Core Glossary
Core Glossary — Matthew 1–28 (Koine Greek → Russian)
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing theological term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, across the core passage (Matthew 5:1-12) and all 28 chapters of Matthew. Terms marked [Baseline] reuse the Russian rendering established in the Romans translation_memory.json/bible_term_registry.json exactly, per project rule. Terms marked [New] are introduced by this Matthew analysis and should be added to translation memory before Phase 2 processing begins, per the baseline’s term-discovery procedure (12_ai_translation_requirements.md, “Translation Memory Load and Enforcement Instructions”).
Legend
- Risk tiers follow the baseline’s four-tier framework: Critical (human theologian review, absolute enforcement) / High (human theologian or native-speaker review, strong preference) / Medium (native-speaker review recommended) / Low (automated review sufficient).
- Status: [Baseline] = reuse existing TM entry exactly; [New] = requires new TM entry.
| # | English Term | Greek Original / Transliteration | Russian Rendering | Risk | Status | Primary Passage(s) | Key Risk Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kingdom of Heaven | βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν / basileia tōn ouranōn | Царство Небесное | Critical | New (related to Baseline “kingdom_of_god”) | 3:2; 5:3,10; 13 (parables); throughout | Must be taught as synonymous with, not competing against, the baseline’s Царство Божие; strong risk of being misheard via the funeral idiom “царствие небесное” (rest in peace) as an afterlife-only destination rather than God’s present, in-breaking reign. |
| 2 | Blessed | μακάριος / makarios | блаженны / блажен | High | New | 5:3-11 | Positive liturgical resonance (Beatitudes chanted at Liturgy) but colloquial “блаженный” risk of “simple-minded/holy fool” reading. |
| 3 | Righteousness (Beatitudes register) | δικαιοσύνη / dikaiosynē | правда | Critical | New (forks Baseline “righteousness”) | 5:6, 5:10 | Established Synodal text uses правда, not праведность, here — creates a deliberate but confusing dual-rendering with 5:20 that must be taught explicitly as one Greek concept; правда also risks the same справедливость-type false-friend drift (mere “truth/fairness”). |
| 4 | Righteousness (doctrinal register) | δικαιοσύνη / dikaiosynē | праведность | Critical [Baseline] | Baseline reuse | 5:20; 6:33; throughout | Reuse baseline term/risk exactly; this is the verse stating the curriculum’s own named doctrine. |
| 5 | Poor in spirit | πτωχὸς τῷ πνεύματι / ptōchos tō pneumati | нищие духом | Medium | New | 5:3 | Risk of being heard as literal material poverty or low self-esteem rather than acknowledged spiritual bankruptcy. |
| 6 | Mourn / comforted | πενθέω / παρακαλέω | плачущие / утешатся | Low-Medium | New | 5:4 | Distinct word-family from Baseline “exhort” (увещевать); do not assume automatic continuity. |
| 7 | Meek | πραΰς / praeis | кроткие | Medium | New | 5:5; 11:29; 21:5 | Risk of connoting mere passivity/timidity rather than strength held under control (as modeled by Christ himself). |
| 8 | Merciful / mercy | ἐλεήμων / ἔλεος | милостивые / милость | Medium | New | 5:7; 9:13; 12:7 | Distinct concept from Baseline “grace” (благодать); милость is the correct primary term for mercy itself, not a forbidden substitute here. |
| 9 | Pure in heart | καθαρὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ / katharos tē kardia | чистые сердцем | Low-Medium | New | 5:8 | чистый here is the correct primary term (distinct from its rejected use as a substitute for “holy” in Baseline); ensure inner/moral, not ritual, sense. |
| 10 | Peacemakers | εἰρηνοποιός / eirēnopoios | миротворцы | Low | New | 5:9 | Active, verbal sense (peace-making); relates to Baseline “peace” (мир) but is a distinct, active compound. |
| 11 | Sons of God (believers, plural) | υἱοὶ θεοῦ / huioi theou | сыны/дети Божьи | High | New (must stay distinct from Baseline “son_of_god”) | 5:9 | Must never be confused with Christ’s unique singular Сын Божий; connects to Baseline “adoption” doctrine. |
| 12 | Persecuted (for righteousness) | διώκω / diōkō | изгнанные / гнать | Medium | New | 5:10-12; 10:23; 23:34 | Establishes cost-of-discipleship doctrine from the Sermon’s outset. |
| 13 | Reward | μισθός / misthos | награда | Medium | New | 5:12; 6:1-18; 10:41-42 | Commercial root (wage) risks implying earned merit; must be framed as the Father’s gracious, not mercenary, recompense. |
| 14 | Disciple | μαθητής / mathētēs | ученик | Medium | New | throughout | Ordinary secular “pupil” word; costly-apprenticeship weight must be built narratively, not assumed from the word. |
| 15 | Authority (Jesus’ teaching) | ἐξουσία / exousia | власть | High | New | 7:28-29; 8:9; 21:23-27; 28:18 | Heavy political/institutional-power connotation in Russian (imperial and Soviet “власть”); must be framed as personal, moral, divine authority, not state power. |
| 16 | Son of Man | υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου / huios tou anthrōpou | Сын Человеческий | High | New | 8:20; 16:27; 24:30; 25:31; 26:64 | Risk of being heard as merely “a human being” generically, losing the exalted Danielic apocalyptic-judge sense. |
| 17 | Son of David | υἱὸς Δαβίδ / huios Dabid | Сын Давидов | Medium | New (related to Baseline “seed_of_david”) | 1:1; 9:27; 12:23; 15:22; 20:30-31; 21:9,15 | Requires 2 Samuel 7 Davidic-covenant background teaching to land with full force. |
| 18 | Virgin | παρθένος / parthenos | Дева / девственница | Medium | New | 1:23 | Strong Orthodox Marian resonance (Дева Мария); risk of importing extra Marian doctrine not asserted by the text. |
| 19 | Emmanuel | Ἐμμανουήλ / Emmanouēl | Эммануил (“с нами Бог”) | Low | New | 1:23 | Strong positive liturgical/hymnodic asset. |
