Semantic Analysis — 2 Peter (English → Polish)

Purpose and Method

This document analyzes 2 Peter in the original Koine Greek, chapter by chapter, with verse-by-verse treatment of the core passage (2 Peter 1:16–21). For every load-bearing term the following fields are given: Original (Greek), Transliteration, Literal meaning, Semantic range, English variants (as found across major English versions), Contextual theological meaning in 2 Peter, and Destination-language (Polish) rendering risk.

Wherever a term already appears in the baseline Romans Language Package (translation_memory.json / bible_term_registry.json), the recorded Polish rendering and risk tier are reused exactly and marked “Baseline reuse.” New terms required for 2 Peter’s distinct vocabulary are marked “New term” and given a proposed risk tier consistent with the baseline’s methodology.

2 Peter is a short, three-chapter letter, but it introduces substantial new theological vocabulary not present in Romans — especially around the divine nature, the reliability of Scripture, the Parousia (Christ’s return), and the Day of the Lord. Every chapter is covered below; none are skipped.

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PART A — CORE PASSAGE VERSE-BY-VERSE: 2 Peter 1:16–21

2 Peter 1:16

Greek: Οὐ γὰρ σεσοφισμένοις μύθοις ἐξακολουθήσαντες ἐγνωρίσαμεν ὑμῖν τὴν τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ δύναμιν καὶ παρουσίαν, ἀλλ᾿ ἐπόπται γενηθέντες τῆς ἐκείνου μεγαλειότητος.

μῦθος (mythos) — New term

• Transliteration: mythos
• Literal meaning: a story, tale, fable; a fabricated account
• Semantic range: from neutral “narrative” to pejorative “invented fiction, myth” (as consistently in the Pastorals/2 Peter)
• English variants: “myths” (ESV, NIV, NASB), “fables” (KJV), “cleverly devised tales”
• Contextual theological meaning: Peter emphatically denies that the apostolic proclamation of Christ’s power and coming rests on invented religious fiction, in contrast to Greco-Roman myth-making about gods and heroes. This is the letter’s opening salvo for the doctrine “The Reliability and Inspiration of Scripture.”
• Polish rendering risk: High. Proposed rendering “zmyślone mity/baśnie” (BT tradition: “wymyślone bajki”). Risk: in a modern, increasingly secular Polish context, casual use of “mit” to describe any religious claim (including Christianity itself, per skeptical popular discourse) could ironically reinforce the very charge Peter is refuting if the negation is not kept emphatic. Must render the negation (“nie za…postępując”) with full force — this is Peter denying mythological origin, not conceding ambiguity.

παρουσία (parousia) — New term (paired here with δύναμις)

• Transliteration: parousia
• Literal meaning: presence, arrival, coming
• Semantic range: ordinary “arrival” of a person; in the NT, the technical term for Christ’s future visible, personal, glorious return
• English variants: “coming” (most versions), “advent,” “arrival,” “appearing”
• Contextual theological meaning: this is the letter’s technical term for the doctrine “The Certainty of Christ’s Return.” Peter grounds it in his own eyewitness experience of Christ’s glory at the Transfiguration (a preview/pledge of the parousia), directly countering the scoffers of chapter 3 who deny it will happen.
• Polish rendering risk: Critical. Recommended primary Bible-text rendering: “przyjście” (coming/arrival), with the transliterated theological term “paruzja” reserved for teaching notes and doctrinal explanation. Must not be softened into a vague “presence” (obecność) or a merely spiritual/metaphorical influence of Christ in believers’ lives — 2 Peter insists on a literal, future, visible, bodily return, directly tied to the Day of the Lord (3:10) and final judgment.

δύναμις (dynamis) — Baseline reuse

• Polish rendering: “moc” (cf. baseline “moc Boża,” Medium risk)
• Contextual note: here paired with parousia as “power and coming” — Christ’s return will be an act of manifest divine power, not a quiet or negotiable event.

κύριος (kyrios) — Baseline reuse

• Polish rendering: “Pan” (Critical, per baseline). “τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ” → “naszego Pana Jezusa Chrystusa.” Exclusive supreme lordship, as established in Romans 10:9.

ἐπόπτης (epoptēs) — New term

• Transliteration: epoptēs
• Literal meaning: an eyewitness, one who has personally observed
• Semantic range: overseer, spectator, personally-present witness (used of initiates in Greco-Roman mystery cults for “beholders,” giving it added rhetorical force here — Peter claims a superior, verifiable seeing)
• English variants: “eyewitnesses” (most versions), “witnesses”
• Contextual theological meaning: grounds apostolic testimony in verified historical experience (the Transfiguration), not secondhand legend — directly supports the Scripture-reliability doctrine.
• Polish rendering risk: Medium. Proposed: “naoczni świadkowie.” Standard and unambiguous; ensure it is not flattened to generic “świadkowie” (witnesses in a merely testimonial/legal sense) without the “naoczni” (eyewitness/firsthand) qualifier, which carries the weight of the verse’s argument.

μεγαλειότης (megaleiotēs) — New term

• Transliteration: megaleiotēs
• Literal meaning: greatness, grandeur, majesty
• Semantic range: majestic splendor, especially of royalty or divinity
• English variants: “majesty,” “magnificence,” “greatness”
• Contextual theological meaning: describes the glory Peter witnessed at the Transfiguration, a preview of Christ’s future parousia glory.
• Polish rendering risk: Medium. Proposed: “majestat.” Standard theological vocabulary; low ambiguity in Polish.

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2 Peter 1:17

Greek: λαβὼν γὰρ παρὰ Θεοῦ Πατρὸς τιμὴν καὶ δόξαν φωνῆς ἐνεχθείσης αὐτῷ τοιαύτης ὑπὸ τῆς μεγαλοπρεποῦς δόξης· Ὁ Υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός μου οὗτός ἐστιν, εἰς ὃν ἐγὼ εὐδόκησα.

τιμή (timē) — New term

• Transliteration: timē
• Literal meaning: honor, value, worth
• Semantic range: honor bestowed, price/value, esteem
• English variants: “honor” (most versions)
• Contextual theological meaning: paired with δόξα, describes the honor the Father conferred on the Son at the Transfiguration.
• Polish rendering risk: Low. Proposed: “cześć.” Standard, unambiguous.

δόξα (doxa) — Baseline reuse

• Polish rendering: “chwała” (High risk per registry). Here doubled: “τιμὴν καὶ δόξαν” (honor and glory) received from the Father, and “τῆς μεγαλοπρεποῦς δόξης” (the Majestic Glory) as a reverent periphrasis for God the Father himself.

μεγαλοπρεπής δόξα (megaloprepēs doxa) — New term (compound title)

• Transliteration: megaloprepēs doxa
• Literal meaning: “magnificent/majestic glory”
• Semantic range: a reverent circumlocution avoiding direct naming of God, similar to Jewish reverential title-substitution
• English variants: “the Majestic Glory” (most versions), “the excellent glory” (KJV)
• Contextual theological meaning: a title for God the Father as the source of the heavenly voice at the Transfiguration.
• Polish rendering risk: High. Proposed: “Chwała pełna majestatu” or capitalized as a divine title, “Wspaniała Chwała.” Must be capitalized and clearly understood by the reader as a name/title for God the Father, not a poetic description of an impersonal radiance — a mishandling risks obscuring that this voice is a direct, personal divine act of the Father affirming the Son.

