Core Glossary
Galatians Core Glossary — English–Romanian
A. Terms Reused Exactly from the Baseline Romans Translation Memory [TM]
| English Term | Greek | Romanian Rendering | Risk (baseline) | Galatians Occurrences | Galatians-Specific Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gospel | εὐαγγέλιον | evanghelie | High | 1:6-9,11,23; 2:2,5,7,14; 3:8; 4:13 | Contested by a rival “different gospel” (1:6); the letter’s central stake. |
| grace | χάρις | har | Critical | 1:3,6,15; 2:9,21; 5:4; 6:18 | 2:21 and 5:4 explicitly pose grace and law-works as mutually exclusive bases of standing. |
| faith | πίστις | credință | High | 1:23; 2:16,20; 3:2,5,7-9,11-14,22-26; 5:5-6,22; 6:10 | Includes the genitive-ambiguity cases (πίστις Χριστοῦ) — see 08.C below. |
| righteousness | δικαιοσύνη | dreptate | Critical | 2:21; 3:6,21; 5:5 | Received by faith, not achieved through law-works (2:21; 3:21). |
| justification | δικαιόω / δικαίωσις | îndreptățire / a (se) îndreptăți | Critical | 2:16(x3),17,21; 3:8,11,24; 5:4 | Verb form must share the same root as the baseline noun throughout. |
| apostle | ἀπόστολος | apostol | Low (baseline) — elevate routing for Galatians | 1:1,17,19; 2:8 | Paul’s apostleship is directly contested in this letter; route Chapter 1 occurrences for theologian review despite the baseline’s Low tier. |
| called / calling | καλέω / κλῆσις | chemat / chemare | High | 1:6,15; 5:8,13 | Paul’s own prophetic-pattern call (1:15) plus the general call to freedom (5:13). |
| adoption | υἱοθεσία | înfiere | Medium/High | 4:5 | Paired immediately with “Abba, Father” (4:6), as in Romans 8:15. |
| resurrection | ἐγείραντος ἐκ νεκρῶν | (Dumnezeu Tatăl,) Care L-a înviat din morți | Critical | 1:1 | Brief but foundational: grounds Paul’s apostolic commission. |
| lord | κύριος | Domnul | Critical | 1:3,19; 6:14,18 | ”our Lord Jesus Christ,” consistent with Romans 10:9 usage. |
| son of God | υἱὸς θεοῦ | Fiul lui Dumnezeu | Critical | 2:20; 4:4 | Full phrase required; distinct from believers’ adoptive sonship (4:5-7). |
| peace | εἰρήνη | pace | Medium | 1:3; 5:22; 6:16 | Includes the “peace” listed in the fruit of the Spirit (5:22). |
| fellowship | κοινωνία | părtășie | Low | 2:9 | ”the right hand of fellowship” — the general, non-Eucharistic sense. |
| church | ἐκκλησία | Biserică | Medium | 1:2,13,22 | Local/regional congregations (“the churches of Galatia,” “the church of God”). |
| kingdom of God | βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ | împărăția lui Dumnezeu | Medium | 5:21 | Those practicing the works of the flesh “will not inherit” it. |
| law | νόμος | lege | High | throughout (1:4 conceptually; 2:16,19,21; 3:2-25; 4:4-5,21; 5:3-4,14,18,23; 6:2,13) | The letter’s central, most load-bearing recurring term; must never vary in rendering. |
| sin | ἁμαρτία / ἁμαρτωλός | păcat / păcătos | Medium | 1:4; 2:15,17; 3:22 | Includes the ironic quoted-slogan use in 2:15 (see 07 Part A). |
| gentiles | ἔθνη | neamuri | Low | 1:16; 2:2,8,9,12,14,15; 3:8,14 | Central to the letter’s Jew/Gentile unity argument. |
| glory | δόξα | slavă | Medium | 1:5,24 | Doxological formula and “they glorified God because of me.” |
| covenant | διαθήκη | legământ | High | 3:15,17; 4:24 | Includes the “two covenants” of the Hagar-Sarah allegory (4:24). |
| israel | Ἰσραήλ | Israel | Low (elevate for 6:16 phrase, see 08.B) | 6:16 | ”The Israel of God” — see new-term entry below for the compound phrase’s own risk tier. |
| jesus | Ἰησοῦς | Iisus | Critical | throughout | Consistent with Orthodox Synodal spelling per baseline convention. |
| god | θεός | Dumnezeu | Critical | throughout | — |
| holy spirit | πνεῦμα (ἅγιον) | Duhul Sfânt (Duhul, contextually) | Critical | 3:2-5,14; 4:6,29; 5:5,16-18,22,25; 6:1,8 | Galatians’ primary “life in the Spirit” text is Ch.5, parallel to Romans 8. |
| father | πατήρ | Tată | Critical | 1:1,3,4; 4:6 | ”God the Father”; paired with “Abba” in 4:6. |
| abba | Ἀββά | Avva | Medium | 4:6 | Identical formula to Romans 8:15. |
| imputed righteousness | ἐλογίσθη (Gen 15:6 cited) | dreptate imputată / a socoti | Critical | 3:6 | Same OT citation and argument as Romans 4:3; keep the verb root “a socoti” identical. |
B. New Terms Identified in Galatians (Proposed Translation Memory Additions)
| English Term | Greek | Transliteration | Romanian Rendering | Risk | Doctrine | Galatians Occurrences | Rendering Rationale / Risk Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a different/false gospel | ἕτερον εὐαγγέλιον | heteron euangelion | altă evanghelie / o evanghelie diferită | Critical | The True Gospel versus False Gospels | 1:6-9 | Must preserve Paul’s point that this is not a valid second gospel (ἄλλο) but a distortion of the one true evanghelie [TM]. |
| accursed / anathema | ἀνάθεμα | anathema | anatema | Critical | The True Gospel versus False Gospels | 1:8,9 | Collision risk: Orthodox culture associates “anatema” with formal conciliar pronouncement (Sunday of Orthodoxy Synodikon); teach as Paul’s immediate apostolic judgment, not primarily a procedural/institutional act. |
| revelation | ἀποκάλυψις | apokalypsis | descoperire | Medium | Paul’s Apostleship | 1:12,16; 2:2 | Never render “Apocalipsă” (reserved for the book of Revelation’s title). |
| Judaism | Ἰουδαϊσμός | Ioudaismos | iudaism | Low-Medium | Paul’s Apostleship | 1:13,14 | Denotes the religious system, not ethnic identity; teach alongside Unity of Jews and Gentiles doctrine. |
| zealous | ζηλωτής | zēlōtēs | râvnitor | Low | Paul’s Apostleship | 1:14 | Distinct from the later political “Zealot” party. |
| this present evil age | ὁ αἰὼν ὁ ἐνεστὼς πονηρός | ho aiōn ho enestōs ponēros | acest veac rău de acum | Medium | The True Gospel versus False Gospels | 1:4 | Apocalyptic two-age framework; reuse liturgically resonant “veac.” |
| pillars (apostles) | στῦλοι | styloi | stâlpi | Medium | Paul’s Apostleship | 2:9 | Affirms real authority while denying it is the source of Paul’s own commission. |
| false brothers | ψευδάδελφοι | pseudadelphoi | frați mincinoși | Medium | The True Gospel versus False Gospels | 2:4 | — |
| freedom / liberty | ἐλευθερία | eleutheria | libertate | High | Freedom in Christ | 2:4; 5:1,13 | Freedom from law-works as the ground of righteousness, not from moral responsibility or church order; must be paired with 5:13’s love-command in teaching. |
| to enslave | καταδουλόω | katadouloō | a aduce în robie | Medium | Freedom in Christ | 2:4 | — |
| truth of the gospel | ἀλήθεια τοῦ εὐαγγελίου | alētheia tou euangeliou | adevărul evangheliei | High | The True Gospel versus False Gospels | 2:5,14 | — |