| 20 | Fulfillment formula | ἵνα πληρωθῇ / hina plērōthē | да сбудется / чтобы исполнилось | Medium [Baseline doctrine reuse] | Reuse doctrine, new specific formula | 1:22; 2:15,17,23; 4:14; 8:17; 12:17; 13:35; 21:4; 27:9 | Ten recurrences; risk of OT citations read as generic religious literature rather than historically anchored promise. |
| 21 | Fulfill (the Law) | πληρόω / plērōsai | исполнить (закон) | High | New | 5:17 | Must not be heard as “abolish/replace” the Law; grounds the antitheses. |
| 22 | Perfect | τέλειος / teleios | совершенны(е) | Medium | New | 5:48 | Risk of implying sinless self-achieved perfectionism rather than wholehearted, God-reflecting love. |
| 23 | Love (of enemies/God/neighbor) | ἀγαπάω / ἀγάπη | любить / любовь | Medium | New — add to TM | 5:44; 22:37-39 | Single Russian root must carry the full weight Greek distributes across ἀγάπη/φιλία/ἔρως; context must supply the distinction. |
| 24 | King of the Jews | βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων / basileus tōn Ioudaiōn | Царь Иудейский | Medium | New | 2:2; 27:37 | Ensure “Иудейский” is read covenant-historically, not as a modern political referent (cf. Baseline “israel” caution). |
| 25 | Worship | προσκυνέω / proskyneō | поклониться / поклонение | Low-Medium | New | 2:11; 4:9-10; 14:33; 28:9,17 | Strong positive Orthodox-prostration cultural resonance; clarify object is Christ himself, not an image/relic. |
| 26 | Repentance | μετάνοια / μετανοέω | покаяние / покаяться | High | New | 3:2,8; 4:17 | Risk of being heard exclusively as the sacrament of Confession rather than direct inward turning to God available to all. |
| 27 | Baptize / baptism | βαπτίζω / βάπτισμα | крестить / крещение | Critical | New | 3:1-17; 28:19 | Live Orthodox (baptismal regeneration, infant baptism) vs. Evangelical/Baptist (believer’s baptism as post-conversion declaration) confessional divergence; curriculum must state its own position. |
| 28 | Wrath | ὀργή / orgē | гнев (Божий) | Medium | New | 3:7 | Must be read as settled righteous judgment, not emotional outburst. |
| 29 | Devil / Satan | διάβολος / Σατανᾶς | диавол / сатана | Low | New | 4:1-11 | Well-settled, no significant rival native concept requiring caution. |
| 30 | Temptation | πειρασμός / peirasmos | искушение | Low-Medium | New | 4:1; 6:13 | Shares root with Lord’s Prayer petition; low risk. |
| 31 | Hypocrite | ὑποκριτής / hypokritēs | лицемер | Low-Medium | New | 6:2,5,16; 15:7; 23:13-29 | ”Фарисей” as idiom-synonym is a cultural asset if handled with care. |
| 32 | Treasure / mammon | θησαυρός / μαμωνᾶς | сокровище / маммона | Low | New | 6:19-24 | маммона retained as established Synodal transliterated loanword. |
| 33 | Lawlessness | ἀνομία / anomia | беззаконие | Medium | New | 7:23; 13:41; 23:28; 24:12 | Must denote willful rebellion, not mere non-compliance; reuse Baseline закон root. |
| 34 | Judge not | κρίνω / krinō | не судите | Low-Medium | New | 7:1-5 | Frequently misquoted as a blanket relativistic maxim in secular idiom; restore original narrower target. |
| 35 | Compassion | σπλαγχνίζομαι / splagchnizomai | сжалился / милосердие | Low-Medium | New | 9:36; 14:14; 15:32; 20:34 | Reuse милость word-family; distinct from, not substitute for, благодать. |
| 36 | Tax collectors and sinners | τελῶναι καὶ ἁμαρτωλοί | мытари и грешники | Low | New | 9:10-13 | Standard, transparent Synodal phrase. |
| 37 | Apostle | ἀπόστολος / apostolos | апостол | Medium [Baseline] | Baseline reuse | 10:1-4 | Reuse baseline rendering; here concretely tied to the historical Twelve. |
| 38 | Yoke / rest | ζυγός / ἀνάπαυσις | ярмо, иго / покой | Medium | New | 11:28-30 | покой here is the correct primary term for “rest,” a different concept from Baseline’s мир (peace) caution. |
| 39 | The Coming One | ὁ ἐρχόμενος / ho erchomenos | Грядущий | Medium | New | 11:3 | Must not flatten into generic future reference; fixed messianic-title sense required. |
| 40 | Blasphemy against the Spirit | βλασφημία εἰς τὸ Πνεῦμα | хула на Духа Святого | High | New | 12:31-32 | Pastoral risk: anxious readers may wrongly fear ordinary doubt qualifies; clarify hardened, final rejection is in view. |
| 41 | Sign of Jonah | σημεῖον Ἰωνᾶ | знамение Ионы | Low-Medium | New | 12:39-40 | Typological, not predictive; знамение distinct register from чудо. |
| 42 | Parable | παραβολή / parabolē | притча | Low | New | ch. 13 and throughout | Well-established, transparent secular/religious term. |
| 43 | Mystery | μυστήριον / mystērion | тайны (Царства) | Medium | New | 13:11 | Risk of being read as unsolved riddle/occult secret rather than divinely disclosed truth. |
| 44 | End of the age | συντέλεια τοῦ αἰῶνος | кончина/скончание века | Medium | New | 13:39-40,49; 24:3; 28:20 | Archaic register; must render identically across all occurrences per cross-document consistency rule. |
| 45 | Weeping and gnashing of teeth | κλαυθμὸς καὶ βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων | плач и скрежет зубов | Medium | New | 8:12; 13:42,50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30 | Recurring judgment formula; render identically across all six occurrences. |
| 46 | Little faith | ὀλιγόπιστος / oligopistos | маловерный / маловерие | Low-Medium | New | 14:31; 6:30; 16:8; 17:20 | Transparent compound built on Baseline вера root. |
| 47 | Tradition (of the elders) | παράδοσις / paradosis | предание (старцев) | Critical | New | 15:2-6 | Identical word to Orthodoxy’s own Священное Предание (Holy Tradition); must scope critique narrowly to avoid appearing to reject Holy Tradition wholesale. |
| 48 | Defile | κοινόω / koinoō | осквернять | Medium | New | 15:11,18-20 | Interior moral sense must not collapse into ritual-purity sense alone. |
