Semantic Analysis — Gospel of John (Koine Greek) — English → Romanian

Methodology Note

This analysis proceeds in two parts, per the PRD Phase 1 Step 1 mandate for full-book coverage:

1. Core Passage (John 3:1-21) — verse-by-verse treatment. Every load-bearing term is given: original Greek word, transliteration, literal meaning, semantic range, English variants attested across major English versions, contextual theological meaning in this passage, and the specific Romanian rendering risk.
2. Chapter-by-Chapter Study (John 1-21, full book) — every chapter, including the remainder of chapter 3 (vv. 22-36) not covered by the core passage, is analyzed for its load-bearing theological vocabulary using the same fields, condensed into tabular form for chapters outside the core passage. Where a term recurs from an earlier chapter or from the baseline Romans Language Package, this is noted rather than re-analyzed from scratch, per instruction to avoid redundant treatment while still tracking every occurrence.

Baseline reuse rule: Any term already recorded in the Romans translation_memory.json / bible_term_registry.json (e.g., grace → har, glory → slavă, resurrection → înviere, Son of God → Fiul lui Dumnezeu, Lord → Domnul, Jesus → Iisus, Holy Spirit → Duhul Sfânt, sin → păcat, law → lege, world is NOT yet baseline and is treated fresh here) is flagged “(reused from Romans baseline)” and its recorded Romanian rendering is carried forward unchanged. New terms specific to John’s theological vocabulary (Logos, monogenēs, paraklētos, kosmos as a dual-sense term, the “I Am” formula, etc.) receive full fresh analysis.

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PART 1 — CORE PASSAGE: JOHN 3:1-21 (Verse-by-Verse)

John 3:1

Field	Content
Greek	Φαρισαῖος, ἄρχων, Ἰουδαῖος
Transliteration	Pharisaios, archōn, Ioudaios
Literal meaning	”Separated one” (Pharisee, from a root meaning “to separate/distinguish”); “ruler/first one” (archōn); “Judean/Jew”
Semantic range	Pharisaios: a member of the Torah-observant lay renewal movement, distinct from Sadducees and priests. Archōn: ruler, official, member of a governing council — here, of the Sanhedrin. Ioudaios: ethnic-religious identity, “Jew,” sometimes narrowed in John to “the Jewish religious authorities.”
English variants	Pharisee; ruler / a leader of the Jews / member of the Jewish ruling council
Contextual theological meaning	Establishes Nicodemus’s social and religious credibility — a respected teacher within Israel’s official religious establishment — which sharpens the shock of Jesus’s statement that even such a man must be born again.
Romanian rendering & risk	Fariseu (standard, Low risk); dregător / mai-mare (al iudeilor) for ἄρχων — Romanian tradition renders “un mai-mare al iudeilor” (Synodal) — Medium risk: must convey Sanhedrin-level authority, not a generic “leader”; Iudeu — Low risk, standard.

John 3:2

Field	Content
Greek	Ῥαββί, διδάσκαλος, σημεῖον
Transliteration	Rabbi, didaskalos, sēmeion
Literal meaning	”My great one/master” (Rabbi, Hebrew honorific retained in Greek); “teacher” (didaskalos); “sign, that which points beyond itself” (sēmeion)
Semantic range	Rabbi: honorific address for an authoritative teacher of the Law. Didaskalos: one who instructs, used of Jesus throughout John. Sēmeion: a miracle understood as a meaningful pointer to Jesus’s identity, distinct from a mere wonder (τέρας).
English variants	Rabbi/Teacher; sign(s)/miracle(s)/miraculous sign(s)
Contextual theological meaning	Nicodemus’s address is respectful but inadequate — he perceives divine empowerment (“God is with him”) but not yet divine identity. “Sēmeion” is John’s characteristic term for miracles throughout the Gospel (cf. 2:11, 4:54, 20:30) — always evidentiary, pointing to who Jesus is.
Romanian rendering & risk	Rabbi (transliterated, retained, Low risk, standard in all Romanian traditions); Învățător/dascăl for διδάσκαλος (Low risk); semn for σημεῖον — Medium risk: must not be flattened to “miracol” alone, which loses the evidentiary “pointing” sense central to John’s theology of signs.

John 3:3

Field	Content
Greek	ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω σοι; γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν; βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ
Transliteration	amēn amēn legō soi; gennēthē anōthen; basileia tou theou
Literal meaning	”Truly, truly, I say to you” (double solemn oath formula, unique to John’s Gospel); “be born from above / be born again” (ἄνωθεν = both “from above” spatially and “again” temporally); “the kingdom of God”
Semantic range	Ἀμήν ἀμήν: a Johannine formula (25x in John, always doubled) marking a categorical, non-negotiable pronouncement. Ἄνωθεν: genuinely double-sensed in Koine — “from above” (spatial/source, its dominant sense elsewhere in John, e.g., 3:31, 19:11, 19:23) and “again/anew” (temporal). John exploits both senses deliberately; Nicodemus hears only the temporal sense (v.4). Βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ: God’s reign/rule — this exact phrase is otherwise rare in John (only here and 3:5), more characteristic of the Synoptics.
English variants	”Truly, truly, I tell you” / “Very truly I tell you” / “I tell you the truth”; “born again” / “born from above” / “born anew”; “kingdom of God”
Contextual theological meaning	This is the CRITICAL doctrinal thesis-verse of the whole passage: entry into God’s kingdom requires a birth that is not a human achievement but a divine, heavenly-sourced re-origination of the person — the doctrine of the New Birth and Regeneration by the Spirit.
Romanian rendering & risk	Adevărat, adevărat îți spun / Adevărat, adevărat zic ție (retain the double emphatic — Low risk if kept doubled, Medium risk if collapsed to a single “adevărat”); a se naște din nou for γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν — CRITICAL risk: Romanian, like English, cannot preserve both senses (“from above” and “again”) in one word. Established Romanian Bible tradition (both Orthodox Synodal and Cornilescu) renders “născut din nou,” which captures the sense Nicodemus mistakenly hears (v.4) but under-conveys the primary theological sense (birth originating from God/heaven) that vv. 5-8, 31 develop. A mandatory translator note is required at every occurrence of ἄνωθεν in this passage clarifying that the Greek intentionally holds both meanings and that Nicodemus’s confusion in v.4 is itself the narrative device exposing the term’s double sense. Împărăția lui Dumnezeu — reused from Romans baseline (kingdom_of_god), Medium risk carried forward.

John 3:4

Field	Content
Greek	γέρων, κοιλία, δεύτερον
Transliteration	gerōn, koilia, deuteron
Literal meaning	”old man”; “womb/belly”; “a second time”
Semantic range	Straightforward physical vocabulary; no theological ambiguity in the words themselves.
English variants	old man; mother’s womb; a second time / again
Contextual theological meaning	Nicodemus’s question demonstrates that he has heard only the temporal sense of ἄνωθεν (“again”) and missed its spatial/source sense (“from above”), which is precisely the misunderstanding Jesus corrects in vv. 5-8. This verse is diagnostic, not doctrinal, but essential for teaching the ἄνωθεν wordplay.
Romanian rendering & risk	Om bătrân; pântecele mamei sale; a doua oară — all Low risk, standard vocabulary.

John 3:5

Field	Content
Greek	ὕδωρ καὶ πνεῦμα
Transliteration	hydōr kai pneuma
Literal meaning	”water and spirit/Spirit”
Semantic range	Ὕδωρ: physical water, but here functioning symbolically — interpreters variously connect it to (a) John’s baptism, (b) Christian baptism (read back into the narrative), (c) the cleansing/renewing work of the Spirit itself, echoing Ezekiel 36:25-27’s water-and-Spirit new-covenant promise. Πνεῦμα: here unambiguously the Holy Spirit (contrast the wind/Spirit wordplay of v.8).
English variants	water and the Spirit / water and spirit
Contextual theological meaning	The New Birth is not achieved by human effort but is a work in which the Spirit is the decisive divine agent — foundational to the doctrine of Regeneration by the Spirit.
Romanian rendering & risk	Apă și Duh — Medium-High risk: capitalization/register choice signals whether πνεῦμα is read as the Holy Spirit (Duhul, capitalized, as this analysis holds) versus a generic “duh” (lower-case, human spirit) — Romanian orthographic convention (capital D) must be applied consistently to avoid ambiguity that the Greek itself, lacking case distinction, does not resolve without context. Duh(ul) — reused root from Romans baseline holy_spirit (Duhul Sfânt); here the shorter “Duh” without “Sfânt” is contextually understood as the same referent and should be flagged for translator note the first time it occurs unaccompanied by “Sfânt.”

John 3:6

Field	Content
Greek	σάρξ, πνεῦμα
Transliteration	sarx, pneuma
Literal meaning	”flesh”; “spirit”
Semantic range	Σάρξ: in John, not merely “physical body” but the entire realm of natural, unregenerate human existence, incapable by itself of producing what belongs to God’s kingdom (contrast σῶμα, “body,” a morally neutral term John does not use here). Πνεῦμα: the divine, Spirit-originated realm of new existence.
English variants	flesh / the flesh / what is born of the flesh; spirit / Spirit / what is born of the Spirit
Contextual theological meaning	States the categorical principle underlying the New Birth doctrine: natural human generation (flesh) cannot by its own nature produce spiritual life; only the Spirit can generate spiritual life. This is a like-produces-like principle, not a statement that flesh is evil.
Romanian rendering & risk	Trup for σάρξ — High risk: standard Romanian Bible tradition (both Synodal and Cornilescu) renders σάρξ as “trup” in John (cf. 1:14 “Cuvântul S-a făcut trup”), which is the same Romanian word regularly used for σῶμα (“body”). This collapses a distinction the Greek maintains (σάρξ as the sphere of unregenerate natural existence vs. σῶμα as a neutral physical body) into a single Romanian lexeme. A translator note is required distinguishing this theological use of “trup” (natural human origin/nature) from the morally neutral physical-body sense elsewhere. Duh for πνεῦμα as above.

John 3:7

Field	Content
Greek	δεῖ, γεννηθῆναι ἄνωθεν
Transliteration	dei, gennēthēnai anōthen
Literal meaning	”it is necessary/one must”; see v.3
Semantic range	Δεῖ: a term of divine necessity throughout John (cf. 3:14, 4:24, 10:16, 20:9) — not mere advisability but what God’s own character and purposes require.
English variants	”you must be born again” / “you must be born from above”
Contextual theological meaning	Restates the New Birth as a universal, non-optional necessity (“you” plural, addressed beyond Nicodemus to all humanity), not a special path for the exceptionally devout.
Romanian rendering & risk	Trebuie (standard, Low risk) but must retain the weight of divine necessity, not mere recommendation — teaching note recommended, not translation risk per se.