| hypocrisy | ὑπόκρισις | hypokrisis | fățărnicie | Low | Law and Grace | 2:13 | — |
| not walking straightforwardly | ὀρθοποδέω | orthopodeō | a umbla drept [potrivit adevărului evangheliei] | Medium | The True Gospel versus False Gospels | 2:14 | Rare NT compound; use a natural Romanian idiom rather than a stilted literal compound. |
| works of the law | ἔργα νόμου | erga nomou | faptele legii | Critical | Law and Grace | 2:16(x3); 3:2,5,10 | Must carry both general law-observance and boundary-marker senses; do not narrow. |
| faith of/in Jesus Christ | πίστις Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ / πίστις Χριστοῦ | pistis Iēsou Christou | credința în Iisus Hristos | Critical | Justification by Faith | 2:16(x2),20; 3:22 | Genuine objective/subjective genitive ambiguity; standard rendering is objective (“faith in Christ”); record subjective alternative (“credincioșia lui Hristos”) per Ambiguity Handling protocol; flag for theologian review. |
| all flesh | πᾶσα σάρξ | pasa sarx | niciun om / orice făptură | High | Universal Human Accountability | 2:16 | Hebraic universal idiom; do not render as a literal, food-suggestive “orice carne.” |
| may it never be! | μὴ γένοιτο | mē genoito | Nicidecum! | Low-Medium | Law and Grace | 2:17 | Idiomatic strong negation; matches Cornilescu-tradition usage. |
| transgressor | παραβάτης | parabatēs | călcător de lege | Medium | The Law’s Purpose | 2:18 | — |
| crucified with Christ | συσταυρόω | synestaurōmai | a fi răstignit împreună cu Hristos | Critical | Crucified with Christ | 2:20; (concept continued 5:24; 6:14) | Decisive, once-for-all identification with Christ’s death; compatible with but not reducible to ongoing ascetic practice. |
| to nullify (grace) | ἀθετέω | atheteō | a anula / a zădărnici | High | Law and Grace | 2:21 | Adding law-works as a requirement nullifies grace; grace itself is not thereby denied real transformative effect. |
| in vain / for nothing | δωρεάν | dōrean | în zadar | Critical | Law and Grace | 2:21 | False-friend risk: elsewhere the same word means “freely, as a gift” (cf. Romans 3:24); here it means “for no purpose.” Never render “în dar/gratuit” in this verse. |
| Abraham | Ἀβραάμ | Abraam | Avraam | Low | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise | 3:6-9,14,16,18,29 | Proper name, established Orthodox Bible form. |
| promise | ἐπαγγελία | epangelia | făgăduință | High | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise | 3:14,16-22,29; 4:23,28 | God’s unilateral covenant pledge; use dignified “făgăduință,” not contractual “promisiune.” |
| seed / offspring | σπέρμα | sperma | sămânță | Critical | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise | 3:16,19,29 | Preserve the grammatically-singular-but-collective quality to reproduce Paul’s singular/plural argument (3:16). Never pluralize in these verses. |
| blessing | εὐλογία | eulogia | binecuvântare | Low-Medium | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise | 3:8,9,14 | — |
| curse | κατάρα / ἐπικατάρατος | katara / epikataratos | blestem / blestemat | High | The Law’s Purpose | 3:10,13 | Christ substitutionarily bears the law’s curse (3:13); preserve substitutionary force. |
| to redeem | ἐξαγοράζω | exagorazō | a răscumpăra | High | The Law’s Purpose / Adoption and Sonship | 3:13; 4:5 | Commercial/slave-market metaphor; a real price paid for real bondage. |
| guardian/tutor (paidagōgos) | παιδαγωγός | paidagōgos | călăuzitor (with explanatory note) | Critical | The Law’s Purpose | 3:24,25 | Genuine lexical gap; “pedagog” is a false friend (means “teacher” in modern Romanian, nearly opposite of Paul’s point). Must be explained, not assumed. |
| baptized into Christ | εἰς Χριστὸν ἐβαπτίσθητε | eis Christon ebaptisthēte | botezați în Hristos | High | Circumcision and the New Creation | 3:27 | Converges naturally with Orthodox sacramental theology of baptism. |
| to put on (Christ) | ἐνδύω | endyō | a se îmbrăca (cu Hristos) | Medium | Freedom in Christ | 3:27 | — |
| neither Jew nor Greek (unity formula) | οὐκ ἔνι Ἰουδαῖος οὐδὲ Ἕλλην κτλ. | ouk eni Ioudaios oude Hellēn | iudeu… elin / rob… liber / parte bărbătească… femeiască | High | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise | 3:28 | ”elin” for Ἕλλην, consistent with the baseline’s Romans validation-rule usage; affirms equal standing, not erasure of creational distinctions or church order. |
| heir | κληρονόμος | klēronomos | moștenitor | Medium-High | Adoption and Sonship | 3:29; 4:1,7 | Paired concept with “înfiere” [TM]. |
| circumcision | περιτομή | peritomē | tăiere împrejur | High | Circumcision and the New Creation | 2:3,7-9,12; 5:2,3,6,11; 6:12,13,15 | Established biblical phrase, not the clinical “circumcizie”; reframe for a no-living-controversy audience around any added external requirement for acceptance before God. |
| elemental spirits/principles of the world | στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου | stoicheia tou kosmou | stihiile lumii | Critical | The Law’s Purpose | 4:3,9 | Major syncretism risk: “stihie” also names folk-animistic nature-spirits in Romanian rural tradition; requires explicit disambiguating translator’s note in every occurrence. |
| fullness of time | τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ χρόνου | to plērōma tou chronou | plinirea vremii | Medium | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise | 4:4 | Ties to “pronia lui Dumnezeu” [TM]. |
| born of a woman / born under the law | γενόμενος ἐκ γυναικός / ὑπὸ νόμον | genomenos ek gynaikos / hypo nomon | născut din femeie, născut sub lege | Critical | Adoption and Sonship (Incarnation) | 4:4 | Galatians’ incarnation text; emphasizes genuine humanity and genuine law-subjection as redemptive qualifications, alongside (not replaced by) the theosis-basis reading. |
| slave | δοῦλος | doulos | rob | Medium | Adoption and Sonship / Freedom in Christ | 4:1,7; 5:1 | Use dignified biblical “rob,” not clinical “sclav.” |
| allegory | ἀλληγορούμενα | allēgoroumena | alegorie / spus în chip alegoric | Medium | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise | 4:24 | Cultural asset: matches Orthodox patristic typological-exegesis tradition; guard against over-extension to the rest of the letter’s literal argument. |
| Jerusalem above | ἡ ἄνω Ἰερουσαλήμ | hē anō Ierousalēm | Ierusalimul de sus | Medium | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise | 4:26 | — |
| Hagar / Sarah | Ἄγαρ / Σάρρα | Hagar / Sarra | Agar / Sara | Low | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise | 4:24-31 | Proper names, established forms. |