| 49 | Christ, Son of the living God (confession) | Χριστός, ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος | Христос, Сын Бога живого | Critical [Baseline compound] | Baseline reuse (compound of two entries) | 16:16 | Preserve both messianic-office and unique-deity weight together; the Gospel’s structural pivot. |
| 50 | Church | ἐκκλησία / ekklēsia | церковь | High [Baseline] | Baseline reuse | 16:18; 18:15-17 | First NT occurrence at 16:18 is the contested proof-text for papal claims (Catholic), sacramental-priestly reading (Orthodox), and congregational reading (Protestant); state curriculum’s own position. |
| 51 | Keys of the kingdom / bind / loose | κλεῖς τῆς βασιλείας / δέω / λύω | ключи (Царства) / связывать / разрешать | Critical | New | 16:19; 18:18 | ”Разрешать” collides directly with Orthodox sacramental absolution terminology (разрешительная молитва); read together with 18:18’s congregational parallel. |
| 52 | Take up (his) cross | ἆρον τὸν σταυρὸν αὐτοῦ | взять крест свой | High | New | 10:38; 16:24-26 | Cross’s cultural ubiquity (jewelry, crossing oneself, gravesites) risks flattening the metaphor into symbol-wearing rather than costly self-denial. |
| 53 | Transfiguration | μεταμορφόω / metamorphoō | преображение | Low | New | 17:1-8 | Strong positive liturgical asset (major fixed Orthodox feast); distinguish narrative event from feast-day association alone. |
| 54 | Little ones | οἱ μικροὶ οὗτοι | малые сии | Low-Medium | New | 18:6,10,14 | Archaic register requires plain-language gloss. |
| 55 | Stumbling block | σκάνδαλον / skandalon | соблазн | Medium | New | 18:6-9 | Everyday usage risks trivializing to mere indulgence-temptation; graver “cause of spiritual ruin” sense required. |
| 56 | Eternal life | ζωὴ αἰώνιος / zōē aiōnios | жизнь вечная | Medium | New | 19:16,29; 25:46 | Risk of hearing only unending duration, missing the distinct present-and-future quality of resurrection life. |
| 57 | Ransom | λύτρον / lytron | выкуп | Medium-High | New | 20:28 | Concrete kidnapping/hostage association is helpful; clarify recipient/purpose is not payment to Satan but redemption from sin’s bondage. |
| 58 | Servant / slave | διάκονος / δοῦλος | слуга / раб | Medium | New | 20:26-28; 23:11 | раб carries negative serfdom/Soviet-forced-labor resonance; leverage the positive existing Orthodox devotional phrase “раб Божий” instead. |
| 59 | Hosanna | Ὡσαννά / hōsanna | Осанна | Low | New | 21:9,15 | Retained transliteration, well recognized. |
| 60 | Cornerstone | κεφαλὴ γωνίας | камень… главою угла | Medium | New | 21:42 | Archaic phrasing; imagery itself translates cleanly with a plain gloss. |
| 61 | Called / chosen | κλητοί / ἐκλεκτοί | призваны / избранны | High [Baseline] | Baseline reuse | 22:14 | Primary proof-text tie-in to Baseline’s election doctrine; absolutely no судьба/рок/карма substitution. |
| 62 | Woe | οὐαί / ouai | горе (вам) | Low | New | ch. 23 | Standard OT-prophetic-register term. |
| 63 | Coming (Parousia) | παρουσία / parousia | пришествие | Low | New | 24:3,27,37,39 | Strong shared positive doctrinal/cultural asset (“Второе пришествие”). |
| 64 | Abomination of desolation | βδέλυγμα τῆς ἐρημώσεως | мерзость запустения | Medium | New | 24:15 | Vivid, recognizable literary allusion; requires historical-apocalyptic grounding, not generic-ruin reading. |
| 65 | This generation | ἡ γενεὰ αὕτη | род сей | Medium | New | 24:34 | Archaic register; underlying interpretive ambiguity is an exegetical, not lexical, issue to flag. |
| 66 | Watch / be alert | γρηγορέω / grēgoreō | бодрствовать / бдите | Low | New | 24:42-44; 25:13 | Strong positive liturgical asset (всенощное бдение, the all-night vigil). |
| 67 | Talent (parable) | τάλαντον / talanton | таланты | Low | New | 25:14-30 | Shared dual sense (ancient coin / modern ability) with English and Russian alike; genuine teaching asset. |
| 68 | Eternal punishment / eternal life (parallel) | κόλασιν αἰώνιον / ζωὴν αἰώνιον | мука вечная / жизнь вечная | High | New | 25:46 | Grammatical parallel (identical adjective both clauses) must be preserved exactly; no asymmetric softening. |
| 69 | Least of these (my brothers) | τῶν ἀδελφῶν μου τῶν ἐλαχίστων | меньшие братья Мои | Low-Medium | New | 25:40,45 | Frame as fruit of genuine faith, not a separate meritorious path to salvation. |
| 70 | Passover | Πάσχα / Pascha | Пасха | Critical | New | 26:2,17-19 | Identical word to Christian Easter (Пасха); must clarify OT Jewish Passover referent distinct from the Christian Resurrection feast sharing the same name. |
| 71 | New covenant | καινὴ διαθήκη / kainē diathēkē | Новый Завет | Critical [Baseline “covenant” extension] | New extension of Baseline завет | 26:28 | Identical phrase to the New Testament (the book); must distinguish covenant-reality sense from book-title sense at this specific verse. |
| 72 | Body / blood (institution words) | σῶμα / αἷμα | тело / кровь | Critical | New | 26:26-28 | Wording uncontested; interpretation (Real Presence/transformation vs. memorial/spiritual-presence) is a live, sharply contested inter-confessional issue requiring the curriculum to state its own position. |
| 73 | Betray / hand over | παραδίδωμι / paradidōmi | предать / предавать | Low-Medium | New | 26:14-16,21-25,47-50 | Standard and vivid; note broader semantic range for advanced/comparative teaching only. |
| 74 | Deny | ἀρνέομαι / arneomai | отрекся | Low | New | 26:69-75 | Standard, clear. |
| 75 | Forsaken (cry of dereliction) | ἐγκαταλείπω / egkataleipō | оставил (Меня) | High | New | 27:46 | Raises a real trinitarian question (how can the Son be forsaken without division in the Godhead) needing direct pastoral/doctrinal address, not silence. |
| 76 | Temple veil torn | καταπέτασμα… ἐσχίσθη | завеса (храма) раздралась | Medium | New | 27:51 | Requires OT tabernacle/temple background to land with full theological force. |
