Semantic Analysis — Acts 1–28 (English → Russian)

Methodology and Scope

This document analyzes the entire book of Acts in Koine Greek, chapter by chapter, first to last, with the core passage (Acts 2:1–41) receiving full verse-by-verse treatment. Every load-bearing theological term is documented with: original Greek word, transliteration, literal meaning, semantic range, English variants, contextual theological meaning in Romans-adjacent Acts theology, and destination-language (Russian) rendering with risk assessment.

Baseline reuse rule: Any term already fixed in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json (e.g., Бог, Господь, Святой Дух, вера, благодать, спасение, оправдание, апостол, церковь, грех, язычники, Мессия, Иисус, Давид, Израиль, слава, завет, избрание, промысел Божий, миссия/благовестие, духовные дары, воскресение, святой/святые) is reused exactly as recorded there and is only flagged again here where Acts’ narrative context introduces a new risk dimension not covered in the Romans package (e.g., “Sanhedrin” scenes intensifying antisemitism-sensitivity already flagged for Romans 9–11). New terms unique to Acts’ narrative material (miracles, Pentecost, church offices, Roman legal process, etc.) receive full first-occurrence treatment and are tracked for reuse in later chapters.

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PART 1: Core Passage — Acts 2:1–41 (Verse-by-Verse)

Acts 2:1

Greek: Καὶ ἐν τῷ συμπληροῦσθαι τὴν ἡμέραν τῆς Πεντηκοστῆς ἦσαν πάντες ὁμοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό.

• Term: Pentecost

  • Original: Πεντηκοστή (Pentēkostē)
  • Transliteration: Pentēkostē
  • Literal meaning: “the fiftieth [day]” (from πεντήκοντα, fifty)
  • Semantic range: The Jewish harvest festival Shavuot/Feast of Weeks, fifty days after Passover; by Luke’s time also the historical marker for the Spirit’s outpouring
  • English variants: Pentecost, Feast of Weeks
  • Contextual theological meaning: Establishes the historical, dateable, once-for-all inauguration of the New Covenant church at a specific OT feast, fulfilling Joel’s prophecy (quoted v. 17-21)
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: Пятидесятница (High) — This is the exact, established name of a major Russian Orthodox liturgical feast (equivalent to Trinity Sunday, with birch-branch/greenery customs) AND the self-designation of the Russian Pentecostal denomination (“Пятидесятники”). Readers may default either to Orthodox folk-liturgical associations or hear an implicit denominational (Pentecostal) claim. The curriculum text must anchor the term to the specific historical narrative event in Acts 2, not assume either association.

• Term: together / with one accord

  • Original: ὁμοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό
  • Transliteration: homou epi to auto
  • Literal meaning: “together, at the same [place]”
  • Semantic range: physical and unified presence
  • English variants: together, in one place
  • Contextual theological meaning: Anticipates the corporate, not individualistic, nature of the Spirit’s outpouring — foundational for “The Church as Community” doctrine
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: вместе / в одном месте (Low) — no significant risk.

Acts 2:2

Greek: καὶ ἐγένετο ἄφνω ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἦχος ὥσπερ φερομένης πνοῆς βιαίας…

• Term: wind/breath (of the Spirit)
  • Original: πνοή (pnoē), related to πνεῦμα
  • Transliteration: pnoē
  • Literal meaning: “breath, blast, wind”
  • Semantic range: physical wind; by wordplay, breath/spirit (same root family as πνεῦμα)
  • English variants: wind, blast, rushing wind
  • Contextual theological meaning: The audible sign accompanying the Spirit’s arrival, echoing Genesis 2:7 and Ezekiel 37’s breath of life
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: дуновение / порыв (ветра) (Low) — standard Synodal rendering, no significant risk, though translators should preserve the root-echo with Дух if a footnote is used.

Acts 2:3

Greek: καὶ ὤφθησαν αὐτοῖς διαμεριζόμεναι γλῶσσαι ὡσεὶ πυρός…

• Term: tongues (of fire)
  • Original: γλῶσσαι (glōssai), here in the sense “tongue-shaped flames”
  • Transliteration: glōssai
  • Literal meaning: “tongues” (also = “languages”)
  • Semantic range: physical tongue; a spoken language; (by extension in this chapter) miraculous speech
  • English variants: tongues, flames shaped like tongues
  • Contextual theological meaning: Visible, individualized sign resting on each person — the Spirit is given personally, not only corporately
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: языки (как бы огненные) (High) — See full treatment at v. 4 below; the double meaning of “языки” (tongues/flames AND languages/nations) is theologically load-bearing here and must be preserved, not resolved into one sense only.

Acts 2:4

Greek: καὶ ἐπλήσθησαν πάντες Πνεύματος Ἁγίου, καὶ ἤρξαντο λαλεῖν ἑτέραις γλώσσαις…

• Term: filled with the Holy Spirit

  • Original: ἐπλήσθησαν Πνεύματος Ἁγίου (eplēsthēsan Pneumatos Hagiou), root πίμπλημι
  • Transliteration: eplēsthēsan
  • Literal meaning: “were filled/completely filled”
  • Semantic range: to fill to capacity; a repeated Lukan formula (also 4:8, 4:31, 6:3, 7:55, 9:17, 13:9)
  • English variants: filled, empowered by
  • Contextual theological meaning: A decisive, corporate, empowering event distinct from (though related to) the ongoing indwelling described in Romans 8; foundational for “The Holy Spirit and Pentecost” doctrine
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: исполнились Духа Святого (using Святой Дух, reused exactly from Romans TM) (Medium) — Risk is experiential/denominational: charismatic Russian Protestant congregations treat “Spirit-filling” as a repeatable, often ecstatic, individually sought experience, while Orthodox tradition locates the Spirit’s gift primarily in chrismation (миропомазание) at baptism. The curriculum should present this as the narrated historical inauguration of the church, not prescribe or forbid a repeatable personal experience by implication.

• Term: other tongues (glossolalia)

  • Original: ἑτέραις γλώσσαις (heterais glōssais)
  • Transliteration: heterai glōssai
  • Literal meaning: “other/different tongues”
  • Semantic range: distinct human languages (confirmed by v.6-11, “each one heard them speaking in his own language”); NOT the ecstatic private-language phenomenon debated in later chapters of church history
  • English variants: other tongues, other languages, foreign languages
  • Contextual theological meaning: A miraculous sign of the gospel’s reversal of Babel (Genesis 11) and its address to “every nation under heaven” — directly serves “The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles” doctrine
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: иные языки (Synodal phrase, retained) (High) — CRITICAL CONTEXT NOTE: In contemporary Russian religious discourse, “говорение на языках” (speaking in tongues) is strongly associated with the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement specifically, a historically marginalized and sometimes legally scrutinized minority in Russia and the former USSR (a movement literally named “Пятидесятники” after this very passage). The curriculum must make explicit that Acts 2’s “иные языки” are real human languages miraculously given for cross-cultural proclamation, distinguishing this narrated event from later, contested claims about a repeatable private prayer-language practice, without taking an implicit denominational side.

Acts 2:5–6

Greek: ἦσαν δὲ εἰς Ἰερουσαλὴμ κατοικοῦντες Ἰουδαῖοι… γενομένης δὲ τῆς φωνῆς ταύτης συνῆλθε τὸ πλῆθος καὶ συνεχύθη, ὅτι ἤκουον εἷς ἕκαστος τῇ ἰδί�ᾳ διαλέκτῳ λαλούντων αὐτῶν.

• Term: devout (Jews from every nation)

  • Original: εὐλαβεῖς (eulabeis)
  • Transliteration: eulabeis
  • Literal meaning: “reverent, devout, taking care [of religious duty]”
  • Semantic range: pious observance
  • English variants: devout, God-fearing, pious
  • Contextual theological meaning: Establishes the diaspora-Jewish, international character of the initial audience — sets up the Jew-first pattern of gospel proclamation
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: благочестивые (Low) — standard, no risk.

• Term: own language/dialect

  • Original: ἰδία διάλεκτος (idia dialektos)
  • Transliteration: dialektos
  • Literal meaning: “distinct manner of speech, dialect”
  • Semantic range: native tongue, regional speech
  • English variants: own language, native tongue, dialect
  • Contextual theological meaning: Confirms the miracle is intelligible communication in real languages, not unintelligible ecstatic utterance — important corrective supporting the v.4 note above
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: собственное наречие / родной язык (Medium) — should be rendered so the “real, known language” sense is unambiguous, reinforcing that this is not private ecstatic speech.

Acts 2:7–11

Nation-list and reaction (Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya, Rome, Cretans, Arabians). No new load-bearing theological term beyond geographic proper nouns (rendered per Synodal transliteration conventions). Theological weight: the list itself embodies “The Great Commission Fulfilled” and universal gospel scope (baseline: universal_scope_of_gospel, High) — the curriculum should note this list is a deliberate literary catalogue of “every nation under heaven,” reinforcing that the gospel is not tribal or nationally exclusive from its very first proclamation.

• Term: mighty works of God
  • Original: τὰ μεγαλεῖα τοῦ θεοῦ (ta megaleia tou theou)
  • Transliteration: megaleia
  • Literal meaning: “great things, mighty deeds”
  • Semantic range: God’s great redemptive acts (echoes LXX usage for God’s saving deeds, e.g., Deut. 11:2, Ps. 71:19)
  • English variants: the mighty/wonderful works of God, the great things God has done
  • Contextual theological meaning: The content of the miraculous speech is doxological proclamation of God’s saving acts, not random ecstatic babble
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: великие дела Божии (Low) — standard, reuse Бог exactly per baseline.

Acts 2:12–13

Perplexity and mockery (“they are filled with new wine,” γλεύκους μεμεστωμένοι). No major new theological term; narratively sets up Peter’s corrective sermon. Note: new wine (γλεῦκος) is a purely narrative/mockery detail, Low risk.

Acts 2:14–16

Peter’s sermon begins; introduces the fulfillment-of-prophecy formula (“this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel”).

• Term: prophet / prophecy fulfillment
  • Original: προφήτης / τοῦτο ἐστὶν τὸ εἰρημένον διὰ τοῦ προφήτου Ἰωήλ
  • Transliteration: prophētēs; Iōēl
  • Literal meaning: “this is that which was spoken through the prophet Joel”
  • Semantic range: reused exactly from baseline Romans TM: пророк (prophet, Low risk), пророчество (prophecy, Low risk); Joel = Иоиль per baseline citation conventions
  • Contextual theological meaning: Anchors the Pentecost event as the specific, historically-predicted fulfillment of Joel 2:28-32, connecting directly to baseline doctrine fulfillment_of_prophecy (Medium)
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: reuse пророк / пророчество, no deviation. Иоиль per established Synodal book-name convention (Иоил.).

Acts 2:17

Greek: Καὶ ἔσται ἐν ταῖς ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις, λέγει ὁ θεός, ἐκχεῶ ἀπὸ τοῦ Πνεύματός μου ἐπὶ πᾶσαν σάρκα…

• Term: the last days

  • Original: ἐν ταῖς ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις (en tais eschatais hēmerais)
  • Transliteration: eschatai hēmerai
  • Literal meaning: “in the last days”
  • Semantic range: the eschatological era inaugurated by Messiah’s coming, not necessarily the final moments before the end
  • English variants: last days, latter days, end times
  • Contextual theological meaning: Pentecost inaugurates, not merely anticipates, the eschatological age
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: в последние дни (Medium) — Risk: popular Russian religious culture (including fringe apocalyptic groups) associates “последние дни/времена” heavily with imminent-end-of-world speculation; the curriculum should clarify this denotes the entire Messianic church age beginning at Pentecost, not a prediction of imminent world-ending catastrophe.

• Term: pour out (my Spirit)

  • Original: ἐκχεῶ ἀπὸ τοῦ Πνεύματός μου (ekcheō apo tou Pneumatos mou)
  • Transliteration: ekcheō
  • Literal meaning: “I will pour out”
  • Semantic range: abundant, liquid-metaphor outpouring; used elsewhere for pouring out wrath or blood
  • English variants: pour out, pour forth
  • Contextual theological meaning: Emphasizes abundance and divine initiative — the Spirit is given, not earned or achieved
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: изолью (от Духа Моего) (Low-Medium) — standard Synodal wording, no major risk, but ensure agentive divine subject (“Бог”) stays clear per the following prophesy/vision/dream terms (all Low risk, standard).