| yoke of slavery | ζυγῷ δουλείας | zygō douleias | jugul robiei | High | Freedom in Christ | 5:1 | Distinguish from the positive “easy yoke” of Christ elsewhere in Scripture. |
| faith working through love | πίστις δι᾿ ἀγάπης ἐνεργουμένη | pistis di’ agapēs energoumenē | credința care lucrează prin dragoste | Critical | Faith Working through Love | 5:6 | Historic Catholic-Protestant crux (fides caritate formata); teach Paul’s point (faith necessarily expressing itself in love) without letting the rendering imply love as a co-requirement for justification alongside faith. |
| love | ἀγάπη | agapē | dragoste | Medium | Faith Working through Love / Fruit of the Spirit | 5:6,13,14,22 | Standard Romanian Bible term for agapē in this register. |
| neighbor | πλησίον | plēsion | aproapele | Low | Faith Working through Love | 5:14 | — |
| flesh | σάρξ | sarx | firea pământească (moral sense) / trup (neutral-physical sense) | High | Flesh versus Spirit | 2:20 (neutral); 5:13,16,17,19,24 (moral) | Two distinct senses require two distinct Romanian renderings by context; guard against body-negating dualism given Orthodox affirmation of the body’s goodness. |
| works of the flesh | ἔργα τῆς σαρκός | erga tēs sarkos | faptele firii pământești | High | Flesh versus Spirit | 5:19-21 | — |
| fruit of the Spirit | καρπὸς τοῦ πνεύματος | karpos tou pneumatos | rodul Duhului | High | Fruit of the Spirit | 5:22,23 | Deliberate singular “rod” (not plural “roade”); preserve the singular/plural contrast with the preceding “faptele” (works, plural). |
| to crucify (the flesh) | σταυρόω | stauroō | a răstigni (firea pământească) | High | Crucified with Christ / Flesh versus Spirit | 5:24 | Reuse the same “a răstigni” root as 2:20 to keep the crucifixion motif unified. |
| to bear | βαστάζω | bastazō | a purta | Medium | Bearing One Another’s Burdens | 6:2,5,17 | — |
| burden | βάρος | baros | povară | Medium | Bearing One Another’s Burdens | 6:2 | Contrasted deliberately with φορτίον (6:5). |
| law of Christ | νόμος τοῦ Χριστοῦ | nomos tou Christou | legea lui Hristos | Medium-High | Bearing One Another’s Burdens | 6:2 | Non-technical use of “law” (Christ-shaped love-ethic); must not be read as reinstating Mosaic law as a justification-condition. |
| load | φορτίον | phortion | sarcină / povara proprie | Medium | Bearing One Another’s Burdens | 6:5 | Distinct from shared βάρος (6:2): personal, non-transferable accountability. |
| to sow / to reap | σπείρω / θερίζω | speirō / therizō | a semăna / a secera | Low-Medium | Bearing One Another’s Burdens | 6:7,8 | Natural fit with Romanian agrarian idiom. |
| new creation | καινὴ κτίσις | kainē ktisis | făptură nouă | High | Circumcision and the New Creation | 6:15 | Genuinely new eschatological reality, not mere moral self-improvement; compatible with Orthodox theosis as its outworking. |
| to boast | καυχάομαι | kauchaomai | a se lăuda / a se făli | Medium | Crucified with Christ | 6:14 | Positive sense here: exclusive glorying in the cross. |
| marks (of Jesus) | στίγματα | stigmata | semnele Domnului Iisus | Medium-High | Paul’s Apostleship | 6:17 | Avoid loanword “stigmate” (Catholic miraculous-wound association absent from Paul’s meaning and from Orthodox tradition); these are ordinary persecution scars. |
| Israel of God | Ἰσραὴλ τοῦ θεοῦ | Israēl tou theou | Israelul lui Dumnezeu | High | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise | 6:16 | Debated referent (Church / Jewish believers / ethnic Israel); do not silently resolve via translation choice — flag for theologian review. |
C. Special Ambiguity Cases Requiring Theologian Review in Phase 2
| Case | Location(s) | Issue | Default Rendering | Alternative to Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| πίστις Χριστοῦ / πίστις Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ genitive | 2:16(x2), 20; 3:22 | Objective genitive (“faith in Christ”) vs. subjective genitive (“the faithfulness of Christ”) | credința în Iisus Hristos / credința în Hristos | credincioșia lui Hristos |
| δωρεάν | 2:21 (cf. Romans 3:24 sense) | Same word means “for nothing/in vain” here but “freely/as a gift” elsewhere | în zadar (this verse only) | — (must never be “în dar” here) |
| σάρξ | 2:20 vs. 5:13-24 | Neutral-physical sense vs. morally-loaded “sinful nature” sense | trup (neutral) / firea pământească (moral) | — |
| Ἰσραὴλ τοῦ θεοῦ | 6:16 | Referent debated: the Church, Jewish believers, or ethnic Israel | Israelul lui Dumnezeu (referent left open in translation; resolved only in teaching notes) | — |
D. Doctrine-to-Term Cross-Reference (Galatians Curriculum)
| Curriculum Doctrine | Primary Terms (this glossary) | Risk Tier |
|---|---|---|
| Justification by Faith | justification, righteousness, faith, works of the law, imputed righteousness | Critical |
| The True Gospel versus False Gospels | gospel, a different/false gospel, anathema, truth of the gospel, this present evil age | Critical |
| Paul’s Apostleship | apostle, revelation, Judaism, zealous, pillars, marks (of Jesus) | High–Critical |
| Law and Grace | law, grace, works of the law, to nullify (grace), hypocrisy, in vain | Critical |
| Crucified with Christ | crucified with Christ, to crucify (the flesh), to boast | Critical |
| The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise | Abraham, promise, seed/offspring, blessing, covenant, unity formula, allegory, Jerusalem above, Israel of God | Critical–High |
| The Law’s Purpose | curse, to redeem, guardian/tutor (paidagōgos), elemental spirits/principles of the world | Critical |
| Adoption and Sonship | adoption, Abba/Father, heir, slave, born of a woman/under the law, son of God | Critical–Medium |
| Freedom in Christ | freedom/liberty, to enslave, yoke of slavery, to put on (Christ) | High |
| Circumcision and the New Creation | circumcision, baptized into Christ, new creation | High |
| Flesh versus Spirit | flesh, works of the flesh, Holy Spirit/Spirit, fruit of the Spirit | High–Critical |
| Fruit of the Spirit | fruit of the Spirit, love, joy(peace etc. as listed) | High |
| Faith Working through Love | faith working through love, love, neighbor | Critical |
| Bearing One Another’s Burdens | to bear, burden, law of Christ, load, to sow/to reap | Medium–High |
This glossary must be merged into translation_memory.json (new terms) and cross-checked against bible_term_registry.json and doctrine_risk_registry.json before any Phase 2 segment translation of Galatians begins, per the Pre-flight Checklist in 12_ai_translation_requirements.md.