| 77 | Make disciples (of all nations) | μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη | научите все народы | High | New | 28:19 | Established Synodal “научите” under-translates the fuller causative “make disciples of” sense; restore explicitly in teaching text. Prefer народы over язычники here per Baseline mission-scope guidance. |
| 78 | Trinitarian baptismal formula | εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος | во имя Отца и Сына и Святого Духа | Critical | New (combines Baseline Father/Son/Holy Spirit entries) | 28:19 | Require verbatim-identical rendering across every document, per Baseline’s cross-document consistency rule (parallel to Romans 8:28/10:9-10 requirement). |
Terms Reused Exactly from Baseline Romans Translation Memory (No New Entry Required)
The following terms recur throughout Matthew and must use the baseline Russian rendering exactly, with no deviation: gospel (Евангелие), grace (благодать), faith (вера), justification (оправдание), salvation (спасение), called/calling (призванный/призвание), holy (святой), saints (святые), sanctification (освящение), adoption (усыновление), resurrection (воскресение), Lord (Господь), Son of God (singular, Christ) (Сын Божий), incarnation (воплощение), peace (мир), spiritual gifts (духовные дары), thanksgiving (благодарение), fellowship (общение), church (церковь), kingdom of God (Царство Божие — used at 12:28; 19:24; 21:31,43, distinct stylistically but not doctrinally from Matthew’s preferred Царство Небесное), law (закон), sin (грех), gentiles/nations (язычники / народы), glory (слава), obedience of faith (послушание вере), power of God (сила Божия), messiah (Мессия/Христос), prophet (пророк), prophecy (пророчество), covenant (завет), election (избрание), providence (промысел Божий), mission (миссия/благовестие), David (Давид), Israel (Израиль), Jesus (Иисус), God (Бог), Holy Spirit (Святой Дух), Father (Отец), Abba (Авва), exhort (увещевать), seed of David (от семени Давидова), imputed righteousness (вменённая праведность).
New Terms Requiring Translation Memory Addition Before Phase 2
Per the baseline’s term-discovery procedure, the following genuinely new terms (not present in the Romans translation memory) must be added, versioned, and — where marked Critical/High — flagged for theologian review before any Phase 2 segment translation begins: Kingdom of Heaven (Царство Небесное), Blessed (блаженны), Righteousness/Beatitudes-register (правда), Disciple (ученик), Authority/ἐξουσία (власть), Son of Man (Сын Человеческий), Son of David (Сын Давидов), Repentance (покаяние), Baptize/Baptism (крестить/крещение), Love/ἀγαπάω (любить/любовь), Tradition/παράδοσις (предание), Church-keys/Bind-and-loose (ключи/связывать/разрешать), Take up (his) cross (взять крест свой), Ransom (выкуп), Passover (Пасха), New Covenant/Matthew-26 extension (Новый Завет), Lord’s Supper body/blood (тело/кровь), Forsaken (оставил), Make disciples (научите/сделать учениками), Trinitarian baptismal formula (во имя Отца и Сына и Святого Духа), and all remaining Medium/Low terms listed in the table above.
Cross-reference: see 07_semantic_analysis.md for full verse-by-verse and chapter-by-chapter argumentation supporting every risk designation in this table.
Critical Risk Terms
Grace
Approved rendering: благодать
Transliteration: blagodat’
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: милость, дар, везение, удача
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Matthew narrates rather than argues this doctrine (e.g. the vineyard laborers, ch. 20; the wedding-feast invitation, ch. 22); the ‘apart from works’ contrast must still be stated explicitly, not left to the parable’s narrative alone.
Justification
Approved rendering: оправдание
Transliteration: opravdaniye
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: прощение грехов, искупление
Original: δικαίωσις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Not a frequent explicit Matthean term, but underlies the grace-based acceptance narrated in chs. 20-22; do not let оправдание resolve into прощение грехов alone.
Salvation
Approved rendering: спасение
Transliteration: spaseniye
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: избавление (acceptable narrowly for ‘deliverance’), освобождение
Original: σωτηρία / σῴζω
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Matthew 1:21 explicitly glosses the name Иисус with this saving mission before any teaching begins; anchor to Christ’s atoning death (20:28; 26:28) and resurrection (28:6), not an open-ended theosis process.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: освящение
Transliteration: osvyashcheniye
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: обожение (reserve for explicit theosis discussion only), очищение
Original: ἁγιασμός / ἁγιάζω
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package. Matthew 6:9’s Lord’s Prayer petition ‘да святится имя Твое’ shares this root — a strong positive liturgical asset — but is grammatically a wish about God’s own name, not a description of believer transformation; keep the two distinct in teaching.
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. Reserved exclusively for Christ’s unique, eternal, singular Sonship (14:33; 16:16; 27:54); must never be used for the plural believer-sonship of Matthew 5:9 (see sons_of_god_believers).
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: вменённая праведность
Transliteration: vmenyonnaya pravednost’
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: заслуженная праведность, дарованная святость (too vague)
Inherited from Romans package. Not explicitly argued in Matthew’s discursive style, but underlies the grace-based reward/acceptance logic of chs. 20-22; заслуженная remains explicitly rejected as its exact opposite.