John 3:8

Field	Content
Greek	πνεῦμα, πνεῖ, φωνή
Transliteration	pneuma, pnei, phōnē
Literal meaning	”spirit/wind/breath”; “blows”; “sound/voice”
Semantic range	Πνεῦμα is the single Greek word (like Hebrew ruach) covering “wind,” “breath,” and “Spirit” — John exploits this single-word ambiguity deliberately: the wind (πνεῦμα) that blows where it wishes illustrates the Spirit (πνεῦμα) who regenerates sovereignly and unpredictably.
English variants	”the wind blows where it wishes” / “the Spirit blows wherever he pleases”; the sound / the voice
Contextual theological meaning	The Spirit’s regenerating work is sovereign, mysterious in its origin and destination, and perceptible in its effects (like wind heard but not seen) but not predictable or humanly controlled — a key plank of Regeneration doctrine.
Romanian rendering & risk	CRITICAL/High risk — untranslatable wordplay: Romanian, unlike Koine Greek (and Hebrew ruach), has two separate words — “duh” (spirit) and “vânt” (wind) — with no shared lexeme. The pun that anchors this verse is structurally lost in Romanian regardless of rendering choice. A mandatory translator note must explain that the single Greek word πνεῦμα carries both senses simultaneously and that the analogy depends on this wordplay, which Romanian must convey by explanation rather than by lexical reproduction. Recommended handling: render as “Vântul suflă încotro voiește… tot așa este cu orice om născut din Duhul,” with an explicit footnote on the shared Greek term.

John 3:9-10

Field	Content
Greek	διδάσκαλος τοῦ Ἰσραήλ
Transliteration	didaskalos tou Israēl
Literal meaning	”the teacher of Israel” (definite article — “the,” not merely “a”)
Semantic range	Marks Nicodemus as a recognized authority within Israel’s teaching office, sharpening the rebuke: one entrusted with Israel’s own Scriptures (which anticipate Spirit-wrought renewal, e.g., Ezekiel 36-37) should not be baffled by this teaching.
English variants	”the teacher of Israel” / “Israel’s teacher”
Contextual theological meaning	Underscores that the New Birth is not a novel doctrine imported from outside Israel’s own Scriptures but their fulfillment, which Israel’s own teacher should have recognized.
Romanian rendering & risk	Învățătorul lui Israel — Low-Medium risk; the definite article’s force (“the,” not “a”) should be preserved in Romanian’s use of the definite form “Învățătorul.” Israel — reused from Romans baseline (israel), Low risk.

John 3:11

Field	Content
Greek	οἴδαμεν, λαλοῦμεν, ἑωράκαμεν, μαρτυροῦμεν, μαρτυρία
Transliteration	oidamen, laloumen, heōrakamen, martyroumen, martyria
Literal meaning	”we know”; “we speak”; “we have seen”; “we testify/bear witness”; “testimony/witness”
Semantic range	Μαρτυρέω/μαρτυρία: John’s central epistemological category — truth is established through authoritative eyewitness testimony (used of John the Baptist 1:7-8, 32-34; the Father 5:37, 8:18; the Spirit 15:26; the works 5:36; the Scriptures 5:39; and Jesus himself throughout). The plural “we” here likely reflects Jesus speaking with the authority of heaven itself, or, secondarily, includes the apostolic community’s testimony as the Gospel was written.
English variants	testify / bear witness / give witness / witness
Contextual theological meaning	Establishes the legal/courtroom register of John’s Gospel: Jesus’s teaching carries the weight of firsthand, heavenly testimony, which the religious authorities nonetheless refuse to receive — introducing the Judgment/Belief-Unbelief theme.
Romanian rendering & risk	Mărturie / a mărturisi — Medium-High risk: Romanian “mărturisire” is also the standard term for the Sacrament of Confession (Taina Mărturisirii/Spovedania) in Orthodox practice and for creedal confession (“mărturisirea de credință”). Context must make clear this is legal/eyewitness testimony-language, not sacramental confession of sin, to avoid a false devotional association. Recommend “mărturie” (noun) / “a mărturisi” (verb) with a translator note distinguishing this forensic-testimonial sense from the sacramental sense the same root carries elsewhere in Romanian religious usage.

John 3:12

Field	Content
Greek	πιστεύω, ἐπίγεια, ἐπουράνια
Transliteration	pisteuō, epigeia, epourania
Literal meaning	”I believe/trust”; “earthly things”; “heavenly things”
Semantic range	Πιστεύω: John’s central verb (98 occurrences, more than any other NT book), always relational trust directed toward a person (usually “believe in/into,” πιστεύω εἰς), not mere intellectual assent to a proposition.
English variants	believe / trust / have faith
Contextual theological meaning	Sets up the escalation from “earthly” analogies (birth, wind) to the “heavenly” realities (the Son’s descent, the cross, eternal life) that follow in vv. 13-21 — belief is the pivotal human response required throughout.
Romanian rendering & risk	A crede — High risk, reuse the Romans baseline concept of faith/credință: John’s πιστεύω corresponds to the Romans baseline noun credință (faith); the verb “a crede” must consistently be shown to require an object/person (Christ) recoverable from context, not generalized religious belief or inherited Orthodox identity, per the baseline’s faith risk note. Lucrurile pământești / lucrurile cerești — Low risk, standard.

John 3:13

Field	Content
Greek	ἀναβέβηκεν, καταβάς, υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου
Transliteration	anabebēken, katabas, huios tou anthrōpou
Literal meaning	”has ascended”; “having descended”; “the Son of Man”
Semantic range	Ἀναβαίνω/καταβαίνω: John’s characteristic descent/ascent vocabulary for the incarnation and return of the Son (cf. 6:38, 6:62, 20:17). Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου: a distinct Christological title from “Son of God,” drawn from Daniel 7:13-14’s exalted, authority-bearing heavenly figure, while simultaneously emphasizing Christ’s genuine humanity; used 13x in John, always by Jesus of himself.
English variants	Son of Man; “no one has ascended… except he who descended”
Contextual theological meaning	Asserts Christ’s pre-existence and heavenly origin — he alone has both a heavenly point of departure and human incarnate identity, grounding the Deity and Pre-existence of Christ doctrine.
Romanian rendering & risk	S-a suit / S-a înălțat for ἀναβέβηκεν — Medium risk: avoid “S-a înălțat” here, since Romanian liturgical usage reserves “Înălțare/Înălțat” specifically for the Ascension feast (cf. v.14 note below on the same collision with ὑψωθῆναι); prefer “S-a suit în cer” to avoid premature collision. S-a pogorât / a Se pogorî for καταβάς — Low-Medium risk, standard incarnational vocabulary. Fiul Omului — Critical, established rendering: must be taught as distinct from Fiul lui Dumnezeu (Son of God, reused from Romans baseline as a unique eternal-Sonship title); Fiul Omului conveys both genuine humanity and the Daniel 7 authoritative heavenly figure — the two titles together, not interchangeably, express the full Deity-and-humanity Christology this curriculum teaches.

John 3:14

Field	Content
Greek	Μωϋσῆς, ὄφις, ὑψωθῆναι
Transliteration	Mōusēs, ophis, hypsōthēnai
Literal meaning	”Moses”; “serpent”; “to be lifted up/raised high”
Semantic range	Ὑψόω: a deliberately double-sensed Johannine term (also 8:28, 12:32-34) meaning simultaneously the physical lifting up onto the cross and the exaltation/glorification that the cross paradoxically accomplishes. Ὄφις recalls Numbers 21:4-9’s bronze serpent, a typological pattern: as Israelites who looked at the raised serpent were healed of physical death, so those who look in faith to the raised Christ are healed of eternal death.
English variants	”the Son of Man must be lifted up” / “must be lifted up… as Moses lifted up the serpent”
Contextual theological meaning	Establishes the doctrine of Christ’s Substitutionary Death (via crucifixion typology) as simultaneously his glorification/exaltation — a paradox central to John’s entire narrative of the cross as “the Hour” of glory (cf. ch. 12, 17).
Romanian rendering & risk	A fi înălțat — High risk, mandatory translator note: Romanian “înălțare/a înălța” is the same root used liturgically for Christ’s Ascension (Înălțarea Domnului), a distinct feast forty days after the Resurrection. A reader could easily misread “va fi înălțat” here as referring to the Ascension rather than to the crucifixion-as-exaltation this verse actually describes. Every occurrence of ὑψωθῆναι in John (3:14; 8:28; 12:32-34) requires this note. Șarpe for ὄφις — Low risk, standard; requires an Old Testament background note (Numbers 21) per the doctrine registry’s pattern for OT-dependent typology.

John 3:15

Field	Content
Greek	πιστεύων, ζωὴ αἰώνιος
Transliteration	pisteuōn, zōē aiōnios
Literal meaning	”the one believing”; “life of the age [to come] / unending life”
Semantic range	Ζωὴ αἰώνιος: not merely unending duration but qualitative life — the life of the age to come, God’s own life shared with the believer, beginning now and continuing forever (cf. 17:3’s definition of eternal life as knowing God). This is the single most frequent positive outcome-term in John’s Gospel (17x).
English variants	eternal life / everlasting life / life of the age to come
Contextual theological meaning	Introduces the doctrine of Eternal Life through Faith in Christ — received by believing, not achieved by merit or ritual observance, in direct connection to the lifted-up Son of v.14.
Romanian rendering & risk	Viață eternă — Critical risk, requires a dual-register decision: the Romanian Orthodox Synodal Bible characteristically renders this phrase “viață de veci,” while Cornilescu/Evangelical tradition renders “viața eternă” (also attested: “viață veșnică”). This Language Package adopts “viață eternă” as the primary working rendering for consistency across the curriculum, while noting “viața de veci” as the expected Orthodox Synodal-register variant for any Orthodox-facing material, following the same dual-register handling principle the baseline applies to Iisus/Isus. Both renderings must be taught with the qualitative (not merely durational) sense above. A crede — reused per v.12.