Critical Risk Terms
Grace
Approved rendering: har
Transliteration: charis
Doctrine: Law and Grace
Rejected alternatives: favoare doar în sens legal, fără nicio participare reală a credinciosului
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (CRITICAL Palamite essence-energies concern). Galatians 2:21 and 5:4 pose grace and law-works as mutually exclusive bases of standing before God more starkly than any Romans passage; preserve this exclusivity without denying the participatory Orthodox dimension elsewhere.
Faith Of Christ
Approved rendering: credința în Iisus Hristos
Transliteration: pistis Iēsou Christou / pistis Christou
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: credincioșia lui Hristos (subjective-genitive reading — recorded as alternative for theologian review, not adopted as the default rendering)
Original: πίστις Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ / πίστις Χριστοῦ
Category: Faith
NEW. Genuinely ambiguous genitive at Gal 2:16 (x2), 2:20, 3:22: faith directed toward Christ (objective, the default) vs. Christ’s own faithfulness (subjective, minority reading). Default follows Synodal/Cornilescu tradition. Flag every occurrence for theologian review per Ambiguity Handling protocol.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: dreptate
Transliteration: dikaiosynē
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: dreptate câștigată exclusiv prin efort moral propriu
Original: δικαιοσύνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Right standing before God through faith, not self-achieved moral rectitude. Directly opposed to law-works at Gal 2:21, 3:6,21, 5:5.
Justification
Approved rendering: îndreptățire / a (se) îndreptăți
Transliteration: dikaiōsis / dikaioō
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: transformare treptată exclusiv, fără niciun aspect de declarație, a fi făcut drept (looser paraphrase severing the cross-reference to the Romans noun root)
Original: δικαιόω / δικαίωσις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, extended to a verb form built on the identical root. Occurs 6 times in Gal 2:16-21 alone. The aorist subjunctive’s decisive, once-for-all force at 2:16 must not be dissolved into an exclusively gradualist theosis-only gloss.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: dreptate imputată / a socoti
Transliteration: elogisthē
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: îndreptățire doar ca transformare ontologică, fără niciun aspect juridic sau declarat
Original: ἐλογίσθη (Gen 15:6 cited)
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Gal 3:6 cites the identical Genesis 15:6 text used in Romans 4:3; render with the same verb root ‘a socoti’ to keep the two arguments visibly parallel to a Romanian learner.
Works Of The Law
Approved rendering: faptele legii
Transliteration: erga nomou
Doctrine: Justification by Faith / Law and Grace
Rejected alternatives: lucrările legii (non-standard variant, avoid inconsistency), efort moral în general (too narrow, loses the ceremonial/boundary-marker sense), doar tăierea împrejur și legile alimentare (too narrow, loses the general moral-observance sense)
Original: ἔργα νόμου
Category: Salvation
NEW — genuine gap-filling compound. Occurs 3x in Gal 2:16 alone, again in 3:2,5,10. Must carry both general law-observance and ethnic-boundary-marker senses without narrowing to either; Paul’s argument moves fluidly between both.
Crucified With Christ
Approved rendering: a fi răstignit împreună cu Hristos
Transliteration: synestaurōmai
Doctrine: Crucified with Christ
Rejected alternatives: o imitare morală a suferinței lui Hristos, fără nicio identificare reală și decisivă cu moartea Lui
Original: συσταυρόω
Category: Christology
NEW. Gal 2:20; concept continued 5:24, 6:14. Reuses the culturally central verb ‘a răstigni’ (liturgically anchored to Vinerea Mare). The perfect tense’s decisive, once-for-all force must be preserved as compatible with, not reducible to, Orthodox daily cross-bearing devotion.
Christ Lives In Me
Approved rendering: Hristos trăiește în mine
Transliteration: zē en emoi Christos
Doctrine: Crucified with Christ
Original: ζῇ ἐν ἐμοὶ Χριστός
Category: Christology
NEW. Gal 2:20. Resonates with, and should be taught alongside, the Orthodox theosis framework of participatory union — while preserving that the ground of this union is the once-for-all event of 2:19-20, not an open-ended process detached from it.
In Vain
Approved rendering: în zadar
Transliteration: dōrean
Doctrine: Law and Grace
Rejected alternatives: în dar (wrongly implies Christ’s death was itself a free gift, collapsing the verse’s logic), gratuit (same false-friend risk)
Original: δωρεάν
Category: Salvation
NEW — false-friend risk within the same concept family as ‘grace.’ Gal 2:21: the identical Greek word elsewhere means ‘freely, as a gift’ (cf. Romans 3:24) but here means ‘for no purpose.’ Never render ‘în dar’ in this verse; flag explicitly wherever δωρεάν occurs in the curriculum.
Seed Offspring
Approved rendering: sămânță
Transliteration: sperma
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Rejected alternatives: semințe (plural — would defeat Paul’s singular/plural argument in Gal 3:16)
Original: σπέρμα
Category: Covenant
NEW. Gal 3:16,19,29. Romanian ‘sămânță’ fortunately preserves the same grammatically-singular-but-collective quality as the Greek. Never pluralize in these verses.