Kingdom Of Heaven
Approved rendering: Царство Небесное
Transliteration: Tsarstvo Nebesnoye
Doctrine: The Kingdom of Heaven
Rejected alternatives: государство небесное, небесное царствие (used only in the forbidden funeral-idiom sense)
Original: βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν
Category: Kingdom
NEW. Matthew’s preferred designation (~32 occurrences: 3:2; 5:3,10; 13; 18:1-4; 19:14; 25). Must be taught as synonymous with, not competing against, Царство Божие used elsewhere in the same book (12:28; 19:24; 21:31,43). Primary risk: the widespread Russian funeral/memorial idiom ‘царствие (ему/ей) небесное’ (rest his/her soul), which primes readers to hear ‘Небесное’ as an exclusively future afterlife destination rather than God’s present, in-breaking reign. This idiom must be explicitly named and set aside in teaching, not merely avoided in translation.
Righteousness Beatitudes
Approved rendering: правда
Transliteration: pravda
Doctrine: Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees
Rejected alternatives: справедливость (rejected per baseline righteousness entry), истина (too narrowly ‘truth’ in the epistemic sense)
Original: δικαιοσύνη
Category: Salvation
NEW — CRITICAL FORK against the baseline’s single-term δικαιοσύνη policy. The established Synodal text renders the identical Greek word правда at Matthew 5:6 and 5:10, but праведность (see baseline righteousness entry) at 5:20 — the doctrine’s own naming verse — within the very same chapter. Must be taught explicitly as one Greek concept split across two Russian words, never silently harmonized. правда also carries an independent false-friend risk in secular Russian, commonly meaning merely ‘truth’ (opposite of ложь) or colloquial ‘fairness’ (‘это не по правде’), weaker than forensic/moral righteousness — a parallel but distinct risk from справедливость.
Baptism
Approved rendering: крестить / крещение
Transliteration: krestit’ / kreshcheniye
Doctrine: Baptism
Original: βαπτίζω / βάπτισμα
Category: Sacraments
NEW. John’s baptism (3:1-17) and the Great Commission’s Trinitarian baptism (28:19). Live confessional divergence specific to Russia: Orthodox baptismal regeneration (ordinarily infant baptism) vs. the believer’s-baptism-as-declaration held by many Evangelical/Baptist readers this curriculum also serves. Matthew’s text does not resolve this debate; the curriculum must state its own position plainly.
Tradition
Approved rendering: предание
Transliteration: predaniye
Doctrine: Scripture’s Authority over Corrupting Human Tradition
Original: παράδοσις
Category: Covenant
NEW. Matthew 15:2-6, ‘tradition of the elders.’ This is the IDENTICAL Russian word used for Orthodoxy’s own Священное Предание (Holy/Sacred Tradition, held jointly authoritative with Scripture). Must state explicitly that Jesus’ critique targets a specific, identified human tradition overriding God’s actual command, not a blanket condemnation of ‘предание’ as a category — an unqualified reading would be heard by Orthodox readers as a direct assault on Holy Tradition itself.
Christ Son Of Living God
Approved rendering: Христос, Сын Бога живого
Transliteration: Khristos, Syn Boga zhivogo
Doctrine: The Deity of Christ (Confessional Statements)
Original: Χριστός, ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ζῶντος
Category: Christology
NEW — compound of the baseline’s Мессия/Христос (High) and Сын Божий (Critical) entries at the Gospel’s structural pivot (16:16, Peter’s confession). Both the messianic-office and unique-deity weight must be preserved together, not separated into two lesser individual claims.
Keys Bind Loose
Approved rendering: ключи Царства / связывать / разрешать
Transliteration: klyuchi Tsarstva / svyazyvat’ / razreshat’
Doctrine: The Church and Church Discipline
Original: κλεῖς τῆς βασιλείας / δέω / λύω
Category: Church
NEW. Matthew 16:19; 18:18. A genuinely contested inter-confessional passage: Roman Catholic tradition reads it as unique papal authority; Orthodox tradition’s ‘разрешать’ resonates directly with the technical term for priestly sacramental absolution (‘разрешительная молитва’); Protestant readings favor the whole gathered congregation (reinforced by the parallel language at 18:18). The curriculum must state its own doctrinal position explicitly and clarify разрешать does not import sacramental-clergy mediation here.
Passover
Approved rendering: Пасха
Transliteration: Paskha
Doctrine: Passover Fulfilled in Christ
Original: Πάσχα
Category: Covenant
NEW. Matthew 26:2,17-19. This is the IDENTICAL Russian word used for Christian Easter, the paramount feast of the Orthodox liturgical year. Matthew 26’s Пасха refers to the OT Jewish Passover meal, a wholly distinct referent from the Christian Resurrection feast that derives its name from this very event; readers must be given explicit clarification (ветхозаветная Пасха) to prevent conflating the Passover-meal-to-resurrection timeline with a single undifferentiated ‘Easter’ event.
New Covenant
Approved rendering: Новый Завет
Transliteration: Novyy Zavet
Doctrine: The New Covenant in Christ’s Blood
Original: καινὴ διαθήκη
Category: Covenant
NEW. Matthew 26:28. This is the IDENTICAL Russian phrase used as the title of the New Testament (the biblical book collection). At the Last Supper, ‘чаша Нового Завета’ refers to the relational covenant reality Christ’s blood inaugurates, not the book readers hold; teaching text must explicitly distinguish these two senses at this specific verse.
Body And Blood
Approved rendering: тело / кровь
Transliteration: telo / krov’
Doctrine: The Lord’s Supper
Original: σῶμά μου / αἷμά μου
Category: Sacraments
NEW. Matthew 26:26-28. The Russian wording is uncontested across traditions; the risk is entirely theological-interpretive — Orthodox/Catholic sacramental Real Presence/transformation theology (Евхаристия/Причастие) versus memorial/spiritual-presence views common among many Protestant/Evangelical readers this curriculum also serves. The curriculum should state its own position explicitly rather than assume neutral shared ground.
