Core Glossary
Core Glossary — Mark, English → Russian
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, drawn from the core passage (Mark 10:35–45) and from every chapter of Mark, chapters 1–16. Terms already present in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json/bible_term_registry.json are marked REUSE and carry forward their exact established rendering and risk tier unchanged. Terms new to the Mark curriculum are marked NEW and are assigned a fresh risk tier here for the first time, to be added to translation memory during Phase 2 preparation.
Legend
- Status: REUSE (Romans baseline) = must use exact baseline rendering; NEW (Mark) = introduced by this curriculum
- Risk: Critical / High / Medium / Low (identical definitions to the baseline doctrine_risk_registry.json)
- Doctrine tags: SS = Suffering Servant & Son of God · KOG = Kingdom of God Breaking In · FD = Faith & Discipleship amid Fear · NC = Necessity of the Cross · SG = Servanthood vs. Worldly Greatness · MS = Messianic Secret · AU = Authority over Sickness/Sin/Nature · RM = Ransom for Many
A. Christological Titles and Terms
| Term (EN) | Greek | Transliteration | Russian rendering | Status | Risk | Doctrine tags | Key passages | Rationale / rejected alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gospel | εὐαγγέλιον | euangelion | Евангелие | REUSE (Romans baseline) | High (per registry) | SS, KOG | 1:1; 1:14-15; 13:10; 16:15 | Must reuse exactly; risk of being heard as book/genre title rather than living proclamation, mitigated by 1:1’s explicit framing. |
| Son of God | Υἱὸς Θεοῦ | Huios Theou | Сын Божий | REUSE (Romans baseline) | Medium | SS | 1:1, 1:11, 3:11, 5:7, 9:7, 15:39 | Shared, settled Nicene-heritage confession with Orthodoxy; risk is precision, not rival framework. Note 15:39’s anarthrous Greek requires exegetical comment. |
| Son of Man | ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου | ho huios tou anthrōpou | Сын Человеческий | NEW (Mark) | Critical | SS, MS, NC, RM | 2:10, 2:28, 8:31, 8:38, 9:9, 9:31, 10:33, 10:45, 13:26, 14:21, 14:41, 14:62 | Established Russian rendering, but the Daniel 7 apocalyptic-authority sense (not merely “a human being”) must be explicitly taught at first occurrence (2:10) and reinforced at each later use, especially 10:45 and 14:62, or the title’s dual force collapses into mere humility-language. |
| Christ / Messiah | ὁ Χριστός / Χριστός | ho Christos / Christos | Христос / Мессия | REUSE (Romans baseline) | High | SS, MS | 1:1, 8:29, 9:41, 12:35, 13:21, 14:61, 15:32 | Reuse exactly. Peter’s confession (8:29) followed immediately by a silencing command (8:30) is the clearest single data point for the Messianic Secret doctrine; must be preserved with narrative shock intact. |
| Lord | Κύριος | Kyrios | Господь | REUSE (Romans baseline) | Critical | SS, SG | 1:3, 11:3, 12:36-37, 13:35 | Reuse exactly. Note the wordplay risk at 10:42 (κατακυριεύουσιν, “lord it over,” shares the Господь root) — must be flagged, not silently reused without comment. |
| ”I am” (divine self-disclosure) | ἐγώ εἰμι | egō eimi | Я есть / это Я | NEW (Mark) | Critical | SS, MS | 6:50; 14:62 | Ordinary Russian idiom (“это Я”) fully flattens the Exodus 3:14/Daniel 7 echo; must be surfaced explicitly in teaching notes at both occurrences, especially 14:62 where it triggers the blasphemy charge. |
| King of the Jews | ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων | ho basileus tōn Ioudaiōn | Царь Иудейский | NEW (Mark) | Medium-High | KOG, NC | 15:2, 9, 12, 18, 26 | Ironic mocking title fulfilled paradoxically through crucifixion; shares politically resonant “царь/царство” root flagged in Romans baseline for “kingdom_of_god.” |
| Seed of David / Son of David | υἱὸς Δαυίδ | huios Dauid | Сын Давидов / от семени Давидова | REUSE (Romans baseline, “seed_of_david”) | Medium | SS | 10:47-48, 11:10, 12:35-37 | Reuse baseline phrasing; 12:35-37’s riddle (David’s son yet David’s Lord) requires Господь to bear full lordship weight for the paradox to register. |
B. Kingdom, Salvation, and Faith Terms
| Term (EN) | Greek | Transliteration | Russian rendering | Status | Risk | Doctrine tags | Key passages | Rationale / rejected alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kingdom of God | βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ | basileia tou Theou | Царство Божие | REUSE (Romans baseline) | Medium | KOG | 1:15, 4:11, 4:26-32, 9:1, 10:14-15, 10:23-25, 14:25 | Reuse exactly; Mark’s “has come near” (1:15) framing requires teaching text to stress present in-breaking, not only future hope. |
| Repentance | μετάνοια / μετανοέω | metanoia / metanoeō | покаяние | NEW (Mark) | High | KOG, FD | 1:4, 1:15, 6:12 | покаяние is also the formal Orthodox sacrament of Confession; must not be narrowed from whole-life reorientation to a discrete ritual act. |
| Faith | πίστις | pistis | вера | REUSE (Romans baseline) | High | FD | 2:5, 4:40, 5:34, 9:23-24, 10:52, 11:22-24 | Reuse exactly; per baseline, must convey personal trust in Christ, not Orthodox institutional/sacramental identity. |
| ”Your faith has saved/healed you” | ἡ πίστις σου σέσωκέν σε | hē pistis sou sesōken se | вера твоя спасла тебя | NEW (Mark), using REUSE root спасение | Critical | FD | 5:34, 10:52 | σῴζω’s deliberate physical-healing/eternal-salvation double sense should be preserved (спасти), not disambiguated away with исцелить, consistent with baseline’s спасение entry. |
| Salvation / save | σῴζω / σωτηρία | sōzō / sōtēria | спасение / спасти | REUSE (Romans baseline) | Critical | FD, RM | 3:4, 5:23, 5:28, 5:34, 8:35, 10:26, 10:52, 13:13, 13:20, 15:30-31 | Reuse exactly; anchor to Christ’s decisive action, not open-ended theosis process, per baseline note. |
| Eternal life | ζωὴ αἰώνιος | zōē aiōnios | жизнь вечная | NEW (Mark) | Low-Medium | FD | 10:17, 10:30 | Standard Bible-register phrase; low collision risk. |
| Fear (of danger) vs. fear/awe (of Jesus) | φοβέομαι | phobeomai | бояться / устрашиться / убояться | NEW (Mark) | Medium-High | FD | 4:40-41, 5:15, 5:33, 5:36, 6:50, 9:6, 9:32, 10:32, 16:8 | Two distinct senses (ordinary fear vs. reverential awe) should be lexically distinguished where possible; central to the Faith and Discipleship amid Fear doctrine across the whole book. |
| Mystery/secret of the kingdom | τὸ μυστήριον τῆς βασιλείας | to mystērion tēs basileias | тайна Царства [Божия] | NEW (Mark) | Critical | MS, KOG | 4:11 | ”Тайна” collides with “Святые Тайны” (the Sacraments) in Orthodox usage; must be explicitly distinguished from sacramental mystery-rites. Flag for human theologian review. |
| Parable | παραβολή | parabolē | притча | NEW (Mark) | Medium | MS | 4:2-34, 12:1-12 | Standard term; dual reveal/veil function (4:11-12) must be surfaced, not flattened to generic illustration. |
C. Servanthood, Authority, and Suffering Terms (Core Passage Anchor)
| Term (EN) | Greek | Transliteration | Russian rendering | Status | Risk | Doctrine tags | Key passages | Rationale / rejected alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ransom | λύτρον | lytron | искупление (Synodal precedent); gloss with выкуп (ransom-price) in teaching text | NEW (Mark) | Critical | RM, NC, SS | 10:45 | Single most load-bearing term in the core passage; искупление risks generalizing into broad “Atonement” without the concrete “price paid to free a captive” sense; must be unpacked explicitly, never left to stand alone. |