υἱός (huios) — “my Son” — Related to baseline Critical term “Syn Boży”

• Polish rendering: “Syn” within the address “Syn mój umiłowany” (My beloved Son). This is the divine voice’s own confirmation of the doctrine “Sonship of Christ” (Critical, per baseline doctrine registry) and directly parallels the Gospel Transfiguration accounts.
• Rendering risk: Critical, inherited from the baseline’s “son_of_god” entry. Must retain the full unique, eternal Sonship sense; must not be flattened into a generic honorific.

ἀγαπητός (agapētos) — New term

• Transliteration: agapētos
• Literal meaning: beloved, dearly loved
• Semantic range: object of special, chosen love
• English variants: “beloved” (most versions), “dear,” “whom I love”
• Contextual theological meaning: the Father’s declaration of unique love for the Son, echoing the baptism and Transfiguration accounts in the Gospels.
• Polish rendering risk: Medium. Proposed: “umiłowany.” Standard; ensure the term is understood as the Father’s unique declaration over the Son specifically (not the general adoptive “dzieci umiłowane” sense sometimes applied to believers elsewhere in the NT), to protect the Critical Sonship-of-Christ distinction already established in the baseline.

εὐδοκέω (eudokeō) — New term

• Transliteration: eudokeō
• Literal meaning: to be well pleased, to take delight in
• Semantic range: approval, delight, good pleasure
• English variants: “with whom I am well pleased” (most versions)
• Contextual theological meaning: the Father’s perfect approval of the Son, reinforcing the deity/sonship doctrines.
• Polish rendering risk: Low-Medium. Proposed: “w którym mam upodobanie” or “którego sobie upodobałem.” Standard Polish Bible phrasing; low ambiguity.

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2 Peter 1:18

Greek: καὶ ταύτην τὴν φωνὴν ἡμεῖς ἠκούσαμεν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ἐνεχθεῖσαν, σὺν αὐτῷ ὄντες ἐν τῷ ἁγίῳ ὄρει.

φωνή (phōnē) — New term

• Transliteration: phōnē
• Literal meaning: voice, sound
• Semantic range: audible voice, sound, utterance
• English variants: “voice” (all major versions)
• Contextual theological meaning: the audible, historically-heard voice of the Father — direct, verifiable divine communication, not mystical impression.
• Polish rendering risk: Low. Proposed: “głos.” Standard.

οὐρανός (ouranos, “from heaven”) — New term

• Transliteration: ouranos
• Literal meaning: sky, heaven
• Semantic range: physical sky; the dwelling place of God
• English variants: “heaven”
• Contextual theological meaning: locates the voice’s source as directly divine, from God’s own dwelling, not an earthly or human source.
• Polish rendering risk: Low. Proposed: “niebo.” Standard.

ἅγιον ὄρος (hagion oros, “holy mountain”) — Baseline reuse of ἅγιος

• Polish rendering: “święta góra” (reusing baseline “święty,” Medium risk). Refers to the Mount of Transfiguration, made holy by the manifestation of God’s glory there — not a shrine or pilgrimage site in the sense of Polish folk-Catholic sacred-geography devotion (e.g., Jasna Góra). A brief clarifying note is advisable in teaching material to prevent devotional-geography conflation, though the term itself is lexically unambiguous.

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2 Peter 1:19

Greek: καὶ ἔχομεν βεβαιότερον τὸν προφητικὸν λόγον, ᾧ καλῶς ποιεῖτε προσέχοντες ὡς λύχνῳ φαίνοντι ἐν αὐχμηρῷ τόπῳ, ἕως οὗ ἡμέρα διαυγάσῃ καὶ φωσφόρος ἀνατείλῃ ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν·

προφητικὸς λόγος (prophētikos logos) — Partial baseline reuse (προφητεία / prorok already Low risk in baseline; elevated here)

• Transliteration: prophētikos logos
• Literal meaning: “prophetic word/message”
• Semantic range: the body of Old Testament prophetic Scripture, understood as God’s authoritative message
• English variants: “prophetic word,” “word of prophecy,” “message of the prophets”
• Contextual theological meaning: the anchor term for “The Reliability and Inspiration of Scripture” doctrine — Peter argues Scripture is more certain confirmation of Christ than even his own eyewitness experience.
• Polish rendering risk: High. Proposed: “słowo prorockie.” While the baseline registry rates “prorok”/“proroctwo” Low risk as isolated terms, this specific curriculum elevates the doctrine to High/Critical significance; the phrase must be taught as carrying full divine authority equal to (indeed here presented as surpassing in certainty) apostolic eyewitness testimony, not as a lesser, merely devotional category of literature.

βεβαιότερος (bebaioteros) — New term

• Transliteration: bebaioteros
• Literal meaning: more sure, more firmly established, more confirmed
• Semantic range: certainty, reliability, confirmation
• English variants: “more sure,” “more fully confirmed,” “altogether reliable”
• Contextual theological meaning: Peter’s rhetorical point — Scripture’s prophetic word is even more firmly confirmed than his own eyewitness experience of the Transfiguration.
• Polish rendering risk: Medium. Proposed: “potwierdzone” / “jeszcze bardziej potwierdzone.” Must preserve the comparative force (more sure than firsthand experience), not merely “sure” without the comparison.

λύχνος (lychnos) / αὐχμηρὸς τόπος (auchmēros topos) — New terms

• Transliteration: lychnos (“lamp”); auchmēros topos (“dark/murky place”)
• Literal meaning: a hand lamp; a dry, gloomy, murky place
• Semantic range: household lamp; figuratively, guidance amid darkness
• English variants: “lamp shining in a dark place,” “light shining in a murky place”
• Contextual theological meaning: Scripture’s prophetic word functions as guiding light for believers living in a spiritually dark age, until Christ’s return.
• Polish rendering risk: Low. Proposed: “lampa świecąca w ciemnym/mrocznym miejscu.” Standard metaphor, low ambiguity.

φωσφόρος (phōsphoros, “morning star”) — New term

• Transliteration: phōsphoros
• Literal meaning: “light-bearer”; the morning star (the planet Venus at dawn)
• Semantic range: astronomical morning star; figuratively, the dawning of full illumination/understanding, associated elsewhere with Christ himself (cf. Revelation 22:16)
• English variants: “morning star,” “day star”
• Contextual theological meaning: pictures the full clarity that will come at Christ’s return, when the partial illumination of prophecy gives way to complete understanding.
• Polish rendering risk: Critical. Proposed: “gwiazda poranna.” MUST NOT be rendered or footnoted using the Polish word “Lucyfer” — even though the Latin Vulgate’s “lucifer” is a literal one-to-one translation of this Greek word, in Polish (as in English) “Lucyfer” has become a proper name for Satan, derived from a separate, unrelated mistranslation tradition tied to Isaiah 14:12. Using “Lucyfer” here would create a severe, confusing doctrinal collision, associating a positive image of Christ/illumination with the adversary. Always use “gwiazda poranna,” never “Lucyfer.”