Trinitarian Baptismal Formula
Approved rendering: во имя Отца и Сына и Святого Духа
Transliteration: vo imya Ottsa i Syna i Svyatogo Dukha
Doctrine: The Great Commission
Original: εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος
Category: God
NEW. Matthew 28:19, uniting all three baseline divine-Person entries (Отец, Сын, Святой Дух) in Matthew’s clearest single Trinitarian statement. Must receive identical, invariant rendering across every document in the curriculum per the baseline’s cross-document consistency rules, paralleling the required consistency for Romans 8:28 and 10:9-10. Collides with the Critical baptism doctrine and must be handled alongside it.
High Risk Terms
Faith
Approved rendering: вера
Transliteration: vera
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: доверие, убеждение
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Matthew repeatedly commends Gentile faith (the centurion, ch. 8; the Canaanite woman, ch. 15) exceeding what is found ‘in Israel’ — the personal, Christ-directed sense must not default to вера as Orthodox religious/ethnic identity.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: праведность
Transliteration: pravednost’
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: справедливость, честность
Original: δικαιοσύνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. In Matthew this is the doctrinal-register rendering of δικαιοσύνη at 5:20 and 6:33 — the doctrine’s own naming verse. See righteousness_beatitudes for the CRITICAL fork where the identical Greek word is rendered правда at 5:6 and 5:10 within the same chapter.
Saints
Approved rendering: святые
Transliteration: svyatyye
Doctrine: Sainthood
Rejected alternatives: праведники
Inherited from Romans package. Less prominent as a stand-alone address in Matthew than in Romans, but the baseline caution (corporate, not elite-venerated, sense) must govern any occurrence.
Adoption
Approved rendering: усыновление
Transliteration: usynovleniye
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: принятие в семью
Original: υἱοθεσία (concept; cf. υἱοὶ θεοῦ, 5:9)
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Connects to Matthew 5:9’s plural ‘sons of God’ Beatitude (see sons_of_god_believers); full inheritance-rights framing should be stressed as in Romans.
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. Frequently used in Matthew as a form of address by petitioners seeking healing (8:2,25; 14:30; 15:22); preserve the personal, faith-filled force, not a merely polite honorific.
Church
Approved rendering: церковь
Transliteration: tserkov’
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: храм, собрание (acceptable for local congregation emphasis)
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Matthew 16:18 is the first NT occurrence and the single most consequential occurrence in the NT for this doctrine — the historic proof-text for competing papal, sacramental-clergy, and congregational readings; state the curriculum’s own position explicitly.
Sin
Approved rendering: грех
Transliteration: grekh
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: ошибка, проступок
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package. Matthew 1:21 grounds the Gospel’s mission in saving ‘his people from their sins’; restore the term’s weight given post-Soviet flattening of грех into folk-moral idiom.
Obedience Of Faith
Approved rendering: послушание вере
Transliteration: poslushaniye vere
Doctrine: Obedience of Faith
Rejected alternatives: религиозный долг, соблюдение обрядов
Original: ὑπακοὴ πίστεως (concept; cf. Matthew’s ‘doing the will of my Father,’ 7:21; 12:50; 21:28-32)
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Underlies Matthew 7:21-27’s warning that hearing without doing is insufficient; must not collapse into a separate meritorious religious duty.
Messiah
Approved rendering: Мессия
Transliteration: Messiya
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Rejected alternatives: спаситель мира (as a stand-alone substitute)
Original: Χριστός / מָשִׁיחַ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Used alongside Христос, which functions as Jesus’ effective surname in ordinary Russian; re-surface the ‘Anointed One’/fulfillment force explicitly at 1:1 and 16:16.
Election
Approved rendering: избрание
Transliteration: izbraniye
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: судьба, рок, предопределение (use only with careful qualification)
Original: ἐκλογή / ἐκλεκτός
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Matthew 22:14 (‘many are called, but few are chosen’) is a primary proof-text; судьба/рок/карма remain absolutely forbidden substitutions.
Providence
Approved rendering: промысел Божий
Transliteration: promysel Bozhiy
Doctrine: Providence
Rejected alternatives: судьба, случай, карма (never use)
Original: πρόνοια (concept; cf. Matthew 6:25-34, 10:29-31)
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Matthew 6:25-34’s anxiety teaching and 10:29-31’s sparrow saying are the book’s clearest expressions; судьба/случай/карма remain forbidden.
Abba
Approved rendering: Авва
Transliteration: Avva
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Inherited from Romans package. Not itself used in Matthew’s Gethsemane account (which is in Greek only, unlike Mark 14:36), but retained in translation memory for cross-document consistency with the Romans 8:15 usage this curriculum’s readers will also encounter.
Blessed
Approved rendering: блаженны
Transliteration: blazhenny
Doctrine: The Blessedness of Kingdom Citizens (Beatitudes)
Rejected alternatives: счастливы (too weak, ordinary happiness), удачливы (never use — implies luck)
Original: μακάριος
Category: Beatitudes
NEW. Core passage term (5:3-11). Carries genuine positive liturgical resonance (chanted as ‘Блаженны’ at the Divine Liturgy) but colloquial блаженный can mean ‘simple-minded, touched’ and is also the technical Orthodox category for a canonized ‘holy fool’ (юродивый/блаженный). Must be read as Jesus’ authoritative pronouncement of God-given flourishing on every follower, not a reference to pitiable simplicity or the юродивый tradition specifically.
Sons Of God Believers
Approved rendering: сыны Божьи / дети Божьи
Transliteration: syny Bozh’i / deti Bozh’i
Doctrine: Sonship of Believers
Rejected alternatives: Сын Божий (singular — FORBIDDEN here; reserved exclusively for Christ)
Original: υἱοὶ θεοῦ (plural)
Category: Salvation
NEW. Core passage term (5:9, peacemakers ‘shall be called sons of God’). Render only as plural сыны/дети Божьи — never the singular Сын Божий, which the baseline reserves exclusively for Christ’s unique deity. Connect explicitly to the baseline’s усыновление (adoption) doctrine while keeping the two categories sharply distinct.