• Term: all flesh

  • Original: πᾶσαν σάρκα (pasan sarka)
  • Literal meaning: “all flesh”
  • Contextual theological meaning: Universal scope — reinforces baseline universal_scope_of_gospel (High)
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: всякую плоть (Medium) — must not be softened to “some” or read as ethnically/nationally restricted.

Acts 2:18

Greek: καί ἐπὶ τοὺς δούλους μου καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς δούλας μου… ἐκχεῶ ἀπὸ τοῦ Πνεύματός μου, καὶ προφητεύσουσιν.

• Term: male and female servants (receiving the Spirit)
  • Original: δοῦλοι/δοῦλαι (douloi/doulai)
  • Literal meaning: “male slaves/female slaves”
  • Semantic range: bondservants, of either gender, at the bottom of the social order
  • Contextual theological meaning: The Spirit’s outpouring crosses class and gender lines — an important social-leveling emphasis for “The Church as Community”
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: рабы и рабыни (Мои) (Medium) — Risk: modern Russian “раб/рабыня” carries strong negative connotations (serfdom, slavery, degrading servitude) distinct from the biblical bondservant category; ensure surrounding text clarifies this praises the Spirit’s impartial outpouring across social status rather than dignifying slavery itself.

Acts 2:19–20

Cosmic signs (blood, fire, smoke; sun darkened, moon to blood) quoting Joel — apocalyptic imagery.

• Term: the Day of the Lord
  • Original: ἡμέρα Κυρίου (hēmera Kyriou)
  • Semantic range: the OT day of divine judgment/vindication, reused exactly with baseline Господь
  • Contextual theological meaning: Frames Pentecost within the larger arc of God’s decisive eschatological action
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: день Господень (Medium) — reuse Господь exactly; ensure it is read as God’s decisive intervention, not confused with a liturgical calendar “Lord’s Day” (Sunday) reference.

Acts 2:21

Greek: καὶ ἔσται πᾶς ὃς ἂν ἐπικαλέσηται τὸ ὄνομα Κυρίου σωθήσεται.

• Term: calling on the name of the Lord

  • Original: ἐπικαλέσηται τὸ ὄνομα Κυρίου (epikalesētai to onoma Kyriou)
  • Transliteration: epikaleomai; onoma
  • Literal meaning: “to call upon the name”
  • Semantic range: to invoke, appeal to, publicly identify with; the same Hebrew idiom (qara’ beshem YHWH) used for covenantal worship
  • English variants: call on the name of, invoke the name of, appeal to
  • Contextual theological meaning: The salvation-confession formula, repeated at Romans 10:13 (already in curriculum’s theological ancestry); ties directly to “Justification apart from the Law” and universal gospel scope
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: призывать имя Господне (High) — Risk: the phrase “имя Господне/имя Иисуса” invoked for deliverance is precisely the pattern that Acts itself later shows being dangerously imitated as magical incantation (the sons of Sceva, Acts 19:13-16, and Simon the sorcerer, Acts 8:9-24). Russian post-Soviet folk-occult culture has an active market in “power words” and incantation-based healing/protection; the curriculum must make explicit that “calling on the name” means confessing personal allegiance and trust in the living Lord Jesus, not reciting a formula with inherent magical power.

• Term: saved

  • Original: σωθήσεται (sōthēsetai), from σῴζω
  • Semantic range: reused exactly from baseline спасение/спасен family (Critical)
  • Contextual theological meaning: The clearest single-verse salvation-formula in the sermon; sets the terms for v.38-40’s altar call
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: будет спасён, reuse спасение family exactly per baseline (Critical) — must be anchored to Christ’s death/resurrection (proclaimed in vv. 23-24, 32-36), not left to default into an open theosis process.

Acts 2:22

Greek: Ἄνδρες Ἰσραηλῖται… Ἰησοῦν τὸν Ναζωραῖον, ἄνδρα ἀποδεδειγμένον ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ εἰς ὑμᾶς δυνάμεσι καὶ τέρασι καὶ σημείοις…

• Term: Jesus of Nazareth / Nazarene

  • Original: Ἰησοῦς ὁ Ναζωραῖος (Iēsous ho Nazōraios)
  • Reuse Иисус exactly per baseline
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: Иисус Назорей / Иисус из Назарета (Critical) — flagged fully at ch. 21 & 24 below: Назорей is the identical Synodal Russian word used both for “one from Nazareth” (this verse; cf. Matthew 2:23) and for a Nazirite (one under the OT vow of Numbers 6, cf. Acts 21:23-24). This lexical collision, present already in the Synodal tradition, must be explicitly disambiguated wherever it recurs.

• Term: mighty works, wonders, and signs

  • Original: δυνάμεσι καὶ τέρασι καὶ σημείοις (dynamesi kai terasi kai sēmeiois)
  • Transliteration: dynamis / teras / sēmeion
  • Literal meaning: “powers/mighty deeds, wonders, and signs”
  • Semantic range: δύναμις = inherent power/capability, made concrete as a specific miraculous act; τέρας = a wonder provoking astonishment; σημεῖον = a sign pointing beyond itself to divine authentication
  • English variants: miracles, wonders, signs, mighty works, attesting miracles
  • Contextual theological meaning: God’s authentication of Jesus’ ministry and, by extension, of the apostles’ ministry — core to “Apostolic Authority and Miracles”
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: силы, чудеса и знамения (High) — Risk: (1) “чудеса” in contemporary Russian is also the ordinary word for magic-show or folk “miracles,” and post-Soviet media culture retains a large fraudulent psychic/faith-healer industry (e.g., televised “healers” claiming чудесные исцеления); (2) “знамения” also functions in folk-astrological/omen contexts. The curriculum must keep these as divine attestation of God’s specific redemptive act in Christ, not generic supernatural spectacle, and must never let readers conflate biblical miracle-attestation with contemporary extrasensory/folk-healing claims (parallel to baseline’s spiritual_gifts caution against экстрасенсорные способности).

Acts 2:23

Greek: τοῦτον τῇ ὡρισμένῃ βουλῇ καὶ προγνώσει τοῦ θεοῦ ἔκδοτον διὰ χειρὸς ἀνόμων προσπήξαντες ἀνείλατε.

• Term: definite plan and foreknowledge of God

  • Original: ὡρισμένη βουλή καὶ πρόγνωσις τοῦ θεοῦ (hōrismenē boulē kai prognōsis tou theou)
  • Transliteration: boulē; prognōsis
  • Literal meaning: “determined counsel/plan and foreknowledge”
  • Semantic range: God’s sovereign, purposeful decree — same conceptual family as providence (baseline High) and election (baseline High)
  • English variants: predetermined plan, foreknowledge, purpose
  • Contextual theological meaning: The cross was not an accident or defeat but the outworking of God’s sovereign purpose, even while human agents bear real guilt (“lawless hands”)
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: предустановленный совет и предведение Божие (High) — reuse framework from baseline’s промысел Божий and избрание entries; must not be rendered with судьба/рок/карма (explicitly forbidden per baseline), since this describes personal divine purpose intersecting with real human moral responsibility, not impersonal fate.

• Term: lawless men / unrighteous hands

  • Original: διὰ χειρὸς ἀνόμων (dia cheiros anomōn)
  • Literal meaning: “by the hand of lawless ones”
  • Contextual theological meaning: assigns genuine moral culpability for the crucifixion — pastoral sensitivity required given historical antisemitic misuse of such verses to blame “the Jews” collectively
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: руками беззаконных (High) — flag for careful framing alongside baseline’s unity_of_jews_and_gentiles sensitivity: the curriculum must make clear this indicts specific human agents’ sin (and, theologically, all humanity’s sin per Romans), not the Jewish people as a whole, especially given the historical weight of antisemitism in Russian and Soviet history.

Acts 2:24

Greek: ὃν ὁ θεὸς ἀνέστησεν, λύσας τὰς ὠδῖνας τοῦ θανάτου…

• Term: God raised him up

  • Original: ἀνέστησεν (anestēsen), root ἀνάστασις
  • Reuse воскресение exactly per baseline (Medium in baseline; here Critical in force given it is the sermon’s central proof, but rendering itself is fixed)
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: воскресил (Medium, per baseline calibration) — the resurrection of Christ is the sermon’s central evidentiary claim; ensure it reads as a personally decisive historical claim, not merely evoking the cultural/liturgical familiarity of Easter (Пасха).

• Term: the pangs of death

  • Original: τὰς ὠδῖνας τοῦ θανάτου (tas ōdinas tou thanatou)
  • Literal meaning: “the birth-pangs/agonies of death”
  • Semantic range: death’s binding grip, pictured as labor-pains that cannot ultimately hold
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: муки смерти (Low) — standard, no major risk; vivid imagery worth preserving rather than flattening to “death itself.”

Acts 2:25–28

Quotation of Psalm 16:8-11 (David’s prophecy).

• Term: Hades / the grave

  • Original: ᾅδης (Hadēs)
  • Transliteration: Hadēs
  • Literal meaning: the realm of the dead
  • Semantic range: OT Sheol equivalent, not the Greek mythological underworld per se, though the Greek loanword risks that association
  • English variants: Hades, the grave, hell (in older English versions)
  • Contextual theological meaning: Christ’s soul was not abandoned to death’s domain — resurrection guarantee
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: ад / преисподняя (Medium) — Risk: ад in Russian carries the fully-developed New Testament/later-tradition sense of “hell” (place of eternal punishment), which is broader/different than the OT Sheol-equivalent sense intended here (the realm of the dead generally, not specifically a place of torment); преисподняя (“the netherworld/abyss”) is a safer, less anachronistic rendering. Flag for translator choice with explicit gloss.

• Term: patriarch David

  • Original: πατριάρχης Δαυίδ (patriarchēs Dauid)
  • Reuse Давид exactly per baseline
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: патриарх Давид (Low) — Note: “патриарх” also names the head of the Russian Orthodox Church (Патриарх Московский); context (ancient ancestor-figure, not ecclesiastical office) must be unmistakable. Medium risk for that reason alone.

Acts 2:29–31

David’s tomb and prophetic foresight of the Messiah’s resurrection (“he was a prophet… he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ”).

• Term: the Christ / the Messiah
  • Original: ὁ Χριστός (ho Christos)
  • Reuse Мессия / Христос exactly per baseline
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: (High, per baseline) — this is precisely the verse-cluster baseline’s messianic_promise doctrine addresses: the curriculum must explicitly resurface that “Христос” is a title of fulfillment (the Anointed One promised to David), not merely Jesus’ surname, since ordinary Russian usage has worn that sense smooth.

Acts 2:32

Greek: τοῦτον τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἀνέστησεν ὁ θεός, οὗ πάντες ἡμεῖς ἐσμεν μάρτυρες.

• Term: witnesses
  • Original: μάρτυρες (martyres)
  • Transliteration: martys/martyres
  • Literal meaning: “witnesses” (legal/testimonial sense)
  • Semantic range: one who testifies to what he has seen/experienced; later (by the 2nd century) develops the specialized sense “martyr” (one who dies for testifying) — that later sense is NOT yet active here
  • English variants: witnesses, eyewitnesses
  • Contextual theological meaning: The apostles’ authority rests on eyewitness testimony to the resurrection — core to “Apostolic Authority” and later “Persecution and Bold Witness”
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: свидетели (High) — Risk: Russian distinguishes свидетель (witness, testimonial sense — used here) from мученик (martyr, one who suffers/dies for the faith — the later semantic development, relevant from Acts 7 [Stephen] onward). Translators must NOT use мученик here or elsewhere in Acts until the narrative context is specifically that of suffering unto death; using it prematurely imports Stephen’s/later martyrs’ fate onto ordinary eyewitness testimony and flattens an important semantic development the book itself narrates.

Acts 2:33

Greek: τῇ δεξιᾷ τοῦ θεοῦ ὑψωθεὶς, τήν τε ἐπαγγελίαν τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος λαβὼν παρὰ τοῦ πατρός, ἐξέχεεν τοῦτο…

• Term: exalted to the right hand of God

  • Original: τῇ δεξιᾷ τοῦ θεοῦ ὑψωθείς (tē dexia tou theou hypsōtheis)
  • Contextual theological meaning: Christ’s exaltation and enthronement — Lordship doctrine
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: возвышен правой рукой Божией / посажен по правую руку Бога (Medium) — reuse Бог exactly; ties to baseline lordship_of_christ (High).