καρδία (kardia, “heart”) — New term

• Transliteration: kardia
• Literal meaning: heart
• Semantic range: seat of understanding, will, and emotion (not merely the physical organ or, in Polish idiom, only the seat of feeling)
• English variants: “hearts”
• Contextual theological meaning: the dawning of full understanding “in your hearts” is an inward, personal illumination, not mere intellectual assent.
• Polish rendering risk: Low. Proposed: “serce.” Standard; note Polish “serce” leans toward emotion in everyday use — teaching material should clarify the fuller biblical sense (mind, will, and affections together).

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2 Peter 1:20

Greek: τοῦτο πρῶτον γινώσκοντες, ὅτι πᾶσα προφητεία γραφῆς ἰδίας ἐπιλύσεως οὐ γίνεται.

γραφή (graphē) — New term (central to curriculum doctrine)

• Transliteration: graphē
• Literal meaning: writing, that which is written
• Semantic range: any piece of writing; in the NT, the technical term for the sacred, authoritative Scriptures
• English variants: “Scripture,” “the Scriptures,” “the writing”
• Contextual theological meaning: the anchor term for the doctrine “The Reliability and Inspiration of Scripture” — Scripture is treated as a unified, divinely authoritative corpus.
• Polish rendering risk: Critical. Proposed: “Pismo” (in context, short for “Pismo Święte,” the standard Polish term for Holy Scripture, shared across Catholic and Protestant tradition). This term must consistently carry the sense of divinely authoritative, written revelation — distinct from ordinary “pisma” (writings) in general use, and distinct from popular Catholic framing in which Scripture is held “alongside” Sacred Tradition and Magisterial teaching as co-authoritative (cf. baseline doctrine “inspiration_of_scripture,” Medium risk in Romans — elevated to Critical here since 2 Peter 1:16–21 is this curriculum’s core passage and doctrinal anchor for this exact issue).

προφητεία (prophēteia) — Baseline reuse

• Polish rendering: “proroctwo” (Low risk per baseline registry, but doctrinally central here). “πᾶσα προφητεία γραφῆς” = “wszelkie proroctwo Pisma” (all/every prophecy of Scripture).

ἴδιος (idios, “one’s own”) — New term

• Transliteration: idios
• Literal meaning: one’s own, private, personal
• Semantic range: personal possession or initiative, as opposed to shared/derived from another
• English variants: “one’s own,” “someone’s own”
• Contextual theological meaning: prophecy did not originate from any individual prophet’s private initiative or self-generated interpretation — it originates from God (v.21).
• Polish rendering risk: Low. Proposed: “własny.”

ἐπίλυσις (epilysis) — New term

• Transliteration: epilysis
• Literal meaning: a releasing, an explaining, a solving/interpretation
• Semantic range: interpretation, explanation, resolution of a difficulty
• English variants: “interpretation” (most versions), “origin” (some translations debate whether this refers to interpretation or the prophet’s own initiative/origin of the message — see Ambiguity Handling note below)
• Contextual theological meaning: whether read as “no prophecy arose from the prophet’s own private impulse” or “no prophecy is to be privately/self-interpreted,” the verse denies any merely human, self-generated origin or handling of prophetic Scripture, setting up v.21’s positive statement of divine origin.
• Polish rendering risk: High. Proposed: “wykładnia” or “wyjaśnienie.” AMBIGUITY FLAG: Greek scholarship is genuinely divided between an “origin” reading (the prophecy did not arise from the prophet’s own private understanding) and an “interpretation” reading (the prophecy is not to be interpreted by one’s own private authority). Both readings converge doctrinally (divine, not human, authority over prophecy), but translators must choose one clearly and record the alternative per the baseline’s Ambiguity Handling protocol; this segment should be flagged for human theologian review given the Critical-adjacent doctrine at stake.

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2 Peter 1:21

Greek: οὐ γὰρ θελήματι ἀνθρώπου ἠνέχθη προφητεία ποτέ, ἀλλὰ ὑπὸ Πνεύματος Ἁγίου φερόμενοι ἐλάλησαν ἀπὸ Θεοῦ ἄνθρωποι.

θέλημα ἀνθρώπου (thelēma anthrōpou) — New term

• Transliteration: thelēma anthrōpou
• Literal meaning: “will of man”
• Semantic range: human intention, initiative, desire
• English variants: “the will of man,” “human will,” “human initiative”
• Contextual theological meaning: negates human initiative as the source of Scripture, preparing for the positive statement of divine origin.
• Polish rendering risk: Medium. Proposed: “wola człowieka.” Standard.

φέρω, passive (pheromenoi) — “carried/borne along” — New term (doctrinally central)

• Transliteration: pheromenoi
• Literal meaning: being carried, being borne, being moved along (as a ship carried by wind, cf. Acts 27:15, 17 — the same verb)
• Semantic range: passive transport by an external force; being conveyed, moved, or driven
• English variants: “moved by” (KJV), “carried along by” (ESV, NIV), “borne along by”
• Contextual theological meaning: this is the definitive verb for the doctrine “The Reliability and Inspiration of Scripture.” Human authors spoke, but the Holy Spirit was the active, sovereign moving force — analogous to a ship carried by wind, the human writers were genuinely active (they “spoke”) yet entirely governed by the Spirit’s direction. This must not be flattened into a vague notion of “inspired” in the loose modern sense of “creatively motivated.”
• Polish rendering risk: Critical. Proposed: “prowadzeni/unoszeni przez Ducha Świętego” (“led/carried by the Holy Spirit”), reusing baseline “Duch Święty” (Critical) and connecting explicitly to the existing baseline doctrine “inspiration_of_scripture” (“natchnienie Pisma Świętego”). This verse should be the primary proof-text anchoring that doctrine’s rendering across the whole curriculum. Must be flagged for mandatory human theologian review in every occurrence, per the baseline’s escalation rules for Scripture-inspiration and Holy-Spirit content.

Πνεῦμα Ἅγιον (Pneuma Hagion) — Baseline reuse

• Polish rendering: “Duch Święty” (Critical, per baseline). The active, personal divine agent of Scripture’s production.

λαλέω ἀπὸ Θεοῦ (laleō apo Theou, “spoke from God”) — New term

• Transliteration: laleō apo Theou
• Literal meaning: “spoke from God” / “spoke, [sent] from God”
• Semantic range: authorized, sourced speech
• English variants: “spoke from God,” “men spoke from God”
• Contextual theological meaning: the human prophets remained genuine speaking agents, but the ultimate source and authorization of their message was God himself — holding together divine sovereignty and genuine human agency in the production of Scripture, precisely the balance the doctrine of inspiration must preserve.
• Polish rendering risk: High. Proposed: “mówili [ludzie] od Boga” / “posłani przez Boga, mówili.” Must preserve both halves of the balance: real human speech, and its ultimate divine source — neither dictation-only nor merely human-inspired-by-general-religious-feeling.