John 3:16

Field	Content
Greek	ἀγαπάω, κόσμος, μονογενής, ἀπόλλυμι
Transliteration	agapaō, kosmos, monogenēs, apollymi
Literal meaning	”loved” (aorist, a decisive past act); “world/universe/humanity”; “only-begotten / one-of-a-kind / unique”; “perish/be destroyed”
Semantic range	Ἀγαπάω: self-giving, deliberate love, not primarily emotional affection, demonstrated by concrete action (giving the Son). Κόσμος: in John a genuinely dual-sensed term — (1) the created order and all humanity as the object of God’s redeeming love (as here), and (2) elsewhere (e.g., 1:10, 15:18-19) the organized system of humanity in active rebellion against God, hostile to Christ. Both senses operate throughout the Gospel and must not be collapsed into only one. Μονογενής: literally “one of a kind,” traditionally “only-begotten” (emphasizing unique generation) or more recently rendered “one and only” (emphasizing uniqueness); used of Christ’s unique Sonship in 1:14, 1:18, 3:16, 3:18 and nowhere else in John of anyone else. Ἀπόλλυμι: to perish, to be destroyed/lost — the negative alternative to eternal life, not annihilation of the soul’s existence but ruinous, final loss.
English variants	loved; world; only begotten Son / one and only Son / his one and only Son; perish / be lost / be destroyed
Contextual theological meaning	The single most quoted verse in the Gospel, anchoring the doctrine of God’s Love for the World: God’s love is universal in scope (κόσμος), decisive in action (the giving of the μονογενής Son), and the only alternative to a real and final perishing. This is also the central verse for the Deity and Pre-existence of Christ doctrine, since μονογενής asserts a Sonship no creature shares.
Romanian rendering & risk	A iubi — Medium risk: Romanian has no lexical distinction paralleling ἀγαπάω/φιλέω (both render “a iubi”); flag for later chapters (13, 21) where the distinction may matter more directly. Lume for κόσμος — Critical risk: Romanian “lume” independently carries the same dual sense as κόσμος (the created world/humanity generally, and, colloquially, “worldly society” with negative moral overtones — “lumea aceasta,” “lucrurile lumii”), which is a genuine asset for teaching John’s dual usage, but requires an explicit note per occurrence clarifying which sense (or both) is active, since collapsing all 78 Johannine uses of κόσμος into a single flattened sense would obscure both the universality of God’s love here and the moral hostility sense elsewhere (e.g., 15:18). Unul-Născut for μονογενής — Critical risk, established liturgical asset: this is the precise term used in the Romanian Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed recited at every Divine Liturgy (“Fiul lui Dumnezeu, Unul-Născut, Care din Tatăl S-a născut mai înainte de toți vecii”), making it a strong cultural and liturgical asset rather than a gap. The risk is ensuring learners connect this familiar liturgical term precisely to Romans 1:3-4/8:3’s incarnation doctrine already in the baseline package and to the eternal generation it implies, not merely reciting it as familiar liturgical language without doctrinal comprehension. A pieri for ἀπόλλυμι — Medium risk: must retain the sense of real, final ruin, not softened into “a se rătăci” (to wander/be lost temporarily).

John 3:17

Field	Content
Greek	ἀποστέλλω, κρίνω, σῴζω
Transliteration	apostellō, krinō, sōzō
Literal meaning	”sent” (with delegated commission); “judge/condemn”; “save/rescue/deliver”
Semantic range	Ἀποστέλλω: sending with delegated divine authority and mission — the same root underlying ἀπόστολος (apostle, reused from Romans baseline), applied here to the Father’s sending of the Son, the archetype of all subsequent apostolic sending. Κρίνω: to judge, evaluate, and by extension condemn. Σῴζω: to save/rescue/deliver from a real peril — here explicitly a peril the world is already in.
English variants	sent; condemn / judge / pass sentence; save / rescue
Contextual theological meaning	Clarifies the purpose of the incarnation: not primarily condemnation but rescue, though v.18 shows judgment remains the necessary consequence of unbelief — foundational to the Judgment/Belief-Unbelief doctrine.
Romanian rendering & risk	A trimite for ἀποστέλλω — Low-Medium risk, standard; connect explicitly to apostol (reused from Romans baseline, apostleship doctrine) as the same root-concept of authoritative sending. A judeca/a condamna for κρίνω — Medium risk, must retain judicial/legal register (see v.18-19). A mântui for σῴζω — Critical, reused from Romans baseline (salvation/mântuire): the Orthodox theosis-inflected reading of mântuire as an ongoing synergistic process, already documented as Critical risk in the baseline, applies equally in John; John’s own emphasis (as in Romans) is on salvation received decisively through faith in the Son (cf. 3:15-18, 36), which must be preserved without flatly denying the wider Orthodox framework the baseline instructs translators to acknowledge rather than contradict.

John 3:18

Field	Content
Greek	κρίνεται, κέκριται, ὄνομα, μονογενοῦς υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ
Transliteration	krinetai, kekritai, onoma, monogenous huiou tou theou
Literal meaning	”is judged” (present tense); “has been judged” (perfect tense — completed action with ongoing effect); “name”; “the only-begotten/one-and-only Son of God”
Semantic range	The present/perfect tense contrast is theologically load-bearing: the unbeliever’s condemnation is not a future-only event but a present, already-settled reality (“already stands condemned”), because it rests on the settled fact of unbelief in a specific, named Person. Ὄνομα (“name”) in Johannine usage represents the whole revealed identity and authority of the person named, not merely a label.
English variants	”is not judged/condemned” / “stands condemned already”; “the name of God’s one and only Son”
Contextual theological meaning	Judgment is not an arbitrary future sentence but the necessary, already-operative consequence of one’s present relationship (belief or unbelief) to the specific, named Son of God — Judgment doctrine tied directly to Christology.
Romanian rendering & risk	Nu este judecat / este deja judecat — Medium-High risk: the present/perfect tense contrast in Greek (already-accomplished judgment) must be rendered with a Romanian perfect/present distinction (e.g., “este deja osândit” for the perfect) rather than flattened into a single future-oriented “va fi judecat,” which would lose the “already” force essential to this verse. Numele — Low risk, standard. Fiul lui Dumnezeu, Unul-Născut — combines two established Critical-risk terms (reused Son of God + Unul-Născut per v.16); both risk notes above apply jointly here.

John 3:19

Field	Content
Greek	κρίσις, φῶς, σκότος, ἔργα
Transliteration	krisis, phōs, skotos, erga
Literal meaning	”judgment/verdict”; “light”; “darkness”; “works/deeds”
Semantic range	Κρίσις: here the verdict itself is defined, not merely announced — the very fact of preferring darkness to light IS the judgment. Φῶς/σκότος: John’s central moral-spiritual dualism (cf. 1:4-5, 8:12, 12:35-36, 12:46) — light representing divine revelation, truth, and moral goodness; darkness representing willful rejection of that revelation and the moral corruption it conceals, not merely absence of information. Ἔργα: deeds/actions as the outward evidence of one’s relationship to light or darkness.
English variants	verdict / judgment; light; darkness; deeds / works / actions
Contextual theological meaning	Defines the essence of judgment as self-selected: people are judged because they actively preferred darkness, given genuine access to the light — grounding human moral responsibility within the doctrine of Judgment and Belief/Unbelief.
Romanian rendering & risk	Judecată for κρίσις — Low-Medium risk, standard. Lumină/întuneric for φῶς/σκότος — High risk: this dualism must be taught as moral-spiritual (truth/revelation vs. willful rejection), not physical illumination nor a dualistic (quasi-Manichean/gnostic) cosmic struggle between equal opposing forces — Romanian readers, given broad cultural exposure to folk-dualistic light/dark imagery, should be guided toward the specifically ethical-relational sense John intends. Fapte for ἔργα — Low risk, standard.

John 3:20-21

Field	Content
Greek	μισέω, ἐλέγχω, ἀλήθεια, φανερόω
Transliteration	miseō, elegchō, alētheia, phaneroō
Literal meaning	”hate”; “expose/convict/reprove”; “truth”; “be manifested/revealed”
Semantic range	Μισέω: active aversion, not mere indifference — those doing evil actively avoid the light. Ἐλέγχω: the light’s exposing, convicting function — bringing hidden deeds into visibility for judgment. Ἀλήθεια: not merely factual accuracy but a whole way of living in conformity with God’s revealed reality — “doing the truth” (ποιῶν τὴν ἀλήθειαν) is a distinctly Johannine, Hebraic idiom (cf. 1 John 1:6) meaning to live authentically before God, not merely to speak accurately. Φανερόω: to be brought into open visibility.
English variants	hates the light; be exposed / be convicted; “does the truth” / “lives by the truth”; be revealed / be seen plainly
Contextual theological meaning	Concludes the passage’s Judgment/Belief-Unbelief theme: response to the light (Christ) reveals and determines one’s ultimate destiny; “doing the truth” characterizes the believer’s transparent, God-oriented life, in contrast to those who hide evil deeds.
Romanian rendering & risk	A urî for μισέω — Low risk, standard. A da în vileag / a vădi for ἐλέγχω — Medium risk: must retain the connotation of exposing hidden deeds for judgment, not merely “a arăta” (to show), which is too weak. Adevăr for ἀλήθεια — reused/consistent with Romans baseline register (no direct baseline entry but consistent theological weight); “a face adevărul” (doing the truth) is a Hebraic idiom requiring a translator note since idiomatic literal rendering (“a face adevărul”) is unusual in ordinary Romanian and needs explanation, not smoothing into a paraphrase that loses the “doing” (active, lived) sense. A se arăta/a se vădi for φανερόω — Low-Medium risk.

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PART 2 — CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER STUDY OF THE WHOLE BOOK

