierwszy nas umiłował
Transliteration: autos prōtos ēgapēsen hēmas
Doctrine: God is Love
Rejected alternatives: wzajemna, jednoczasowa inicjatywa miłości (osłabia priorytet Boga)
Original: αὐτὸς πρῶτος ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς
Category: Salvation

NEW. God’s temporal/logical priority in loving (4:10, 4:19), excluding merit-based reciprocity; the word ‘pierwszy’ must never be dropped, as it is the textual basis for excluding a merit-based account of the believer’s love.


Perfected Love

Approved rendering: doskonała / dopełniona (miłość)
Transliteration: teleios / teleioō
Doctrine: God is Love
Rejected alternatives: doskonała miłość rozumiana jako bezbłędne wykonanie moralne
Original: τέλειος / τελειόω
Category: Sanctification

NEW. Love reaching its full, intended maturity/completion through mutual love (4:12, 4:17-18), not flawless moral performance. Significant risk of moralistic misreading colliding with Catholic catechetical categories of grace ‘perfecting’ the soul through merit.


Spirits Generic Testable

Approved rendering: duch / duchy
Transliteration: pneuma (plural, generic)
Doctrine: Testing the Spirits
Rejected alternatives: duchy w sensie ludowych zjawisk nadprzyrodzonych (duchy/zjawy)
Original: πνεῦμα (plural, generic)
Category: Faith

NEW. Spiritual influences or claims to inspiration requiring testing, not the Holy Spirit himself (4:1); must be sharply distinguished, by capitalization discipline, from ‘Duch Święty,’ and from Slavic folk-Catholic ghost/spirit lore.


Test The Spirits

Approved rendering: badajcie duchy
Transliteration: dokimazete ta pneumata
Doctrine: Testing the Spirits
Original: δοκιμάζετε τὰ πνεύματα
Category: Faith

NEW. Named curriculum doctrine (4:1); believers must not credulously accept every claim to inspired speech.


Spirit Of Truth Error

Approved rendering: Duch prawdy / duch błędu
Transliteration: pneuma tēs alētheias / pneuma tēs planēs
Doctrine: Testing the Spirits
Original: πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας / πνεῦμα τῆς πλάνης
Category: Faith

NEW. The Holy Spirit versus a deceiving spirit, distinguished by the incarnation-confession test (4:6); capitalization distinction is doctrinally load-bearing.


Anointing

Approved rendering: namaszczenie
Transliteration: chrisma
Doctrine: Anointing of the Spirit
Rejected alternatives: namaszczenie rozumiane wyłącznie jako sakrament namaszczenia chorych lub bierzmowania
Original: χρῖσμα
Category: Sanctification

NEW. The Holy Spirit’s ongoing teaching indwelling given to every believer, sufficient for discernment (2:20, 2:27). Strong collision risk with Polish Catholic sacramental culture (Anointing of the Sick; chrismation at Baptism/Confirmation, bierzmowanie); must be explicitly distinguished from these specific sacramental rites.


Day Of Judgment

Approved rendering: dzień sądu
Transliteration: hēmera tēs kriseōs
Doctrine: Confidence in the Day of Judgment
Rejected alternatives: dzień sądu rozumiany wyłącznie przez ramy sądu szczegółowego i czyśćca
Original: ἡμέρα τῆς κρίσεως
Category: Eschatology

NEW. The eschatological day of final verdict/separation (4:17); must be distinguished from the popular Catholic framework of particular judgment followed by purgatorial purification.


Fear

Approved rendering: strach / bojaźń
Transliteration: phobos
Doctrine: Fear Expelled by Perfect Love
Rejected alternatives: strach utożsamiony całkowicie z pozytywną bojaźnią Bożą
Original: φόβος
Category: Ethics

NEW. Servile dread of punishment/rejection, expelled by perfected love (4:18); must be clearly distinguished from the positive reverential ‘bojaźń Boża’ affirmed as a virtue elsewhere in Scripture and in Polish devotional tradition.


Threefold Witness

Approved rendering: woda i krew (wraz z Duchem)
Transliteration: to pneuma, to hydōr kai to haima
Doctrine: The Threefold Witness
Rejected alternatives: włączenie Comma Johanneum (dłuższego czytania trynitarnego z 5:7 w tradycji Wujka/Wulgaty) do głównego tekstu bez przypisu tekstowego
Original: τὸ πνεῦμα, τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ τὸ αἷμα
Category: Christology

NEW. Textual basis decision: follow the modern critical text (shorter reading, consistent with the current Biblia Tysiąclecia), footnoting the Comma Johanneum’s manuscript history rather than incorporating it into the main text, for consistency across all curriculum lessons.