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PART B — CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER STUDY OF THE WHOLE BOOK

Chapter 1 (1:1–15) — Salutation, the Divine Nature, and the Call to Virtue

(Verses 16–21 are treated fully above as the core passage; this section covers the remainder of the chapter.)

δοῦλος (doulos) — New term

• Transliteration: doulos
• Literal meaning: slave, bondservant
• Semantic range: slave (full sense), servant, one wholly owned by and devoted to a master
• English variants: “servant” (most versions), “slave,” “bondservant”
• Contextual theological meaning: Peter’s self-designation, expressing total ownership by and submission to Christ, alongside his apostolic authority.
• Polish rendering risk: Medium. Proposed: “sługa” (per Biblia Tysiąclecia convention). Risk: “sługa” in ordinary Polish can suggest a hired servant rather than a slave with no legal autonomy; teaching material should clarify the fuller “total ownership” sense the Greek conveys, without necessarily replacing the established rendering.

ἀπόστολος (apostolos) — Baseline reuse

• Polish rendering: “apostoł” (Low risk per baseline).

ἰσότιμος (isotimos, “of equal standing/equally precious”) — New term

• Transliteration: isotimos
• Literal meaning: equal in value/honor
• Semantic range: equal privilege, equal standing, equally precious
• English variants: “a faith of equal standing,” “like precious faith,” “as precious a faith”
• Contextual theological meaning: 2 Peter 1:1 affirms that later believers (“to those who have obtained…”) share a faith of identical standing/value to the apostles’ own faith — no second-class believers.
• Polish rendering risk: Medium. Proposed: “wiara równie cenna [co nasza].” Connects to the baseline’s Critical “wiara” term; ensure this equal-standing statement is not read through the “Polak-katolik” inherited-identity lens (i.e., “equal because we’re all Polish Catholics”) but as equal personal trust in Christ shared across all generations of genuine believers.

πίστις (pistis) — Baseline reuse

• Polish rendering: “wiara” (Critical, per baseline). All baseline cautions regarding personal trust vs. inherited national-religious identity apply throughout 2 Peter.

δικαιοσύνη (dikaiosynē) — Baseline reuse

• Polish rendering: “sprawiedliwość” (Critical, per baseline). 2 Peter 1:1 speaks of “the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ” that grants the equally precious faith — reinforcing forensic/gracious righteousness, not merit-based standing.

Θεός … καὶ Σωτῆρος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ (“our God and Savior Jesus Christ”) — Deity-of-Christ construction; ties to baseline Critical doctrine “deity_of_christ”

• σωτήρ (sōtēr) — New term
  • Transliteration: sōtēr
  • Literal meaning: savior, deliverer, rescuer
  • Semantic range: deliverer from danger, disease, or death; in the NT, God/Christ as the one who rescues from sin and judgment
  • English variants: “Savior” (all major versions)
  • Contextual theological meaning: 2 Peter’s repeated formula “our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (1:11; 2:20; 3:2, 18) is a hallmark Petrine title. In 1:1, the grammatical construction (“our God and Savior Jesus Christ”) applies both “God” and “Savior” directly to Jesus Christ — a strong, explicit affirmation of Christ’s full deity, of the same order as Titus 2:13.
  • Polish rendering risk: Critical. Proposed: “Zbawiciel” — connects directly to baseline’s Critical “zbawienie” (salvation). Must be flagged for mandatory human theologian review every occurrence, consistent with baseline escalation rules for Deity-of-Christ content; must not be softened to “wybawca” (a merely situational rescuer) which lacks the full soteriological weight.
• Χριστός (Christos) — New term
  • Transliteration: Christos
  • Literal meaning: “Anointed One” (Greek equivalent of Hebrew “Mashiach”)
  • Semantic range: functions in the NT both as a title (“the Christ/Messiah”) and, increasingly, as a proper name attached to Jesus
  • English variants: “Christ”
  • Contextual theological meaning: ties directly to baseline’s Critical “Mesjasz” (Messiah) entry — Χριστός is its Greek-derived form used as Jesus’s second name throughout 2 Peter.
  • Polish rendering risk: Critical. Proposed: “Chrystus” (established form). Ensure teaching material makes explicit that “Chrystus” = “Mesjasz,” preventing the two from being perceived as unrelated titles.

χάρις (charis) and εἰρήνη (eirēnē) — Baseline reuse

• Polish rendering: “łaska” (High, baseline) and “pokój” (Medium, baseline). 2 Peter 1:2 prays these be “multiplied” through the knowledge of God — connecting grace/peace to the letter’s distinctive knowledge vocabulary below.

ἐπίγνωσις (epignōsis, “full/precise knowledge”) — New term (doctrinally central to 2 Peter)

• Transliteration: epignōsis
• Literal meaning: knowledge upon/toward — i.e., fuller, more precise, experiential knowledge (as opposed to bare γνῶσις/gnōsis, general knowledge)
• Semantic range: deep, personal, relational knowledge of God/Christ, as distinguished from theoretical information
• English variants: “knowledge” (most versions do not distinguish from gnōsis), “true knowledge,” “full knowledge”
• Contextual theological meaning: 2 Peter’s central spiritual-growth term (1:2, 3, 8; 2:20; cf. 3:18’s γνῶσις). Genuine, relational knowledge of Christ is what produces grace, peace, virtue, and escape from corruption; its absence characterizes the false teachers of chapter 2.
• Polish rendering risk: High. Proposed: “poznanie” with the qualifying gloss “pełne/dokładne poznanie” where distinction from γνῶσις (also commonly “poznanie”/“wiedza”) must be flagged. Polish, like most target languages, lacks a lexical pair as clean as epignōsis/gnōsis; translators must add context (e.g., “prawdziwe poznanie Boga”) to preserve 2 Peter’s distinctive emphasis that this is not mere information but relational, transformative knowing. Flag for native speaker review wherever the distinction matters doctrinally (especially 1:3 vs. 1:5-6 and 3:18).

θεία δύναμις (theia dynamis, “divine power”) — New term

• Transliteration: theia dynamis
• Literal meaning: “divine power”
• Semantic range: power belonging to or characteristic of deity
• English variants: “divine power,” “His divine power”
• Contextual theological meaning: 1:3 — God’s own power (not human effort) supplies everything needed for life and godliness, grounding the entire virtue-growth doctrine in grace rather than self-improvement.
• Polish rendering risk: Medium. Proposed: “Boska moc” (parallel to baseline “moc Boża,” Medium risk). Ensure the sentence’s logic — power given, enabling virtue, not virtue as a human achievement that earns favor — is preserved; this guards against a moralistic/meritorious misreading of the following virtue list.