Chapter 1 — The Word, Witness, and the Call of the First Disciples

Term (Greek/translit.)	Literal meaning & semantic range	English variants	Theological meaning in context	Romanian rendering & risk
Λόγος (Logos)	“Word/speech/reason” — in John’s prologue, a technical, capitalized title for the eternal, personal, divine Agent of creation and revelation, drawing on both Hebrew Wisdom traditions and Greek philosophical usage while transcending both	Word; the Word; the divine Word	Foundational verse for the Deity and Pre-existence of Christ: “the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (1:1) asserts eternal personal distinction and full deity simultaneously	Cuvântul — Critical, established asset: this is the standard, liturgically familiar Romanian rendering (Orthodox Synodal and Cornilescu alike use “Cuvântul”). Risk lies entirely in ensuring “Cuvântul” is taught as a personal, eternal, divine Agent — not an abstract “message” or “speech” as the ordinary Romanian noun “cuvânt” (lowercase, a word) might otherwise suggest. Capitalization is theologically load-bearing throughout.
ἦν (imperfect “was,” 1:1-2)	Continuous past existence, not a point-in-time beginning (contrast ἐγένετο, “came into being,” used of created things in 1:3, 1:14)	“was” (in the beginning)	The Word’s eternal pre-existence, prior to and distinct from all created things	Era — Medium risk: Romanian imperfect “era” can carry this durative sense, but the theological weight (contrasted deliberately with “s-a făcut” for created things in v.3, 14) requires an explicit note; conflating “era” and “s-a făcut” would erase the pre-existence argument.
θεός (1:1, without the article, predicate position)	“God” — the absence of the definite article in the predicate (“the Word was God,” not “the Word was the God,” which would be modalism) signals full deity of nature without identity-collapse with the Father	”the Word was God” / “the Word was divine”	Establishes the Word’s full deity while preserving Father-Son distinction — critical to both Deity of Christ and Unity of Father and Son doctrines	Dumnezeu — reused from Romans baseline (Critical). The Greek’s grammatical nuance (anarthrous predicate) has no equivalent marking in Romanian and must be taught via translator note, not smoothed over.
ζωή / φῶς (1:4-5, 9)	“Life”; “light”	life; light; the light of all people	Introduces the life/light theme resumed at 3:19-21 and throughout the Gospel; the Logos is the source of both created life and revelatory light	Viață; lumină — see core-passage notes above; first occurrence, establishing the pattern.
μαρτυρία / μαρτυρέω (John the Baptist, 1:7-8, 15, 19-34)	“Testimony/witness”	testify; bear witness	Introduces John’s Gospel’s forensic testimony-motif (see 3:11 above) via its first witness, John the Baptist, who testifies but is “not the light” himself	Mărturie/a mărturisi — see 3:11 note on sacramental-confession collision risk, applicable at every occurrence.
κόσμος (1:9-10, 29)	“World”	the world; the world’s sin	First occurrences of the dual-sense term analyzed fully at 3:16-17	Lume — see 3:16 Critical note; first occurrence establishes both the world Christ enlightens (1:9) and the world that “did not know him” (1:10, hostile sense).
ἴδιοι / τέκνα θεοῦ (1:11-12)	“his own [people/things]”; “children of God”	his own people; children of God	Distinguishes Israel’s rejection (ἴδιοι) from the gift of divine sonship-by-adoption to “as many as received him”	Ai Săi; copii ai lui Dumnezeu — Medium risk: τέκνα θεοῦ (children of God, believers generally) must be kept distinct from Fiul lui Dumnezeu (the unique Son) and from Fiul Omului (Son of Man); this parallels exactly the baseline’s adoption/înfiere doctrine (Romans 8) and should reuse that framework: believers become τέκνα/υἱοί by adoption, not by the eternal generation μονογενής describes.
σάρξ ἐγένετο (1:14)	“became flesh"	"the Word became flesh”	The precise phrase the Romans baseline bible_term_registry.json already cites (ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο) as the technical name for the Incarnation doctrine; here it is the actual Johannine source text, not merely a cross-reference	Cuvântul S-a făcut trup — Critical, reused doctrine category “incarnation” from Romans baseline (întrupare); apply the baseline’s note in full: Orthodox theosis-framing of the incarnation should be acknowledged, not contradicted, but John’s own emphasis (the Word’s personal, permanent assumption of full humanity, “dwelt among us,” ἐσκήνωσεν — lit. “pitched his tent,” recalling the Tabernacle) must remain primary teaching content.
πλήρης χάριτος καὶ ἀληθείας / χάρις ἀντὶ χάριτος (1:14, 16)	“full of grace and truth”; “grace upon grace”	full of grace and truth; grace upon grace / one blessing after another	Christ as the perfect embodiment and inexhaustible source of grace, echoing and surpassing the Law given through Moses (v.17)	Har — reused from Romans baseline (Critical); Adevăr — see above. “Har după har” — Medium risk, ensure the cumulative/inexhaustible sense is not flattened.
μονογενής (1:14, 18)	See 3:16 analysis	only begotten / one and only	First and defining occurrences (prior to 3:16, 18) of this Critical asset-term	Unul-Născut — see 3:16 note; 1:18 additionally states “the only Son, who is himself God, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known” — an especially dense Critical Christological verse requiring theologian review.
νόμος (1:17)	“Law”	the law (given through Moses)	Contrasts Mosaic law-giving with the grace and truth that come through Christ	Lege — reused from Romans baseline (High risk, unchanged).
Ἀμνὸς τοῦ θεοῦ (1:29, 36)	“Lamb of God”	Lamb of God	John the Baptist’s identification of Jesus as the sacrificial Lamb who “takes away the sin of the world” — foundational to the Christ’s Substitutionary Death doctrine, drawing on Passover and Isaiah 53 typology	Mielul lui Dumnezeu — High risk, cultural asset with a caution: this phrase is embedded in Orthodox liturgical practice (the prosphora used in the Proskomedia is called “the Lamb,” and hymnody repeatedly evokes this title), which is a genuine asset for recognition, but requires a teaching note connecting the liturgical familiarity explicitly to the once-for-all substitutionary atonement John 1:29 asserts, rather than leaving it as unexamined liturgical furniture.
Μεσσίας / Χριστός (1:41)	“Messiah” (Hebrew/Aramaic transliterated); “Christ” (Greek translation of the same title, “Anointed One”)	Messiah; Christ	John explicitly glosses the Hebrew/Aramaic term with its Greek equivalent for his readers — a built-in bilingual teaching moment	Mesia — reused from Romans baseline (Critical, unchanged); Hristos — standard Romanian rendering per baseline’s proper-name conventions (“Christ = Hristos”), Critical, unchanged.
Ῥαββί / Κηφᾶς (1:38, 42)	“Rabbi”; “Cephas” (Aramaic “Rock,” transliterated, then translated as Πέτρος)	Rabbi; Cephas/Peter	Introduces the naming pattern (Simon renamed Cephas/Peter) that recurs with theological significance later in the Gospel (21:15-19)	Rabbi; Chifa/Petru — Low risk, standard proper names.
βασιλεὺς τοῦ Ἰσραήλ / ἀληθῶς Ἰσραηλίτης (1:47, 49)	“King of Israel”; “truly an Israelite”	King of Israel; a true Israelite	Nathanael’s confession anticipates the “King of the Jews” title that recurs at the crucifixion (19:19) — royal messianic recognition bracketing the whole Gospel	Împăratul lui Israel — Medium risk, standard; note the royal-messianic thread this opens, resolved ironically at the cross.

Chapter 2 — The Wedding at Cana and the Temple Cleansing

Term	Literal/semantic range	English variants	Theological meaning	Romanian rendering & risk
σημεῖον (2:11)	“Sign” — see 3:2 note; this is explicitly called the “first” (ἀρχή) of Jesus’s signs	sign; the first of his signs	Establishes the sign-pattern that structures the first half of John’s Gospel (the “Book of Signs”), each sign revealing an aspect of Jesus’s identity	Semn — reused note from 3:2; here explicitly enumerated (“primul semn”), useful for teaching John’s structural sign-sequence.
δόξα (2:11)	“Glory” — the sign’s result: “manifested his glory”	manifested/revealed his glory	Signs function to disclose divine glory, tying back to 1:14’s “we have seen his glory”	Slavă — reused from Romans baseline (Medium risk, unchanged; noted baseline asset given liturgical familiarity of “slavă”).
ναός (2:19-21, contrasted with ἱερόν used elsewhere for the temple precincts)	“Sanctuary/shrine” — the innermost, most sacred part of the temple complex; John specifically applies this word, not the more general ἱερόν, to Jesus’s body: “the temple of his body”	temple; “this temple”; “the temple of his body”	A deliberate metaphor: Jesus’s body is the true sanctuary, destroyed (crucifixion) and rebuilt (resurrection) in three days — an early, veiled resurrection prediction	Templu — Medium risk: Romanian “templu” does not distinguish ναός (inner sanctuary) from ἱερόν (whole temple complex, used elsewhere, e.g., in the Synoptics/Acts, not directly in this chapter but relevant background); the metaphor “templul trupului Său” must be taught explicitly as identifying Jesus’s own body with the sanctuary itself, foreshadowing resurrection, not merely “a building.”
ζῆλος / ἐκβάλλω (2:14-17)	“Zeal”; “drove out”	zeal; drove out (the money changers)	Jesus’s zeal for his Father’s house fulfills Psalm 69:9, cited explicitly by the disciples	Zel; a scoate afară — Low risk, standard.

Chapter 3 (remainder, vv. 22-36) — John the Baptist’s Final Testimony

(vv. 1-21 fully treated in Part 1 above)

Term	Literal/semantic range	English variants	Theological meaning	Romanian rendering & risk
νυμφίος / φίλος τοῦ νυμφίου (3:29)	“Bridegroom”; “friend of the bridegroom” (the best man)	bridegroom; friend of the bridegroom / best man	John the Baptist explicitly subordinates himself to Christ using a wedding-custom metaphor — his joy is complete in Christ’s increasing prominence, not diminished by his own decreasing role	Mire; prietenul mirelui — Low-Medium risk, standard; useful cultural-wedding-custom note for teaching.
χαρά (3:29)	“Joy”	joy; my joy is complete	Joy located in Christ’s exaltation, not in one’s own status — a model for disciple identity	Bucurie — Low risk.
ἄνωθεν (3:31, again)	See core-passage note on v.3 — here explicitly the spatial “from above” sense, without the “born again” ambiguity, confirming that sense is primary in John’s usage elsewhere	”the one who comes from above”	Confirms (retrospectively, for the translator) that ἄνωθεν’s dominant Johannine sense is “from above,” reinforcing the core-passage translator note on v.3	De sus — this occurrence, unambiguous, is useful supporting evidence to cite in the v.3 translator note; Medium risk given cross-reference dependency.
ὀργὴ τοῦ θεοῦ (3:36)	“The wrath of God”	the wrath of God	The negative counterpart to ζωὴ αἰώνιος: unbelief (“the one who disobeys/does not believe the Son”) results not merely in absence of life but in God’s abiding wrath	Mânia lui Dumnezeu — High risk: this phrase must be taught carefully since Orthodox devotional emphasis tends to foreground God’s mercy and love (consistent with 3:16 above) more than his wrath in ordinary catechesis; the translation must not soften “μένει” (remains/abides — a present, ongoing state) into a milder future-only warning. Reused conceptually alongside baseline’s judgment-adjacent vocabulary.
ἀπιστέω / πιστεύω (3:36)	“disobey/disbelieve” vs. “believe” — note John here treats disbelief and disobedience as functionally identical (ὁ ἀπειθῶν, “the one who disobeys,” parallels ὁ πιστεύων, “the one who believes”)	disobeys / does not believe	Unbelief in the Son is itself an act of disobedience, not merely intellectual doubt — reinforcing Obedience of Faith doctrine already Critical in the Romans baseline	Necredincios/nu ascultă — Medium-High risk; should be cross-referenced to the baseline’s “obedience_of_faith” (ascultarea credinței) entry, since John here supplies direct textual support for treating belief and obedience as inseparable.

Chapter 4 — The Samaritan Woman and Living Water

Term	Literal/semantic range	English variants	Theological meaning	Romanian rendering & risk
ὕδωρ ζῶν (4:10-14)	“Living water” — flowing/spring water in ordinary usage, but Jesus applies it metaphorically to the Spirit-given life he gives, which becomes an internal, self-perpetuating spring (“a spring of water welling up to eternal life”)	living water	A central metaphor for the gift of the Spirit and eternal life, paralleling 7:38-39’s explicit identification of living water with the Spirit	Apă vie — High risk: must be taught as a live metaphor for the Spirit/eternal life, not confused with literal “fresh/flowing water” alone; connects directly to 3:5’s “water and Spirit” and to 7:38-39.
Σαμαρῖται (4:9, 39-40)	“Samaritans” — a distinct ethnic-religious group, historically estranged from Jews	Samaritans	The narrative crosses a significant ethnic-religious boundary, anticipating the Gospel’s universal scope (cf. Romans baseline’s “gentiles”/unity-of-Jews-and-Gentiles doctrine, applied here proto-typically)	Samariteni — Low risk, standard; useful bridge to the baseline’s unity_of_jews_and_gentiles doctrine note.
προσκυνέω / πνεῦμα καὶ ἀλήθεια (4:23-24)	“Worship”; “in spirit and truth”	worship; worship in spirit and truth	Defines authentic worship as located not in a particular geographic sanctuary (Jerusalem or Samaria) but in Spirit-enabled, truth-grounded relationship with God	A se închina; în duh și în adevăr — Medium-High risk: should be taught alongside a clarifying note that this does not delegitimize liturgical/sacramental worship (an over-reading some Evangelical-influenced material might import) but locates authentic worship’s essential nature in Spirit-given truth rather than mere geographic/ritual location — a nuance requiring care in an Orthodox-majority context with a strong liturgical-locational worship tradition (pilgrimage, holy sites).
σωτὴρ τοῦ κόσμου (4:42)	“Savior of the world”	Savior of the world	The Samaritan villagers’ confession universalizes Jesus’s identity beyond ethnic Israel	Mântuitorul lumii — reuses baseline mântuire root (Critical) plus lume (Critical, see 3:16); combined term requires both notes.