Authority
Approved rendering: власть
Transliteration: vlast’
Doctrine: The Authority of Jesus’ Teaching
Rejected alternatives: сила (conflates with δύναμις/сила Божия, a different concept), право (too narrowly legal)
Original: ἐξουσία
Category: Christology
NEW. Central to 7:28-29, 8:9, 21:23-27, 28:18. власть carries very heavy political/institutional-power connotations from both imperial (‘царская власть’) and Soviet/post-Soviet (‘органы власти’) usage, generally with popular suspicion. Must be framed as personal, moral, inherently divine authority — not state or institutional power — at every occurrence, not only 7:28-29.
Son Of Man
Approved rendering: Сын Человеческий
Transliteration: Syn Chelovecheskiy
Doctrine: Judgment and the End of the Age
Rejected alternatives: человек (loses all titular force)
Original: υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου
Category: Christology
NEW. Jesus’ favored self-title (8:20; 16:27; 24:30; 25:31; 26:64), uniting humble humanity with the exalted apocalyptic judge of Daniel 7. Risk: being heard as merely ‘a human being’ generically, losing the technical, exalted Danielic sense at its most weighted occurrences. Both senses must be taught together, not assumed self-evident.
Fulfill The Law
Approved rendering: исполнить закон
Transliteration: ispolnit’ zakon
Doctrine: Jesus’ Fulfillment and Authoritative Reinterpretation of the Law
Rejected alternatives: отменить закон (FORBIDDEN — the opposite of Matthew 5:17’s claim)
Original: πληρόω (of the Law)
Category: Covenant
NEW. Matthew 5:17. Risks two opposite errors: heard as ‘abolish/replace,’ severing OT continuity; or heard as mere legal completion divorced from the authoritative reinterpretation in the antitheses that follow (5:21-48). Both must be guarded against explicitly. Reuses baseline закон exactly for νόμος.
Repentance
Approved rendering: покаяние / покаяться
Transliteration: pokayaniye / pokayat’sya
Doctrine: Repentance
Original: μετάνοια / μετανοέω
Category: Salvation
NEW. John the Baptist’s and Jesus’ call (3:2,8; 4:17; 11:20-21). For most Russians with any Orthodox exposure, покаяние’s primary lived meaning is the sacrament of Confession (Таинство Покаяния) with priestly absolution. Matthew’s call is a direct, inward turning to God available to and required of every person, not necessarily mediated through sacramental confession — state this explicitly.
Blasphemy Against Spirit
Approved rendering: хула на Духа Святого
Transliteration: khula na Dukha Svyatogo
Doctrine: Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit
Original: βλασφημία εἰς τὸ Πνεῦμα
Category: Sin
NEW. Matthew 12:22-32. Doctrinally correct and gravely registered; the primary risk is pastoral — anxious readers may fear ordinary doubt or intrusive blasphemous thoughts qualify. Teaching text must state plainly that a specific, hardened, final rejection is in view, not momentary doubt.
Take Up Cross
Approved rendering: взять крест свой
Transliteration: vzyat’ krest svoy
Doctrine: Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus
Original: ἆρον τὸν σταυρὸν αὐτοῦ
Category: Discipleship
NEW. Matthew 10:38; 16:24-26. крест’s ubiquity in Russian religious/cultural life (jewelry, crossing oneself, gravesites) risks flattening this into mere religious-cultural symbol-wearing rather than the text’s actual demand for costly, potentially life-threatening self-denial.
Ransom
Approved rendering: выкуп
Transliteration: vykup
Doctrine: Christ’s Atoning Death as Ransom
Original: λύτρον
Category: Salvation
NEW. Matthew 20:28. Vivid, helpful commercial/hostage-ransom association; clarify the recipient/purpose is NOT payment to Satan (an old patristic-era theory with lingering informal currency) but the costly price of redemption from sin’s bondage.
Eternal Punishment
Approved rendering: мука вечная
Transliteration: muka vechnaya
Doctrine: Judgment and the End of the Age
Rejected alternatives: временное наказание (FORBIDDEN — contradicts the grammatical parallel with жизнь вечная)
Original: κόλασιν αἰώνιον
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Matthew 25:46. The identical Greek adjective αἰώνιος modifies both punishment and life in strict grammatical parallel; this parallel must be preserved exactly in Russian (мука вечная / жизнь вечная), matching the established Synodal text. Any asymmetric softening of eternal punishment while leaving eternal life unqualified would distort the passage’s deliberate parallelism.
Forsaken
Approved rendering: оставил (Меня)
Transliteration: ostavil (Menya)
Doctrine: The Cry of Dereliction and Substitutionary Suffering
Original: ἐγκαταλείπω (cf. Ψαλμ. 21:2 LXX / Psalm 22:1)
Category: Christology
NEW. Matthew 27:46, quoting Psalm 22:1, established Synodal phrasing ‘для чего Ты Меня оставил.’ Raises a genuinely difficult trinitarian question — how the Son could be forsaken without division within the Godhead — that different traditions resolve differently; teaching text must address this directly, not leave readers to puzzle over an apparent contradiction unguided.
Make Disciples
Approved rendering: научите все народы
Transliteration: nauchite vse narody
Doctrine: The Great Commission
Original: μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη
Category: Discipleship
NEW. Matthew 28:19. The established Synodal ‘научите’ (‘teach/instruct’) under-translates the fuller causative ‘make disciples of’ sense of μαθητεύσατε, risking a mere information-transfer reading rather than the total-life apprenticeship modeled throughout the Gospel. Teaching text must explicitly restore this fuller sense. Prefer народы over язычники per the baseline’s mission-scope guidance.
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. Matthew ties this term directly to Царство Небесное via the phrase ‘gospel of the kingdom’ (4:23; 9:35; 24:14); ensure it reads as a living, urgent announcement, not only the book-genre name.
Apostle
Approved rendering: апостол
Transliteration: apostol
Doctrine: Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: посланник, проповедник
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. In Matthew concretely tied to the fixed, named Twelve (10:1-4); here the baseline’s caution that Russian usage treats ‘apostle’ as a closed historical office is textually accurate, not a risk requiring correction.
Called
Approved rendering: призванный
Transliteration: prizvannyy
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: приглашённый
Original: κλητός
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Matthew 22:14 (‘many are called, but few are chosen’) is a primary cross-curriculum proof-text for effectual calling; keep the personal, summoning force intact.