Paidagogos
Approved rendering: călăuzitor (cu notă explicativă)
Transliteration: paidagōgos
Doctrine: The Law’s Purpose
Rejected alternatives: pedagog (false friend — means ‘teacher/educator’ in modern Romanian, nearly the opposite of Paul’s custodial-guardian sense)
Original: παιδαγωγός
Category: Law
NEW — genuine lexical gap, structurally identical to the baseline’s ‘imputed righteousness’ problem. Gal 3:24-25. Must be constructed and explained via mandatory translator’s note on the Greco-Roman household-servant role, never transliterated or borrowed as ‘pedagog.‘
Elemental Spirits
Approved rendering: stihiile lumii
Transliteration: stoicheia tou kosmou
Doctrine: The Law’s Purpose
Rejected alternatives: o parafrază neutră fără rădăcina ‘stihie’ (would break consistency with Cornilescu-tradition precedent across the wider Bible-translation landscape)
Original: στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου
Category: Law
NEW — major syncretism risk unique to Romanian folk culture. Gal 4:3,9. ‘Stihie’ also names animistic elemental nature-spirits in Romanian rural folk-Orthodox idiom (‘stihii dezlănțuite’). Retain the established rendering but require an explicit disambiguating translator’s note at every single occurrence, no exceptions.
Born Under Law
Approved rendering: născut din femeie, născut sub lege
Transliteration: genomenon ek gynaikos, genomenon hypo nomon
Doctrine: Adoption and Sonship
Original: γενόμενον ἐκ γυναικός, γενόμενον ὑπὸ νόμον
Category: Christology
NEW — Galatians’ own incarnation text, structurally parallel to Romans 1:3 and tied to the baseline’s ‘întrupare’ entry. Gal 4:4. Must preserve its specific redemptive-legal emphasis (genuine humanity and law-subjection as qualifications for redemption, v.5) alongside, not replaced by, the Orthodox theosis-oriented incarnation framing.
Father
Approved rendering: Tată
Transliteration: patēr
Doctrine: Adoption and Sonship
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Gal 1:1,3,4; 4:6, paired with ‘Avva.‘
Faith Working Through Love
Approved rendering: credința care lucrează prin dragoste
Transliteration: pistis di’ agapēs energoumenē
Doctrine: Faith Working through Love
Rejected alternatives: credința desăvârșită prin dragoste, ca o condiție distinctă alături de credință pentru îndreptățire (would contradict 2:16 by making love a co-requirement for justification)
Original: πίστις δι᾿ ἀγάπης ἐνεργουμένη
Category: Salvation
NEW. Gal 5:6 — the historic Catholic-Protestant Reformation crux (‘fides caritate formata’). Teach Paul’s actual point (faith necessarily expressing itself in love) without letting the rendering imply love as a co-requirement for justification alongside faith.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Duhul Sfânt / Duhul
Transliteration: pneuma hagion / pneuma
Doctrine: Flesh versus Spirit
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον / πνεῦμα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Gal 3:2-5,14; 4:6,29; 5:5,16-18,22,25; 6:1,8. Galatians 5 is the letter’s primary ‘life in the Spirit’ text, parallel to Romans 8.
Lord
Approved rendering: Domnul
Transliteration: kyrios
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. ‘our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Gal 1:3,19; 6:14,18), consistent with Romans 10:9 usage.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: Fiul lui Dumnezeu
Transliteration: huios theou
Doctrine: Adoption and Sonship
Rejected alternatives: fiu al lui Dumnezeu în sensul generic aplicat oricărui credincios
Original: υἱὸς θεοῦ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Gal 2:20; 4:4. Full phrase required; distinct from believers’ adoptive sonship established at 4:5-7.
Jesus
Approved rendering: Iisus
Transliteration: Iēsous
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Isus (Protestant/Cornilescu spelling)
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. ‘Iisus’ throughout, per Orthodox Synodal Bible convention; ‘Isus’ noted only as the expected Evangelical/Cornilescu-tradition variant.
God
Approved rendering: Dumnezeu
Transliteration: theos
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Standard and unambiguous.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: (Dumnezeu Tatăl,) Care L-a înviat din morți
Transliteration: egeirantos ek nekrōn
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Original: ἐγείραντος ἐκ νεκρῶν
Category: Christology
Inherited concept from Romans package (root ‘a învia’ shared with ‘înviere’). Gal 1:1 — brief but foundational, grounding Paul’s apostolic commission. Preserve the same doctrinal precision ‘înviere’ carries liturgically.
High Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: evanghelie
Transliteration: euangelion
Doctrine: The True Gospel versus False Gospels
Original: εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Standard term shared across Orthodox and Evangelical Romanian Bibles. In Galatians the term is under direct attack from a rival message (1:6-9); render with total consistency so the contrast with ‘altă evanghelie’ remains visible throughout the letter.
Faith
Approved rendering: credință
Transliteration: pistis
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: evlavie religioasă generală
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Personal trust in Christ, not inherited Orthodox cultural identity. Central and repeated across Galatians 2-3 and 5.
All Flesh
Approved rendering: niciun om / orice făptură
Transliteration: pasa sarx
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: orice carne (literal, food-suggestive, misleading in Romanian)
Original: πᾶσα σάρξ
Category: Sin
NEW. Hebraic universal idiom (Gal 2:16, echoing Psalm 143:2) for ‘every human being.’ The universality claim itself must not be softened.
Servant Of Sin
Approved rendering: slujitor al păcatului
Transliteration: hamartias diakonos
Doctrine: Law and Grace
Rejected alternatives: diacon al păcatului (absurd and irreverent given ‘diacon’s’ fixed, exclusively ecclesiastical-office meaning across every Romanian Christian tradition)
Original: ἁμαρτίας διάκονος
Category: Christology
NEW — hard forbidden-substitution rule. Gal 2:17: the false rhetorical charge Paul immediately rejects, that seeking justification in Christ makes Christ an agent of sin.
In Christ
Approved rendering: în Hristos
Transliteration: en Christō
Doctrine: Crucified with Christ
Rejected alternatives: prin Hristos (shifts from incorporative union to mere instrumentality)
Original: ἐν Χριστῷ
Category: Christology
NEW. Paul’s characteristic union formula (Gal 2:17 and elsewhere); render consistently, never varying with ‘prin Hristos.‘
Gave Himself For Me
Approved rendering: s-a dat pe Sine pentru mine
Transliteration: paradontos heauton hyper emou
Doctrine: Crucified with Christ
Rejected alternatives: s-a dat pentru noi (generalized, loses the personal singular rhetorical force at the heart of Paul’s testimony)
Original: παραδόντος ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ
Category: Christology
NEW. Gal 2:20. Substitutionary self-sacrifice, personally applied; preserve the singular ‘for me.‘
Nullify Grace
Approved rendering: a anula / a zădărnici (harul)
Transliteration: atheteō
Doctrine: Law and Grace
Original: ἀθετέω (τὴν χάριν)
Category: Salvation
NEW. Gal 2:21 — precisely the verse the baseline’s forbidden-substitution rule on ‘har’ protects. Adding law-works as a requirement nullifies grace; grace itself is not thereby denied real transformative effect.