• Term: promise of the Holy Spirit

  • Original: ἐπαγγελία τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος (epangelia tou Hagiou Pneumatos)
  • Reuse Святой Дух exactly per baseline; ἐπαγγελία = “promise,” reuse concept aligned with baseline завет (covenant) family though a distinct word — render simply обещание/обетование
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: обетование Святого Духа (Medium) — “обетование” is the elevated Synodal-register word for promise (vs. everyday “обещание”); prefer обетование to match Bible-register expectation.

Acts 2:34–35

Quotation of Psalm 110:1 (“Sit at my right hand…”). No new term beyond items already treated (Господь, exaltation). Reinforces lordship_of_christ.

Acts 2:36

Greek: ἀσφαλῶς οὖν γινωσκέτω πᾶς οἶκος Ἰσραὴλ ὅτι καὶ Κύριον αὐτὸν καὶ Χριστὸν ἐποίησεν ὁ θεός, τοῦτον τὸν Ἰησοῦν ὃν ὑμεῖς ἐσταυρώσατε.

• Term: Lord and Christ
  • Original: Κύριον καὶ Χριστόν (Kyrion kai Christon)
  • Reuse Господь and Мессия/Христос exactly per baseline
  • Contextual theological meaning: The sermon’s climactic double title — the crucified Jesus is both the exclusive divine Lord and the promised Messiah; this single clause fuses baseline’s two Critical/High doctrines (lordship_of_christ, messianic_promise)
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: Господом и Христом (High/Critical combined) — the verse’s rhetorical force (“this Jesus, whom you crucified”) must not be softened; both established renderings apply without modification, but the surrounding text should restore the personal, confrontational force of the claim rather than letting it read as calm doctrinal summary.

Acts 2:37

Greek: …κατενύγησαν τὴν καρδίαν, εἶπόν τε πρὸς τὸν Πέτρον καὶ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἀποστόλους· Τί ποιήσωμεν, ἄνδρες ἀδελφοί;

• Term: cut/pierced to the heart
  • Original: κατενύγησαν τὴν καρδίαν (katenygēsan tēn kardian)
  • Transliteration: katanyssomai
  • Literal meaning: “were pierced/stabbed [in the heart]”
  • Semantic range: deep emotional/spiritual conviction, sudden anguished realization
  • English variants: cut to the heart, deeply convicted, pierced
  • Contextual theological meaning: Genuine conviction of sin produced by the Spirit-empowered proclamation, prerequisite to repentance
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: умилились сердцем / уязвились в сердце (Medium) — Synodal uses “умилились сердцем,” which in modern Russian “умилиться” more commonly means “to be touched/moved with tender feeling” (a softer sense than the Greek’s sharp, painful conviction); this softening risks losing the force of genuine guilt-conviction. Recommend glossing or supplementing with a stronger phrase (e.g., “были потрясены, охвачены раскаянием”) to preserve the weight of universal_human_accountability (baseline Medium).

Acts 2:38

Greek: Πέτρος δὲ πρὸς αὐτούς· Μετανοήσατε, καὶ βαπτισθήτω ἕκαστος ὑμῶν ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς ἄφεσιν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ὑμῶν, καὶ λήμψεσθε τὴν δωρεὰν τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος.

• Term: Repent

  • Original: Μετανοήσατε (Metanoēsate), from μετανοέω
  • Transliteration: metanoeō / metanoia
  • Literal meaning: “change one’s mind/purpose” (μετά + νοέω)
  • Semantic range: a decisive, whole-person turning from sin toward God, involving mind, will, and direction of life — not mere emotional regret (which would be μεταμέλομαι)
  • English variants: repent, turn, change one’s mind and direction
  • Contextual theological meaning: The first response demanded to the gospel proclamation; foundational to “Repentance and Baptism” doctrine
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: Покайтесь (Critical) — CRITICAL: покаяние is also the name of a formal Russian Orthodox sacrament (таинство покаяния/исповедь — sacramental confession before a priest, with absolution). Readers with an Orthodox background may default to hearing Peter’s call as a summons to formal sacramental confession rather than (or in addition to) the personal, inward, decisive turning from sin Luke describes. Must be explicitly framed as a whole-life reorientation toward God available to every hearer directly, not exclusively mediated through a priestly sacrament — parallel in kind to baseline’s грех/благодать Critical flags. Human theologian review required.

• Term: be baptized

  • Original: βαπτισθήτω (baptisthētō), from βαπτίζω
  • Transliteration: baptizō
  • Literal meaning: “to dip, immerse, plunge”
  • Semantic range: ritual immersion; in the NT, the public, once-for-all rite of initiation into Christ and his church
  • English variants: baptize, be baptized
  • Contextual theological meaning: The public, communal seal of repentance and faith — connects “Repentance and Baptism” directly to “The Church as Community”
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: крестится (Critical) — CRITICAL: This verse sits at the center of a live, unresolved three-way doctrinal debate directly relevant to Russian readers: (1) Orthodox sacramental theology, where baptism (usually infant) itself confers regenerating grace; (2) mainstream Evangelical/Baptist theology, where baptism is the believer’s public testimony following inward repentance/faith, not the instrumental cause of forgiveness; (3) some Restorationist groups reading “for the forgiveness of sins” (εἰς ἄφεσιν) as baptism being causally necessary for salvation. The curriculum must state its own position on the relationship between εἰς (“for/unto/because of”) and the ordering of repentance-baptism-forgiveness explicitly rather than letting крещение silently import Orthodox sacramental assumptions or resolve the εἰς-causality debate by translation alone. Human theologian review required for this verse specifically.

• Term: in/on the name of Jesus Christ

  • Original: ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ (epi tō onomati Iēsou Christou)
  • Reuse Иисус, Христос exactly per baseline; see also “calling on the name” at v.21
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: во имя Иисуса Христа (High) — reinforces the same “name” risk flagged at v.21: must be read as identification with and allegiance to the person of Christ, not an incantational formula.

• Term: for the forgiveness of your sins

  • Original: εἰς ἄφεσιν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ὑμῶν (eis aphesin tōn hamartiōn hymōn)
  • Transliteration: aphesis
  • Literal meaning: “release, letting go, sending away” (of sins/debts)
  • Semantic range: cancellation of a debt or offense; full pardon
  • English variants: forgiveness, remission, pardon
  • Contextual theological meaning: Distinct from, but closely related to, the forensic declaration described by оправдание (justification, baseline Critical) — this is the removal of the debt/guilt of sin itself, one component within (not identical to) the fuller justification doctrine
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: во оставление грехов (Synodal archaic) / для прощения грехов (modern gloss) (Critical) — Baseline explicitly rejects “прощение грехов” only as a substitute for оправдание (justification); it remains the correct, standard term for the distinct concept of “forgiveness of sins” itself, which this verse names directly. The Critical risk here is twofold: (1) do not let readers collapse forgiveness-of-sins into the full forensic-declaration sense of оправдание, and (2) do not let this verse’s εἰς clause be resolved silently in either a sacramental-instrumental direction (baptism causes forgiveness) or a purely symbolic direction (baptism merely pictures forgiveness already received) — state the curriculum’s reading explicitly. Human theologian review required.

• Term: the gift of the Holy Spirit

  • Original: τὴν δωρεὰν τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος (tēn dōrean tou Hagiou Pneumatos)
  • Transliteration: dōrea
  • Literal meaning: “free gift, gratuitous gift”
  • Semantic range: a gift given without payment (root shared conceptually with baseline’s духовные дары, but distinct: this is the singular gift of the Spirit’s indwelling presence at conversion, not the plural ongoing enablements of Romans 12/1 Corinthians 12)
  • English variants: the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit as gift
  • Contextual theological meaning: The Spirit himself, not merely his empowerments, is given to every believer at conversion — foundational to “The Holy Spirit and Pentecost”
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: дар Святого Духа (Medium) — reuse Святой Дух exactly; distinguish clearly in surrounding text from духовные дары (baseline term for the ongoing charismatic enablements of Romans 12) so readers do not conflate the once-for-all indwelling gift with the diverse ministry gifts.

Acts 2:39

Greek: ὑμῖν γάρ ἐστιν ἡ ἐπαγγελία καὶ τοῖς τέκνοις ὑμῶν καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς εἰς μακράν, ὅσους ἂν προσκαλέσηται Κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν.

• Term: the promise

  • Original: ἡ ἐπαγγελία (hē epangelia)
  • Contextual theological meaning: The Spirit-gift promise of v.38 extends across generations (“your children”) and to distant peoples (“all who are far off”) — direct textual bridge to “The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles” and universal scope
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: обетование (Medium) — see note at v.33; ensure universality (“all who are far off”) is not softened, per baseline’s universality-preservation rule.

• Term: as many as the Lord our God calls

  • Original: ὅσους ἂν προσκαλέσηται Κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν (hosous an proskalesētai Kyrios ho theos hēmōn)
  • Transliteration: proskaleomai
  • Reuse призванный/призвание exactly per baseline (Medium) — this is the effectual-calling family of terms
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: кого призовёт Господь Бог наш (Medium, per baseline) — reuse призвание family exactly; must preserve God as the active, personal subject of the calling (not приглашённый, “invited,” per baseline’s explicit prohibition).

Acts 2:40

Greek: ἑτέροις τε λόγοις πλείοσιν διεμαρτύρετο καὶ παρεκάλει αὐτοὺς λέγων· Σώθητε ἀπὸ τῆς γενεᾶς τῆς σκολιᾶς ταύτης.

• Term: solemnly testified/urged

  • Original: διεμαρτύρετο (diemartyreto), from διαμαρτύρομαι — same root family as μάρτυς (witness) above
  • Transliteration: diamartyromai
  • Literal meaning: “to testify thoroughly, solemnly charge”
  • Contextual theological meaning: Peter’s proclamation carries the weight of solemn legal/prophetic testimony, not casual suggestion
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: свидетельствовал (Medium) — reuse свидетель root; keep the solemn, weighty register.

• Term: this crooked generation

  • Original: τῆς γενεᾶς τῆς σκολιᾶς ταύτης (tēs geneas tēs skolias tautēs)
  • Literal meaning: “this twisted/crooked generation”
  • Contextual theological meaning: Echoes Deuteronomy 32:5, situating the call to repentance within Israel’s own prophetic self-critique tradition
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: от этого развращённого рода (Medium) — should not be read as a blanket ethnic condemnation of the Jewish people (parallel sensitivity to v.23’s “lawless hands” note); it is a prophetic self-critique category Peter, a Jew, applies including himself and his hearers.

Acts 2:41

Greek: οἱ μὲν οὖν ἀποδεξάμενοι τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ ἐβαπτίσθησαν, καὶ προσετέθησαν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρ�ᾳ ἐκείνῃ ψυχαὶ ὡσεὶ τρισχίλιαι.

• Term: received the word

  • Original: ἀποδεξάμενοι τὸν λόγον (apodexamenoi ton logon)
  • Contextual theological meaning: Faith-response to proclamation — reuse baseline вера family conceptually (belief precedes/accompanies the baptism that follows)
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: принявшие слово (Low-Medium) — standard; ensure it is clear this reception is a matter of genuine inward faith, per baseline faith doctrine (High), not mere passive hearing.

• Term: were baptized

  • Reuse крестились, see full Critical treatment at v.38.

• Term: were added

  • Original: προσετέθησαν (prosetethēsan), from προστίθημι
  • Transliteration: prostithēmi
  • Literal meaning: “were added to, joined to”
  • Semantic range: incorporation into a defined, numbered community
  • English variants: were added, joined, were added to their number
  • Contextual theological meaning: Conversion results in visible incorporation into a concrete, countable community — not merely a private, invisible spiritual transaction. Foundational for “The Church as Community.”
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: присоединилось (Medium) — Risk: church-as-community readers may default (per baseline’s church_as_gods_people, High) to assuming “the church” one joins can only mean the Russian Orthodox Church institutionally; this verse’s plain sense (any genuine believing community gathered around the apostles’ teaching) must be explicitly framed to avoid that narrowing, especially relevant for the many Evangelical/Protestant minority congregations this curriculum also serves.

• Term: about three thousand souls

  • Original: ψυχαὶ ὡσεὶ τρισχίλιαι (psychai hōsei trischiliai)
  • Contextual theological meaning: Concrete, historical, numbered growth — grounds the narrative as history, not legend
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: душ около трёх тысяч (Low) — standard, no risk; душа (soul) here simply means “person,” a very common Russian usage (e.g., census idiom), no theological complication.