Chapter 5 — Healing at Bethesda and Christ’s Equality with the Father

Term	Literal/semantic range	English variants	Theological meaning	Romanian rendering & risk
σάββατον (5:9-10, 16, 18)	“Sabbath”	Sabbath	The healing on the Sabbath, and Jesus’s defense of it, precipitates the conflict that escalates to a direct deity claim	Sâmbătă — Low risk, standard.
ἴσος τῷ θεῷ (5:18)	“Equal to God"	"making himself equal with God”	The religious authorities correctly perceive (even while rejecting) that Jesus’s claim to call God “my [own] Father” (ἴδιος, a possessive stronger than the common “our Father”) amounts to a claim of deity — a Critical Deity of Christ text	Egal cu Dumnezeu — Critical risk: must be preserved as an accurate charge (which John’s narrative implicitly affirms as true, not a mere misunderstanding), directly supporting the Deity and Pre-existence of Christ doctrine; requires theologian review.
ζωὴν ἔχειν ἐν ἑαυτῷ (5:26)	“To have life in himself"	"has life in himself”	Asserts the Son’s aseity — self-existent life, not derivative or granted life, shared uniquely with the Father	Viață în Sine — High risk, requires explanation: an unusual and theologically dense Romanian phrase; must be glossed as self-existence (aseity), a divine attribute, not merely “being alive.”
ἀνάστασις ζωῆς / ἀνάστασις κρίσεως (5:29)	“Resurrection of life” / “resurrection of judgment”	resurrection to life / resurrection of judgment (or condemnation)	A universal, bodily, two-destiny resurrection at the last day — supports both the Resurrection and Judgment doctrines together	Înviere spre viață / înviere spre judecată — reuses baseline înviere (Critical, unchanged); the bifurcated destiny structure requires a translator note distinguishing this general/final resurrection of all people from Christ’s own resurrection, treated separately in ch. 20.
μαρτυρία (fourfold: John, works, Father, Scriptures — 5:31-39)	See 3:11/1:7	testimony/witness	John structures an entire fourfold legal case for Jesus’s identity — reinforcing the forensic register of the whole Gospel	Mărturie — cumulative reuse of the 3:11 note; here especially prominent given the courtroom structure of the whole chapter.

Chapter 6 — Bread of Life Discourse

Term	Literal/semantic range	English variants	Theological meaning	Romanian rendering & risk
ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ἄρτος τῆς ζωῆς (6:35, 48, 51)	“I am the bread of life”	I am the bread of life	The first of the Seven “I Am” Statements with a predicate; Christ as the sole, sufficient source of spiritual sustenance and eternal life, received by believing (6:35, 47), not merely by physical eating	Eu sunt pâinea vieții — High risk: strong Eucharistic resonance is a genuine asset given Orthodox sacramental theology, but the discourse’s own repeated emphasis (“the one who believes in me… have eternal life,” 6:35, 40, 47) must not be eclipsed entirely by a purely sacramental reading; teach both dimensions without either erasing the metaphor’s eucharistic echo (6:51-58) or reducing “believing” language to mere sacramental participation.
σημεῖον (6:14, 26)	See 3:2; here explicitly the feeding of the five thousand	sign	The crowd seeks Jesus for further miraculous provision rather than for who the sign reveals him to be — a case study in sign-seeking without genuine belief	Semn — reused; note the contrast in this chapter between valid sign-recognition (6:14) and merely appetite-driven sign-seeking (6:26).
ἕλκω (6:44)	“Draw/drag”	draw; “no one can come to me unless the Father… draws him”	Describes the Father’s decisive initiative in bringing a person to faith — directly parallel to the Romans baseline’s High-risk “election” (alegere) doctrine tension between divine sovereignty and Orthodox synergism	A atrage — High risk: apply the same care the baseline requires for “alegere” (election) — preserve the sovereign divine initiative Ἕλκω asserts without imposing strict Calvinist monergism foreign to most Romanian readers’ Orthodox formation, nor dissolving it into unassisted human free will.
σκανδαλίζω (6:61)	“Take offense/stumble”	take offense; find this offensive/hard to accept	Some disciples abandon Jesus over the difficulty of this teaching, illustrating that not all who follow initially possess genuine, persevering faith	A se sminti/poticni — Medium risk, standard; useful case-study term for the Faith doctrine’s authenticity dimension.
ῥήματα ζωῆς αἰωνίου (6:68)	“Words of eternal life"	"words of eternal life”	Peter’s confession identifies Jesus’s very words as the source/medium of eternal life, reinforcing Eternal Life through Faith doctrine	Cuvintele vieții eterne — reuses viață eternă (see 3:15 note); Low-Medium risk given prior establishment of the term.

Chapter 7 — Feast of Tabernacles; Rivers of Living Water

Term	Literal/semantic range	English variants	Theological meaning	Romanian rendering & risk
ποταμοὶ ὕδατος ζῶντος (7:38)	“Rivers of living water”	rivers of living water	An explicit development of the 4:10-14 living-water metaphor, here explicitly glossed by the narrator as referring to the Spirit	Râuri de apă vie — reuses 4:10 note (High risk); cross-reference required.
οὔπω … ἐδόθη πνεῦμα (7:39)	“the Spirit had not yet been given"	"the Spirit had not yet been given”	A crucial pneumatological timeline marker: the fullness of the Spirit’s giving awaits Christ’s glorification (death-resurrection-ascension), important for teaching the Holy Spirit doctrine’s redemptive-historical placement	Duhul nu fusese încă dat — Medium risk; important teaching note connecting Pentecost’s timing to Christ’s glorification (cf. 16:7, 20:22).
κρίσις κατ’ ὄψιν (7:24)	“Judging by outward appearance"	"judging by appearances” / “judge… by mere appearances”	Contrasts superficial judgment with the true, righteous judgment the crowd fails to render regarding Jesus’s identity	A judeca după înfățișare — Low-Medium risk, standard idiom.

Chapter 8 — Light of the World; Divine “I Am”; Truth and Freedom

Term	Literal/semantic range	English variants	Theological meaning	Romanian rendering & risk
ἐγώ εἰμι τὸ φῶς τοῦ κόσμου (8:12)	“I am the light of the world”	I am the light of the world	Second of the Seven “I Am” Statements; identifies Jesus, not merely his teaching, as the definitive source of moral-spiritual light introduced in 1:4-9 and 3:19-21	Eu sunt lumina lumii — Medium-High risk, reuses lumină/lume notes (see 3:19, 3:16); combined term requires both cross-references.
ἀλήθεια / ἐλευθερία (8:31-32)	“Truth”; “freedom”	truth; freedom; “the truth will set you free”	Freedom is defined as liberation from sin’s bondage through abiding in Christ’s word/truth, not political or social liberty as some hearers assume	Adevăr; libertate — Medium risk: must clarify (as the passage itself does, vv. 33-36) that this is freedom from sin’s slavery, not a this-worldly political liberation, since “libertate” carries strong contemporary political connotations that could misdirect the doctrinal point.
δοῦλος / υἱός (8:35)	“Slave/bondservant” vs. “son”	slave; son	Contrasts the impermanence of a slave’s household status with the permanence of a son’s — applied to freedom from sin vs. bondage to it	Rob; fiu — Medium risk, standard; connects conceptually to the baseline’s adoption/înfiere doctrine (permanent, secure sonship) though used here in a different immediate application.
τέκνα Ἀβραάμ / σπέρμα Ἀβραάμ (8:33, 37, 39)	“Children of Abraham” / “seed/descendants of Abraham”	children of Abraham; Abraham’s descendants/offspring	Distinguishes mere physical/ethnic descent from genuine spiritual likeness to Abraham’s faith and character, a distinction Paul develops extensively in Romans 4 and 9 (already in the baseline)	Copii ai lui Avraam; sămânța lui Avraam — Medium risk; strong cross-reference opportunity to the Romans baseline’s existing treatment of Abrahamic descent (Romans 4, 9) — should reuse consistent Avraam spelling per the baseline’s proper-name conventions.
πρὶν Ἀβραὰμ γενέσθαι ἐγὼ εἰμί (8:58)	“Before Abraham came into being, I am"	"before Abraham was, I am”	The clearest absolute (predicate-less) “I Am” claim in the Gospel, deliberately echoing the LXX divine self-identification (Exodus 3:14 ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν; Isaiah 43:10, 13 LXX) — an explicit, unmistakable claim to the divine name and eternal pre-existence, provoking an immediate stoning attempt	Mai înainte ca Avraam să fie, Eu sunt — CRITICAL: this is the single clearest textual anchor for both the Deity and Pre-existence of Christ doctrine and the Seven “I Am” Statements doctrine (as the absolute, unqualified form behind the seven predicated statements). The grammatical asymmetry (Abraham’s contingent “coming into being,” γενέσθαι, vs. Christ’s timeless “I am,” εἰμί) must be preserved and explicitly taught, since ordinary Romanian “eu sunt” does not automatically signal a divine-name echo to a reader unfamiliar with the Exodus 3:14 LXX background — though Romanian Orthodox liturgical/catechetical tradition’s own rendering of the divine name (“Eu sunt Cel-Ce-Sunt”) is a valuable available asset for this connection and should be actively taught alongside this verse. Requires theologian review at every occurrence of the absolute ἐγώ εἰμι (8:24, 28, 58; 13:19; 18:5-6, 8).

Chapter 9 — Healing of the Man Born Blind

Term	Literal/semantic range	English variants	Theological meaning	Romanian rendering & risk
τυφλός (throughout)	“Blind”	blind	Physical blindness becomes an extended metaphor for spiritual sight/blindness, resuming the light/darkness theme of ch. 1, 3, 8	Orb — Low risk, standard; strong narrative-metaphor teaching opportunity.
ἔργα τοῦ θεοῦ (9:3)	“Works of God"	"the works of God”	Reframes suffering’s purpose away from retributive sin-punishment toward the display of God’s redemptive work — an important pastoral-theological corrective	Lucrările lui Dumnezeu — Medium risk, standard.
προσκυνέω (9:38)	“Worship” — the healed man’s response to Jesus	he worshiped him	An explicit act of worship directed at Jesus himself, received without correction — supporting the Deity of Christ doctrine	A se închina — Medium-High risk: should be explicitly distinguished from the veneration (cinstire) given to icons and saints in Orthodox devotional practice; this is worship (proskynesis in the fullest, God-directed sense) offered to Christ as God, a distinction worth teaching precisely because Orthodox practice already carefully distinguishes latria (worship due to God alone) from veneration of icons/saints — an asset to draw on rather than a collision, since the categories already exist in the tradition.