| For/instead of (substitution) | ἀντί | anti | за / вместо (with explicit “in exchange for” gloss) | NEW (Mark) | Critical | RM, NC | 10:45 | Ordinary “за” collapses ἀντί’s substitutionary sense into generic “for the benefit of” (ὑπέρ); must state the exchange/substitution sense explicitly. |
| Many (Isaiah 53 echo) | πολλῶν | pollōn | многие | NEW (Mark) | Medium | RM, SS | 10:45 | Echoes Isaiah 53:11-12 LXX; intertextual link must be surfaced via cross-reference to the Synodal OT text, since it is invisible in translation alone. |
| Cup (of suffering) | ποτήριον | potērion | чаша | NEW (Mark) | High | NC, FD | 10:38-39, 14:23, 14:36 | Existing Russian idiom (“испить чашу”) is an asset for intelligibility but the specific sense of judgment/suffering absorbed on behalf of others must be supplied by context, not assumed. |
| Baptism (metaphorical, of suffering) | βάπτισμα | baptisma | крещение | NEW (Mark) | High | NC, FD | 1:4-11, 10:38-39 | Default sense in Russian is the literal sacrament; metaphorical extension to suffering/death here must be explicitly flagged or readers will import full sacramental categories. |
| Lord it over / dominate | κατακυριεύω | katakyrieuō | господствовать над | NEW (Mark) | Critical | SG | 10:42 | Shares root with Господь (Lord); wordplay (worldly “lording” vs. Christ’s true, redefined lordship) must be made explicit, not left implicit. |
| Exercise authority over (domineer) | κατεξουσιάζω | katexousiazō | властвовать над | NEW (Mark) | High | SG, AU | 10:42 | Shares root with ἐξουσία (authority); connects to and contrasts with Jesus’ own healing authority in chs.1-8 — link should be surfaced explicitly. |
| Servant (active, ministering) | διάκονος | diakonos | служитель (never диакон) | NEW (Mark) | High | SG, RM | 9:35, 10:43, 10:45 | ”Диакон” is a specific modern Orthodox clerical office; using it here would wrongly narrow Jesus’ point about all disciples’ character to one institutional role. |
| Slave/bondservant (total self-giving) | δοῦλος | doulos | раб | NEW (Mark) | High | SG | 10:44 | Positive Orthodox devotional resonance (“раб Божий”) is an asset; heavy historical resonance (serfdom, Gulag forced labor) is a liability; must be taught as voluntary, dignified self-giving, not coercion. |
| Great(ness) | μέγας | megas | великий | NEW (Mark) | Low-Medium | SG | 9:34, 10:43 | Standard; watch that secular-heroic register doesn’t reintroduce the very worldly-greatness framework the passage subverts. |
| First | πρῶτος | prōtos | первый | NEW (Mark) | Low | SG | 9:35, 10:44 | Standard, no collision. |
| Soul/life (surrendered) | ψυχή | psychē | жизнь (preferred over душа in this sense) | NEW (Mark) | High | RM, NC, FD | 8:35-37, 10:45 | душа risks shifting sense toward “immaterial soul” and away from Mark’s “whole embodied life laid down”; consistency across 8:35-37 and 10:45 required. |
| It is necessary/must (divine appointment) | δεῖ | dei | надлежит (preferred over должно) | NEW (Mark) | High | NC | 8:31, 9:31, 10:33 | Marks divine necessity, not mere prediction/obligation; cumulative threefold repetition structures the whole central section and must be rendered consistently. |
| Deny self / take up cross | ἀπαρνέομαι ἑαυτόν / αἴρω τὸν σταυρόν | aparneomai heauton / airō ton stauron | отвергнуться себя / взять крест свой | NEW (Mark) | High | NC, FD | 8:34 | ”Нести свой крест” is a flattened secular idiom for enduring hardship; specific radical, potentially fatal discipleship-call must be restored in teaching text. |
D. Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature
| Term (EN) | Greek | Transliteration | Russian rendering | Status | Risk | Doctrine tags | Key passages | Rationale / rejected alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Authority | ἐξουσία | exousia | власть | NEW (Mark) | High | AU | 1:22, 1:27, 2:10, 3:15, 6:7, 11:28-33 | Correct, standard rendering; keep the sense personal/relational (Jesus’ inherent authority), not institutional-political, given Russian власть’s strong state-power connotations. |
| Unclean spirit / demon | πνεῦμα ἀκάθαρτον / δαιμόνιον | pneuma akatharton / daimonion | нечистый дух / бес / демон | NEW (Mark) | High | AU | 1:23-27, 3:11, 3:22-30, 5:1-20, 7:24-30, 9:14-29 | Must be distinguished from both Orthodox folk-exorcism practice (отчитка) and post-Soviet occult/extrasensy culture; Jesus’ unique word-only authority must not read as one technique among many. |
| Sins forgiven | ἀφίενται αἱ ἁμαρτίαι | aphientai hai hamartiai | прощаются грехи | NEW (Mark), reusing REUSE грех | High | AU, SS | 2:5-10 | грех reused per baseline exactly; specific point here is Jesus’ authority to forgive as a divine prerogative, must be surfaced explicitly. |
| Sin | ἁμαρτία | hamartia | грех | REUSE (Romans baseline) | High | AU | throughout | Reuse exactly; baseline’s warning about post-Soviet folk-moral flattening applies with extra force where the point is divine authority to forgive, not sin’s mere reality. |
| Compassion | σπλαγχνίζομαι | splagchnizomai | сжалиться / умилосердиться | NEW (Mark) | Low-Medium | SS, AU | 1:41, 6:34, 8:2, 9:22 | Visceral intensity should not be flattened to generic politeness. |
| Clean / unclean (ritual) | καθαρός / κοινός | katharos / koinos | чистый / нечистый | NEW (Mark) | Medium | AU | 1:40-44, 7:1-23 | Keep lexically distinct from “unclean spirit” vocabulary to avoid conflating ritual/moral defilement with demonic possession. |
| Heart | καρδία | kardia | сердце | NEW (Mark) | Low | AU, SS | 7:6, 7:19, 7:21, 10:5, 12:30 | Standard, matches Russian idiom of heart as moral/volitional center closely. |
E. Messianic Secret Vocabulary
| Term (EN) | Greek | Transliteration | Russian rendering | Status | Risk | Doctrine tags | Key passages | Rationale / rejected alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charged/commanded to tell no one | διεστείλατο… μηδενὶ εἴπωσιν / ἐπετίμησεν | diesteilato… mēdeni eipōsin / epetimēsen | строго приказал… никому не говорить | NEW (Mark) | High | MS | 1:34, 1:44, 3:12, 5:43, 7:36, 8:30, 9:9 | Recurring formula structural to the whole book’s concealment pattern; consistent rendering needed for readers to perceive the pattern across chapters. |
| Transfigured | μεταμορφόω | metamorphoō | преобразился | NEW (Mark) | Medium (asset) | MS, SS | 9:2-8 | Namesake of major shared Orthodox feast (Преображение); risk is exposition (reveal-then-conceal pattern), not rival framework. |
| Tradition of men/elders | παράδοσις [τῶν ἀνθρώπων/πρεσβυτέρων] | paradosis [tōn anthrōpōn/presbyterōn] | предание человеческое / предания старцев | NEW (Mark) | Critical | AU | 7:3-13 | Collides directly with Orthodox “Holy Tradition” (Священное Предание); qualifying genitives must always be retained, never used bare. Mandatory human theologian review. |
F. Covenant, Passion, and Closing Terms
| Term (EN) | Greek | Transliteration | Russian rendering | Status | Risk | Doctrine tags | Key passages | Rationale / rejected alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Covenant [blood of the] | διαθήκη | diathēkē | завет | REUSE (Romans baseline) | Medium (baseline); Critical in this context | NC, RM | 14:24 | Reuse exactly; tie explicitly to 10:45’s ransom logic in teaching text — liturgical familiarity can obscure the connection to the preceding argument. |