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PART 2: Chapter-by-Chapter Analysis of the Whole Book

Chapter 1 — Ascension, Apostolic Witness, and Replacement of Judas

• Term: taken up / ascension

  • Original: ἀνελήμφθη / ἀνάλημψις (anelēmphthē, 1:2,11,22; analēmpsis)
  • Transliteration: analambanō / analēmpsis
  • Literal meaning: “was taken up”
  • Semantic range: bodily removal upward, permanent (contrast the temporary “translations” of Enoch/Elijah, which are removals from death, not this pattern of resurrection-then-ascension-then-promised-return)
  • English variants: ascension, taken up, received up
  • Contextual theological meaning: Confirms Christ’s bodily resurrection is followed by bodily, visible, historical exaltation — grounding “Apostolic Authority” in an eyewitnessed, non-repeatable event, and grounding the promise of Christ’s bodily return (1:11)
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: вознесение (Medium) — well-established shared Orthodox/Protestant term (a major feast, Вознесение Господне, in the Orthodox calendar); low risk of doctrinal confusion, similar to resurrection_of_christ in the baseline registry — main risk is over-familiarity through liturgical calendar association rather than confusion with a rival concept.

• Term: witnesses (programmatic statement)

  • Original: μάρτυρες (1:8, “you will be my witnesses…to the end of the earth”)
  • See full treatment under 2:32 above; this is the term’s programmatic introduction, structuring the entire book’s geographic/missional outline (Jerusalem → Judea/Samaria → ends of the earth)
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: свидетели (High) — same risk noted at 2:32: must not be rendered мученик (martyr) prematurely; this verse sets the whole book’s missionary structure and must retain the testimonial, not yet the martyrological, sense.

• Term: lot / portion

  • Original: κλῆρος (klēros, 1:17, 26 — Judas’s “portion” in the ministry, and the casting of lots to choose Matthias)
  • Transliteration: klēros
  • Literal meaning: “a lot, a share, an allotted portion”
  • Semantic range: allotted inheritance/portion; a lot cast for decision-making, an accepted Jewish practice for discerning God’s will (cf. Proverbs 16:33) prior to Pentecost
  • English variants: portion, share, lot (cast)
  • Contextual theological meaning: God’s sovereign selection of ministers, exercised here through a pre-Pentecost decision method later superseded by direct Spirit-guidance in the rest of Acts
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: жребий (Low-Medium) — standard term for “lot” in Russian, no significant doctrinal risk; note pastorally that the church does not repeat this lot-casting method after Pentecost, so as not to suggest it as an ongoing normative practice for decision-making.

• Term: office/charge

  • Original: ἐπισκοπή (episkopē, 1:20, quoting Psalm 109 LXX: “let another take his office”)
  • Transliteration: episkopē
  • Literal meaning: “oversight, charge, office” (same root as ἐπίσκοπος, “overseer,” treated fully at ch. 20)
  • Semantic range: a position of responsibility/oversight
  • Contextual theological meaning: Early hint of the vocabulary later used for church offices (see ch. 20)
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: служение / чин (Medium) — flag forward-reference to the Critical-risk епископ/блюститель discussion at ch. 20; avoid rendering this early occurrence as “епископство,” which would anachronistically import full institutional bishop-office language into Judas’s forfeited apostolic role.

Chapter 2 (vv. 42–47) — remainder of the core-passage chapter beyond the verse-by-verse core section (2:1–41 above)

• Term: devoted themselves

  • Original: ἦσαν προσκαρτεροῦντες (2:42), from προσκαρτερέω
  • Transliteration: proskartereō
  • Literal meaning: “to persist steadfastly, be continually devoted”
  • Semantic range: sustained, disciplined, ongoing commitment (not a one-time event)
  • English variants: devoted themselves, continued steadfastly
  • Contextual theological meaning: The four marks of the earliest church’s ongoing communal life — teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, prayers — core to “The Church as Community”
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: постоянно пребывали (Low-Medium) — standard, low risk; should convey ongoing habitual practice, not a single memorable gathering.

• Term: breaking of bread

  • Original: ἡ κλάσις τοῦ ἄρτου (hē klasis tou artou, 2:42, 2:46)
  • Transliteration: klasis tou artou
  • Literal meaning: “the breaking of the bread”
  • Semantic range: ambiguous even in scholarship between (a) the Lord’s Supper/Eucharist specifically and (b) ordinary shared meals with theological significance (or both together, as in the early church’s practice)
  • English variants: breaking of bread, the Lord’s Supper, communal meals
  • Contextual theological meaning: Central, repeated communal practice of the earliest church
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: преломление хлеба (High) — Risk: this exact phrase is used liturgically in Russian Orthodox (and other sacramental) traditions with specific reference to the Eucharistic rite; readers may narrow Acts’ description exclusively to a formal sacramental Eucharist when Luke’s own scope (ordinary daily shared meals, 2:46 “breaking bread in their homes”) may be broader. The curriculum should not resolve this ambiguity by translation choice alone but state explicitly what scope is intended.

• Term: all things in common

  • Original: εἶχον ἅπαντα κοινά (2:44), κοινός
  • Transliteration: koinos
  • Literal meaning: “held everything common/shared”
  • Semantic range: voluntary, Spirit-motivated generosity and mutual care within the believing community
  • English variants: had everything in common, shared all things, held possessions in common
  • Contextual theological meaning: Voluntary, love-motivated economic sharing flowing from Spirit-given unity — not a mandated economic system
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: имели всё общее (High) — Risk: this phrase collides directly with 20th-century Marxist-Leninist rhetoric of collectivized property (“всё общее,” “от каждого — по способностям”) deeply embedded in Soviet historical memory; post-Soviet Russian readers, whether nostalgic or hostile toward that legacy, will likely read this politically before reading it theologically. The curriculum must explicitly frame this as voluntary, Spirit-motivated generosity within a believing community — never state-mandated collectivization — to avoid both an unintended endorsement of, and an unintended attack on, that historical memory.

• Term: fear (reverential)

  • Original: φόβος (2:43, “fear came upon every soul”)
  • Transliteration: phobos
  • Literal meaning: “fear, dread”
  • Semantic range: awe-struck reverence before divine power, not ordinary terror
  • English variants: awe, fear, reverent fear
  • Contextual theological meaning: Appropriate human response to God’s manifest power through the apostles’ signs and wonders
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: страх (Medium) — should be distinguished contextually from ordinary fright; consider “благоговейный страх” (reverential fear/awe) to avoid a purely negative reading.

• Term: those being saved

  • Original: τοὺς σῳζομένους (2:47), present passive participle of σῴζω
  • Reuse спасение family exactly per baseline
  • Contextual theological meaning: The present participle (“those being saved,” ongoing) alongside 2:21/40’s punctiliar “shall be saved” gives Acts’ own text a both/and quality — a decisive turning point (repent, be baptized) within an ongoing incorporation into a saved community
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: спасаемых (Critical, per baseline) — Risk: this present-tense form could be read as supporting an open-ended, process-based view of salvation (resonant with Orthodox theosis) rather than settled assurance; the curriculum should note both the decisive (2:38, 21, 40) and ongoing-communal (2:47) dimensions are both present in Luke’s own text, without resolving the tension by ignoring either side. Human theologian review recommended given baseline’s assurance_of_salvation Critical flag.

Chapter 3 — Healing at the Temple and Christological Titles

• Term: The Holy and Righteous One

  • Original: τὸν Ἅγιον καὶ Δίκαιον (3:14)
  • Transliteration: ho Hagios kai ho Dikaios
  • Literal meaning: “the Holy One and the Righteous One”
  • Semantic range: a compound divine/messianic title combining OT holiness-language for God himself with the “Righteous One” messianic title (cf. Isaiah 53:11)
  • English variants: the Holy and Righteous One
  • Contextual theological meaning: Direct ascription of divine holiness and messianic righteousness to Jesus, in the same breath as the accusation that the people denied him — high-stakes Christological claim
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: Святой и Праведный (High) — combines baseline’s two independently High-risk terms святой (Orthodox saint-veneration association) and праведность (achieved-virtue association). Here they function as a single Christological title, not general descriptions; the curriculum must make clear this is a unique divine title for Jesus, not the same category as human “saints” or “righteous people” discussed elsewhere.

• Term: the Servant (of God)

  • Original: τὸν παῖδα αὐτοῦ (3:13, 3:26; also 4:27, 4:30)
  • Transliteration: pais
  • Literal meaning: “servant, child, boy” (LXX renders the Hebrew ‘ebed of Isaiah’s Servant Songs with παῖς)
  • Semantic range: royal/covenantal servant of God (Isaiah 42, 49, 52-53) or simply “child/boy” in secular Greek — context determines which
  • English variants: Servant, Child, Son (in some older translations)
  • Contextual theological meaning: Identifies Jesus explicitly as Isaiah’s promised Suffering Servant — a load-bearing OT-fulfillment claim
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: Отрок (High) — CRITICAL COMPREHENSION RISK: the Synodal tradition renders παῖς here as “Отрок,” an archaic/elevated Russian word now virtually unused in ordinary speech (surviving mainly in “Отрок” = “youth/lad” in older literature, e.g., Pushkin). Modern readers, especially secular or younger readers, are highly likely to misread “Отрок Иисус” as simply “the boy/child Jesus,” entirely missing the Isaianic Servant-of-the-LORD title being invoked. Requires an explicit gloss (“Отрок — здесь: Слуга/Раб Божий, ср. Ис. 53”) rather than being left to stand alone. Flag for High-priority footnoting in every occurrence.

• Term: Author/Prince of life

  • Original: τὸν ἀρχηγὸν τῆς ζωῆς (3:15; cf. 5:31 ἀρχηγὸν καὶ σωτῆρα, “Prince/Author and Savior”)
  • Transliteration: archēgos
  • Literal meaning: “originator, founder, pioneer, chief leader”
  • Semantic range: one who originates and leads the way for others to follow (cf. Hebrews 2:10, 12:2 for the same word applied to Christ as “founder/pioneer” of salvation/faith)
  • English variants: Author, Prince, Founder, Pioneer, Originator
  • Contextual theological meaning: Jesus as the source and forerunner of resurrection life for all who follow him — a rich, load-bearing Christological title
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: Начальник жизни (Synodal) (Critical) — SEVERE RISK: “Начальник” in ordinary modern Russian means, almost exclusively, “boss, supervisor, workplace superior” — a thoroughly mundane, bureaucratic register entirely disconnected from the exalted “originator/pioneer/founder” sense intended. An alternative sometimes proposed, Вождь (“leader, chieftain”), is even more dangerous: this word is inseparably associated in modern Russian historical memory with the 20th-century cult-of-personality title used for Lenin and especially Stalin (“Вождь народов,” “the Leader of the Peoples”). Neither the bureaucratic “boss” register of Начальник nor the totalitarian-cult register of Вождь can be allowed to stand unexplained; this title requires either the retained (if archaic-sounding) Synodal “Начальник жизни” with an explicit theological gloss, or a periphrastic rendering such as “Родоначальник жизни” (“originator/progenitor of life”) or “Основатель жизни.” Human theologian review required for every occurrence (3:15; 5:31).

• Term: turn again / repent (formal call)

  • Original: ἐπιστρέψατε (3:19), ἐπιστρέφω
  • Transliteration: epistrephō / epistrophē
  • Literal meaning: “to turn back, return, turn around”
  • Semantic range: overlapping with but distinct from μετάνοια (repentance, inward change of mind) — ἐπιστρέφω emphasizes the resulting reorientation/return to God, often paired with μετάνοια as its complement (cf. 3:19, 26:20)
  • English variants: turn, turn back, be converted, return
  • Contextual theological meaning: Repentance’s outward-turning complement; used repeatedly of both Jewish and Gentile conversion throughout Acts (9:35, 11:21, 14:15, 15:19, 26:18, 20)
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: обратитесь / обращение (Medium) — standard, well-established Russian term for religious conversion; should be kept terminologically distinct from покаяние (repentance) in surrounding exposition so readers see these as two complementary, not identical, aspects of the same event.