Chapter 10 — The Good Shepherd; Unity of Father and Son

Term	Literal/semantic range	English variants	Theological meaning	Romanian rendering & risk
ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ θύρα (10:7, 9)	“I am the door/gate”	I am the door / I am the gate	An “I Am” statement (variously counted among or alongside the traditional seven); Christ as the sole legitimate access point to the sheepfold/salvation	Eu sunt poarta / Eu sunt ușa — Medium risk, standard; exclusivity (“no one comes… except through me,” implied by the sheepfold metaphor) must be retained.
ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλός (10:11, 14)	“I am the good shepherd”	I am the good shepherd	Third/fourth of the Seven “I Am” Statements; the shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep — direct anchor for the Substitutionary Death doctrine	Eu sunt păstorul cel bun — Low-Medium risk, cultural asset (a well-established icon and hymnody image in Romanian Orthodox devotional life); ensure the substitutionary “lays down his life FOR the sheep” (ὑπέρ, see below) is not lost beneath the purely pastoral-care imagery.
ὑπέρ (10:11, 15; recurring in 6:51, 11:50-52, 15:13, 17:19, 18:14)	“On behalf of / in place of / for the sake of”	for; on behalf of; in place of	A preposition of substitution/representation that carries the weight of the Substitutionary Death doctrine throughout John, functioning similarly to Paul’s ὑπέρ language	Pentru — High risk: ordinary Romanian “pentru” can be read merely as “for the benefit of” (a weaker, non-substitutionary sense) rather than the vicarious, in-place-of sense the doctrine requires; every occurrence in a death-of-Christ context needs a translator note clarifying the substitutionary force, paralleling the baseline’s careful, constructed treatment of “imputed_righteousness” (dreptate imputată) as a concept requiring explicit construction rather than assumed familiarity.
ψυχὴν τιθέναι (10:11, 15, 17-18)	“To lay down [one’s] life/soul”	lay down his life	Christ’s death as a voluntary, authoritative self-giving (“I have authority to lay it down and… to take it up again”), not a merely passive victimhood	A-și da viața — Medium risk, standard; must retain the voluntary, authoritative framing (10:18) essential to both Substitutionary Death and Resurrection doctrines.
ἓν ποίμνιον (10:16)	“One flock”	one flock	Anticipates the unity-of-all-believers theme fully developed in ch. 17, extending beyond ethnic Israel	O turmă — Medium risk, standard; cross-reference to unity themes in ch. 11, 17.
ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἕν ἐσμεν (10:30)	“I and the Father are one”	I and the Father are one	The clearest single-verse statement of the Unity of the Father and the Son doctrine; provokes an immediate accusation of blasphemy, confirming the hearers correctly understood it as a deity claim	Eu și Tatăl una suntem — CRITICAL: this phrase requires theologian review at every occurrence and connects directly to the Nicene Creed’s own confession that the Son is “una ființă cu Tatăl” (homoousios, of one essence with the Father) — a strong, ready-made Orthodox liturgical asset for teaching this unity as unity of essence/nature (not a mere unity of will or purpose only, though it includes that) without collapsing into modalism (denying real personal distinction, already safeguarded by “I AND the Father,” a two-Person construction).
θεοὶ ἐστε (10:34, citing Psalm 82:6)	“You are gods"	"you are gods”	Jesus’s rabbinic-style argument from the lesser to the greater: if Scripture can call mere human judges “gods” in a derivative sense, his own unique claim to divine Sonship, grounded in consecration and sending by the Father, is far better warranted	Voi sunteți dumnezei — Medium risk: requires careful teaching to avoid confusion with the deification/theosis doctrine already flagged Critical in the baseline (grace, salvation, sanctification entries); this verse is NOT a proof-text for theosis but a rabbinic argument-form regarding derivative, non-ontological uses of “god”-language in Scripture — the distinction from theosis proper should be made explicit to avoid a well-intentioned but mistaken conflation.
ἁγιάζω (10:36)	“Sanctify/consecrate/set apart” — here applied to the Father’s consecration and sending of the Son	”sanctified and sent into the world”	An unusual application of sanctification-vocabulary (elsewhere applied to believers, cf. Romans baseline’s sfințire) to Christ himself — denoting his unique consecration/setting-apart for his mission, not moral purification (which the sinless Son does not require)	A sfinți — reused root from Romans baseline (sanctification, High risk); requires a distinguishing note that this usage denotes consecration-for-mission, not moral cleansing, when applied to Christ, versus the ongoing moral-transformative sense (sfințire) applied to believers elsewhere.

Chapter 11 — The Raising of Lazarus

Term	Literal/semantic range	English variants	Theological meaning	Romanian rendering & risk
ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἀνάστασις καὶ ἡ ζωή (11:25)	“I am the resurrection and the life”	I am the resurrection and the life	Fifth of the Seven “I Am” Statements; Christ is not merely the agent of future resurrection but its very source and present reality (“the one who believes in me will live, even though they die”)	Eu sunt învierea și viața — Critical, reuses baseline înviere unchanged; this statement directly anticipates and interprets Christ’s own resurrection (ch. 20) as well as the general resurrection (5:29); requires theologian review given direct overlap with the baseline’s Critical resurrection_of_christ doctrine.
κοιμάομαι (11:11-13)	“Sleep” (euphemism for death)	fallen asleep; asleep	A common early-Christian euphemism (also used by Paul) softening death’s finality in light of the resurrection hope, though Jesus’s disciples initially misunderstand it literally	A adormi — Low-Medium risk, standard; note the same euphemism pattern the Romans baseline does not directly address but is doctrinally consonant with resurrection hope.
δοξάζω / δόξα τοῦ θεοῦ (11:4, 40)	“Glorify”; “the glory of God”	glorify; “you will see the glory of God”	Frames the whole Lazarus narrative as ultimately oriented toward displaying God’s glory through the sign of resurrection, prefiguring Christ’s own glorification through death (ch. 12, 17)	A slăvi; slava lui Dumnezeu — reused from Romans baseline (slavă, Medium); note the paradoxical pattern (glory displayed through apparent tragedy/death) recurring at 12:23-28 and throughout the Passion narrative.
συνάγειν εἰς ἕν (11:52, Caiaphas’s unwitting prophecy)	“To gather into one"	"gather into one the children of God who are scattered”	An ironic prophecy from a hostile high priest, unintentionally stating the true, universal-gathering purpose of Christ’s death — reinforcing both Substitutionary Death and the broader unity theme	A adune într-una — Medium risk, standard; valuable irony-driven teaching moment, connects to 10:16’s “one flock” and ch. 17’s unity prayer.

Chapter 12 — Anointing at Bethany; The Hour Arrives; The Grain of Wheat

Term	Literal/semantic range	English variants	Theological meaning	Romanian rendering & risk
ὥρα (12:23, and throughout the second half of John: 2:4, 7:30, 8:20, 13:1, 17:1)	“Hour” — a technical Johannine term for the divinely appointed, climactic time of Christ’s death-and-glorification	”the hour has come” / “my hour”	The entire second half of John is structured around the approach and arrival of “the Hour” — the cross understood as the appointed moment of both suffering and glory	Ceasul — Medium-High risk: ordinary Romanian “ceasul” (the hour/the appointed time) does not automatically carry the capitalized, technical theological weight this term bears in John; a consistent translator note across every occurrence (introduced first here, recurring through ch. 17) is recommended so learners recognize the recurring motif rather than reading each instance as an unremarkable temporal reference.
κόκκος τοῦ σίτου (12:24)	“Grain of wheat”	a kernel/grain of wheat	An agricultural metaphor: the grain must die to bear fruit, illustrating that Christ’s death, and by extension costly discipleship, is the necessary path to life-giving fruitfulness	Grâu de sămânță/bob de grâu — Low-Medium risk, standard; strong natural-world metaphor requiring little special handling beyond ensuring the death-then-fruit sequence is clear.
ὑψωθῆναι / ἑλκύσω πάντας (12:32-34)	See 3:14; here paired with “I will draw all people to myself"	"when I am lifted up… I will draw all people to myself”	Reaffirms crucifixion-as-exaltation with universal drawing power, echoing 6:44’s ἕλκω	A fi înălțat — reuses 3:14’s Critical/High-risk note in full; a atrage reuses 6:44’s note.
ἐτύφλωκεν τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς (12:40, citing Isaiah 6:10)	“Has blinded their eyes"	"he has blinded their eyes… so that they would not… believe”	A difficult judicial-hardening text (citing Isaiah) explaining persistent unbelief despite abundant signs — requires careful handling alongside the Judgment/Belief-Unbelief doctrine to avoid either a fatalistic misreading or an evasion of the text’s own claim	A orbi (ochii) — High risk: requires theologian-level teaching note distinguishing judicial hardening in response to sustained, willful unbelief (the pattern the passage itself describes across the whole preceding narrative) from an arbitrary predestination-to-damnation reading; parallels the same interpretive care the baseline requires for “election” (alegere).
δόξα ἀνθρώπων / δόξα τοῦ θεοῦ (12:43)	“The glory/praise of people” vs. “the glory of God"	"loved human praise more than the praise of God”	Diagnoses a specific, common failure (fear of social consequence overriding open confession) among many who secretly believed but would not confess Jesus publicly	Slava oamenilor / slava lui Dumnezeu — reused slavă (Medium); useful pastoral-application text on the cost of public confession.

Chapter 13 — Foot Washing; The New Commandment; Betrayal Foretold

Term	Literal/semantic range	English variants	Theological meaning	Romanian rendering & risk
νίπτω / ὑπόδειγμα (13:5-15)	“Wash”; “example/pattern”	wash; “I have set you an example”	Jesus’s foot-washing enacts, before explaining, the self-giving love his death will accomplish and models servant-leadership for the disciples	A spăla; pildă/exemplu — Low-Medium risk, standard; strong narrative-enacted-teaching moment.
ἐντολὴ καινή (13:34)	“New commandment”	a new commandment	”Love one another as I have loved you” — grounds Christian ethics not in the Mosaic law’s love-commands generally but specifically in the pattern and measure of Christ’s own self-giving love	Poruncă nouă — Medium risk, standard; the “as I have loved you” comparative clause (the specific measure/pattern, not merely a repetition of Levitical love-of-neighbor) must be retained as the distinguishing new element.
παραδίδωμι (13:2, 11, 21, 27; recurring through the Passion)	“Hand over/betray/deliver up”	betray; hand over; deliver up	Judas’s betrayal, while a real moral evil, occurs within, not outside, the sovereign unfolding of “the Hour” — a tension the Gospel holds together without resolving away either human responsibility or divine purpose	A preda/a trăda — Medium risk, standard; useful teaching moment on the coexistence of human culpability and divine sovereignty, paralleling the baseline’s providence (pronia lui Dumnezeu) doctrine note.
ἐγώ εἰμι (13:19, absolute)	See 8:58 note	”I am he” / “I am [he]“	Another absolute divine-name-echoing “I Am” statement, given in advance of the betrayal to strengthen the disciples’ faith once events unfold as predicted	Eu sunt — reuses the Critical 8:58 note; requires the same theologian-review flag.