| Abba, Father | Ἀββά ὁ πατήρ | Abba ho patēr | Авва Отче | REUSE (Romans baseline) | High (baseline) | NC, FD | 14:36 | Reuse exactly, paired per Synodal precedent; cross-reference with Romans 8:15 in teaching material. |
| Watch and pray | γρηγορεῖτε καὶ προσεύχεσθε | grēgoreite kai proseuchesthe | бодрствуйте и молитесь | NEW (Mark) | Medium | FD | 13:33-37, 14:37-38 | Consistency across both occurrences needed to preserve intended narrative echo (command given, then failed). |
| ”My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” | Ἐλωΐ Ἐλωΐ λεμὰ σαβαχθανί | Elōi Elōi lema sabachthani | Элои, Элои! ламма савахфани? | NEW (Mark) | Critical | NC | 15:34 | Preserve transliteration + Mark’s own in-text gloss per Synodal precedent; flag for mandatory human theologian review (nature of the Son’s forsakenness). |
| Temple curtain torn | καταπέτασμα | katapetasma | завеса [храма] | NEW (Mark) | Medium | NC, RM | 15:38 | Connect explicitly to ransom logic of 10:45 (access secured through the payment/exchange). |
| ”Truly this was the Son of God” | ἀληθῶς… υἱὸς θεοῦ ἦν | alēthōs… huios theou ēn | истинно… был Сын Божий | REUSE (Romans baseline) root | Critical | SS | 15:39 | Reuse Сын Божий exactly; anarthrous Greek’s exegetical ambiguity should be explained, not silently resolved without comment. |
| He has risen | ἠγέρθη | ēgerthē | воскрес | REUSE (Romans baseline) | Medium (baseline) | NC, SS | 16:6 | Reuse воскресение root exactly; guard against over-familiarity (Пасха) flattening personal appropriation. |
| Preach the gospel [to all nations] | κηρύσσω τὸ εὐαγγέλιον | kēryssō to euangelion | проповедовать / возвещать Евангелие | REUSE (Romans baseline, gospel + mission) | Medium (baseline) | KOG | 13:10, 16:15 | Reuse Евангелие exactly; prefer благовестие-family framing per baseline mission_to_nations guidance given legal sensitivity of public evangelistic proclamation. |
| Elect / chosen | ἐκλεκτοί | eklektoi | избранные | REUSE (Romans baseline, “election”) | High (baseline) | KOG | 13:20, 13:22, 13:27 | Reuse избрание root exactly; must not be read through судьба/рок/карма lenses. |
| Tribulation | θλῖψις | thlipsis | скорбь | NEW (Mark) | Medium | KOG | 13:19, 13:24 | Sensitive overlap with Russia’s own 20th-century historical trauma memory; teaching text should distinguish eschatological sense from purely national-historical association. |
| Apostles | ἀπόστολοι | apostoloi | апостолы | REUSE (Romans baseline) | Medium (baseline) | SG | 3:14, 6:7, 6:30 | Reuse exactly; the verbal “sending” dynamic (rather than closed historical office alone) can be usefully surfaced. |
| Prophet | προφήτης | prophētēs | пророк | REUSE (Romans baseline) | Low (baseline) | MS | 6:4, 6:15, 8:28 | Reuse exactly. |
Risk Summary for Mark-Specific New Terms
| Risk Tier | Count of NEW (Mark) terms | Review routing |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 10 (Son of Man; “I am”; ransom λύτρον; ἀντί substitution; κατακυριεύω; baptism [metaphorical]; τὸ μυστήριον τῆς βασιλείας; παράδοσις [tradition]; Eloi Eloi lama sabachthani; “faith has saved/healed you”) | Human theologian review, every occurrence |
| High | 13 (repentance; unclean spirit/demon; cup; servant διάκονος; slave δοῦλος; κατεξουσιάζω; ψυχή [soul/life]; δεῖ [necessity]; deny self/take up cross; sins forgiven [authority to forgive]; authority ἐξουσία; “charged to tell no one”; sin [reused, elevated context]) | Human theologian review |
| Medium | remainder (parable; transfiguration; clean/unclean; heart; compassion; tribulation; watch/pray; temple curtain; King of the Jews; seed/son of David; new wine/wineskins; house of prayer; etc.) | Native speaker review |
| Low | first/great(ness); apostles-adjacent narrative vocabulary; talitha cumi; widow’s coins; stumbling block; house divided; immediately (εὐθύς) | Automated review |
This glossary extends but never contradicts the baseline Romans translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json. All REUSE terms above must be loaded from those files verbatim during Phase 2 processing. All NEW (Mark) terms above must be added to translation memory, with version incremented, before Phase 2 segment translation of Mark begins, per the enforcement procedure in 12_ai_translation_requirements.md.
Critical Risk Terms
Salvation
Approved rendering: спасение
Transliteration: spaseniye
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: избавление (acceptable narrowly for ‘deliverance’), освобождение
Inherited from Romans package (fields copied exactly). Must be anchored to Christ’s decisive action, not left to default into an open-ended theosis process. In Mark this risk is sharpened by σῴζω’s deliberate healing/salvation double sense in the ‘спасла тебя’ pronouncements (5:34, 10:52) — see faith_has_saved_healed_you for the specific compound treatment; do not disambiguate спасти away with исцелить.
Son Of Man
Approved rendering: Сын Человеческий
Transliteration: Syn Chelovecheskiy
Doctrine: Jesus as the Suffering Servant and Son of God / The Messianic Secret
Rejected alternatives: человек (loses the title entirely), просто Сын (drops the essential ‘of Man’ half)
Original: ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου
Category: Christology
Jesus’ preferred, deliberately ambiguous self-title, fusing a humble ‘human being’ idiom with Daniel 7:13-14’s exalted, dominion-receiving figure. Сын Человеческий is lexically settled and shared with Orthodox usage, but Russian readers reflexively hear only the ‘ordinary human being’ half. The Daniel 7 apocalyptic-authority half must be explicitly taught at first occurrence (2:10) and reinforced at 8:31, 9:31, 10:33, 10:45, 13:26, 14:21, 14:41, 14:62, or a central Christological claim of the book collapses into mere humility-language.
I Am Divine Self Disclosure
Approved rendering: это Я / Я есть
Transliteration: eto Ya / Ya yest’
Doctrine: The Messianic Secret / Jesus as the Suffering Servant and Son of God
Rejected alternatives: Сущий (archaic/artificial, not natural reported speech, would draw undue attention to itself)
Original: ἐγώ εἰμι
Category: Christology
Jesus’ self-identifying phrase at 6:50 (walking on water) and 14:62 (before the Sanhedrin), echoing God’s self-naming formula in Exodus 3:14 LXX and, at 14:62, paired with Daniel 7 Son of Man imagery. Ordinary idiomatic Russian (‘это Я’) is conversational reassurance and cannot carry the theophany echo; there is no lexical fix. Must be explicitly unpacked in teaching notes at both occurrences, especially 14:62, where this self-disclosure directly triggers the blasphemy charge leading to the crucifixion.
Mystery Of The Kingdom
Approved rendering: тайна Царства [Божия]
Transliteration: tayna Tsarstva [Bozhiya]
Doctrine: The Messianic Secret / The Kingdom of God Breaking In
Rejected alternatives: секрет Царства (too casual, wrong register for the theological weight intended)
Original: τὸ μυστήριον τῆς βασιλείας
Category: Kingdom
The hidden truth about Jesus’ identity and the kingdom’s nature (4:11), given to the disciples but veiled from outsiders through parabolic speech. Тайна collides directly with Святые Тайны, the formal Orthodox designation for the Sacraments. NEVER render bare тайна; always use the fully qualified phrase тайна Царства Божия, with teaching text explicitly stating this is not a Sacrament in the ecclesial sense but a hidden truth disclosed by revelation. Mandatory human theologian review at every occurrence.