• Term: times of refreshing

  • Original: καιροὶ ἀναψύξεως (3:20)
  • Transliteration: anapsyxis
  • Literal meaning: “a cooling off, refreshment, respite”
  • Semantic range: eschatological relief/restoration accompanying Christ’s return
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: времена отрады (Low-Medium) — minor, mostly a matter of natural phrasing; no major doctrinal collision.

• Term: acted in ignorance

  • Original: κατὰ ἄγνοιαν ἐπράξατε (3:17), ἄγνοια
  • Transliteration: agnoia
  • Literal meaning: “ignorance, lack of knowledge”
  • Semantic range: acting without full culpable knowledge (mitigating, not eliminating, guilt)
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: по неведению (Low-Medium) — standard; pairs with the same antisemitism-sensitivity note flagged at 2:23 and 2:40 — Peter here explicitly extends mercy/mitigation to his hearers, a pastoral tone the translation should preserve carefully.

Chapter 4 — Boldness before the Council; Exclusivity of Salvation

• Term: Sanhedrin / the Council

  • Original: συνέδριον (4:5, 15; recurring 5:21, 27, 34, 41; 6:12; 22:30; 23:1, 6, 15, 20, 28; 24:20)
  • Transliteration: synedrion
  • Literal meaning: “a sitting-together, a council”
  • Semantic range: the supreme Jewish ruling/judicial council in Jerusalem, composed of chief priests, elders, and scribes (Sadducees and Pharisees)
  • English variants: Sanhedrin, the Council, the ruling council
  • Contextual theological meaning: The recurring institutional antagonist throughout Acts’ Jerusalem-set chapters; also the body before which Jesus himself was tried in the Gospels — already familiar to Russian Bible readers from Gospel narratives
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: синедрион (High) — Risk: while lexically well-established and low-ambiguity, narrating repeated Sanhedrin opposition to the apostles (paralleling the Gospels’ Passion narratives) carries the same historical antisemitism-sensitivity flagged at length in the baseline registry for Romans 9–11 (unity_of_jews_and_gentiles). The curriculum must frame the Sanhedrin’s specific historical opposition without generalizing culpability to the Jewish people as a whole, and should note that many of the earliest Christians (including all the apostles) were themselves Jewish, worshipping in the same Temple courts (cf. 2:46, 3:1) even as they proclaimed Jesus as Messiah.

• Term: boldness

  • Original: παρρησία (4:13, 29, 31; recurring 9:27-29, 13:46, 14:3, 18:26, 19:8, 26:26, 28:31)
  • Transliteration: parrēsia
  • Literal meaning: “freedom/frankness of speech,” from πᾶν + ῥῆσις (“all speech, saying everything”)
  • Semantic range: unrestrained, confident, public speech, especially in the face of potential opposition or personal risk
  • English variants: boldness, confidence, freedom of speech, courage
  • Contextual theological meaning: The Spirit-given courage to proclaim the gospel publicly despite threat, arrest, or social cost — the defining term for “Persecution and Bold Witness,” and the very last word-family of the whole book (28:31, “with all boldness and without hindrance”)
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: дерзновение (High) — Risk: дерзновение is the elevated, correct Bible-register term (matching Synodal usage, also familiar from Hebrews 4:16/10:19 in the sense of bold confidence in prayer), but its liturgical/devotional familiarity risks flattening it into a pious cliché disconnected from the text’s actual narrative stakes — real physical danger, arrest, flogging, and threat of death. The curriculum must restore its force as courage exercised under genuine persecution risk, paralleling baseline’s caution about Господь sounding “recited” rather than personally decisive.

• Term: no other name / exclusivity of salvation

  • Original: οὔτε γὰρ ὄνομά ἐστιν ἕτερον… ἐν ᾧ δεῖ σωθῆναι ἡμᾶς (4:12)
  • Reuse Иисус, имя, спасение exactly per baseline
  • Semantic range: an absolute, exclusive salvific claim
  • Contextual theological meaning: The strongest single exclusivity statement in Acts — connects directly to baseline’s universal_scope_of_gospel (High) understood together with its logical converse, exclusivity
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: ибо нет другого имени… которым можно было бы спастись (High) — Risk: in a religiously plural, historically multi-confessional Russian context (Orthodox majority alongside Islam, Judaism, Buddhism in various regions, and growing secularism), this exclusivity claim needs pastorally careful, non-triumphalist framing; it must be presented as Peter’s own confession of the unique sufficiency of Christ, not as the curriculum’s polemic against other groups or traditions, while still preserving the claim’s full force per baseline’s doctrinal-preservation rule (do not minimize or soften).

• Term: great grace

  • Original: χάρις μεγάλη (4:33)
  • Reuse благодать exactly per baseline (Critical) — see baseline notes on grace; no deviation.

Chapter 5 — Ananias and Sapphira; Apostolic Signs; Gamaliel

• Term: lie to / test the Holy Spirit

  • Original: ψεύσασθαι… τῷ Πνεύματι τῷ Ἁγίῳ (5:3), πειράσαι τὸ Πνεῦμα Κυρίου (5:9)
  • Transliteration: pseudomai; peirazō
  • Literal meaning: “to lie to / to test, put to the test”
  • Semantic range: to deceive; to provoke or challenge, testing limits (as Israel “tested” God in the wilderness)
  • English variants: lie to, deceive, test, tempt
  • Contextual theological meaning: Establishes the Holy Spirit’s full personal deity — lying to the apostles is equated with lying to God the Spirit himself (5:3-4); connects to baseline’s holy_spirit (Critical, God-entry)
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: обмануть/солгать Духу Святому, искусить Духа Господня (High) — reuse Святой Дух exactly; risk is mainly failing to draw out the full weight of the equation “you have not lied to man but to God” (5:4) as a clear statement of the Spirit’s deity, relevant to Trinitarian precision though (per baseline calibration for Trinity/deity terms in a Nicene-heritage context) lower risk than East-West soteriological terms.

• Term: great fear

  • Original: φόβος μέγας (5:5, 11)
  • Reuse страх (see 2:43 note); here intensified — awe mixed with sober warning, appropriate response to church discipline

• Term: signs and wonders (apostolic, intensified)

  • Original: σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα (5:12)
  • Reuse from 2:22 treatment (High); here specifically credited to “the apostles,” reinforcing “Apostolic Authority and Miracles” as a distinguishing mark of the Twelve’s unique ministry.

• Term: we must obey God rather than men

  • Original: πειθαρχεῖν θεῷ μᾶλλον ἢ ἀνθρώποις (5:29)
  • Contextual theological meaning: Establishes the limits of human/institutional authority when it conflicts with direct divine command — highly relevant given baseline’s flagged sensitivity around government/authority (Romans 13, “Flag but allow native speaker review” tier) and this curriculum’s own “Apostolic Authority” and “Persecution” doctrines
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: должно повиноваться Богу более, нежели человекам (High) — Flag for careful, non-inflammatory framing: this is not a general license for civil disobedience but a specific case where religious authorities commanded silence about the resurrection; should not be presented as blanket political defiance given contemporary Russian legal sensitivities around religious activity and state authority.

• Term: sect

  • Original: αἵρεσις (5:17, of the Sadducees, “the sect of the Sadducees” — first Acts occurrence of this word, used neutrally here of an established Jewish party)
  • Full Critical treatment below at ch. 24 (where the term is applied specifically to “the Way”/Christianity itself).

Chapter 6 — The Seven, and the First Hint of Church Office

• Term: service/ministry (proto-deacon office)

  • Original: διακονία (6:1, 4), and by later church tradition, the noun διάκονος
  • Transliteration: diakonia
  • Literal meaning: “service, ministry, waiting at tables”
  • Semantic range: practical service (here, daily food distribution to widows) alongside “the ministry of the word” (6:4) — both called διακονία, showing Luke does not rank the two as sacred vs. secular
  • English variants: service, ministry, deaconing
  • Contextual theological meaning: The functional origin of what later church tradition formalized as the diaconate — foundational for “The Church as Community” and practical care for the vulnerable
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: служение (functional term) / диакон (later formal-office term, used from church tradition onward) (High) — Risk: диакон is the precise term for an ordained clerical rank in the Russian Orthodox Church (part of a fixed three-tier hierarchy: deacon–priest–bishop), a considerably more developed institutional office than Acts 6’s ad hoc appointment of seven men to oversee food distribution. Using диакон without qualification risks importing the full weight of later, developed ordination theology onto this narrative’s simpler functional appointment. Recommend rendering Acts 6 itself with the functional служение/служители and reserving диакон for later, more explicit “office” contexts (cf. 1 Timothy, outside this curriculum’s scope, or noting the term’s later technical development explicitly).

• Term: filled with the Spirit and wisdom (qualification for service)

  • Original: πλήρης πνεύματος καὶ σοφίας (6:3)
  • Reuse исполненный Духа exactly per 2:4 treatment; pairs Spirit-fullness with practical wisdom — a helpful corrective against any purely ecstatic/emotional misreading of Spirit-fullness.

Chapter 7 — Stephen’s Speech and Martyrdom

• Term: witness → martyr (semantic transition)

  • Stephen’s death (7:54-60) is the narrative moment where the μάρτυς (witness) word-family’s later technical sense “martyr” (one who dies for testifying) begins to attach itself in Christian usage, even though the noun μάρτυς is not itself used of Stephen in this chapter (it is used of Saul as bystander, 22:20, retrospectively calling Stephen “your martyr/witness,” Στέφανος ὁ μάρτυς σου)
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: (High) — Translators must decide, verse by verse, whether свидетель (witness) or мученик (martyr) is intended; Acts 22:20 (retrospective) is the appropriate place to introduce мученик, not chapter 7 itself. Flag for consistency checking across the whole book.

• Term: stiff-necked

  • Original: σκληροτράχηλοι (7:51)
  • Transliteration: sklērotrachēlos
  • Literal meaning: “hard/stiff of neck” (a compound of σκληρός, hard, + τράχηλος, neck)
  • Semantic range: OT idiom (Exodus 32:9, Deuteronomy 9:6) for stubborn covenant unfaithfulness
  • English variants: stiff-necked, stubborn, obstinate
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: жестоковыйные (Medium) — the exact Synodal archaic compound; low doctrinal risk but real comprehension risk for readers unfamiliar with this OT idiom (secular or younger readers especially); a brief gloss (“непокорные, упорные в грехе”) is advisable.

• Term: the Righteous One (reuse)

  • Original: τὸν δίκαιον (7:52)
  • Reuse праведность/праведный family and the compound title treatment at 3:14; same risk profile.

Chapter 8 — Simon the Sorcerer; Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

• Term: sorcery/magician

  • Original: μαγεία / ὁ μάγος (8:9, 11, of Simon; cf. also 13:6, 8, “Elymas the magician/sorcerer” — Βαριησοῦς ὁ μάγος)
  • Transliteration: mageia; magos
  • Literal meaning: “magic, sorcery”; “a magician/sorcerer” (also, elsewhere in the NT, used positively of the Magi, Matthew 2:1)
  • Semantic range: occult practice claiming supernatural power, here explicitly condemned as a counterfeit of genuine apostolic authority
  • English variants: sorcery, magic, magician, sorcerer
  • Contextual theological meaning: Direct narrative contrast between counterfeit occult power (condemned) and genuine Spirit-given apostolic authority (affirmed) — sharpens “Apostolic Authority and Miracles”
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: волхв / волшебство / чародейство (High) — CRITICAL LEXICAL COLLISION: the Synodal tradition uses the identical word волхв both for Simon here (a condemned sorcerer, 8:9) and for the reverent Magi/Wise Men who worship the infant Jesus in Matthew 2 (“волхвы с востока,” a beloved figure in Russian Orthodox Nativity iconography and hymnody). A single Russian word thus carries both a strongly positive devotional association (the Magi) and a strongly negative condemned-occult association (Simon) depending entirely on context — a genuine risk of confusion or unintended irony if not handled with an explicit contextual gloss each time. This also reinforces the live post-Soviet folk-occult (экстрасенсы, гадалки, “whitchcraft”) collision already flagged under baseline’s spiritual_gifts entry: Simon’s condemned “power” functions in the narrative exactly like the folk-magic/psychic-power category still prominent in contemporary Russian culture.