ἀρετή (aretē, “virtue/excellence”) — New term (central to “Growing in Christian Virtue” doctrine)

• Transliteration: aretē
• Literal meaning: excellence, virtue, moral goodness, praiseworthy quality
• Semantic range: in classical Greek ethics, the full Aristotelian concept of moral/practical excellence; in 2 Peter, a Spirit-enabled quality flowing from knowledge of Christ, not self-achieved moral excellence
• English variants: “virtue,” “goodness,” “moral excellence”
• Contextual theological meaning: the first link in the virtue chain of 1:5–7 (faith → virtue → knowledge → self-control → perseverance → godliness → brotherly kindness → love); also used of God’s own excellence in 1:3.
• Polish rendering risk: High. Proposed: “cnota.” Risk: Polish Catholic moral theology has a well-developed, catechetically prominent “cnoty” framework — the three theological virtues (wiara, nadzieja, miłość) and four cardinal virtues (męstwo, sprawiedliwość, umiarkowanie, roztropność) drawn from Thomistic tradition. 2 Peter’s virtue chain does not map onto this list and must not be taught as an alternative or supplementary catechism list to be mastered by moral effort; it must be taught as the Spirit-enabled fruit of the “divine power” already given (1:3) and of “knowledge” of Christ, growing organically rather than through independent ascetic achievement.

ἐπάγγελμα (epangelma, “promise”) — New term

• Transliteration: epangelma
• Literal meaning: a promise, a pledge
• Semantic range: a solemn assurance, guarantee
• English variants: “promises,” “precious promises”
• Contextual theological meaning: 1:4 — God’s “precious and very great promises” are the means by which believers escape corruption and become partakers of the divine nature; connects to the broader biblical covenant-promise trajectory (cf. baseline “covenant”/“przymierze,” High risk).
• Polish rendering risk: Low. Proposed: “obietnice.” Standard.

θεία φύσις (theia physis, “divine nature”) / κοινωνοὶ θείας φύσεως (“partakers of the divine nature”) — New term (doctrinally central; unique to this book among NT letters)

• Transliteration: theia physis; koinōnoi theias physeōs
• Literal meaning: “divine nature”; “sharers/partners of the divine nature”
• Semantic range: nature, essence, inherent character (physis); shared participation, partnership, fellowship (koinōnos, related to koinōnia, baseline “wspólnota,” Low risk)
• English variants: “partakers of the divine nature” (most versions), “share in the divine nature,” “participate in God’s own nature”
• Contextual theological meaning: 1:4 — believers, through God’s promises, come to share in God’s own moral nature (holiness, love, incorruptibility), escaping the corruption of worldly lust. This is relational, moral, and derivative participation in God’s character and life — not ontological equality with God, not a merging of essence, and not self-generated divinity.
• Polish rendering risk: CRITICAL. Proposed: “uczestnicy Boskiej natury.” This is the single highest cultural-collision risk in 2 Peter and requires an explicit teaching note at every occurrence: (1) it must be firmly distinguished from Eastern Orthodox theosis/“przebóstwienie” language, which some Polish readers with Orthodox contact or theological reading may know as a fuller ontological transformation doctrine; (2) it must be firmly and repeatedly distinguished from New Age or pantheistic “divine spark within every person” ideas increasingly present in Polish popular spirituality; (3) it must be firmly distinguished from any suggestion of becoming a god or attaining independent divine status (a distortion associated with some new religious movements). The correct sense — moral and relational participation in God’s holy character, granted by grace through his promises, while creature and Creator remain absolutely distinct — must be stated explicitly every time this phrase is taught, not left to infer from the wording alone.

φθορά (phthora, “corruption”) — New term (appears again in ch. 2)

• Transliteration: phthora
• Literal meaning: decay, ruin, corruption, destruction
• Semantic range: moral corruption; physical decay/perishability
• English variants: “corruption,” “corruptible things,” “decay”
• Contextual theological meaning: 1:4 — the moral corruption in the world produced by lust (epithymia), from which believers escape through participation in the divine nature; reused in 2:12, 19 of the false teachers’ own moral corruption and their promise of a “freedom” that is actually slavery to it.
• Polish rendering risk: High. Proposed: “zepsucie” (also “skażenie” as a secondary option for the more “contamination” nuance). Ensure the moral sense (corruption of character, not merely biological decay/aging) is retained, given “zepsucie” in colloquial Polish can trend toward a milder “spoiled/gone bad” sense.

ἐπιθυμία (epithymia, “lust/desire”) — New term

• Transliteration: epithymia
• Literal meaning: strong desire, craving
• Semantic range: neutral “desire” to strongly negative “lust/craving for what is forbidden” (context determines valence; always negative in 2 Peter)
• English variants: “lust,” “corrupt desire,” “sinful desire”
• Contextual theological meaning: the driving force of the world’s corruption (1:4) and of the false teachers’ behavior and teaching (2:10, 18; 3:3).
• Polish rendering risk: Medium. Proposed: “pożądliwość.” Standard, unambiguous negative connotation in Polish religious usage.

The virtue chain (1:5–7): σπουδή, ἐγκράτεια, ὑπομονή, εὐσέβεια, φιλαδελφία, ἀγάπη — New terms

• σπουδή (spoudē) — diligence, earnestness, eagerness. Proposed: “zapał/staranie.” Low risk.
• ἐγκράτεια (enkrateia) — self-control, mastery over one’s desires. Proposed: “powściągliwość.” Medium risk; ensure it is understood as Spirit-enabled self-mastery, not willpower-driven asceticism divorced from grace.
• ὑπομονή (hypomonē) — perseverance, steadfast endurance. Proposed: “wytrwałość.” Low-Medium risk; standard.
• εὐσέβεια (eusebeia) — godliness, God-oriented reverent living. Proposed: “pobożność.” High risk: in Polish Catholic culture “pobożność” often connotes external devotional practice — attendance at nabożeństwa (devotions), participation in pilgrimages, popular Marian piety, and visible ritual observance — rather than the holistic, Spirit-produced reverence for God in every area of life that 2 Peter describes. Must be taught with explicit clarification distinguishing inward, comprehensive God-reverence from devotional-practice checklist piety.
• φιλαδελφία (philadelphia) — brotherly love/kindness. Proposed: “miłość braterska.” Low risk.
• ἀγάπη (agapē) — love. Proposed: “miłość.” New term not present in the Romans baseline TM — must be added to translation memory for this curriculum. Risk: Medium. Polish “miłość” is a broad word spanning romantic, familial, and self-giving senses; in this chain it denotes the crowning, self-giving Christian love that fulfills and directs all the preceding qualities. No major syncretism risk, but teaching material should clarify this is the culminating, others-oriented ἀγάπη, not romantic or merely sentimental love.

κλῆσις καὶ ἐκλογή (klēsis kai eklogē, “calling and election”) — Baseline reuse

• Polish rendering: “powołanie” (Critical, baseline) and “wybranie” (High, baseline). 1:10 — “confirm your calling and election.” All baseline cautions apply: “powołanie” must not default to the culturally dominant sense of a call to priesthood/religious life; it denotes every believer’s salvation-calling, confirmed by the fruit of the virtue chain above.

βασιλεία αἰώνιος (aiōnios basileia, “eternal kingdom”) — Baseline-adjacent

• Polish rendering: relates to baseline “królestwo Boże” (Medium risk) but here specifically “the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (1:11) — reuse “wieczne królestwo” as the modifying phrase, retaining “Pan” and “Zbawiciel” for the title. Low additional risk beyond the baseline’s existing kingdom-of-God cautions.