Chapter 14 — The Father’s House; The Way, Truth, and Life; The Paraclete Promised

Term	Literal/semantic range	English variants	Theological meaning	Romanian rendering & risk
μονή (14:2)	“Dwelling place/room/abode”	rooms; mansions (older translations); dwelling places	Assures the disciples of prepared places in the Father’s house, tied to Christ’s departure-and-return promise	Locașuri/încăperi — Low-Medium risk, standard; note “mansions” (older English) is an outdated, misleading rendering to avoid replicating in Romanian.
ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδὸς καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωή (14:6)	“I am the way, and the truth, and the life”	I am the way, the truth, and the life	Sixth of the Seven “I Am” Statements; the strongest exclusivity claim in the Gospel — “no one comes to the Father except through me”	Eu sunt calea, adevărul și viața — Critical: the exclusivity clause must be preserved without softening (“no one comes to the Father except through me”); requires theologian review given its centrality to both the Eternal Life and the broader exclusivity claims of the Gospel’s soteriology.
παράκλητος (14:16, 26; also 15:26, 16:7)	“One called alongside” — a legal-forensic term for an advocate/legal helper, extended to mean counselor, comforter, helper, intercessor	Counselor; Comforter; Advocate; Helper	Introduces the Holy Spirit as Counselor doctrine explicitly: the Spirit is “another Paraclete” (ἄλλον παράκλητον, 14:16) — implying Jesus himself has been the first — sent to continue Christ’s own presence, teaching, and advocacy among the disciples after his departure	Mângâietorul — CRITICAL, established liturgical asset with a caution: this is the precise term used in the single most universally known Orthodox prayer, the Trisagion-cycle invocation “Împărate ceresc, Mângâietorule, Duhul adevărului” (“Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of truth”), recited at the opening of virtually every Orthodox service — an exceptionally strong cultural/liturgical asset, paralleling înviere’s status in the Romans baseline. The risk is that “Mângâietorul” (the Comforter) foregrounds only the comfort/consolation sense of παράκλητος while under-conveying its equally important legal-advocate/defense-counsel sense (an advocate who pleads a case, cf. 1 John 2:1’s use of the same word for Christ’s heavenly advocacy). A teaching note should present the term’s fuller range — Counselor, Advocate, Helper, Comforter — rather than resting solely on the familiar liturgical “Comforter” sense.
πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας (14:17)	“The Spirit of truth”	the Spirit of truth	Names the Spirit’s essential character and ministry — leading into all truth (16:13), directly tied to Christ who is himself “the truth” (14:6)	Duhul adevărului — Medium risk; reused root Duhul Sfânt (Critical, baseline) with the qualifier “al adevărului,” which is itself the second half of the Trisagion prayer phrase noted above — a strong, ready-made asset.
εἰρήνη (14:27)	“Peace"	"my peace I give to you”; “not as the world gives”	Reuses and specifies the Romans baseline’s peace doctrine — a peace originating in and given by Christ himself, categorically different from worldly peace/absence of conflict	Pace — reused from Romans baseline (Medium, unchanged); the “not as the world gives” qualifier should be retained to sharpen the distinction already flagged in the baseline note.

Chapter 15 — The True Vine; Abiding; The World’s Hatred

Term	Literal/semantic range	English variants	Theological meaning	Romanian rendering & risk
ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἄμπελος ἡ ἀληθινή (15:1, 5)	“I am the true vine”	I am the true/real vine	Seventh of the Seven “I Am” Statements; Christ as the sole source of spiritual life and fruitfulness, drawing on Israel’s own vine imagery (cf. Isaiah 5, Psalm 80) now fulfilled in him	Eu sunt vița cea adevărată — Medium-High risk; the “true/real” (ἀληθινή) qualifier implies Israel’s vine imagery finds its intended fulfillment specifically in Christ, a background note worth supplying (parallel to the baseline’s OT-background notes for davidic_covenant).
μένω (15:4-10, repeated ~10x)	“Abide/remain/stay”	abide; remain; stay (in me)	The central relational verb of this chapter — a continuous, intimate, dependent union with Christ, apart from which no genuine spiritual fruit is possible (“apart from me you can do nothing”)	A rămâne — High risk: must convey ongoing, intimate, dependent communion, not merely static physical location or occasional association; risk of flattening into a merely passive “staying put” rather than active, abiding relational dependence.
καρπός (15:2, 4-8, 16)	“Fruit”	fruit; bear fruit	The visible outcome of abiding in Christ — spiritual, characterological, and missional fruitfulness, not merely activity or effort	Rod — Low-Medium risk, standard.
φίλοι (15:13-15)	“Friends”	friends	Christ elevates the disciples from servants (δοῦλοι) to friends, entrusted with the Father’s purposes — a relational upgrade grounded in the substitutionary self-giving described in the same passage (“greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for [ὑπέρ] his friends”)	Prieteni — Medium risk, standard; note the ὑπέρ (substitutionary) construction here parallels 10:11 and requires the same High-risk translator note.
μισεῖ ὁ κόσμος (15:18-19)	“The world hates [you]"	"the world hates you”	The negative-sense κόσμος (see 3:16 note) here fully operative — the organized system hostile to Christ inevitably opposes those who belong to him	Lumea vă urăște — cross-references the 3:16 Critical note on κόσμος’s dual sense; here unambiguously the hostile-system sense, useful contrastive teaching example alongside 3:16’s love-object sense.

Chapter 16 — Sorrow Turned to Joy; The Spirit’s Ministry; “I Have Overcome the World”

Term	Literal/semantic range	English variants	Theological meaning	Romanian rendering & risk
λύπη / χαρά (16:20-22)	“Grief/sorrow”; “joy”	grief/sorrow/pain; joy	The birth-pangs metaphor: the disciples’ present sorrow at Christ’s departure will be transformed into an irrevocable joy at his resurrection appearance	Întristare; bucurie — Low-Medium risk, standard.
παράκλητος (16:7-15, continued)	See ch. 14	Counselor; Advocate	Further specifies the Spirit’s ministry: convicting the world (ἐλέγχει, cf. 3:20), guiding into all truth, and glorifying Christ rather than himself	Mângâietorul — reuses ch. 14’s Critical note; note also that the Spirit’s ministry here is explicitly Christ-centered (“he will glorify me”), a valuable safeguard against any reading of Spirit-ministry as independent of or rivaling Christ’s own centrality.
ὁδηγήσει εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν ἀλήθειαν (16:13)	“Will guide [you] into all the truth"	"will guide you into all truth”	Specifies one of the Spirit’s key roles — not innovation but faithful, complete guidance into the truth already revealed in Christ	Vă va călăuzi în tot adevărul — Medium risk, standard; should be taught alongside a note that this promise, given to the apostolic circle, undergirds the New Testament’s own authoritative apostolic witness rather than licensing ongoing doctrinal innovation apart from that apostolic deposit — a point of possible convergence with, rather than contradiction of, the baseline’s inspiration_of_scripture doctrine note on Scripture-and-Tradition.
νενίκηκα τὸν κόσμον (16:33)	“I have conquered/overcome the world” (perfect tense — an accomplished, abiding victory)	“I have overcome the world”	A declaration of decisive victory over the hostile-system sense of κόσμος, offered in the same breath as an acknowledgment of ongoing tribulation (“in the world you will have tribulation… but take heart”)	Am biruit lumea — High risk: the perfect tense’s “already accomplished, abiding victory” sense must be preserved (not softened into a future promise, “voi birui”), since the declaration is made before the cross yet asserts the victory as already secured — an important assurance-of-faith text parallel in weight to the baseline’s Critical assurance_of_salvation doctrine (Romans 8).

Chapter 17 — The High Priestly Prayer

Term	Literal/semantic range	English variants	Theological meaning	Romanian rendering & risk
δοξάζω / δόξα (17:1, 5, 22, 24)	See 11:4, 12:23	glorify; glory	Christ prays for the glorification of the Hour (his death-resurrection-ascension) and recalls his pre-incarnate glory “before the world existed” (17:5) — an explicit Pre-existence text	A slăvi; slavă — reused (Medium, baseline); 17:5’s “glory I had with you before the world existed” is a Critical pre-existence proof-text requiring theologian review alongside 1:1-3 and 8:58.
ζωὴ αἰώνιος: γινώσκωσιν σε (17:3)	“This is eternal life: that they know you"	"this is eternal life: to know you…”	John’s own definition of eternal life — not primarily duration but relational, personal knowledge of the true God and the Son he sent	Viață eternă — reused (Critical, see 3:15); 17:3 supplies the Gospel’s own explicit definition and should be taught as the interpretive key for every other occurrence of the phrase.
ἁγιάζω (17:17, 19)	See 10:36; here of the disciples (“sanctify them in the truth… your word is truth”) and of Christ himself (“for their sake I sanctify myself”)	sanctify; consecrate	Applies sanctification-language both to believers (ongoing consecration through God’s truth/word — consonant with the baseline’s sfințire doctrine) and, in a distinct sense, to Christ’s own self-consecration for his sacrificial mission	A sfinți — reused (High, baseline); the dual application (believers’ ongoing sanctification vs. Christ’s unique self-consecration for sacrifice) requires the same distinguishing note as 10:36.
ἵνα ἓν ὦσιν καθὼς ἡμεῖς ἕν (17:11, 21-23)	“That they may be one, as we are one"	"that they may be one, just as we are one”	Extends the Father-Son unity (10:30) as the very pattern and ground for the unity of believers — an ecclesiological application of the Trinitarian unity doctrine	Ca ei să fie una, precum noi una suntem — Critical: requires the same theologian-level care as 10:30; the analogy (“as we are one”) grounds Christian unity in the actual, ontological unity of Father and Son, not merely in organizational cooperation or sentiment — an important text for the Unity of the Father and the Son doctrine’s ecclesial application, and one that must not be diluted into a vague call for niceness among believers.
υἱὸς τῆς ἀπωλείας (17:12, referring to Judas)	“Son of destruction/perdition"	"the one doomed to destruction”	A Hebraic idiom (a “son of” a quality = one characterized by it) describing Judas’s ultimate ruin, fulfilling Scripture	Fiul pierzării — Medium risk; idiom requires a brief translator note (Hebraic “son of X” idiom), similar to the “doing the truth” idiom noted at 3:21.