• Term: laying on of hands

  • Original: ἐπίθεσις τῶν χειρῶν (8:17-18; recurring 6:6, 9:17, 13:3, 19:6, 28:8)
  • Transliteration: epithesis tōn cheirōn
  • Literal meaning: “a placing upon of the hands”
  • Semantic range: a physical gesture accompanying commissioning (6:6, 13:3), impartation of the Spirit (8:17-18, 19:6), and healing (9:17, 28:8) — a broad functional gesture, not a single fixed sacramental rite in Acts’ own usage
  • English variants: laying on of hands, imposition of hands
  • Contextual theological meaning: A recurring but functionally varied apostolic practice
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: возложение рук (High) — Risk: in Orthodox sacramental practice, a closely related gesture is specifically associated with ordination (хиротония, performed by a bishop) and, in a different form (anointing, not exactly hand-laying), with chrismation. The curriculum must not narrow Acts’ broader, more varied functional use of this gesture (commissioning, healing, and Spirit-impartation, in different combinations across different passages) into a single fixed sacramental-ordination category as Orthodox tradition would assume by default.

• Term: the Ethiopian eunuch’s baptism

  • Reuse крестить/крещение exactly (Critical, per 2:38 treatment); note this episode (8:26-39) is often cited in believer’s-baptism-vs-infant-baptism debates (the eunuch’s mature, individual confession preceding baptism, 8:37 in some manuscripts) — flag for the same Critical review routing as 2:38.

Chapter 9 — The Conversion of Saul; “The Way”; Tabitha

• Term: the Way

  • Original: τῆς ὁδοῦ (9:2; recurring 16:17, 18:25-26, 19:9, 19:23, 22:4, 24:14, 24:22)
  • Transliteration: hodos
  • Literal meaning: “road, way, path”
  • Semantic range: an early self-designation (and outsider-designation) for the Christian movement, likely drawing on Isaiah 40:3 (“prepare the way of the Lord”) and the OT “two ways” tradition (way of life vs. way of death)
  • English variants: the Way, the sect, this teaching
  • Contextual theological meaning: The primary name for the Christian movement within Acts itself, prior to “Christian” being coined (11:26); central to “Conversion of Paul” (Saul persecutes “the Way,” 9:2, then joins it)
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: Путь (High) — Risk: capitalized “Путь” as a religious self-designation risks blending into contemporary New Age and generic Eastern-inflected Russian spiritual-marketplace language, where “духовный путь” (“spiritual path/journey”) is an extremely common, doctrinally-neutral, syncretism-friendly phrase (yoga studios, meditation retreats, self-help literature). The curriculum must anchor “the Way” explicitly as a historical designation for the specific, exclusive, apostolic-doctrine-defined early Christian movement, not a generic “spiritual path” among many equally valid options.

• Term: chosen instrument/vessel

  • Original: σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς (9:15)
  • Transliteration: skeuos eklogēs
  • Literal meaning: “a vessel of choosing/selection”
  • Semantic range: σκεῦος = a container, tool, or instrument (of any material use); ἐκλογή = reuse baseline избрание exactly (High)
  • English variants: chosen instrument, chosen vessel
  • Contextual theological meaning: Paul’s calling is framed in the same sovereign-election vocabulary as the doctrine of election generally — connects “Conversion of Paul” directly to baseline’s Critical-adjacent election theology
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: избранный сосуд (High) — reuse избрание root exactly; must preserve both the sovereignty (“chosen”) and the instrumental purpose (“vessel/instrument,” i.e., used for God’s purposes, not honored for his own sake) — avoid a rendering that loses either half of the compound image.

• Term: baptism (Saul’s)

  • Reuse крещение exactly (Critical, per 2:38 treatment) — Saul’s baptism (9:18) immediately follows restored sight and precedes any extended discipleship period, relevant to sequencing debates about repentance/faith/baptism order; flag for the same Critical review routing.

Chapter 10 — Cornelius; the Gospel Opens to Gentiles

• Term: unclean / common

  • Original: κοινός (10:14-15, 28) and ἀκάθαρτος (10:14, 28)
  • Transliteration: koinos; akathartos
  • Literal meaning: κοινός = “common, shared, ordinary” (i.e., not set apart/consecrated); ἀκάθαρτος = “not clean, impure”
  • Semantic range: OT ritual-purity categories (Leviticus 11) governing what may be eaten or whom one may associate with, here declared abolished by divine vision as applied to the question of table-fellowship with Gentiles
  • English variants: common, unclean, defiled, impure
  • Contextual theological meaning: Direct doctrinal foundation for “The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles” — God himself declares the ritual-purity wall between Jew and Gentile abolished
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: нечистый (preferred) rather than скверный (Medium) — Risk: скверный carries a stronger moral-defilement connotation in ordinary modern Russian (associated with “сквернословие,” profanity/cursing) that would overstate the ritual, not moral, character of the OT distinction being addressed; нечистый is the more neutral, contextually accurate choice, matching standard Synodal usage for ceremonial impurity.

• Term: God shows no partiality

  • Original: οὐκ ἔστιν προσωπολήπτης ὁ θεός (10:34)
  • Transliteration: prosōpolēptēs (negated)
  • Literal meaning: “[God] is not one who receives/favors [on the basis of] the face”
  • Semantic range: impartiality regardless of ethnicity, status, or external appearance
  • English variants: shows no partiality, is not a respecter of persons, is impartial
  • Contextual theological meaning: The theological conclusion Peter draws directly from the Cornelius episode — foundational to “The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles” and directly parallel to Romans 2:11 (same Greek idiom)
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: Бог нелицеприятен (High) — Risk: нелицеприятный is an archaic/elevated Russian word (though standard Synodal usage) that may not be immediately intelligible to secular or younger readers, who may need the gloss “не отдаёт предпочтения по внешним признакам, происхождению или статусу”; theologically this reinforces baseline’s High-risk unity_of_jews_and_gentiles doctrine and deserves the same careful, unambiguous, non-minimizing treatment given the historical weight of antisemitism in the region.

• Term: God-fearer

  • Original: φοβούμενος τὸν θεόν (10:2, 22; recurring 13:16, 26)
  • Transliteration: phoboumenos ton theon
  • Literal meaning: “one fearing/reverencing God”
  • Semantic range: a technical designation in Acts for Gentiles who worshipped the God of Israel and associated with the synagogue without undergoing full proselyte conversion (including circumcision) — a distinct third category between “Jew” and “pagan Gentile”
  • English variants: God-fearer, one who fears God, devout Gentile
  • Contextual theological meaning: Cornelius’s status as a God-fearer (not yet a full proselyte) makes the Gentile-inclusion question in this chapter especially pointed
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: боящийся Бога / чтущий Бога (Medium) — no major cultural-collision risk, but should be glossed as a technical historical category (Gentile sympathizer with Judaism, not a full convert) so the doctrinal stakes of Cornelius’s full inclusion without circumcision (ch. 10-11, cf. ch. 15) are clear.

Chapter 11 — Antioch; the Name “Christian”

• Term: Christian

  • Original: Χριστιανοί (11:26; recurring 26:28)
  • Transliteration: Christianoi
  • Literal meaning: “belonging to Christ / of the Christ-party” (a Latinized/Greek formation, likely originally an outsider’s label)
  • Semantic range: the emergent proper name for followers of Jesus, first applied at Antioch
  • English variants: Christian, Christians
  • Contextual theological meaning: Marks a decisive stage in the movement’s self-identity, now distinct enough from both Judaism and paganism to require its own name
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: христианин / христиане (Low) — fully established, universally understood in Russian across all traditions; essentially no risk, though it is worth noting historically for the curriculum that the name itself is coined at this specific narrative moment (11:26), not assumed from the start of the book.

• Term: repentance that leads to life (applied to Gentiles)

  • Original: μετάνοιαν εἰς ζωήν (11:18)
  • Reuse покаяние exactly per Critical treatment at 2:38; here explicitly extended to Gentiles (“Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life”) — directly reinforces “The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles.”

Chapter 12 — Herod’s Persecution and Peter’s Deliverance

• Term: deliverance/rescue

  • Original: ἐξείλατο / ἐρρύσατο (12:11, “the Lord has rescued me”)
  • Transliteration: rhyomai
  • Literal meaning: “to rescue, deliver, snatch from danger”
  • Semantic range: reuse baseline’s narrowly-acceptable избавление (“deliverance,” listed under baseline salvation as an acceptable narrow alternative)
  • Contextual theological meaning: A concrete historical instance of God’s protective intervention for his servants amid persecution — reinforces “Persecution and Bold Witness” without displacing the primary спасение vocabulary reserved for the gospel’s saving work
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: избавил (Low) — safe to use here precisely because this is physical rescue from prison, not the soteriological “salvation” concept; low risk, but ensure избавление is not substituted for спасение in gospel-proclamation contexts per baseline’s narrow-use guidance.

• No other major new theological term in chapter 12; the chapter otherwise reuses established vocabulary (angel, prayer, the church praying — reuse церковь, общение). Herod’s death (12:23) reinforces themes of divine judgment already established without new terminology.

Chapter 13 — First Missionary Journey; Set Apart; Justification Preached to Gentiles

• Term: set apart (for ministry)

  • Original: ἀφορίσατε (13:2), ἀφορίζω
  • Transliteration: aphorizō
  • Literal meaning: “to mark off by boundary, separate”
  • Semantic range: a commissioning-separation for a specific task, by the Holy Spirit’s direct initiative
  • English variants: set apart, separate, commission
  • Contextual theological meaning: The Spirit’s initiative in commissioning the first missionary journey — direct link to baseline’s separation_unto_gods_service doctrine (High)
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: отделите / предназначил (High) — reuse baseline’s caution exactly: this “setting apart” must not be read as a summons to monastic withdrawal (a historically prestigious path in Russian Orthodox spirituality) but as a commissioning to active, outward-facing missionary engagement — the opposite of withdrawal from ordinary life.

• Term: ordained/appointed to eternal life

  • Original: ὅσοι ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον (13:48)
  • Transliteration: tetagmenoi
  • Literal meaning: “as many as had been appointed/ordained”
  • Semantic range: sovereign, prior divine appointment resulting in belief — one of the most explicit predestination-adjacent statements in Acts
  • English variants: appointed, ordained, destined
  • Contextual theological meaning: Directly parallel to Romans 8:28-30, 9:11-12’s election language — connects “Conversion of Paul”/“Gospel to Jews and Gentiles” material to baseline’s Critical effectual_calling doctrine
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: предназначенные к жизни вечной (Critical) — reuse baseline’s exact caution: must not be rendered with судьба/рок/карма (explicitly forbidden), and предопределение should only be introduced with careful, explicit definition given its loaded Reformed/Calvinist associations largely foreign to Orthodox soteriology. Human theologian review required, per baseline’s routing for any election/predestination language.

• Term: justified (reuse, direct parallel to Romans)

  • Original: ἐν τούτῳ πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων δικαιοῦται (13:39), δικαιόω
  • Reuse оправдание exactly per baseline (Critical) — THIS IS THE CLEAREST DIRECT ACTS PARALLEL TO ROMANS’ JUSTIFICATION DOCTRINE and the load-bearing textual anchor for the curriculum’s “Justification apart from the Law” unit
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: оправдывается (Critical) — must reuse baseline’s established term with full force, restoring the forensic “declared righteous” sense explicitly (per baseline’s system-prompt rule 5) and preserving the explicit law-contrast (“…from everything from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses”). Human theologian review required.

Chapter 14 — Lystra; Appointing Elders

• Term: elder
  • Original: πρεσβύτεροι (14:23; recurring 15:2, 4, 6, 22-23, 16:4, 20:17, 21:18)
  • Transliteration: presbyteros
  • Literal meaning: “elder, older man” (comparative of πρέσβυς)
  • Semantic range: (a) a member of the Jewish ruling council/elders of Israel (an OT-derived civic-religious office); (b) the emergent local-congregation leadership office in the new churches (this chapter’s sense)
  • English variants: elder, presbyter
  • Contextual theological meaning: The first explicit appointment of ongoing local leadership in Gentile-mission churches — foundational for “The Church as Community” and later intersects directly with “overseer” language at ch. 20
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: пресвитер (church-office sense) vs. старейшина (Jewish-council/civic sense) — context-sensitive, like baseline’s called entry (High) — Risk: пресвитер is also the precise formal Russian Orthodox clerical term for an ordained priest (the middle rank of the three-tier hierarchy, between deacon and bishop); using it without qualification for Acts’ plural, congregationally-accountable local leaders risks importing a fully sacerdotal, single-ordained-priest model onto what the text presents as a plural team of recognized leaders. Старейшина (elder/village-elder) avoids the priestly-ordination connotation but risks sounding merely civic/tribal rather than a spiritual-oversight office. Recommend пресвитер with explicit clarifying context (plural, congregationally accountable, not a sacramentally distinct priestly caste) rather than старейшина alone.