σκήνωμα (skēnōma, “tent/tabernacle” — of the body) — New term

• Transliteration: skēnōma
• Literal meaning: tent, temporary dwelling
• Semantic range: literal tent; figuratively, the body as a temporary dwelling for the soul
• English variants: “body” (most versions paraphrase), “tent,” “tabernacle”
• Contextual theological meaning: 1:13-14 — Peter speaks of “putting off this tent,” i.e., his approaching death, framing the body as a temporary, not final, dwelling.
• Polish rendering risk: Low. Proposed: “namiot (ciała)” or simply “ciało” with a footnote on the tent metaphor. Low doctrinal risk; primarily a translation-naturalness issue.

ἔξοδος (exodos, “departure”) — New term

• Transliteration: exodos
• Literal meaning: a going out, a departure, an exit
• Semantic range: literal departure/exit; the proper name of the biblical book “Exodus” (Wyjście in Polish)
• English variants: “departure,” “decease”
• Contextual theological meaning: 1:15 — Peter’s word for his own coming death intentionally echoes the Exodus narrative and Christ’s own “exodos” spoken of at the Transfiguration (Luke 9:31), framing death as a purposeful departure into God’s deliverance, not mere extinction.
• Polish rendering risk: Medium. Proposed: “odejście” for the plain sense, with a teaching note flagging the deliberate echo of “Wyjście” (the Polish title of the book of Exodus) that a bare translation will otherwise lose entirely for Polish readers.

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Chapter 2 — False Teachers and Their Judgment

ψευδοπροφήτης (pseudoprophētēs, “false prophet”) / ψευδοδιδάσκαλος (pseudodidaskalos, “false teacher”) — New terms

• Transliteration: pseudoprophētēs; pseudodidaskalos
• Literal meaning: “false prophet”; “false teacher”
• Semantic range: one who claims prophetic/teaching authority but delivers a corrupted or false message
• English variants: “false prophets,” “false teachers”
• Contextual theological meaning: 2:1 — the direct anchor terms for the doctrine “False Teachers and Their Judgment.” Peter parallels Israel’s history of false prophets with the coming rise of false teachers within the church.
• Polish rendering risk: ψευδοπροφήτης — Medium (proposed: “fałszywi prorocy,” reusing baseline “prorok”); ψευδοδιδάσκαλος — High (proposed: “fałszywi nauczyciele”). Teaching material must make clear these are professing insiders, not merely external skeptics — a distinction easily lost without explicit framing.

αἵρεσις ἀπωλείας (hairesis apōleias, “destructive heresies/sects”) — New term

• Transliteration: hairesis
• Literal meaning: a choosing, a chosen course; a sect, faction, or school of thought
• Semantic range: neutral “school of thought/party” (as in Acts) to strongly negative “destructive false teaching/schism”
• English variants: “destructive heresies,” “destructive opinions,” “damnable heresies” (KJV)
• Contextual theological meaning: describes the false teachers’ doctrines as bringing about destruction (ἀπώλεια, see below).
• Polish rendering risk: High. Proposed: “zgubne nauki” (destructive teachings) rather than a bare transliteration “herezje.” Risk: the Polish word “herezja” carries a strong technical canon-law connotation in Catholic usage — a formally defined, ecclesiastically declared doctrinal offense subject to specific juridical processes (cf. Codex of Canon Law). 2 Peter’s usage is broader and more pastoral — any teaching, formally declared or not, that leads people away from Christ toward destruction. “Zgubne nauki” avoids implying only canon-law-defined heresy is in view.

δεσπότης (despotēs, “Master/Sovereign”) — New term (distinct from κύριος)

• Transliteration: despotēs
• Literal meaning: master, absolute owner, sovereign lord (of a household or slaves)
• Semantic range: absolute ownership-authority, stronger and more domestic/proprietary than κύριος’s more general “lord”
• English variants: “Master,” “Sovereign Lord,” “the Lord”
• Contextual theological meaning: 2:1 — the false teachers deny “the Master who bought them,” a striking image of Christ’s absolute ownership through the price of redemption.
• Polish rendering risk: High. Proposed: “Władca” (or “Pan i Władca” where paired). Must be kept lexically distinct from baseline’s “Pan” (kyrios) so students perceive Peter is using a different, even stronger term of absolute ownership-authority here, not merely repeating “Pan.” Must not be softened to lowercase “pan” in the sense of ordinary courteous address.

ἀπώλεια (apōleia, “destruction/perdition”) — New term

• Transliteration: apōleia
• Literal meaning: destruction, ruin, loss
• Semantic range: temporal ruin; eternal perdition/damnation
• English variants: “destruction,” “perdition,” “doom”
• Contextual theological meaning: the recurring fate of the false teachers throughout chapter 2 (vv. 1, 3) and of the ungodly generally (3:7, 16) — the negative counterpart to salvation.
• Polish rendering risk: High. Proposed: “zguba” (or “zatracenie” for the stronger eternal sense). Must be understood as final, eternal ruin under God’s judgment, connecting to baseline’s Critical “zbawienie” as its direct antonym; risk of softening into a merely this-worldly “ruin/failure” sense.

κρίσις (krisis, “judgment”) — New term

• Transliteration: krisis
• Literal meaning: a judging, a decision, a verdict
• Semantic range: legal judgment/verdict; the specific eschatological Day of Judgment
• English variants: “judgment,” “condemnation”
• Contextual theological meaning: 2:3, 9 — God’s certain, righteous verdict on the false teachers and the ungodly, reserved for the appointed day; ties directly to the doctrine “The Day of the Lord and Final Judgment.”
• Polish rendering risk: High. Proposed: “sąd.” Standard; ensure the judicial, courtroom sense (a verdict rendered by the rightful Judge) is retained rather than a vague sense of disapproval.

Τάρταρος / ταρταρόω (Tartaros / tartaroō, “Tartarus” — 2:4) — New term

• Transliteration: tartaroō (verb, “to cast into Tartarus”)
• Literal meaning: to consign to Tartarus, the deepest place of confinement/punishment
• Semantic range: this word is a direct borrowing from Greco-Roman mythology, where Tartarus is the abyss of punishment for the rebellious Titans
• English variants: “cast them into hell” (many versions paraphrase away from the mythological term), “cast down to Tartarus” (more literal translations), “chains of darkness” (descriptive paraphrase)
• Contextual theological meaning: 2:4 — describing God’s judgment on the angels who sinned, Peter borrows a term his Greco-Roman readers would recognize as “the place of divine punishment for cosmic rebels,” repurposing it to describe the true God’s real judgment, not endorsing Greek cosmology.
• Polish rendering risk: CRITICAL. Proposed: most Polish translations paraphrase (e.g., “wtrącił do ciemności” — “cast into darkness/chains of gloom”) rather than transliterating “Tartar,” precisely to avoid direct importation of a pagan mythological place-name into the biblical text. This curriculum recommends following that descriptive-paraphrase convention rather than transliterating “Tartar,” while a teaching note explains Peter’s rhetorical borrowing of a term his audience would recognize, without implying Scripture affirms Greek mythology’s cosmology. Flag for mandatory human theologian review given the direct pagan-mythology collision.