Faith Has Saved Healed You
Approved rendering: вера твоя спасла тебя
Transliteration: vera tvoya spasla tebya
Doctrine: Faith and Discipleship amid Fear
Rejected alternatives: вера твоя исцелила тебя (disambiguates away Mark’s deliberate double sense)
Original: ἡ πίστις σου σέσωκέν σε
Category: Faith
Jesus’ pronouncement to the bleeding woman (5:34) and blind Bartimaeus (10:52), where σῴζω deliberately spans both physical healing and eternal salvation. New use of the baseline спасение root in a new context. Preserve спасти (not исцелить) so Russian readers hear the same deliberate double sense — physical healing as a sign of the fuller salvation Christ brings — anchoring спасение to Christ’s decisive saving action, not vague general well-being.
Lord It Over Katakyrieuo
Approved rendering: господствовать над
Transliteration: gospodstvovat’ nad
Doctrine: Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness
Rejected alternatives: управлять (loses the Господь-root wordplay entirely), властвовать (reserve for κατεξουσιάζω, the parallel compound)
Original: κατακυριεύουσιν
Category: Servanthood
To exercise mastery/dominate (10:42), built on the same Russian root (господ-) as Господь, the Critical-risk title for Christ’s own exclusive Lordship. Mark’s own wordplay — worldly ‘lords’ vs. the true Lord who serves — is preserved almost perfectly in Russian: an asset if flagged explicitly in teaching notes, a liability if left unexplained (readers may hear an unintended critique of the title itself).
Ransom Lytron
Approved rendering: искупление (with выкуп as mandatory clarifying teaching-text gloss)
Transliteration: iskupleniye (vykup)
Doctrine: The Ransom for Many
Rejected alternatives: выкуп alone in Scripture-quotation text (breaks Synodal Bible-register continuity), заслуга (merit — the exact opposite category)
Original: λύτρον
Category: Ransom
The single most theologically load-bearing word in the core passage (10:45). Искупление is the correct Synodal-precedent Scripture rendering but functions in ordinary and Orthodox theological Russian as a broad Atonement-umbrella term, often within a participatory/therapeutic (healing fallen nature) framework rather than λύτρον’s narrower, concrete ‘price paid to free a captive’ sense. Never leave искупление unglossed in expository/teaching material — introduce выкуп (‘ransom-price’) as an explicit clarifying gloss every time.
Substitution Anti
Approved rendering: за / вместо (with взамен / в обмен на as mandatory teaching-text gloss)
Transliteration: za / vmesto (vzamen / v obmen na)
Doctrine: The Ransom for Many / The Necessity of the Cross
Rejected alternatives: за left unglossed (collapses ἀντί’s substitution/exchange sense into the more general ὑπέρ benefit sense)
Original: ἀντί
Category: Ransom
The preposition of substitution/exchange in 10:45 (‘instead of,’ ‘in place of’), distinct from ὑπέρ (‘on behalf of’). Ordinary Russian за collapses this distinction. Teaching text must gloss the exchange sense explicitly (‘отданная взамен/в обмен на многих’) at least once so the passage is not flattened into a generic ‘died for the benefit of many’ statement that loses the substitutionary logic.
Covenant Blood Last Supper
Approved rendering: Кровь [Моя] Нового Завета
Transliteration: Krov’ [Moya] Novogo Zaveta
Doctrine: The Ransom for Many / The Necessity of the Cross
Rejected alternatives: Кровь договора (loses завет’s relational depth and the established Synodal Words-of-Institution precedent)
Original: τὸ αἷμα μου τῆς διαθήκης
Category: Covenant
The Words of Institution at the Last Supper (14:22-24), echoing Exodus 24:8 covenant-blood language and Jeremiah 31:31’s new covenant promise. Reuses завет exactly. Extremely high liturgical loading across Orthodox and Protestant tradition alike (a genuine cross-tradition asset), but the specific tie to 10:45’s ransom logic (this blood poured out in place of many) must be made explicit in teaching text, since liturgical familiarity can cause the connection to the preceding chapter’s argument to be missed entirely.
Eloi Eloi Cry Of Dereliction
Approved rendering: Элои, Элои! ламма савахфани?
Transliteration: Eloi, Eloi! lamma savakhfani?
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross
Rejected alternatives: a fully paraphrased rendering with no transliteration (loses narrative pathos and the 15:35 detail of bystanders mishearing it as a call to Elijah)
Original: Ἐλωΐ Ἐλωΐ λεμὰ σαβαχθανί
Category: Cross
Jesus’ cry of dereliction from the cross (15:34), citing Psalm 22:1. Preserve the transliteration with Mark’s own in-text gloss, per Synodal precedent. Theologically one of the most sensitive verses in the Gospel (the nature and reality of the Son’s forsakenness); mandatory human theologian review.
Blasphemy Against Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: хула на Духа Святого
Transliteration: khula na Dukha Svyatogo
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature
Rejected alternatives: оскорбление Духа (too weak, loses the specific, narrowly defined unforgivable-sin category)
Original: βλασφημία εἰς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ Ἅγιον
Category: Sin
The one sin Jesus names as unforgivable (3:28-29): willfully and knowingly attributing the Spirit’s work to Satan. Acute pastoral risk: readers may fear they have committed this sin through ordinary doubt or a stray thought. Teaching text must precisely and reassuringly define what the sin is and is not. Mandatory human theologian review.
Tradition Of Men
Approved rendering: предание человеческое / предания старцев
Transliteration: predaniye chelovecheskoye / predaniya startsev
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature
Rejected alternatives: предание bare/unqualified (directly collides with Священное Предание, Holy Tradition — an authoritative Orthodox doctrinal source)
Original: παράδοσις [τῶν ἀνθρώπων / τῶν πρεσβυτέρων]
Category: Authority
Extra-biblical oral tradition elevated to binding authority, sharply contrasted with ‘the commandment of God’ (7:3-13). One of the most sensitive term-collisions in the whole book for a Russian audience. NEVER use предание bare. Qualifying genitives must always be preserved so the text is unmistakably critiquing a specific first-century practice, not Holy Tradition as such. Mandatory human theologian review at every occurrence.
Son Of Man Coming In Clouds
Approved rendering: Сын Человеческий, грядущий на облаках
Transliteration: Syn Chelovecheskiy, gryadushchiy na oblakakh
Doctrine: Jesus as the Suffering Servant and Son of God / The Messianic Secret
Original: τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐρχόμενον ἐν νεφέλαις
Category: Eschatology
The fully unveiled, apocalyptic-authority sense of ‘Son of Man,’ directly alluding to Daniel 7:13-14’s enthronement scene (13:26). Reuses Сын Человеческий exactly; should be taught as the moment the Messianic Secret’s concealment becomes explicitly, publicly, finally disclosed.
Centurions Confession
Approved rendering: истинно Человек Сей был Сын Божий
Transliteration: istinno Chelovek Sey byl Syn Bozhiy
Doctrine: Jesus as the Suffering Servant and Son of God
Rejected alternatives: lowercase/unemphatic renderings that obscure the resolved, emphatic sense Mark’s narrative intends
Original: ἀληθῶς οὗτος ὁ ἄνθρωπος υἱὸς θεοῦ ἦν
Category: Christology
The climactic human recognition of Jesus’ identity at the cross (15:39), bookending 1:1. Reuses Сын Божий exactly. Mark’s Greek is anarthrous (lacking the definite article), a genuine ambiguity between ‘a son of a god’ and Mark’s own clear intent; the Russian capitalized rendering resolves this toward Mark’s intent, but this exegetical resolution must be explained in teaching notes, not left invisible.