Chapter 15 — The Jerusalem Council; Circumcision and Grace

• Term: circumcision

  • Original: περιτομή; περιτέμνω (15:1, 5; recurring 16:3, 21:21)
  • Transliteration: peritomē
  • Reuse baseline’s law and justification framework directly; this is the OT covenant-sign at the center of the entire council’s debate
  • Contextual theological meaning: Direct textual anchor for “Justification apart from the Law” — the Jerusalem Council formally rules that circumcision (and by extension, law-keeping) is not required for salvation
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: обрезание (High) — standard, well-understood term; primary risk is doctrinal-collision (grace vs. law-works), directly connecting to baseline’s Critical оправдание/благодать entries — must preserve the council’s explicit ruling that salvation is “through the grace of the Lord Jesus” (15:11, reuse благодать exactly) and not through law-keeping, without minimizing the real historical weight of the controversy.

• Term: yoke

  • Original: ζυγόν (15:10, “why do you put a yoke on the neck of the disciples…”)
  • Transliteration: zygos
  • Literal meaning: “a yoke” (agricultural, for oxen)
  • Semantic range: metaphor for an unbearable burden of obligation (here, the full burden of Torah-observance as a requirement for salvation)
  • English variants: yoke, burden
  • Contextual theological meaning: Peter’s rhetorical climax against requiring circumcision/law-keeping for salvation
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: ярмо (recommended) rather than иго (High) — Risk: иго is the historically loaded Russian word specifically associated with “татаро-монгольское иго” (the Mongol/Tatar Yoke), one of the most significant national-trauma reference points in Russian historical memory (centuries of subjugation, ~1240s-1480s). Choosing иго here would import an unintended and distracting historical-political resonance into Peter’s agricultural metaphor; ярмо (the more neutral, literal ox-yoke term) is the safer choice, preserving the intended burden-metaphor without triggering unrelated national-historical associations.

• Term: it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us (apostolic decree)

  • Original: ἔδοξεν τῷ Πνεύματι τῷ Ἁγίῳ καὶ ἡμῖν (15:28)
  • Reuse Святой Дух exactly per baseline
  • Contextual theological meaning: A model for the exercise of “Apostolic Authority” in council together with the Spirit’s guidance — relevant precedent for later church-governance questions
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: угодно Святому Духу и нам (Medium) — standard, low ambiguity; note the collaborative human-divine phrasing is theologically significant (neither purely human decision nor a bypassing of human deliberation) and should not be smoothed over in translation.

Chapter 16 — Lydia; the Philippian Jailer; Spirit of Divination; Roman Citizenship

• Term: spirit of divination (python spirit)

  • Original: πνεῦμα πύθωνος (16:16)
  • Transliteration: pneuma pythōnos
  • Literal meaning: “a spirit of Python” (referencing the mythological Python/Delphic oracle serpent, a name applied generally in the ancient world to divining spirits)
  • Semantic range: a demonic spirit granting accurate fortune-telling ability, explicitly identified as an evil spirit to be cast out, not a neutral supernatural gift
  • English variants: spirit of divination, python spirit, spirit of fortune-telling
  • Contextual theological meaning: Direct narrative contrast between demonic false “gifts” and genuine Spirit-given ministry — sharply relevant to “The Holy Spirit and Pentecost” doctrine’s boundaries
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: дух прорицания (High) — Risk: this term names, condemns, and casts out precisely the kind of “accurate fortune-telling” ability associated in contemporary Russian culture with television psychics, folk healers, and fortune-tellers (экстрасенсы, гадалки, ясновидящие) — the exact live cultural collision already flagged at length under baseline’s spiritual_gifts entry. The curriculum should draw this connection explicitly: Acts itself narrates the apostolic response to this phenomenon as exorcism (deliverance from a demonic spirit), not neutral tolerance or endorsement.

• Term: Roman citizen

  • Original: Ῥωμαῖος (16:37-38; recurring 22:25-29, 23:27)
  • Transliteration: Rhōmaios
  • Literal meaning: “a Roman”
  • Semantic range: the specific legal status of Roman citizenship, conferring rights including protection from summary flogging and the right of appeal to Caesar
  • English variants: Roman citizen
  • Contextual theological meaning: Paul’s citizenship becomes a recurring plot device protecting his ministry and enabling his eventual journey to Rome — connects to “The Great Commission Fulfilled”
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: римский гражданин (Medium) — modern Russian “гражданство/гражданин” carries contemporary passport/legal-nationality connotations that map imperfectly onto the specific, unusual, and highly privileged ancient Roman legal status (most residents of the Empire were not citizens); a brief contextual note on the unique legal weight of this status is advisable, though no serious doctrinal collision is present.

Chapter 17 — Athens; the Unknown God; Idolatry

• Term: unknown god

  • Original: Ἀγνώστῳ Θεῷ (17:23)
  • Transliteration: Agnōstos Theos
  • Literal meaning: “to an Unknown God” (inscription on an actual Athenian altar)
  • Semantic range: Paul’s rhetorical bridge from pagan religious uncertainty to proclamation of the one true God
  • Reuse Бог exactly per baseline
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: неведомый бог (Medium) — low risk, mostly of apologetic/rhetorical interest; no significant cultural collision for Russian readers.

• Term: idol / idolatry / full of idols

  • Original: εἴδωλον (17:16, κατείδωλος, “full of idols”; recurring 7:41, 15:20, 19:26, 21:25)
  • Transliteration: eidōlon
  • Literal meaning: “an image, likeness” (originally neutral, came to mean specifically a false-god image)
  • Semantic range: physical images of pagan deities, and by extension the entire system of pagan worship
  • English variants: idol, image, false god
  • Contextual theological meaning: Central to Paul’s Areopagus apologetic and later to the Ephesian riot (ch. 19) — foundational anti-idolatry teaching
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: идол / идолослужение (High) — Risk: this vocabulary must NEVER be allowed to bleed, even by implication, into Orthodox icon veneration (икона), a practice sometimes externally mischaracterized by Protestant polemicists as “idolatry.” Orthodox theology carefully distinguishes veneration (проскинеза/почитание) of an icon from worship (λατρεία) of the icon itself, and firmly rejects idolatry as much as any Protestant tradition does. The curriculum must present Acts’ condemnation of pagan idol-worship (statues of Zeus, Artemis, etc.) without allowing any implicit or explicit extension of that condemnation to Orthodox icon practice — a genuinely live, sensitive, inter-Christian issue requiring careful, non-polemical framing, parallel in seriousness to the baseline’s careful tone around grace/sanctification.

Chapter 18 — Corinth; Gallio; Aquila and Priscilla; Apollos

No major new theological term. Reuses established vocabulary: the Way (18:25-26, of Apollos being instructed more accurately), синедрион/Jewish council dynamics (implicit, Gallio’s tribunal), baptism (18:25, John’s baptism, anticipating full treatment at ch. 19). Chapter 18 is explicitly noted here as introducing no new load-bearing theological vocabulary; it reuses terms established in chapters 1–17, principally the Way, baptism, and general missionary-journey narrative vocabulary.

Chapter 19 — Ephesus; John’s Baptism vs. Spirit Baptism; Sons of Sceva; the Riot

• Term: John’s baptism (contrasted with Spirit-baptism)

  • Original: βάπτισμα Ἰωάννου (19:3-4; cf. 18:25)
  • Transliteration: baptisma Iōannou
  • Literal meaning: “the baptism of John”
  • Semantic range: John the Baptist’s preparatory baptism of repentance, explicitly distinguished by Paul from baptism “in the name of the Lord Jesus” (19:5) accompanied by the Spirit’s coming (19:6)
  • Contextual theological meaning: Shows Luke’s own text drawing a clear distinction between a preparatory repentance-rite and full Christian baptism united with receiving the Spirit — directly bears on the Critical baptismal-theology debate flagged at 2:38
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: крещение Иоанново (High) — Risk: this passage is frequently cited on multiple sides of the baptismal-regeneration and “baptism of the Spirit” debates; the curriculum should note explicitly that Luke distinguishes an incomplete, preparatory rite from full Christian baptism-with-the-Spirit, without over-resolving exactly how this maps onto later denominational categories (water baptism vs. Spirit baptism as separate or simultaneous events) that remain contested among Evangelical, Pentecostal, and other traditions this curriculum serves.

• Term: magic scrolls burned; sons of Sceva

  • Reuse волхв/чародейство/маг family from ch. 8 (High) — Acts 19:13-19 intensifies the same theme: itinerant Jewish exorcists attempting to use “the name of the Lord Jesus” as a magical formula (directly recalling the risk flagged at 2:21/2:38 regarding “calling on the name”) are exposed as counterfeit, and new believers publicly burn their own magic scrolls (19:19) — a vivid, concrete renunciation narrative highly relevant to contemporary Russian post-Soviet occult culture (renunciation of extrasensory/folk-magic practice upon conversion).

• Term: idolatry (Artemis of the Ephesians)

  • Reuse идол/идолослужение family from ch. 17 (High) — the Ephesian silversmiths’ riot (19:23-41) in defense of the goddess Artemis/Diana reinforces the same careful non-Orthodox-icon-adjacent framing noted above.

Chapter 20 — Paul’s Farewell at Miletus: Elders, Overseers, Shepherds

• Term: overseer / bishop

  • Original: ἐπίσκοπος (20:28; the related verb ἐπισκοπεῖν does not occur here but the noun form is foundational for later church-office vocabulary)
  • Transliteration: episkopos
  • Literal meaning: “one who watches over, an overseer, superintendent”
  • Semantic range: in this passage, used interchangeably with πρεσβύτερος (elder, 20:17) for the same local church leaders — i.e., Luke’s own text treats “elder” and “overseer” as two functional descriptions of a single office at this stage, not two distinct ranks
  • English variants: overseer, bishop, guardian
  • Contextual theological meaning: This is the single most consequential ecclesiology term in the whole book for the Russian context
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: блюститель (recommended) rather than епископ (Critical) — CRITICAL: епископ is the precise, loaded term for the highest rank of the Russian Orthodox Church’s three-tier ordained hierarchy (bishop, over a diocese, in a line of apostolic succession understood in a specifically episcopal-hierarchical sense). Rendering Acts 20:28’s ἐπίσκοπος as епископ would strongly imply that the fully developed, later episcopal hierarchy already existed in plural, interchangeable form at each local congregation in Paul’s day — either overstating early church structure toward Orthodox institutional categories, or (read the other way) appearing to “flatten” the Orthodox episcopate into a merely functional, non-hierarchical role, which would read as an implicit anti-Orthodox polemic. Блюститель (“overseer, guardian, watchman” — a non-technical, functional word) better preserves Acts’ own plural, non-hierarchical usage without triggering the institutional collision either direction. This is a direct instance of the “live, named theological controversy” collision described in the doctrine-risk Critical definition (congregational/plural-elder vs. episcopal-hierarchical church government) and requires human theologian review for every occurrence.

• Term: shepherd / flock

  • Original: ποιμαίνειν (20:28, “to shepherd/care for”), ποίμνιον (20:28-29, “the flock”)
  • Transliteration: poimainō; poimnion
  • Literal meaning: “to shepherd, tend a flock”; “a little flock”
  • Semantic range: pastoral care metaphor, drawing on OT shepherd-leader imagery (Ezekiel 34, Psalm 23) and Jesus’ own self-designation (John 10)
  • English variants: shepherd, tend, care for; flock, congregation
  • Contextual theological meaning: Reinforces the plural-elder pastoral-care model (multiple elder-overseer-shepherds for one flock, not one bishop-shepherd for many congregations)
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: пасти / стадо (паства) (Medium) — a well-established, mostly positive pastoral metaphor in both Orthodox and Protestant Russian usage (паства is the standard Orthodox term for a parish’s members); ensure the plural leadership implied by Acts 20 (many elder-shepherds for one flock) is not obscured by a term that might default to the single-priest-per-parish model familiar from Orthodox parish structure.