Idols

Approved rendering: bożki (alt. idole)
Transliteration: eidōla
Doctrine: Warning Against Idolatry
Original: εἴδωλα
Category: Sanctification

NEW. Any rival object of ultimate trust and worship displacing the true God (5:21). Render faithfully as this general warning without adjudicating Catholic theology of sacred images/statues, which that tradition itself carefully distinguishes from idolatry; flag for non-polemical teacher handling with mixed audiences.


Medium Risk Terms

Adoption

Approved rendering: usynowienie
Transliteration: huiothesia
Doctrine: Children of God versus Children of the Devil

Inherited from Romans package for cross-reference and contrast. 1 John’s birth-derived ‘dzieci Boże’ (tekna theou, 3:1-2) is theologically complementary to but lexically distinct from this legal-adoption image; the two must not be collapsed into one another in teaching materials.


Darkness

Approved rendering: ciemność (mrok)
Transliteration: skotos / skotia
Doctrine: God is Light
Rejected alternatives: ciemność jako zwykła niewiedza
Original: σκότος / σκοτία
Category: God

NEW. Moral alienation from God and concealment of sin, the opposite of God’s light (1:5-7); not mere ignorance.


Walk

Approved rendering: chodzić / postępować
Transliteration: peripateō
Doctrine: Fellowship with God and One Another
Original: περιπατέω
Category: Ethics

NEW. Standard biblical idiom for habitual conduct/lifestyle (1:6-7; 2:6); ensure the metaphorical, not literal ambulatory, sense is clear.


Manifested

Approved rendering: objawiła się / został objawiony
Transliteration: phaneroō
Doctrine: The Incarnation and Antichrist
Original: φανερόω
Category: Christology

NEW. Used of God’s love and Christ’s historical appearing (1:2; 4:9); emphasis is historical and visible, not merely an inward, invisible spiritual experience.


Christ The Righteous

Approved rendering: Jezus Chrystus, sprawiedliwy
Transliteration: Iēsous Christos dikaios
Doctrine: Christ’s Advocacy
Original: Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς δίκαιος
Category: Christology

NEW (title built on baseline sprawiedliwość root). Christ’s title as the Righteous One (2:1), the basis of his advocacy before the Father; forensic righteous character, not merely admirable moral behavior.


Cleanse

Approved rendering: oczyszczać / oczyścić
Transliteration: katharizō
Doctrine: Confession and Forgiveness of Sin
Rejected alternatives: oczyszczanie jako proces pokutny trwający po śmierci
Original: καθαρίζω
Category: Salvation

NEW. God’s own completed act of purifying from sin, via the blood (1:7) and via confession (1:9); not an ongoing ritual-purificatory process the believer must complete.


Lawlessness

Approved rendering: bezprawie
Transliteration: anomia
Doctrine: Sin and the Believer
Rejected alternatives: bezprawie w wyłącznie cywilno-prawnym sensie
Original: ἀνομία
Category: Sin

NEW. Sin’s essential character as rebellion against God’s moral order (3:4), not narrow civic illegality.


Devil Evil One

Approved rendering: diabeł / Zły
Transliteration: diabolos / ho ponēros
Doctrine: Children of God versus Children of the Devil
Original: διάβολος / ὁ πονηρός
Category: Sin

NEW. The personal spiritual adversary (3:8, 3:10; 5:19); minor risk of folk-superstition conflation (Slavic folk-Catholic exorcism/ghost lore) rather than the letter’s moral-relational category of allegiance.


Worldly Desire Triad

Approved rendering: pożądliwość ciała, pożądliwość oczu, pycha życia
Transliteration: epithymia tēs sarkos / tōn ophthalmōn, alazoneia tou biou
Doctrine: Worldly Desire
Original: ἐπιθυμία τῆς σαρκός / τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν, ἀλαζονεία τοῦ βίου
Category: Ethics

NEW. The threefold content of worldly desire ‘not from the Father’ (2:16); ‘pycha’ must be understood as arrogant self-sufficiency/status-display, not mere self-respect.


Seed Of God

Approved rendering: zarodek Boży
Transliteration: sperma
Doctrine: New Birth
Rejected alternatives: zarodek Boży rozumiany jako literalna substancja biologiczna lub magiczna
Original: σπέρμα
Category: Salvation

NEW. God’s own implanted generative nature/life in the believer (3:9), the root cause of the inability to sin as a settled pattern; an opaque metaphor as in Greek, requiring an explanatory gloss.