κατακλυσμός (kataklysmos, “flood”) — New term

• Proposed: “potop.” Standard, unambiguous (Noah’s flood). Low risk.

Σόδομα καὶ Γόμορρα (Sodoma kai Gomorra), Νῶε (Nōe, Noah), Λώτ (Lōt, Lot) — Proper names

• Proposed: “Sodoma i Gomora,” “Noe,” “Lot” — standard established Polish Bible forms. Low risk; require brief Old Testament background notes for readers unfamiliar with the narratives, per the baseline’s general caution about OT-background gaps.

ἀσέλγεια (aselgeia, “sensuality/debauchery”) — New term

• Transliteration: aselgeia
• Literal meaning: unrestrained indulgence, licentiousness, shameless excess
• Semantic range: sexual immorality specifically, or unrestrained excess more broadly
• English variants: “sensuality,” “debauchery,” “licentiousness”
• Contextual theological meaning: 2:2, 7, 18 — the moral pattern of both the false teachers and the culture of Sodom; a recurring descriptor of the false teachers’ lifestyle.
• Polish rendering risk: Medium. Proposed: “rozpusta” (or “wyuzdanie” for stronger nuance). Standard.

κυριότης (kyriotēs, “dominion/authority”) — New term (related to κύριος)

• Transliteration: kyriotēs
• Literal meaning: lordship, dominion, ruling authority
• Semantic range: authority in the abstract; sometimes personified of angelic ranks (“dominions,” cf. Colossians 1:16)
• English variants: “authority,” “dominion,” “lordship”
• Contextual theological meaning: 2:10 — the false teachers “despise authority” (likely Christ’s own lordship, or possibly angelic authorities), showing arrogant disregard for legitimate spiritual authority.
• Polish rendering risk: Medium-High. Proposed: “zwierzchność” or “władza pańska.” Ensure connection to baseline’s “Pan” (kyrios) is perceptible so the seriousness of despising Christ’s own authority is not lost.

ἐλευθερία (eleutheria, “freedom/liberty”) — New term

• Transliteration: eleutheria
• Literal meaning: freedom, liberty
• Semantic range: genuine freedom (a positive NT concept elsewhere, e.g. Galatians 5) or, here, a false promise of freedom that is actually bondage
• English variants: “freedom,” “liberty”
• Contextual theological meaning: 2:19 — the false teachers “promise them freedom” while they themselves are “slaves of corruption” (δουλεία φθορᾶς) — a bitterly ironic reversal.
• Polish rendering risk: Medium-High. Proposed: “wolność.” Must be carefully distinguished in teaching material from the true, Spirit-given freedom taught elsewhere in the NT; the irony (promised freedom that is really slavery to phthora) must be clearly preserved, not flattened into a simple positive statement.

Βαλαάμ (Balaam) — Proper name

• Proposed: “Balaam.” Standard; Low risk; requires OT background note (Numbers 22–24).

ἐντολή (entolē, “commandment”) — New term

• Transliteration: entolē
• Literal meaning: commandment, instruction, order
• Semantic range: distinct from νόμος (Law/Torah as a whole); a specific command or instruction
• English variants: “commandment”
• Contextual theological meaning: 2:21 — turning from “the holy commandment” delivered to believers; apostasy is framed as abandonment of received instruction, not mere intellectual doubt.
• Polish rendering risk: Medium. Proposed: “przykazanie.” Standard; distinguish from baseline’s “Prawo” (the Mosaic Law as a body) — this is the specific gospel instruction handed to believers.

παροιμία (paroimia, “proverb”) and the two proverbs of 2:22 (dog/vomit; sow/mire) — New term

• Proposed: “przysłowie.” Low risk; the two images themselves (“pies… do własnych wymiocin,” “świnia… w kałuży błota”) should be translated plainly and vividly, preserving their intentional shock value as descriptions of apostasy’s degrading nature.

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Chapter 3 — The Day of the Lord, Scoffers, and the Patience of God

ἐμπαίκτης (empaiktēs, “scoffer/mocker”) — New term

• Transliteration: empaiktēs
• Literal meaning: a mocker, scoffer, one who ridicules
• Semantic range: derisive unbelief, especially directed at prophetic/eschatological claims
• English variants: “scoffers,” “mockers”
• Contextual theological meaning: 3:3 — those in the last days who deny the certainty of Christ’s return, mocking the promise with “Where is the promise of his coming?” (3:4) — direct opposition to the doctrines “The Certainty of Christ’s Return” and “The Day of the Lord.”
• Polish rendering risk: High. Proposed: “szydercy” (or “naśmiewcy”). Standard vocabulary, but the doctrine at stake (certainty of the parousia) is Critical/High, so the term itself should be flagged whenever it appears for its doctrinal context.

παρουσία (parousia) — Baseline-adjacent reuse from Chapter 1 core passage

• Polish rendering: “przyjście” (Critical). 3:4 — the scoffers’ mocking question directly targets this doctrine; 3:12 speaks of believers “waiting for and hastening” it. Consistency of rendering across all occurrences (1:16; 3:4, 12) is essential and should be enforced identically to the baseline’s “same rendering across all documents” consistency rule for thesis-level passages.

κτίσις (ktisis, “creation”) — New term

• Transliteration: ktisis
• Literal meaning: creation, that which is created
• Semantic range: the created order as a whole; sometimes a particular created thing
• English variants: “creation”
• Contextual theological meaning: 3:4 — the scoffers appeal to the apparent unchanging continuity of creation since “the beginning” to deny any coming intervention; Peter counters with the Flood as a precedent of prior divine intervention (3:5-6).
• Polish rendering risk: Medium. Proposed: “stworzenie.” Standard.

μακροθυμία (makrothymia, “patience/longsuffering”) — New term (central to “Patience of God’s Timing” doctrine)

• Transliteration: makrothymia
• Literal meaning: long-temperedness, forbearance, patient restraint from anger or action
• Semantic range: patient endurance; forbearing delay for a benevolent purpose
• English variants: “patience,” “longsuffering,” “forbearance”
• Contextual theological meaning: 3:9, 15 — God’s apparent “delay” in bringing final judgment is not slowness or indifference but purposeful patience, giving space for repentance; also, believers should regard the Lord’s patience itself as (leading to) salvation (3:15).
• Polish rendering risk: High. Proposed: “cierpliwość [Boża].” Must be actively distinguished from a fatalistic or passive “God is just slow/inactive” reading; God’s patience is purposeful and salvation-oriented, directly answering the scoffers’ charge in 3:4, 9. Flag for human theologian review wherever it appears, given its direct link to a named curriculum doctrine.

βραδύνει (bradynei, “is slow/delays”) — New term

• Transliteration: bradynei
• Literal meaning: to be slow, to delay
• Semantic range: negative “slowness” (implying failure) or neutral “delay” (implying deliberate timing)
• English variants: “the Lord is not slow,” “the Lord does not delay”
• Contextual theological meaning: 3:9 — directly denies that God’s timing reflects failure or unfaithfulness to his promise; his apparent delay is in fact patience (makrothymia).
• Polish rendering risk: Medium. Proposed: “nie zwleka / nie jest powolny.” Ensure the negation is emphatic and paired conceptually with the following positive statement of purposeful patience.