• Term: the whole counsel/will of God

  • Original: πᾶσαν τὴν βουλὴν τοῦ θεοῦ (20:27)
  • Reuse baseline’s промысел Божий-adjacent vocabulary conceptually, though a distinct phrase; render as вся воля Божия (Synodal choice) rather than “весь совет Божий” (Medium) — Risk: “совет” in ordinary modern Russian primarily means “advice” or “a committee/council,” which would badly understate God’s authoritative purposive will; воля (will) avoids that misdirection and matches Synodal precedent.

• Term: purchased/obtained with his own blood

  • Original: περιεποιήσατο διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ ἰδίου (20:28)
  • Transliteration: periepoiēsato
  • Literal meaning: “he acquired/obtained for himself”
  • Semantic range: a strong statement of costly acquisition — the church belongs to God/Christ because it was purchased at the price of his own blood
  • English variants: purchased, obtained, bought
  • Contextual theological meaning: A dense atonement/redemption statement with a well-known textual variant (“the church of God” vs. “the church of the Lord,” with direct implications for whether this verse explicitly predicates “blood” of God himself — a strong deity-of-Christ statement if so)
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: приобрёл Кровию Своею (Critical) — reuse redemption/atonement framework; flag for human theologian review given (1) the textual-critical Christological sensitivity of the underlying manuscript variant, and (2) direct connection to atonement/propitiation-level doctrinal weight (paralleling baseline’s flagged sensitivity around Romans 3:25).

Chapter 21 — Paul’s Vow, Warnings, and Arrest; the Nazarene/Nazirite Collision

• Term: Nazirite vow (and its collision with “Nazarene”)
  • Original: εὐχή (21:23, “a vow”), referring to the ναζιραῖος/Nazirite vow of Numbers 6, undertaken by four men Paul joins in a purification rite
  • Transliteration: euchē; nazir (Hebrew, “one separated/consecrated”)
  • Literal meaning: “a vow” (of consecrated separation, involving abstention from wine and cutting of hair for a fixed period)
  • Semantic range: an entirely distinct concept from “Nazarene” (one from the town of Nazareth, applied to Jesus in 2:22 and to the Christian movement pejoratively at 24:5)
  • English variants: Nazirite vow
  • Contextual theological meaning: Paul’s participation demonstrates his continuing respect for Jewish practice even as an apostle to the Gentiles — relevant to “Justification apart from the Law” (law-keeping as cultural respect, not soteriological necessity)
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: обет назорейства / назорейский обет (Critical) — CRITICAL AND SPECIFIC LEXICAL COLLISION: the Synodal Russian tradition uses the identical root word Назорей/назорейство both for this entirely distinct Nazirite-vow concept (Numbers 6; Acts 21) AND, in the very same Bible, for “Nazarene” (one from Nazareth — Matthew 2:23’s “он назовется Назореем,” and Acts 24:5’s “the sect of the Nazarenes,” Ναζωραίων). These are etymologically and conceptually unrelated Hebrew/Greek terms (נָזִיר nazir “one consecrated by vow” vs. Ναζωραῖος “one from Nazareth”) that the Synodal Russian tradition renders with confusingly similar (in some editions, identical) Russian forms. This is a well-documented, specific, and serious translation risk requiring an explicit disambiguating gloss every time either sense occurs, flagged for human theologian review.

Chapter 22 — Paul’s Defense Speech; Roman Citizenship Reiterated

Largely reuses established vocabulary: the Damascus road conversion account (reuse the Way, ch. 9 terms), Ῥωμαῖος/citizenship (reuse ch. 16), retrospective μάρτυς/мученик naming of Stephen (22:20, “when the blood of Stephen your witness [μάρτυρος] was shed” — this is the appropriate point to introduce the martyrological sense fully, per the note at ch. 7). No further new theological terms beyond these reused items requiring fresh treatment.

Chapter 23 — The Sanhedrin; Pharisees and Sadducees Dispute over Resurrection; Plot against Paul

Reuses συνέδριον/синедрион (ch. 4-5 treatment) extensively. New minor note:

• Term: resurrection (as inter-Jewish doctrinal dispute)
  • Original: ἀνάστασις (23:6, 8; the Sadducees deny it, the Pharisees affirm it)
  • Reuse воскресение exactly per baseline (Medium)
  • Contextual theological meaning: Shows resurrection was already a live, internally-contested Jewish doctrinal question before Christian proclamation, not a uniquely Christian innovation — useful apologetic/historical note, low additional risk beyond baseline’s existing resurrection_of_christ entry.

Chapter 24 — Paul before Felix; “The Sect” Named Explicitly

• Term: sect

  • Original: αἵρεσις (24:5, 14; recurring 26:5, 28:22)
  • Transliteration: hairesis
  • Literal meaning: “a choosing, a chosen course of action” (from αἱρέομαι, to choose); by extension, “a school of thought, party, faction”
  • Semantic range: in Koine Greek, a relatively neutral term for a distinguishable party or school within a larger tradition (used of Sadducees and Pharisees themselves at 5:17, 15:5, 26:5) — NOT inherently pejorative in the way the later English “heresy” or modern Russian “секта” is
  • English variants: sect, party, school of thought (neutral); heresy, cult (pejorative, later development)
  • Contextual theological meaning: Tertullus, Paul’s accuser, uses this word to label the Christian movement itself (“the sect of the Nazarenes,” 24:5) as a form of legal/social delegitimization; Paul in his own defense (24:14) accepts the outsider’s label (“the Way, which they call a sect”) while insisting on its full continuity with the worship of “the God of our fathers” and belief in “everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets”
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: секта (Critical) — SEVERE RISK: modern Russian секта is far more strongly pejorative than the relatively neutral Koine Greek αἵρεσις, and it functions as a live legal and social category in contemporary Russia — “секта” and “сектантство” are terms used in Russian public/legal discourse (and occasionally invoked under religious-registration and anti-extremism law) to describe dangerous, manipulative, socially harmful fringe groups, often applied polemically to precisely the kind of minority Evangelical/Protestant congregations this curriculum serves. Rendering Tertullus’s accusation with the modern legal/social weight of секта risks either (a) making ancient legal language sound like a direct commentary on the contemporary legal status of Russian Evangelical minorities (an unintended and potentially dangerous parallel), or (b) failing to convey that Tertullus’s charge was itself a hostile legal maneuver, not a neutral description. Recommend a lower-register rendering such as толк (“a school/tendency,” relatively neutral) or учение (“a teaching/movement”) with explicit contextual framing, reserving секта only with a clear editorial note about its accusatory function in the original setting. Human theologian review required for every occurrence.

• Term: hope

  • Original: ἐλπίς (24:15; recurring 23:6, 26:6-7, 27:20, 28:20)
  • Transliteration: elpis
  • Literal meaning: “hope, expectation”
  • Semantic range: confident expectation grounded in God’s promise (here, specifically the hope of bodily resurrection, and more broadly “the hope of Israel,” 28:20), not mere optimistic wishing
  • English variants: hope, expectation
  • Contextual theological meaning: A term not previously fixed in the baseline Romans package (though foundational to Romans 5, 8, 15 as well) — Acts anchors it specifically to the resurrection hope and to continuity with Israel’s own messianic hope, directly relevant to “The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles” and “Conversion of Paul” material
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: надежда (High) — Risk: (1) Надежда is also an extremely common Russian given name (one of the most popular women’s names, along with Вера “Faith” and Любовь “Love” — the “Faith, Hope, Love” triad of names), which can lend the word an everyday, low-stakes register disconnected from confident resurrection-hope; (2) Paul’s specific framing of this hope as continuous with “the hope of our fathers” / “the hope of Israel” (26:6-7, 28:20) touches the same Jewish-Gentile sensitivity flagged throughout the baseline and this document — care must be taken that Christian hope is presented as the fulfillment of, not a replacement for or rejection of, Israel’s own scriptural hope. NEW TERM: recommend formal addition to the language package’s core term registry given its foundational and recurring role across both Romans and Acts.

Chapter 25 — Festus; Appeal to Caesar

• Term: Caesar / appeal
  • Original: Καῖσαρ (25:8, 10-12, 21; recurring 26:32, 27:24, 28:19)
  • Transliteration: Kaisar
  • Literal meaning: proper name/title of the Roman emperor
  • Semantic range: the supreme earthly political-judicial authority of Paul’s world, and the final legal avenue of Paul’s citizenship rights
  • English variants: Caesar, the emperor
  • Contextual theological meaning: Paul’s appeal to Caesar becomes the narrative engine driving the gospel’s journey to Rome — direct fulfillment of “The Great Commission Fulfilled” and 1:8’s “to the ends of the earth”
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: Кесарь (Medium) — retain the established Synodal transliterated form; do NOT render as “царь” (tsar), which would import Russia’s own loaded imperial-monarchical history and title directly onto the Roman emperor, creating an unintended and potentially confusing historical-political overlay (paralleling baseline’s caution about “Царство Божие” and monarchical/imperial resonance).

Chapter 26 — Paul before Agrippa: Conversion Retold; Light and Darkness

Largely reuses established conversion-narrative vocabulary from chapters 9 and 22. One additional term:

• Term: from the power/authority of Satan to God
  • Original: ἀπὸ τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ Σατανᾶ ἐπὶ τὸν θεόν (26:18)
  • Transliteration: exousia tou Satana
  • Literal meaning: “from the authority/dominion of Satan”
  • Semantic range: a dualistic kingdom-transfer statement — conversion as a decisive change of governing authority/dominion, not merely a change of belief or feeling
  • English variants: power of Satan, dominion of darkness, authority of Satan
  • Contextual theological meaning: Frames “Conversion of Paul” (and, by programmatic extension, every conversion Paul will effect among the Gentiles) as a transfer of governance — directly parallel to baseline’s kingdom_of_god entry (Medium), understood here in dualistic contrast with an opposing dominion
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: от власти сатаны к Богу (Medium) — reuse Бог exactly; ensure “власть” (authority/power/dominion) here reads as a real, personal, governing authority (however illegitimate and already defeated), not a merely metaphorical “influence” — while avoiding sensationalized or superstitious framing given the same post-Soviet occult-culture sensitivities already flagged repeatedly above.

Chapter 27 — Shipwreck; Faith amid Crisis

No major new theological term. Reuses πίστις/вера (27:25, “Take heart, men, for I have faith [πιστεύω] in God that it will be exactly as I have been told” — reuse baseline вера family exactly, Medium risk per baseline, here in a crisis-confidence rather than justification context) and general providence vocabulary (reuse промысел Божий conceptually, though the specific term is not used). Chapter 27 is noted here as introducing no new load-bearing theological vocabulary beyond established terms.

Chapter 28 — Malta; Arrival in Rome; “Without Hindrance”

• Term: without hindrance

  • Original: ἀκωλύτως (28:31 — the very last word of the entire book)
  • Transliteration: akōlytōs
  • Literal meaning: “unhindered, without obstruction”
  • Semantic range: complete freedom of proclamation, despite Paul’s own house-arrest circumstances
  • English variants: without hindrance, unhindered, freely
  • Contextual theological meaning: The book’s deliberately triumphant closing note — the gospel’s advance cannot ultimately be stopped by any earthly power, even as its messenger remains a literal prisoner. Direct capstone to “The Great Commission Fulfilled.”
  • Destination-language rendering & risk: беспрепятственно (High) — Risk: this triumphant closing note sits in real, poignant tension with contemporary Russian legal restrictions on evangelistic/missionary activity outside registered religious premises (the same “Yarovaya law” sensitivity already flagged extensively in the baseline for Romans’ mission-related material). The curriculum should preserve the text’s full triumphant force (per the doctrinal-preservation rule against minimizing statements) while framing it pastorally, not as a claim that such freedom is guaranteed or currently experienced by every believer in every context — the same careful, non-defiant, non-minimizing balance the baseline strikes for Romans 13 and missionary-activity material generally.

• No further new theological terms; the healing of the viper bite and Publius’s father (28:3-9) reuses established σημεῖα/чудеса and laying on of hands vocabulary from earlier chapters without new risk dimensions.

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Summary Note on Full-Book Coverage

Every chapter of Acts (1–28) has been analyzed above, either through the core-passage verse-by-verse treatment (chapter 2, vv. 1–41) or through a dedicated chapter section (chapters 1, 2 vv. 42-47, 3–28). Chapters 18 and 27 are explicitly noted as introducing no new load-bearing theological vocabulary beyond terms already established earlier in the book or in the baseline Romans package. All other chapters introduce at least one new term requiring destination-language risk assessment, consolidated in 08_core_glossary.md.