High Risk Terms
Faith
Approved rendering: вера
Transliteration: vera
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: доверие, убеждение
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package (fields copied exactly). Standard, unambiguous term, but often assumed in ordinary Russian religious usage to mean Orthodox institutional/sacramental identity rather than personal trust. In Mark this risk recurs at every fear/faith pairing (4:40-41, 5:34, 9:23-24, 10:52) and must be anchored explicitly to personal trust in Jesus, not general piety.
Lord
Approved rendering: Господь
Transliteration: Gospod’
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: хозяин, владыка (reserve for liturgical/poetic register only)
Original: Κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package (fields copied exactly, per baseline translation_memory.json). Mark 10:42’s κατακυριεύουσιν (‘lord it over,’ see lord_it_over_katakyrieuo below) is built on this same Russian root (господ-); this wordplay is preserved almost perfectly in Russian and must be surfaced explicitly in teaching notes at 10:42, or readers may hear an unintended critique of the title itself rather than a critique of worldly domination. Also load-bearing at the David’s-son-is-David’s-Lord riddle (12:35-37).
Sin
Approved rendering: грех
Transliteration: grekh
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: ошибка, проступок
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package (fields copied exactly). Flattened by decades of state atheism into folk-moral or joking register. In Mark this risk is sharpened wherever the specific point is Jesus’ divine authority to forgive sin (2:1-12, see sins_forgiven_authority), not merely sin’s reality — the weight of a personal prerogative being exercised must be restored explicitly.
Messiah
Approved rendering: Мессия
Transliteration: Messiya
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Rejected alternatives: спаситель мира (as a stand-alone substitute)
Inherited from Romans package (fields copied exactly). Used alongside Христос (proper-name-title per Synodal usage). In Mark, Peter’s confession ‘Ты — Христос’ (8:29), immediately followed by a command to silence (8:30), is the clearest single data point in the entire book for the Messianic Secret and must be preserved with its narrative shock intact.
Election
Approved rendering: избрание
Transliteration: izbraniye
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: судьба, рок, предопределение (use only with careful qualification)
Inherited from Romans package (fields copied exactly). Must never be read through судьба/рок (fate) or карма lenses. In Mark, the noun form избранные (‘the elect,’ 13:20, 13:22, 13:27, see elect_chosen) applies this root to God’s sovereign preservation and gathering of his chosen ones through the eschatological tribulation.
Abba
Approved rendering: Авва
Transliteration: Avva
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Inherited from Romans package (fields copied exactly). Preserved untranslated per established Synodal usage, paired with Отче. Mark 14:36 (‘Авва Отче, Отче мой!’) uses this exact same paired Aramaic-Greek construction as Romans 8:15; cross-reference the two passages in teaching material as mutually reinforcing.
Christ Messiah
Approved rendering: Христос / Мессия
Transliteration: Khristos / Messiya
Doctrine: Jesus as the Suffering Servant and Son of God / The Messianic Secret
Original: ὁ Χριστός
Category: Christology
Reuses baseline messiah root exactly. Peter’s confession at 8:29, immediately followed by a command to silence (8:30), is the clearest single data point for the Messianic Secret in the whole book and must be preserved with its narrative shock intact, not smoothed into a simple triumphant declaration.
King Of The Jews
Approved rendering: Царь Иудейский
Transliteration: Tsar’ Iudeyskiy
Doctrine: The Kingdom of God Breaking In / The Necessity of the Cross
Rejected alternatives: царь евреев (less standard, lower Bible-register)
Original: ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων
Category: Christology
Mocking title used by Pilate, the soldiers, and the cross inscription (15:2, 9, 12, 18, 26), ironically true in Mark’s narrative theology. Shares the politically resonant царь/царство root already flagged for kingdom_of_god (Russia’s own tsardom and ‘Third Rome’ history); must be explicitly framed as subverting, not endorsing, any this-worldly triumphalist kingship model — this ‘king’ reigns precisely by dying.
Repentance
Approved rendering: покаяние
Transliteration: pokayaniye
Doctrine: The Kingdom of God Breaking In
Rejected alternatives: изменение мышления (too clinical/psychological, loses the covenantal, kingdom-oriented force)
Original: μετάνοια / μετανοέω
Category: Kingdom
A decisive inward, whole-life reorientation toward God, preached by John (1:4) and Jesus (1:15) as the proper response to the kingdom’s nearness, and commissioned to the Twelve (6:12). Покаяние is also the formal name of the Orthodox sacrament of Confession (Таинство Покаяния); must not be narrowed to a discrete periodic ritual act, while affirming ongoing confession as a legitimate fruit of it.
Fear Vs Reverential Awe
Approved rendering: бояться / устрашиться / убояться
Transliteration: boyat’sya / ustrashit’sya / uboyat’sya
Doctrine: Faith and Discipleship amid Fear
Rejected alternatives: a single flat fear-word used throughout (erases Mark’s deliberate ambiguity between danger-fear and reverential awe)
Original: φοβέομαι
Category: Faith
Ordinary fear of danger (the storm, 4:40-41) contrasted with reverential awe at Jesus’ identity (4:41, 9:6, 16:8), both named with the same Greek verb family φοβέομαι. Where possible, distinguish ordinary fear (испугались/бояться) from reverential awe (устрашились/убоялись) in Russian; central to this doctrine across the whole book.
Deny Self Take Up Cross
Approved rendering: отвергнуться себя… взять крест свой
Transliteration: otvergnut’sya sebya… vzyat’ krest svoy
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross / Faith and Discipleship amid Fear
Rejected alternatives: нести свой крест as the sole/only rendering (a worn secular idiom for enduring ordinary hardship)
Original: ἀπαρνησάσθω ἑαυτὸν… τὸν σταυρὸν αὐτοῦ
Category: Discipleship
The foundational discipleship-cost saying (8:34), uniting radical self-renunciation with willingness to take up the literal instrument of Roman execution. ‘Нести свой крест’ is an extremely common Russian secular idiom fully detached from Jesus’ specific, radical, potentially fatal call. Teaching text must restore this specific force or the saying collapses into cliché.
Soul Life Psyche
Approved rendering: жизнь
Transliteration: zhizn’
Doctrine: The Ransom for Many / The Necessity of the Cross
Rejected alternatives: душа (shifts the sense toward an immaterial soul, away from Mark’s whole embodied life laid down)
Original: ψυχή
Category: Discipleship
The whole living self, surrendered in losing one’s life for Jesus’ sake (8:35-37) and given as a ransom (10:45). Prefer жизнь over душа, which carries strong independent theological/folk-cultural weight (‘русская душа’). Consistency across 8:35-37 and 10:45 is required.
Necessity Dei
Approved rendering: надлежит
Transliteration: nadlezhit
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross
Rejected alternatives: должно (too flat, sounds like generic obligation rather than divine appointment)
Original: δεῖ
Category: Cross
The impersonal verb of divine appointment/necessity used in each of the three passion predictions (8:31, 9:31, 10:33) and 14:21: ‘the Son of Man must suffer.’ Надлежит is the elevated Bible-register form preferred over the flatter должно. Must be rendered consistently across all occurrences; the cumulative rhetorical weight of Mark’s threefold repetition depends on it.
Exercise Authority Katexousiazo
Approved rendering: властвовать над
Transliteration: vlastvovat’ nad
Doctrine: Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness / Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature
Rejected alternatives: распоряжаться (too weak, loses the coercive force)
Original: κατεξουσιάζουσιν
Category: Servanthood
Parallel compound to κατακυριεύω (10:42), doubling the emphasis on coercive worldly power structures. Shares its root with ἐξουσία (власть), the same authority Jesus exercises in healing throughout chs.1-8 but never for self-aggrandizing domination — this lexical connection is not otherwise obvious to a Russian reader and should be surfaced explicitly.