Laid Down Life

Approved rendering: oddał (za nas) życie
Transliteration: tēn psychēn autou etheken
Doctrine: Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth
Rejected alternatives: poświęcił się (zbyt uogólnione, traci sens ofiarniczy)
Original: τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἔθηκεν
Category: Ethics

NEW. Christ’s sacrificial self-giving as the pattern for costly brotherly love (3:16); must retain the sacrificial, Christ-imitating force, not generic altruism.


Obligation To Love

Approved rendering: powinniśmy
Transliteration: opheilomen
Doctrine: Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth
Rejected alternatives: obowiązek prawny, oddzielony od wdzięczności za łaskę
Original: ὀφείλομεν
Category: Ethics

NEW. Moral debt-language grounded in gratitude for grace already received (4:11), not bare legal duty imposed externally.


Seen God

Approved rendering: nikt nigdy Boga nie widział
Transliteration: theon oudeis pōpote tetheatai
Doctrine: God is Love
Original: θεὸν οὐδεὶς πώποτε τεθέαται
Category: God

NEW. The Father’s invisibility/transcendence (4:12), made visible through the Son and through believers’ love; must not be read to contradict the Son’s genuinely visible, tangible incarnation (1:1-3).


False Prophet

Approved rendering: fałszywy prorok
Transliteration: pseudoprophētēs
Doctrine: Testing the Spirits
Original: ψευδοπροφήτης
Category: Faith

NEW (compound built on baseline prorok root). One falsely claiming inspired speech (4:1); the litmus test is the incarnation-confession (4:2-3), not merely predictive failure.


Truth

Approved rendering: prawda
Transliteration: alētheia
Doctrine: Testing the Spirits
Rejected alternatives: prawda jako abstrakcyjna kategoria filozoficzna
Original: ἀλήθεια
Category: Faith

NEW. Revealed divine reality opposed to deception and error; ensure ‘prawda’ is understood in this specific sense throughout the letter.


Last Hour

Approved rendering: ostatnia godzina
Transliteration: eschatē hōra
Doctrine: The Incarnation and Antichrist
Rejected alternatives: ostatnia godzina jako precyzyjne wyliczenie chronologiczne
Original: ἐσχάτη ὥρα
Category: Eschatology

NEW. Present-age eschatological urgency (2:18), marked by the appearance of many antichrists; not a precise chronological calculation.


Punishment

Approved rendering: kara
Transliteration: kolasis
Doctrine: Fear Expelled by Perfect Love
Original: κόλασις
Category: Eschatology

NEW. Penal consequence, the object of the dread described in 4:18; standard term.


Brother

Approved rendering: brat
Transliteration: adelphos
Doctrine: Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth
Original: ἀδελφός
Category: Church

NEW. Fellow member of the believing community (3:10-17; 4:20-21); retain the established generic masculine ‘brat’ per Polish Bible-translation convention, with teaching notes clarifying the inclusive referent.


Testimony

Approved rendering: świadectwo / świadczyć
Transliteration: martyria / martyreō
Doctrine: The Threefold Witness
Original: μαρτυρία / μαρτυρέω
Category: Faith

NEW. Legal/evidentiary witness-bearing sense (5:6-11), the cumulative testimony establishing the truth about the Son and grounding assurance.


Sent By Father

Approved rendering: posłał
Transliteration: apesteilen
Doctrine: God is Love
Original: ἀπέστειλεν
Category: Christology

NEW. The Father’s initiating, commissioning sending of the Son into the world (4:9-10, 4:14); parallel in spirit to the baseline’s ‘misja’ entry, though a distinct lexeme.


Low Risk Terms

Prophet

Approved rendering: prorok
Transliteration: prophētēs
Doctrine: Testing the Spirits

Inherited from Romans package. Root term for the compound ‘fałszywy prorok’ (false prophet, 4:1), tracked as its own entry below.


Compassion

Approved rendering: serce (idiomatycznie)
Transliteration: splanchna
Doctrine: Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth
Rejected alternatives: dosłowne tłumaczenie anatomiczne (‘wnętrzności’)
Original: σπλάγχνα
Category: Ethics

NEW. Deep inward compassion withheld from a brother in need (3:17); idiom-handling case, convey the withheld compassion naturally via ‘serce,’ not a literal anatomical term.


Lie Liar

Approved rendering: kłamstwo / kłamca
Transliteration: pseudos / pseustēs
Doctrine: Consistency of Profession and Practice
Original: ψεῦδος / ψεύστης
Category: Ethics

NEW. Falsehood or a false profession contradicted by practice (1:6, 1:10; 2:4, 2:22; 4:20); standard, unambiguous term.

Library content is free and openly licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 — share and adapt it for non-commercial use, with attribution to tri-bible.ai.

Give feedback

How would you rate this page?

0 / 500 words