Apostle
Approved rendering: apostol
Transliteration: apostolos
Doctrine: Paul’s Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: trimis (generic messenger, insufficient for Paul’s directly divine-sourced commission under attack in this letter)
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Church
Inherited term from Romans package (there rated Low), risk ELEVATED to High for Galatians: Paul’s apostolic authority itself, not merely his office, is under sustained attack (1:1,11-24). Route every Chapter 1 occurrence for theologian review.
Called
Approved rendering: chemat
Transliteration: klētos / kaleō
Doctrine: Paul’s Apostleship / Freedom in Christ
Original: καλέω
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Gal 1:6,15 (Paul’s own effectual apostolic call); 5:8,13 (the general call to freedom). Distinguish the general call of every believer from the culturally strong Orthodox category of ‘chemare monahală.‘
Calling
Approved rendering: chemare
Transliteration: klēsis
Doctrine: Freedom in Christ
Rejected alternatives: chemare monahală (a specifically monastic vocation)
Original: κλῆσις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Gal 5:13’s ‘you were called to freedom’ must convey a sovereign summons, not a monastic-only vocation.
Freedom
Approved rendering: libertate
Transliteration: eleutheria
Doctrine: Freedom in Christ
Original: ἐλευθερία
Category: Salvation
NEW. Gal 2:4; 5:1,13. Freedom specifically from relying on law-works as the ground of righteousness, not from moral responsibility or church order. Mandate pairing with 5:13’s love-qualification in every teaching context so this is never taught as freedom-from-obligation.
Truth Of Gospel
Approved rendering: adevărul evangheliei
Transliteration: alētheia tou euangeliou
Doctrine: The True Gospel versus False Gospels
Original: ἀλήθεια τοῦ εὐαγγελίου
Category: Salvation
NEW. Gal 2:5,14 — what was at stake in both the Jerusalem meeting and the Antioch confrontation.
Promise
Approved rendering: făgăduință
Transliteration: epangelia
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Rejected alternatives: promisiune (contractual, negotiable-commitment connotation foreign to God’s unilateral covenant pledge)
Original: ἐπαγγελία
Category: Covenant
NEW. Gal 3:14,16-22,29; 4:23,28. Use the traditional, dignified term rather than the more contractual-sounding modern alternative.
Curse
Approved rendering: blestem / blestemat
Transliteration: katara / epikataratos
Doctrine: The Law’s Purpose
Original: κατάρα / ἐπικατάρατος
Category: Law
NEW. Gal 3:10,13. Must preserve that Christ himself bore the law’s curse substitutionarily, not merely that he ‘overcame’ a vague negative force.
Redeem
Approved rendering: a răscumpăra
Transliteration: exagorazō
Doctrine: The Law’s Purpose
Rejected alternatives: a salva (too vague, loses the commercial/slave-market real-price-paid force)
Original: ἐξαγοράζω
Category: Law
NEW. Gal 3:13; 4:5. Commercial/slave-market metaphor: a real price paid to end a real bondage.
Covenant
Approved rendering: legământ
Transliteration: diathēkē
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Rejected alternatives: contract legal
Original: διαθήκη
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Gal 3:15,17; 4:24 (the ‘two covenants’ of the Hagar-Sarah allegory). Western Reformed federal theology as a systematic framework is foreign to Orthodox tradition and risks over-importation by Evangelical-formed readers.
Baptized Into Christ
Approved rendering: botezați în Hristos
Transliteration: eis Christon ebaptisthēte
Doctrine: Circumcision and the New Creation
Original: εἰς Χριστὸν ἐβαπτίσθητε
Category: Church
NEW. Gal 3:27. Converges naturally with Orthodox sacramental theology of baptism as regenerative, not merely symbolic — an asset, not a risk, requiring no correction.
Unity Formula
Approved rendering: iudeu… elin / rob… liber / parte bărbătească… femeiască
Transliteration: ouk eni Ioudaios oude Hellēn…
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: οὐκ ἔνι Ἰουδαῖος οὐδὲ Ἕλλην, οὐκ ἔνι δοῦλος οὐδὲ ἐλεύθερος, οὐκ ἔνι ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ
Category: Covenant
NEW. Gal 3:28 — the baptismal unity formula, reusing ‘elin’ for Ἕλλην consistent with the baseline’s Romans validation-rule usage. Affirms equal standing before God in Christ, not erasure of creational distinctions or church order.
Heir
Approved rendering: moștenitor
Transliteration: klēronomos
Doctrine: Adoption and Sonship
Original: κληρονόμος
Category: Covenant
NEW. Gal 3:29; 4:1,7. Paired concept with the baseline’s ‘înfiere’ — sonship and heirship developed together throughout chapters 3-4.
Law
Approved rendering: lege
Transliteration: nomos
Doctrine: The Law’s Purpose / Law and Grace
Original: νόμος
Category: Law
Inherited from Romans package. The single most load-bearing recurring term in the whole letter (throughout Gal 2-6); must never vary in rendering.
Adoption
Approved rendering: înfiere
Transliteration: huiothesia
Doctrine: Adoption and Sonship
Original: υἱοθεσία
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (there rated Medium), risk ELEVATED to High for Galatians. Gal 4:5, paired immediately with the Spirit’s cry ‘Abba, Father’ in 4:6, exactly as Romans 8:15 — Galatians’ primary adoption text.
Yoke Of Slavery
Approved rendering: jugul robiei
Transliteration: zygō douleias
Doctrine: Freedom in Christ
Original: ζυγῷ δουλείας
Category: Ethics
NEW. Gal 5:1. Must be distinguished from the positive ‘easy yoke’ of Christ elsewhere in Scripture (Matthew 11:30) so the two are not confused.
Circumcision
Approved rendering: tăiere împrejur
Transliteration: peritomē
Doctrine: Circumcision and the New Creation
Rejected alternatives: circumcizie (clinical loanword, lacks the established biblical register)
Original: περιτομή
Category: Ethics
NEW. Gal 2:3,7-9,12; 5:2,3,6,11; 6:12,13,15. For an audience with no living circumcision controversy, reframe pedagogically around the functional equivalent — any external religious performance required for full acceptance before God.
Flesh
Approved rendering: firea pământească (moral sense) / trup (neutral-physical sense)
Transliteration: sarx
Doctrine: Flesh versus Spirit
Rejected alternatives: carne (literal rendering used uniformly for both senses — flattens the neutral/moral distinction and risks body-negating dualism at 2:20)
Original: σάρξ
Category: Ethics
NEW. Two distinct senses across Galatians require two distinct Romanian renderings by context: neutral-physical at 2:20 (‘trup’), morally-loaded at 5:13,16,17,19,24 (‘firea pământească’). Must not be misread as body-negating dualism against Orthodox incarnational/iconographic theology.