μετάνοια (metanoia, “repentance”) — New term

• Transliteration: metanoia
• Literal meaning: a change of mind, a turning around
• Semantic range: inward change of mind and direction of life, turning from sin toward God
• English variants: “repentance”
• Contextual theological meaning: 3:9 — God’s patience aims at giving space for “all to reach repentance” — an inward, personal turning to God, not primarily an external ritual act.
• Polish rendering risk: CRITICAL. Proposed: “nawrócenie” (or “upamiętanie,” used in Polish Protestant tradition specifically to avoid this exact collision). Risk: Polish Catholic usage of the cognate word “pokuta” is strongly and specifically associated with the sacrament of Penance/Reconciliation (Sakrament Pokuty i Pojednania) — a defined ritual act involving confession to a priest, prescribed penitential acts, and sacramental absolution. If μετάνοια is rendered or taught as “pokuta” without qualification, readers may default to this sacramental-act sense rather than the NT’s broader, more fundamental sense of an inward turning of the whole person to God, available to and required of every person regardless of sacramental access. This mirrors the exact collision pattern the baseline documents for “wiara” and “usprawiedliwienie.” Recommend “nawrócenie” as the primary rendering in this curriculum, reserving “pokuta” only where the specific ritual/sacramental act is genuinely in view elsewhere in Scripture (not the case in 2 Peter 3:9). Mandatory human theologian review for every occurrence.

ἡμέρα Κυρίου (hēmera Kyriou, “the Day of the Lord”) — New term (anchor term for its own named doctrine)

• Transliteration: hēmera Kyriou
• Literal meaning: “the day of the Lord”
• Semantic range: the OT prophetic technical term for God’s decisive future intervention in judgment and salvation, taken up and applied to Christ’s return in the NT
• English variants: “the day of the Lord”
• Contextual theological meaning: 3:10 — the sudden, unexpected, all-encompassing day of cosmic judgment and dissolution, “like a thief,” directly grounding the doctrine “The Day of the Lord and Final Judgment.”
• Polish rendering risk: CRITICAL. Proposed: “dzień Pański” or “dzień Pana” (reusing baseline’s Critical “Pan” for kyrios). Must retain full force: sudden, certain, universal in scope, and inescapable — not softened into a vague “someday” or a merely personal/private day of reckoning. Consistency with “Pan” elsewhere (Romans 10:9) reinforces that this is the same Lord Jesus Christ whose return and whose judgment day are one and the same reality.

στοιχεῖα (stoicheia, “elements”) — New term

• Transliteration: stoicheia
• Literal meaning: basic components, elemental substances
• Semantic range: fundamental physical elements of the cosmos; elsewhere in the NT, also “elemental spiritual powers” (not the sense here)
• English variants: “the elements,” “the heavenly bodies”
• Contextual theological meaning: 3:10, 12 — the fundamental components of the created order will be dissolved in the Day of the Lord’s cosmic judgment.
• Polish rendering risk: Low-Medium. Proposed: “żywioły.” Standard.

καινοὺς οὐρανοὺς καὶ γῆν καινήν (kainous ouranous kai gēn kainēn, “new heavens and a new earth”) — New term

• Transliteration: kainous ouranous kai gēn kainēn
• Literal meaning: “new heavens and new earth”
• Semantic range: qualitatively new (kainos), not merely another cycle of the same order (neos)
• English variants: “new heavens and a new earth”
• Contextual theological meaning: 3:13 — the promised renewed creation in which righteousness dwells, the positive counterpart to the judgment of 3:10-12; the believer’s proper eschatological hope.
• Polish rendering risk: Medium. Proposed: “nowe niebiosa i nowa ziemia.” Standard; per the baseline’s caution on “zmartwychwstanie” (resurrection) never being read as cyclical rebirth, ensure this renewed creation is likewise taught as a definitive, once-for-all divine re-creation, not an endlessly repeating cosmic cycle (a concern relevant given some New Age and Eastern-influenced cyclical cosmologies present in broader Polish popular spirituality).

στρεβλόω (strebloō, “to twist/distort”) — New term

• Transliteration: strebloō
• Literal meaning: to twist, distort, wrench out of shape (used of torture instruments in secular Greek)
• Semantic range: physical twisting; figuratively, deliberate misinterpretation/distortion of a text
• English variants: “twist,” “distort”
• Contextual theological meaning: 3:16 — the “ignorant and unstable twist” Paul’s writings (already recognized as γραφή/Scripture in Peter’s own lifetime — an important early canon-consciousness statement) “to their own destruction,” directly relevant to the doctrine of Scripture’s reliability being abused by false teachers.
• Polish rendering risk: High. Proposed: “przekręcają” (or “wykrzywiają”). Standard vivid Polish term; ensure the connection to Scripture-reliability doctrine (misuse, not just misunderstanding, of Scripture leads to destruction) is retained in teaching material.

πλάνη (planē, “error”) — New term

• Transliteration: planē
• Literal meaning: a wandering, straying; error, deception
• Semantic range: intellectual error; moral/spiritual deception leading astray
• English variants: “error”
• Contextual theological meaning: 3:17 — the letter’s closing warning against being “carried away by the error of lawless people,” summarizing chapter 2’s false-teacher warnings.
• Polish rendering risk: Low-Medium. Proposed: “błąd.” Standard.

αὐξάνω ἐν χάριτι καὶ γνώσει (auxanō en chariti kai gnōsei, “grow in grace and knowledge”) — Closing summary term, partial baseline reuse

• Polish rendering: “wzrastać w łasce i poznaniu” (reusing baseline’s High-risk “łaska” for charis; “poznanie” for gnōsis, per the epignōsis/gnōsis note in Chapter 1 above).
• Contextual theological meaning: 3:18 — the letter’s final exhortation and doctrinal summary, tying together grace (undeserved favor) and knowledge (relational knowing of Christ) as the twin, inseparable marks of ongoing Christian growth — directly answering both the false teachers’ corrupted “knowledge” claims (chapter 2) and the Growing-in-Virtue doctrine of chapter 1.
• Polish rendering risk: High. This closing verse should receive the same cross-document consistency enforcement the baseline requires for Romans 1:16-17, 8:28, and 10:9-10 — it functions as 2 Peter’s own thesis-summary verse and must be rendered identically everywhere it is cited across this curriculum’s materials.

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Summary Note on Full-Book Coverage

All three chapters of 2 Peter have been analyzed. Chapter 1 contributes the largest concentration of new theological vocabulary (divine nature, virtue chain, knowledge terminology, Scripture-inspiration vocabulary in the core passage). Chapter 2 contributes the false-teacher/judgment vocabulary set. Chapter 3 contributes the Day-of-the-Lord, patience-of-God, and new-creation vocabulary set, along with the letter’s closing canon-consciousness statement about Paul’s writings as Scripture (3:15-16), which reinforces rather than introduces new terms for the Scripture-reliability doctrine already anchored in the core passage. No chapter is without load-bearing theological content in this book; none are noted as “no new vocabulary.”