Servant Diakonos
Approved rendering: служитель
Transliteration: sluzhitel’
Doctrine: Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness
Rejected alternatives: диакон (imports a specific, modern, ordained Orthodox clerical office — NEVER use)
Original: διάκονος
Category: Servanthood
One who actively serves/ministers to another’s needs; the model of true greatness redefined by Jesus (9:35, 10:43, 10:45). Служитель preserves the active, personal service sense without institutional narrowing. Must be explicitly distinguished in teaching notes from the later technical office of deacon.
Slave Doulos
Approved rendering: раб
Transliteration: rab
Doctrine: Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness
Rejected alternatives: слуга (too weak, loses the total, unqualified subjection sense)
Original: δοῦλος
Category: Servanthood
The escalated servant-term Jesus names as the model of the highest rank in his kingdom (10:44). Two contrasting resonances: (1) asset — ‘раб Божий [имя]’ is the standard Orthodox devotional self-designation for every baptized believer; (2) liability — раб also carries the full weight of Russian serfdom (крепостное право) and Soviet forced labor (ГУЛАГ). Teaching material must make explicit that Jesus commends voluntary, dignified self-giving modeled on his own free choice (v.45), not coerced bondage.
Cup Of Suffering
Approved rendering: чаша
Transliteration: chasha
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross
Rejected alternatives: страдание (too generic, loses the concrete OT cup-of-wrath idiom)
Original: ποτήριον
Category: Cross
OT/Jewish idiom for one’s allotted portion, especially of divine wrath or suffering (10:38-39; 14:36). Existing Russian idiom (‘испить чашу’) is an asset for intelligibility, but the specific sense of judgment/suffering absorbed on behalf of others must be supplied by context, tying forward to 14:36 and 10:45’s ransom, or the metaphor flattens into generic ‘hardship.‘
Baptism Metaphorical Suffering
Approved rendering: крещение
Transliteration: kreshcheniye
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross
Rejected alternatives: погружение (accurate literally but abandons the established Bible-register ‘baptism’ term entirely)
Original: βάπτισμα
Category: Cross
Covers both the literal water rite (1:4-11) and Jesus’ metaphorical reuse of the same word for total immersion in suffering/death (10:38-39). Крещение’s default sense in Russian is overwhelmingly the literal, sacramentally regenerative rite; the metaphorical extension to suffering has no ritual-water sense at all and must be explicitly flagged as non-literal at 10:38-39, or readers will import full sacramental categories into a verse actually about suffering unto death.
Authority Exousia
Approved rendering: власть
Transliteration: vlast’
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature
Rejected alternatives: сила (blurs with δύναμις, raw force, losing the delegated-right nuance of ἐξουσία)
Original: ἐξουσία
Category: Authority
Jesus’ inherent/delegated right and power to act — in teaching (1:22), over unclean spirits (1:27), to forgive sins (2:10), and shared with the Twelve (6:7). Власть carries strong secular-political overtones in Russian (state power); teaching text should keep the sense personal and relational, not institutional-political.
Unclean Spirit Demon
Approved rendering: нечистый дух / бес / демон
Transliteration: nechistyy dukh / bes / demon
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature
Rejected alternatives: злой дух (too generic, loses the ritual-purity contrast with καθαρός elsewhere in the book)
Original: πνεῦμα ἀκάθαρτον / δαιμόνιον
Category: Authority
Malevolent, personal spiritual beings decisively confronted and defeated by Jesus’ word-only authority (1:23-27, 3:22-30, 5:1-20, 7:24-30, 9:14-29). Exorcism and the demonic remain culturally live in Russia through Orthodox отчитка rites and post-Soviet folk-occult culture (extrasensy, TV psychics); Mark’s accounts must be preserved as demonstrations of Christ’s unique, direct, word-only authority, not one technique among many.
Sins Forgiven Authority
Approved rendering: прощаются грехи
Transliteration: proshchayutsya grekhi
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature
Rejected alternatives: грехи сняты (too passive, loses the active declaration’s divine-prerogative force)
Original: ἀφίενταί… αἱ ἁμαρτίαι
Category: Authority
Jesus’ direct, on-his-own-authority forgiveness of sins (2:1-12), defended as evidence of his divine identity (‘who can forgive sins but God alone?’). Must be kept distinct from the Orthodox sacramental structure of priest-mediated confession/absolution (Таинство Покаяния).
Charged Tell No One
Approved rendering: строго приказал… никому не говорить
Transliteration: strogo prikazal… nikomu ne govorit’
Doctrine: The Messianic Secret
Rejected alternatives: попросил не рассказывать (too weak/polite, loses the authoritative-command force)
Original: διεστείλατο… μηδενὶ εἴπωσιν / ἐπετίμησεν
Category: Messianic Secret
Jesus’ repeated command to silence after exorcisms, healings, and confessions of his identity (1:34, 1:44, 3:12, 5:43, 7:36, 8:30, 9:9). Structural to the whole book’s concealment pattern; a fixed, consistent Russian formula across all seven occurrences is required for readers to perceive the pattern.
Elect Chosen
Approved rendering: избранные
Transliteration: izbrannyye
Doctrine: The Kingdom of God Breaking In
Rejected alternatives: судьба-determined group (fate-language must never substitute)
Original: οἱ ἐκλεκτοί
Category: Eschatology
Reuses baseline избрание root exactly. God’s sovereign preservation and gathering of his chosen ones through coming tribulation (13:20, 13:22, 13:27). Must not be read through судьба/рок/карма lenses.
Medium Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: Евангелие
Transliteration: Yevangeliye
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: благая весть (informal gloss only), хорошая новость
Original: εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (fields copied exactly). Established Synodal term; risk is being heard as a book/genre title rather than living proclamation. In Mark, 1:1 itself programmatically frames ‘gospel’ as news about a specific person and events, which helps counter this risk; reuse exactly at 1:1, 1:14-15, 13:10, 16:15.
Apostle
Approved rendering: апостол
Transliteration: apostol
Doctrine: Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: посланник, проповедник
Inherited from Romans package (fields copied exactly). Orthodox usage strongly associates ‘apostle’ with a closed, venerated historical office. In Mark (3:14, 6:7, 6:30, plural апостолы) the verbal ‘sending’ root (ἀποστέλλω) is more prominent than the later institutional-office sense and can usefully be surfaced in teaching text.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: воскресение
Transliteration: voskreseniye
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: оживление, реинкарнация
Inherited from Romans package (fields copied exactly). Central to Russian Orthodox liturgical identity (Пасха); risk is over-familiarity flattening personal appropriation. In Mark, the verb form воскрес at 16:6 (see he_has_risen) reuses this root exactly and resolves every prior identity-claim in the book.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: Сын Божий
Transliteration: Syn Bozhiy
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: божественный посланник
Original: Υἱὸς Θεοῦ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package (fields copied exactly). Fully settled Nicene-heritage term shared with Orthodoxy. In Mark, disclosed at 1:11 (baptism), 9:7 (Transfiguration voice, ‘Сын Мой возлюбленный’), and climactically at 15:39 (centurion’s confession, see centurions_confession — Mark’s anarthrous Greek there is an exegetical nuance requiring explicit teaching-note explanation, not silent resolution).
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: Царство Божие
Transliteration: Tsarstvo Bozhiye
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Rejected alternatives: государство Божие
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ
Category: Kingdom
Inherited from Romans package (fields copied exactly). Politically resonant given Russia’s imperial tsardom and Soviet utopian history. Mark’s ‘has come near’ framing (ἤγγικεν, 1:15) requires teaching text to stress present in-breaking alongside future consummation, not only future hope, and not nostalgic monarchism or this-worldly political program (see king_of_the_jews for the ironic royal-title counterpart).