Works Of The Flesh
Approved rendering: faptele firii pământești
Transliteration: erga tēs sarkos
Doctrine: Flesh versus Spirit
Original: ἔργα τῆς σαρκός
Category: Ethics
NEW. Gal 5:19-21 — the vice list. Reuses the ‘firea pământească’ rendering for consistency; sets up the deliberate plural/singular contrast with ‘rodul’ (fruit, singular).
Fruit Of The Spirit
Approved rendering: rodul Duhului
Transliteration: karpos tou pneumatos
Doctrine: Fruit of the Spirit
Rejected alternatives: roadele Duhului (plural — would defeat Paul’s deliberate singular/plural contrast with ‘faptele,’ works, plural)
Original: καρπὸς τοῦ πνεύματος
Category: Ethics
NEW. Gal 5:22-23. Deliberate grammatical singular ‘rod’ preserves Paul’s point: one integrated Spirit-produced character, not a checklist of separately achievable virtues.
Crucify The Flesh
Approved rendering: a răstigni firea pământească
Transliteration: stauroō
Doctrine: Crucified with Christ / Flesh versus Spirit
Original: σταυρόω (τὴν σάρκα)
Category: Ethics
NEW. Gal 5:24. Reuses the identical ‘a răstigni’ root established at 2:20 to keep the crucifixion motif visibly unified across the letter.
Law Of Christ
Approved rendering: legea lui Hristos
Transliteration: nomos tou Christou
Doctrine: Bearing One Another’s Burdens
Rejected alternatives: o reinstituire a legii mozaice ca condiție a îndreptățirii (would directly contradict 2:16)
Original: νόμος τοῦ Χριστοῦ
Category: Law
NEW. Gal 6:2. Non-technical use of ‘law’ as a Christ-shaped ethic of love (cf. 5:14), not a reinstatement of Mosaic law-observance as a justification condition.
New Creation
Approved rendering: făptură nouă
Transliteration: kainē ktisis
Doctrine: Circumcision and the New Creation
Original: καινὴ κτίσις
Category: Salvation
NEW. Gal 6:15. A genuinely new eschatological act of God, not gradual moral self-improvement — fully compatible with the Orthodox theosis trajectory as its lifelong outworking.
Marks Of Jesus
Approved rendering: semnele Domnului Iisus
Transliteration: stigmata
Doctrine: Paul’s Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: stigmate (Catholic-associated miraculous-wound devotional category, foreign to Paul’s meaning and to Orthodox tradition)
Original: στίγματα
Category: Church
NEW. Gal 6:17. Ordinary physical scars from persecution, not a miraculous or sacred wound-phenomenon.
Israel Of God
Approved rendering: Israelul lui Dumnezeu
Transliteration: Israēl tou theou
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Rejected alternatives: Israelul spiritual/adevărat (would silently resolve a genuinely debated referent through translation choice alone)
Original: Ἰσραὴλ τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Covenant
NEW. Gal 6:16. Referent debated (the Church / believing Jews / ethnic Israel). Do not resolve in translation; flag for theologian review and supply a teaching note presenting the main scholarly options.
Medium Risk Terms
May It Never Be
Approved rendering: Nicidecum!
Transliteration: mē genoito
Doctrine: Law and Grace
Rejected alternatives: traducere literală, non-idiomatică (flat, loses the rhetorical force)
Original: μὴ γένοιτο
Category: Faith
NEW. Strong idiomatic rhetorical negation (Gal 2:17), matching Cornilescu-tradition usage. Consistency expected with any Romans-based companion material using the same idiom.
Transgressor
Approved rendering: călcător de lege
Transliteration: parabatēs
Doctrine: The Law’s Purpose
Original: παραβάτης
Category: Law
NEW. Gal 2:18. Standard and clear; preserves the boundary-crossing sense.
Revelation
Approved rendering: descoperire
Transliteration: apokalypsis
Doctrine: Paul’s Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: Apocalipsă (fixed exclusively as the proper title of the book of Revelation; would cause serious confusion), revelație (more Latinate/modern register, less standard)
Original: ἀποκάλυψις
Category: Church
NEW. Gal 1:12,16; 2:2. Direct disclosure of divine truth, grounding Paul’s independent apostolic authority.
Judaism
Approved rendering: iudaism
Transliteration: Ioudaismos
Doctrine: Paul’s Apostleship
Original: Ἰουδαϊσμός
Category: Sin
NEW. Gal 1:13-14. Denotes the religious system, not a slur against Jewish ethnicity; teach alongside the baseline’s Unity of Jews and Gentiles doctrine.
Present Evil Age
Approved rendering: acest veac rău de acum
Transliteration: ho aiōn ho enestōs ponēros
Doctrine: The True Gospel versus False Gospels
Rejected alternatives: această lume rea (loses the apocalyptic two-age theological category, reads as generic moralism)
Original: ὁ αἰὼν ὁ ἐνεστὼς πονηρός
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Gal 1:4. Reuses the liturgically resonant ‘veac’ (as in ‘în vecii vecilor’); sets the apocalyptic two-age frame for the whole letter’s stakes.
Pillars
Approved rendering: stâlpi
Transliteration: hoi dokountes styloi einai
Doctrine: Paul’s Apostleship
Original: οἱ δοκοῦντες στῦλοι εἶναι
Category: Church
NEW. Gal 2:2,6,9 — James, Cephas, John. Affirms real apostolic authority while denying it is the source of Paul’s own commission; preserve this nuance given Romanian Orthodoxy’s hierarchical ecclesiology.
False Brothers
Approved rendering: frați mincinoși
Transliteration: pseudadelphoi
Doctrine: The True Gospel versus False Gospels
Original: ψευδάδελφοι
Category: Church
NEW. Gal 2:4. Professing believers whose teaching in fact undermines the gospel.
Enslave
Approved rendering: a aduce în robie
Transliteration: katadouloō
Doctrine: Freedom in Christ
Original: καταδουλόω
Category: Ethics
NEW. Gal 2:4 — what the false brothers sought to do to the Galatians’ freedom.
Walk Uprightly
Approved rendering: a umbla drept
Transliteration: orthopodeō
Doctrine: The True Gospel versus False Gospels
Rejected alternatives: traducere literală a compusului grecesc rar (stilted, unnatural in Romanian)
Original: ὀρθοποδέω
Category: Ethics
NEW. Gal 2:14 — rare NT compound (only occurrence); use the natural Romanian idiom ‘a umbla drept [potrivit adevărului evangheliei].’
Church
Approved rendering: Biserică
Transliteration: ekklēsia
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: Biserica ca singura instituție vizibilă legitimă, în sens exclusivist
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Gal 1:2,13,22 — local/regional congregations (‘the churches of Galatia,’ ‘the church of God’).