Chapter 18 — Betrayal, Arrest, and Trial Before Pilate

Term	Literal/semantic range	English variants	Theological meaning	Romanian rendering & risk
ἐγώ εἰμι (18:5-6, 8, absolute)	See 8:58	”I am he”	Jesus’s self-identification to the arresting party, whose reaction (falling backward) is often read as a reflexive response to an unintended divine-name echo	Eu sunt — reuses the Critical 8:58 note.
ἡ βασιλεία ἡ ἐμὴ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου τούτου (18:36)	“My kingdom is not of this world"	"my kingdom is not of this world”	Clarifies the nature of Christ’s kingship before Pilate — not a rival political-territorial kingdom, consistent with the Romans baseline’s kingdom_of_god note distinguishing God’s reign from any nationalist or political kingdom	Împărăția Mea nu este din lumea aceasta — reuses baseline împărăția lui Dumnezeu (Medium) and lume (Critical, see 3:16, here the “world-system” sense); important verse for correcting any conflation of Christ’s kingdom with national/ethnic religious identity, echoing the baseline’s caution about Orthodox-national identity entanglement.
τί ἐστιν ἀλήθεια; (18:38)	“What is truth?"	"What is truth?”	Pilate’s dismissive/skeptical question stands in ironic contrast to standing before Truth incarnate (14:6)	Ce este adevărul? — Low-Medium risk, standard; strong irony-based teaching moment.

Chapter 19 — Crucifixion

Term	Literal/semantic range	English variants	Theological meaning	Romanian rendering & risk
σταυρόω (throughout)	“Crucify”	crucify	The historical, physical mode of Christ’s substitutionary death	A răstigni — Low risk, standard; well-supported by extensive Orthodox iconographic/liturgical crucifixion imagery, an asset for vivid, concrete teaching.
τετέλεσται (19:30)	“It is finished/accomplished” (perfect tense — a completed action with a permanent, abiding result)	“It is finished”	Christ’s own declaration that his redemptive mission is fully and completely accomplished — not merely that his suffering has ended but that the work of substitutionary atonement is complete, requiring nothing further	S-a sfârșit / S-a împlinit — High risk: must convey completed accomplishment of a redemptive task, not merely the cessation of suffering (“s-a terminat chinul”); the perfect tense’s “done, and permanently so” force should be taught explicitly, paralleling in significance the baseline’s careful treatment of “justification” (îndreptățire) as a decisive, not merely gradual, reality.
παρέδωκεν τὸ πνεῦμα (19:30)	“Gave up/handed over his spirit"	"gave up his spirit”	Describes Christ’s death as a voluntary act of his own will (echoing 10:18’s authority to lay down his life), not merely a passive expiration	Și-a dat duhul — Medium risk, standard; retain the voluntary, authoritative sense already established at 10:17-18.
αἷμα καὶ ὕδωρ (19:34)	“Blood and water”	blood and water	A physical detail (medically plausible, given the spear-thrust) that John invests with theological significance, likely connecting to the water/Spirit and blood/life themes elsewhere in the Gospel (cf. 3:5, 6:53-56) and later reflected on in 1 John 5:6-8	Sânge și apă — Low-Medium risk, standard; a good candidate for a brief cross-referencing teaching note rather than a translation-risk concern per se.
μὴ συντρίψητε (19:36, citing Exodus 12:46/Psalm 34:20)	“You shall not break [his bones]"	"not one of his bones will be broken”	Explicit Passover-lamb typological fulfillment, tying the crucifixion directly to the Passover Lamb imagery introduced at 1:29	Nu-i veți zdrobi osemintele — Low risk, standard; requires an OT-background note (Exodus 12) consistent with the baseline’s pattern for typological fulfillment texts.

Chapter 20 — The Resurrection

Term	Literal/semantic range	English variants	Theological meaning	Romanian rendering & risk
(implied ἀνάστασις/ἐγείρω, narrated rather than named directly in most of ch. 20)	The chapter narrates the bodily, historical resurrection without extensively using the noun ἀνάστασις itself (contrast its use in 5:29, 11:25)	risen; has risen from the dead	The narrated fulfillment of every prior resurrection statement in the Gospel (2:19-22, 10:17-18, 11:25) — a bodily, historical, once-for-all event, not a vision or spiritualized survival	Înviere/a învia — reused from Romans baseline (Critical, unchanged); this chapter is the primary narrative anchor for the doctrinal claims made propositionally elsewhere, and should be taught with the same doctrinal precision the baseline requires, given Romanian Orthodox culture’s intense liturgical investment in Învierea (Pascha) as its central feast.
μὴ μου ἅπτου (20:17)	“Do not hold on to me / do not cling to me” (present imperative, likely “stop clinging,” not an absolute prohibition of touch, since Thomas is later invited to touch, 20:27)	“do not hold on to me” / “do not cling to me”	Marks a transition in the mode of Christ’s presence with his followers, anticipating his ascension and the sending of the Spirit	Nu Mă ține — Medium risk; the nuance (a call to release a particular kind of clinging appropriate to the resurrection appearance, not a blanket prohibition against ever touching the risen Christ, contradicted directly by 20:27) requires a brief translator note to avoid an apparent internal contradiction.
εἰρήνη ὑμῖν (20:19, 21, 26)	“Peace to you"	"Peace be with you”	The risen Christ’s repeated greeting, connecting to and fulfilling the 14:27 peace promise	Pace vouă — reuses baseline pace (Medium); note the repeated liturgical familiarity of this exact greeting form in Orthodox and other liturgical traditions, an asset for recognition.
λάβετε πνεῦμα ἅγιον (20:22)	“Receive the Holy Spirit"	"Receive the Holy Spirit”	An enacted commissioning of the disciples with the Spirit, closely tied to their sent-mission (20:21, “as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you”)	Luați Duh Sfânt — Critical, reuses baseline Duhul Sfânt (unchanged); its precise relationship to Pentecost (Acts 2) is a matter of ongoing scholarly discussion (whether this is a proleptic enactment, a distinct impartation, or narratively identical) and should be flagged for theologian-level teaching rather than resolved simplistically in either direction.
ὁ κύριός μου καὶ ὁ θεός μου (20:28)	“My Lord and my God"	"My Lord and my God!”	Thomas’s confession is the Gospel’s climactic, explicit ascription of full deity to the risen Christ, directly answering 1:1’s “the Word was God”	Domnul meu și Dumnezeul meu — CRITICAL: reuses both baseline Domnul (Lord, Critical) and Dumnezeu (God, Critical) terms simultaneously; this confession must be preserved as an unqualified, direct address of worship to Jesus himself, forming (with 1:1 and 1:18) a three-point inclusio bracketing the entire Gospel’s Deity of Christ argument. Mandatory theologian review.
ἵνα πιστεύ[σ]ητε … ζωὴν ἔχητε (20:31)	“That you may believe… and by believing have life"	"that you may believe… and by believing have life in his name”	John’s own stated purpose for writing the entire Gospel — belief in Jesus’s identity (Christ, Son of God) as the means to life, tying together the Faith, Eternal Life, and Deity/Sonship doctrines in a single capstone verse	Ca să credeți … și, crezând, să aveți viață — this verse functions as the Gospel’s thesis statement (paralleling the Romans baseline’s treatment of Romans 1:16-17 as its thesis-verse requiring identical rendering across all documents); this analysis recommends the same fixed-rendering discipline be applied to John 20:31 throughout the John curriculum.

Chapter 21 — Epilogue: Breakfast by the Sea; Peter’s Restoration

Term	Literal/semantic range	English variants	Theological meaning	Romanian rendering & risk
ἀγαπάω / φιλέω (21:15-17)	Jesus’s threefold question to Peter alternates between ἀγαπάω (self-giving, deliberate love) and φιλέω (affectionate, warm friendship-love); Peter answers every time with φιλέω. Scholarly opinion is divided on how theologically significant this alternation is versus stylistic variation, but the pattern is textually undeniable	”Do you love me?” (variously)	Whatever the precise weight of the alternation, the passage as a whole restores Peter fully to apostolic commission (“feed my sheep”) despite his prior threefold denial (18:17, 25-27) — a paradigm of grace and restoration	A iubi — Medium-High risk, flag rather than resolve: Romanian, like most English versions, has no natural way to preserve the ἀγαπάω/φιλέω alternation with two distinct common verbs (both render “a iubi”); a translator note should flag the alternation’s existence for teaching purposes while cautioning against over-interpreting it as a decisive theological distinction, since responsible scholarship is divided on how much doctrinal weight the variation itself should bear — the passage’s restoration/commissioning theme should remain the primary teaching point regardless of the resolution of this lexical question.
βόσκε / ποίμαινε (21:15-17)	“Feed [my lambs]” / “shepherd/tend [my sheep]“	feed my lambs; take care of/shepherd my sheep	Extends the Good Shepherd imagery of ch. 10 to Peter’s own pastoral commission — under-shepherding on behalf of the Chief Shepherd	A hrăni / a păstori — Low-Medium risk, standard; connects directly to ch. 10’s păstorul cel bun imagery, useful for teaching ministerial succession under Christ’s ultimate shepherding authority.
ἀκολουθέω (21:19, 22)	“Follow”	follow (me)	The Gospel closes, as it began (1:43), with the simple, comprehensive call to follow Christ — here specifically anticipating Peter’s own martyrdom	A urma — Low risk, standard.
μαρτυρία (21:24)	See 1:7, 3:11, 5:31-39	testimony; “this is the disciple who testifies to these things”	The Gospel’s closing self-authentication as reliable eyewitness testimony, bookending the forensic-testimony motif introduced by John the Baptist in ch. 1	Mărturie — reuses the cumulative note from 1:7/3:11/5:31; final occurrence closes the Gospel’s testimony-inclusio.

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Cross-Chapter Summary Notes

• Recurring Critical-risk terms spanning the whole book: κόσμος (world, dual-sense — chs. 1, 3, 4, 8, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18), μονογενής (only-begotten — chs. 1, 3), ἐγώ εἰμι absolute (chs. 8, 13, 18), ζωὴ αἰώνιος (eternal life — chs. 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 17), ἓν εἶναι (unity of Father/Son — chs. 10, 14, 17), παράκλητος (chs. 14, 15, 16), ὑψωθῆναι (lifted up — chs. 3, 8, 12), and the seven “I Am” predicate statements distributed across chs. 6, 8, 10 (x2), 11, 14, 15.
• All baseline Romans terms reused in John retain their recorded Romanian rendering and risk tier without modification: gospel (evanghelie), grace (har), faith (credință), righteousness (dreptate), justification (îndreptățire), salvation (mântuire), resurrection (înviere), Lord (Domnul), Son of God (Fiul lui Dumnezeu), incarnation (întrupare), peace (pace), law (lege), sin (păcat), messiah (Mesia), election (alegere — engaged at 6:44’s ἕλκω), providence (pronia lui Dumnezeu — engaged at 13:2’s paradidōmi tension), Jesus (Iisus), God (Dumnezeu), Holy Spirit (Duhul Sfânt), Father (Tată), Abba (Avva — not directly occurring in John but the Father-intimacy doctrine it represents is amply present, e.g., ch. 14, 17), David/Israel (unchanged proper names), church (Biserică — ekklēsia does not occur in John’s Gospel itself; retained for curriculum-wide consistency only), kingdom of God (împărăția lui Dumnezeu), sanctification (sfințire — engaged distinctively at 10:36, 17:17-19).
• No chapter in John’s Gospel was found to introduce zero new load-bearing theological vocabulary; every chapter is represented above with at least one term requiring fresh or extended treatment.