Glory
Approved rendering: слава
Transliteration: slava
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: почёт, величие
Inherited from Romans package (fields copied exactly). Risk of registerial flattening into a casual exclamation (‘слава Богу’). In Mark 10:37, James and John request seats ‘in your glory’ — teaching text must tie this to the immediately preceding passion prediction (10:33-34), since the brothers want the glory without the cup and baptism of suffering that precede it.
Covenant
Approved rendering: завет
Transliteration: zavet
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: договор, соглашение
Inherited from Romans package (fields copied exactly, baseline risk Medium). Risk is sharpened to Critical in the specific context of Mark 14:24’s Words of Institution (‘Кровь Моя Нового Завета’ — see covenant_blood_last_supper), given the phrase’s extremely high liturgical loading and its essential, easily-missed interpretive link to the ransom logic of 10:45.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: от семени Давидова
Transliteration: ot semeni Davidova
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: потомок Давида (acceptable modern-register gloss)
Inherited from Romans package (fields copied exactly). In Mark, the direct-address messianic title takes the form Сын Давидов (10:47-48; 11:10) rather than the narrative-descriptive Romans 1:3 phrasing; both forms reuse this same established root. The riddle at 12:35-37 (David’s descendant is also David’s Lord) depends on Господь bearing its full weight of supreme lordship for the paradox to register — must not be softened to a merely polite title.
Jesus
Approved rendering: Иисус
Transliteration: Iisus
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Исус (Old Believer spelling, avoid)
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package (fields copied exactly). Standard modern Russian Orthodox and Synodal spelling required throughout Mark; never the Old Believer single-и spelling Исус.
God
Approved rendering: Бог
Transliteration: Bog
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Всевышний (acceptable poetic synonym only)
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package (fields copied exactly). Standard, universally recognized term across Orthodox, Protestant, and secular Russian usage.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Святой Дух
Transliteration: Svyatoy Dukh
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: дух (never use alone), энергия
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package (fields copied exactly). Дух alone must never stand for the Holy Spirit. In Mark, the Spirit descends on Jesus at baptism (1:10) and is the object of the one unforgivable sin, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (3:28-29, see blasphemy_against_holy_spirit).
Father
Approved rendering: Отец
Transliteration: Otets
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: батюшка (reserve exclusively for addressing an Orthodox priest)
Inherited from Romans package (fields copied exactly). Батюшка must never be used for God the Father. In Mark, paired with Авва at Gethsemane (14:36, see abba_father).
Mission
Approved rendering: миссия / благовестие
Transliteration: missiya / blagovestiye
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
Rejected alternatives: пропаганда (never use)
Inherited from Romans package (fields copied exactly). Prefer благовестие-family vocabulary given legal sensitivity around public ‘миссионерство’ under current Russian law. In Mark, this doctrine surfaces at 13:10 and the closing commission 16:15 (see preach_gospel_to_all_nations).
Parable
Approved rendering: притча
Transliteration: pritcha
Doctrine: The Messianic Secret
Rejected alternatives: иносказание, басня (fable — wrong genre entirely)
Original: παραβολή
Category: Kingdom
Mark’s characteristic teaching form (4:2 and throughout, also 12:1-12). Standard, well-established Bible term shared with Orthodox usage, but its dual reveal/veil function (4:11-12 — revealing to insiders, veiling from outsiders) is easily flattened into ‘a simple illustrative teaching aid’ unless surfaced explicitly.
Eternal Life
Approved rendering: жизнь вечная
Transliteration: zhizn’ vechnaya
Doctrine: Faith and Discipleship amid Fear
Original: ζωὴ αἰώνιος
Category: Salvation
The rich man’s question and Jesus’ teaching on the cost of discipleship and its reward (10:17, 10:30). Standard, well-established Bible-register phrase; low collision risk.
Watch And Pray
Approved rendering: бодрствуйте и молитесь
Transliteration: bodrstvuyte i molites’
Doctrine: Faith and Discipleship amid Fear
Rejected alternatives: не спите и молитесь (too flat/literal)
Original: γρηγορεῖτε καὶ προσεύχεσθε
Category: Discipleship
The repeated command to stay spiritually alert and prayerful (13:33-37), then visibly failed by the inner circle at Gethsemane (14:37-38). Consistent rendering across both occurrences is required to preserve the deliberate narrative echo — command given, then failed.
Greatness Megas
Approved rendering: великий
Transliteration: velikiy
Doctrine: Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness
Rejected alternatives: большой (register too plain/physical, misses the social-status sense)
Original: μέγας
Category: Servanthood
Social/political importance, redefined by Jesus as attained through service rather than domination (9:34, 10:43). Великий also carries a strong secular-heroic/national register in Russian (великие люди) that could subtly reintroduce the very worldly-greatness framework Jesus is subverting; keep the paradox (‘great by serving’) sharp.
Many Isaiah53 Echo
Approved rendering: многие
Transliteration: mnogiye
Doctrine: The Ransom for Many / Jesus as the Suffering Servant and Son of God
Rejected alternatives: все (loses the specific Isaiah 53 numeric echo and wrongly universalizes or limits the referent)
Original: πολλῶν
Category: Suffering Servant
A direct verbal echo of Isaiah 53:11-12 LXX (‘he shall bear the sin of many’), identifying Jesus as the promised Suffering Servant (10:45). Lexically simple, but the intertextual echo is invisible in translation alone; must cross-reference the Russian Synodal Isaiah 53:11-12 text directly in teaching material.
Temple Curtain Torn
Approved rendering: завеса храма
Transliteration: zavesa khrama
Doctrine: The Ransom for Many / The Necessity of the Cross
Rejected alternatives: покров (wrong register, generic ‘covering’)
Original: τὸ καταπέτασμα τοῦ ναοῦ
Category: Cross
The veil separating the Holy of Holies, torn at the moment of Jesus’ death (15:38), signaling decisively opened access to God’s presence. Standard Bible-register vocabulary; the connection to the ransom logic of 10:45 (access secured through the payment/exchange just made) should be drawn out explicitly in teaching text.
Clean Unclean Ritual
Approved rendering: чистый / нечистый
Transliteration: chistyy / nechistyy
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature
Rejected alternatives: святой/несвятой (wrong register, confuses ritual purity with the moral holy/unholy category)
Original: καθαρός / κοινός
Category: Authority
Ritual purity categories relocated by Jesus from external observance to the human heart (7:1-23). Should be kept lexically distinct from the ‘unclean spirit’ terminology (ἀκάθαρτος) used elsewhere, since the underlying Greek terms are also distinct, to avoid conflating ritual/moral defilement with demonic possession.
Compassion
Approved rendering: сжалиться / умилосердиться
Transliteration: szhalit’sya / umiloserdit’sya
Doctrine: Jesus as the Suffering Servant and Son of God
Rejected alternatives: пожалеть (too weak, loses the visceral σπλάγχνα intensity)
Original: σπλαγχνίζομαι
Category: Authority
A visceral, gut-level compassion motivating Jesus’ healing and feeding miracles (1:41, 6:34, 8:2, 9:22). Умилосердился carries more weight than a plain пожалел and is preferred.
Transfigured
Approved rendering: преобразился
Transliteration: preobrazilsya
Doctrine: The Messianic Secret / Jesus as the Suffering Servant and Son of God
Rejected alternatives: изменился (too generic, loses the theological technical sense and feast-day resonance)
Original: μετεμορφώθη
Category: Messianic Secret
Jesus’ outward form visibly changed to reveal his inner divine glory (9:2-8), immediately followed by a renewed command to silence. Largely an asset: namesake of the major Orthodox feast Преображение Господне; primary task is precision of exposition (revelation followed immediately by concealment).