Blessing
Approved rendering: binecuvântare
Transliteration: eulogia
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: εὐλογία
Category: Covenant
NEW. Gal 3:8,9,14. Standard term for the Abrahamic blessing extended to the Gentiles.
Put On Christ
Approved rendering: a se îmbrăca (cu Hristos)
Transliteration: endyō
Doctrine: Freedom in Christ
Original: ἐνδύω
Category: Ethics
NEW. Gal 3:27. Metaphor of putting on a new identity like a garment.
Fullness Of Time
Approved rendering: plinirea vremii
Transliteration: to plērōma tou chronou
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ χρόνου
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Gal 4:4. Well-established Romanian biblical phrase; ties to the baseline’s ‘pronia lui Dumnezeu’ providence doctrine.
Abba
Approved rendering: Avva
Transliteration: Abba
Doctrine: Adoption and Sonship
Original: Ἀββά
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Gal 4:6, identical formula and rendering to Romans 8:15.
Slave
Approved rendering: rob
Transliteration: doulos
Doctrine: Adoption and Sonship / Freedom in Christ
Rejected alternatives: sclav (clinical/modern register, inappropriate for doctrinal text)
Original: δοῦλος
Category: Ethics
NEW. Gal 4:1,7; 5:1. Use the dignified biblical term, contrasted with ‘son’ and ‘heir.‘
Allegory
Approved rendering: alegorie / spus în chip alegoric
Transliteration: allēgoroumena
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: ἀλληγορούμενα
Category: Covenant
NEW. Gal 4:24 — cultural asset matching Orthodox patristic typological-exegesis tradition. Guard against over-extending this hermeneutical move to the rest of the letter’s literal argument.
Jerusalem Above
Approved rendering: Ierusalimul de sus
Transliteration: hē anō Ierousalēm
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: ἡ ἄνω Ἰερουσαλήμ
Category: Covenant
NEW. Gal 4:26. The heavenly, eschatological Jerusalem.
Love
Approved rendering: dragoste
Transliteration: agapē
Doctrine: Faith Working through Love / Fruit of the Spirit
Rejected alternatives: iubire (narrower romantic connotation in ordinary speech)
Original: ἀγάπη
Category: Ethics
NEW. Gal 5:6,13,14,22. Standard Romanian Bible term for agapē in this register.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: împărăția lui Dumnezeu
Transliteration: basileia tou theou
Doctrine: Flesh versus Spirit
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Kingdom
Inherited from Romans package. Gal 5:21 — those practicing the works of the flesh ‘will not inherit’ it.
Bear Burdens
Approved rendering: a purta
Transliteration: bastazō
Doctrine: Bearing One Another’s Burdens
Original: βαστάζω
Category: Ethics
NEW. Gal 6:2,5,17 (also of Paul’s own persecution scars).
Burden
Approved rendering: povară
Transliteration: baros
Doctrine: Bearing One Another’s Burdens
Original: βάρος
Category: Ethics
NEW. Gal 6:2. Deliberately fixed and non-interchangeable with ‘sarcină’ (φορτίον, 6:5).
Load
Approved rendering: sarcină / povara proprie
Transliteration: phortion
Doctrine: Bearing One Another’s Burdens
Original: φορτίον
Category: Ethics
NEW. Gal 6:5 — deliberately distinct from shared ‘povară’ (6:2): one’s own, non-transferable responsibility.
Sow Reap
Approved rendering: a semăna / a secera
Transliteration: speirō / therizō
Doctrine: Bearing One Another’s Burdens
Original: σπείρω / θερίζω
Category: Ethics
NEW. Gal 6:7-8. Natural fit with Romanian’s strong agrarian idiom tradition.
Boast
Approved rendering: a se lăuda / a se făli
Transliteration: kauchaomai
Doctrine: Crucified with Christ
Original: καυχάομαι
Category: Ethics
NEW. Gal 6:14 — positive sense: exclusive glorying in the cross.
Peace
Approved rendering: pace
Transliteration: eirēnē
Doctrine: Peace with God
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Gal 1:3; 5:22 (fruit of the Spirit); 6:16.
Glory
Approved rendering: slavă
Transliteration: doxa
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: δόξα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Doxological formula (Gal 1:5) and ‘they glorified God because of me’ (1:24); a cultural asset given constant Orthodox liturgical doxological use.
Sin
Approved rendering: păcat / păcătos
Transliteration: hamartia / hamartōlos
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Original: ἁμαρτία / ἁμαρτωλός
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package. Gal 1:4; 2:15,17; 3:22, including the ironic quoted-slogan use at 2:15, which teaching notes should flag as Paul quoting the Jewish-Christian party’s own contemptuous shorthand, not his settled classification of Gentiles.
Low Risk Terms
Zealous
Approved rendering: râvnitor
Transliteration: zēlōtēs
Doctrine: Paul’s Apostleship
Original: ζηλωτής
Category: Faith
NEW. Gal 1:14. Distinct from the later political ‘Zealot’ party, an unrelated referent.
Fellowship
Approved rendering: părtășie
Transliteration: koinōnia
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: comuniune (carries stronger Orthodox Eucharistic/liturgical association)
Original: κοινωνία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Gal 2:9, ‘the right hand of fellowship’ — the general, non-Eucharistic sense.
Hypocrisy
Approved rendering: fățărnicie
Transliteration: hypokrisis
Doctrine: The True Gospel versus False Gospels
Original: ὑπόκρισις
Category: Ethics
NEW. Gal 2:13 — Peter’s withdrawal from Gentile table fellowship under pressure.
Abraham
Approved rendering: Avraam
Transliteration: Abraam
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: Ἀβραάμ
Category: Covenant
NEW — proper name. Established Romanian Orthodox Bible form; central figure of Chapter 3’s argument.
Israel
Approved rendering: Israel
Transliteration: Yisra’el
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: Ἰσραήλ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Standard proper name; risk elevates only in the compound phrase ‘Israel of God’ (Gal 6:16, see separate entry).
Hagar Sarah
Approved rendering: Agar / Sara
Transliteration: Hagar / Sarra
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: Ἄγαρ / Σάρρα
Category: Covenant
NEW — proper names. Established Romanian Bible forms, Gal 4:21-31.
Neighbor
Approved rendering: aproapele
Transliteration: plēsion
Doctrine: Faith Working through Love
Original: πλησίον
Category: Ethics
NEW. Gal 5:14, quoting Leviticus 19:18.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: neamuri
Transliteration: ethnē
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: păgâni (pejorative)
Original: ἔθνη
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Central to the letter’s Jew/Gentile unity argument (Gal 1:16; 2:2,8,9,12,14,15; 3:8,14).
Referenced passages