Hosanna Triumphal Entry
Approved rendering: Осанна
Transliteration: Osanna
Doctrine: The Kingdom of God Breaking In
Rejected alternatives: спаси! (a literal gloss; Осанна, already preserved in Orthodox Palm Sunday liturgy, should stand as the established transliteration)
Original: Ὡσαννά
Category: Messianic Secret
Royal-messianic acclamation at the Triumphal Entry (11:9-10), invoking Davidic hope Jesus both accepts and reinterprets (riding a colt, cf. Zech 9:9). A genuine shared-heritage asset (Вход Господень в Иерусалим is a major shared feast).
Tribulation
Approved rendering: скорбь
Transliteration: skorb’
Doctrine: The Kingdom of God Breaking In
Rejected alternatives: страдание (too generic, loses the specific eschatological technical sense)
Original: θλῖψις
Category: Eschatology
Severe eschatological affliction preceding the Son of Man’s coming (13:19, 13:24). Given Russia’s own 20th-century historical trauma (war, siege, famine, purges), teaching text should be sensitive that this term can evoke concrete national historical memory alongside its eschatological sense and distinguish the two explicitly.
He Has Risen
Approved rendering: воскрес
Transliteration: voskres
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross / Jesus as the Suffering Servant and Son of God
Rejected alternatives: ожил (too weak, sounds like mere revival, not resurrection)
Original: ἠγέρθη
Category: Resurrection
The resurrection announcement (16:6) resolving the Necessity of the Cross and validating every prior identity-claim in the book. Reuses baseline resurrection root exactly. Central to Russian Orthodox Пасха identity — a strong cultural asset, with the identical caution the baseline gives regarding over-familiarity flattening personal appropriation.
Preach Gospel To All Nations
Approved rendering: проповедовать / возвещать Евангелие
Transliteration: propovedovat’ / vozveshchat’ Yevangeliye
Doctrine: The Kingdom of God Breaking In
Rejected alternatives: распространять Евангелие (sounds like circulation/marketing rather than proclamation)
Original: κηρύξατε τὸ εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Mission
The closing commission (16:15) and 13:10’s ‘the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations.’ Reuses gospel and mission exactly; prefer благовестие-family framing given legal sensitivity of public evangelistic proclamation under current Russian law. Textual note: Mark 16:9-20 is absent from the earliest manuscripts and must be disclosed transparently in teaching material.
Stumbling Block
Approved rendering: соблазн
Transliteration: soblazn
Doctrine: Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness
Rejected alternatives: искушение (temptation — a distinct concept)
Original: σκάνδαλον
Category: Discipleship
That which causes another to sin or fall away, especially ‘little ones’ (9:42-47). Standard Bible-register term, ties Servanthood doctrine to communal responsibility.
Gehenna Unquenchable Fire
Approved rendering: геенна огненная
Transliteration: geyenna ognennaya
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross
Rejected alternatives: ад (too generic, conflates distinct Greek terms for final judgment imagery)
Original: γέεννα… τὸ πῦρ τὸ ἄσβεστον
Category: Eschatology
OT/intertestamental image of final judgment, drawn from the Valley of Hinnom (9:43-48), used amid discipleship-community warnings.
Stone Rejected
Approved rendering: камень, который отвергли строители
Transliteration: kamen’, kotoryy otvergli stroiteli
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross / Jesus as the Suffering Servant and Son of God
Original: λίθον ὃν ἀπεδοκίμασαν
Category: Christology
Citation of Psalm 118:22-23 applied to Jesus’ rejection and vindication (12:10-11); directly anticipates the Passion Necessity doctrine.
Greatest Commandment Love
Approved rendering: возлюбишь
Transliteration: vozlyubish’
Doctrine: Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness
Rejected alternatives: полюбишь (too weak, ordinary affection rather than covenantal command)
Original: ἀγαπήσεις
Category: Discipleship
Love of God and neighbor as the greatest commandment (12:28-34); teaching text may usefully connect this command to Jesus’ own self-giving example in 10:45.
Sinners
Approved rendering: грешники
Transliteration: greshniki
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature
Original: ἁμαρτωλοί
Category: Sin
Those with whom Jesus deliberately eats (2:15-17), provoking Pharisaic objection. Ordinary Russian register can carry either serious moral weight or flattened folk-moral casualness; teaching text should preserve the scandal of Jesus’ table fellowship.
Low Risk Terms
Prophet
Approved rendering: пророк
Transliteration: prorok
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: предсказатель, экстрасенс
Original: προφήτης
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package (fields copied exactly). In Mark, Jesus is popularly identified as a prophet (6:15, 8:28) while being rejected as ‘a prophet without honor’ in his own hometown (6:4) — a Messianic Secret theme of concealment even from the familiar.
David
Approved rendering: Давид
Transliteration: David
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Inherited from Romans package (fields copied exactly). Standard proper name; used in Mark at 10:47-48, 11:10, and the David’s-son/David’s-Lord riddle of 12:35-37 (citing Ps 110:1).
First Protos
Approved rendering: первый
Transliteration: pervyy
Doctrine: Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness
Original: πρῶτος
Category: Servanthood
The highest rank, attained paradoxically through becoming ‘slave of all’ (9:35, 10:44). Standard vocabulary, no collision.
Heart
Approved rendering: сердце
Transliteration: serdtse
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature
Original: καρδία
Category: Authority
The seat of will, thought, and moral character — the true locus of defilement or purity, not external ritual (7:6, 7:19, 7:21). Matches Russian idiom closely.
Talitha Cumi
Approved rendering: Талифа куми
Transliteration: Talifa kumi
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature
Original: ταλιθά κούμ
Category: Christology
‘Little girl, arise’ (Aramaic), preserved untranslated by Mark and then glossed for his Greek readers (5:41). Follow Mark’s own built-in translation model and Synodal precedent exactly: transliterate, then gloss in-text.
Legion
Approved rendering: Легион
Transliteration: Legion
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature
Original: Λεγιών
Category: Authority
Self-designation of the demon-possessed man’s unclean spirits (5:9), evoking Roman military occupation and multiplicity. Transliterate as a proper name within the narrative.
Widows Two Coins
Approved rendering: две лепты (всё, что имела)
Transliteration: dve lepty (vso, chto imela)
Doctrine: Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness
Original: δύο λεπτά
Category: Servanthood
The smallest coin denomination, ‘all she had,’ commended over showy religiosity (12:41-44). ‘Лепта’ has entered ordinary Russian idiom (‘внести свою лепту’), an asset for intelligibility, though teaching text should restore the sacrificial totality the idiom has softened.
New Wine Wineskins
Approved rendering: новое вино / новые мехи
Transliteration: novoye vino / novyye mekhi
Doctrine: The Kingdom of God Breaking In
Original: οἶνον νέον / ἀσκοὺς καινούς
Category: Kingdom
Metaphor for radical incompatibility between the old religious order and the new reality Jesus brings (2:21-22). Well-attested and intelligible in Russian; ensure the ‘breaking-in newness’ sense is not lost to a mere illustration-of-caution reading.
House Of Prayer
Approved rendering: дом молитвы
Transliteration: dom molitvy
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature
Original: οἶκος προσευχῆς
Category: Authority
Citing Isaiah 56:7, contrasted with ‘den of robbers’ (Jer 7:11), in Jesus’ Temple action (11:17).
House Divided
Approved rendering: дом, разделившийся [сам в себе]
Transliteration: dom, razdelivshiysya [sam v sebe]
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature
Original: οἰκία… διαμερισθῇ
Category: Authority
Jesus’ logical argument that his exorcisms cannot be satanic self-sabotage (3:24-27).
Immediately Euthys
Approved rendering: тотчас / немедленно
Transliteration: totchas / nemedlenno
Doctrine: The Kingdom of God Breaking In
Original: εὐθύς
Category: Kingdom
Mark’s signature stylistic adverb, occurring more than 40 times. Not primarily theological, but consistency matters for preserving Mark’s distinctive breathless pace, a subtle support for the Kingdom-breaking-in doctrine.
Referenced passages