Calling
Approved rendering: призвание
Transliteration: prizvaniye
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: предназначение
Original: κλῆσις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Matthew’s disciple-call narratives (4:18-22; 9:9) use this same theological category even where the noun form is less frequent than in Romans.
Holy
Approved rendering: святой
Transliteration: svyatoy
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: чистый, непорочный
Original: ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package. Present in Matthew chiefly through Святой Дух and temple-holiness references; retain the baseline’s caution about strong associations with canonized saints and holy objects.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: воскресение
Transliteration: voskreseniye
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: оживление, реинкарнация
Original: ἀνάστασις
Category: Eschatology
Inherited from Romans package. Matthew 28:1-10 is the narrative ground for this doctrine; also debated with the Sadducees at 22:23-33 (‘the God of the living, not the dead’).
Incarnation
Approved rendering: воплощение
Transliteration: voploshcheniye
Doctrine: Incarnation
Rejected alternatives: аватар (never use), явление
Original: ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο (concept; cf. Matthew 1:18-23)
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Matthew’s virgin-birth narrative (1:18-25) is the book’s own textual ground; аватар remains explicitly forbidden given rising exposure to imported New-Age terminology.
Peace
Approved rendering: мир
Transliteration: mir
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: спокойствие, покой
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Matthew 10:34 (‘not peace but a sword’) deliberately negates the ordinary sense; read мир there relationally (household harmony), not politically.
Spiritual Gifts
Approved rendering: духовные дары
Transliteration: dukhovnyye dary
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts
Rejected alternatives: экстрасенсорные способности (never use), таланты
Original: χαρίσματα (concept; cf. τάλαντα, δυνάμεις)
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. See the new entry ‘talent’ for a related but distinct Matthean concept (entrusted stewardship broadly, 25:14-30), which must not be confused with this term.
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. Used only at 12:28; 19:24; 21:31,43, alongside Matthew’s strongly preferred Царство Небесное (see kingdom_of_heaven); teach explicitly that both phrases render one theologically synonymous reality.
Law
Approved rendering: закон
Transliteration: zakon
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: правило, заповедь (reserve for individual commandments)
Original: νόμος
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Central to Matthew 5:17-48’s antitheses (‘You have heard… but I say to you’); see fulfill_the_law for the specific High-risk verb πληρόω governing Jesus’ relationship to закон.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: язычники
Transliteration: yazychniki
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: иноземцы, неевреи
Original: ἔθνη
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Prefer народы over язычники at 24:14 and 28:19 (mission-scope contexts), since ‘all nations/peoples’ there intends universal scope, not narrowly ‘pagans’.
Glory
Approved rendering: слава
Transliteration: slava
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: почёт, величие
Original: δόξα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Matthew’s eschatological ‘glory’ passages (Son of Man coming in glory, 16:27; 24:30; 25:31) must retain full theological weight, not the casual exclamatory register слава can carry.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: сила Божия
Transliteration: sila Bozhiya
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Rejected alternatives: энергия
Original: δύναμις θεοῦ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Matthew 19:26 (‘with God all things are possible’) and the healing narratives are key occurrences; энергия remains forbidden per the Palamite-terminology caution.
Covenant
Approved rendering: завет
Transliteration: zavet
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: договор, соглашение
Original: διαθήκη
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. See new_covenant for the CRITICAL Matthew-26 extension where завет collides directly with the identical Russian name for the New Testament as a book.
Intercession
Approved rendering: ходатайство
Transliteration: khodataystvo
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Rejected alternatives: заступничество (reserve for saints’/Mary’s intercession contexts)
Inherited from Romans package. Relevant to Matthew’s prayer teaching (5:44; 6:5-13) and Gethsemane (26:36-46); заступничество remains reserved for Orthodox saints’/Theotokos intercession devotion, not this text.
Mission
Approved rendering: миссия / благовестие
Transliteration: missiya / blagovestiye
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
Rejected alternatives: пропаганда (never use)
Original: ἀποστολή / πέμπω (concept; culminating in μαθητεύσατε, 28:19)
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. See make_disciples for the specific Great Commission verb (28:19) requiring careful handling beyond the established Synodal ‘научите’.
Jesus
Approved rendering: Иисус
Transliteration: Iisus
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Исус (Old Believer spelling, avoid)
Original: Ἰησοῦς / יֵשׁוּעַ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Matthew 1:21 uniquely glosses the name’s saving meaning within the text itself; the Old Believer spelling Исус remains forbidden throughout.
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. Matthew’s climactic Trinitarian formula (28:19) requires особая точность — see trinitarian_baptismal_formula.
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. Present at Jesus’ conception (1:18,20), baptism (3:16), the unforgivable-sin warning (12:31-32), and the Great Commission (28:19); дух alone must never stand in for the Person.
Father
Approved rendering: Отец
Transliteration: Otets
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: батюшка (reserve exclusively for addressing an Orthodox priest)
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Pervasive Matthean address, especially in the Sermon on the Mount (5:16,45,48; 6:1-18,26,32); батюшка remains forbidden as a substitute.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: от семени Давидова
Transliteration: ot semeni Davidova
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: потомок Давида (acceptable modern-register gloss)
Original: σπέρμα Δαυίδ (concept; cf. υἱὸς Δαβίδ)
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Matthew’s own preferred titular form is Сын Давидов (see son_of_david), a related but distinct phrase requiring its own entry and rendering.
Poor In Spirit
Approved rendering: нищие духом
Transliteration: nishchiye dukhom
Doctrine: The Blessedness of Kingdom Citizens (Beatitudes)
Rejected alternatives: бедные духом (too weak — бедный is ‘poor’, not ‘destitute’), смиренные (loses the destitution imagery)
Original: πτωχὸς τῷ πνεύματι
Category: Discipleship
NEW. Core passage term (5:3). нищий correctly conveys utter destitution (stronger than бедный); risk is readers hearing a call to literal material poverty or low self-esteem rather than acknowledged spiritual bankruptcy before God — requires a brief gloss on first teaching use.
Disciple
Approved rendering: ученик
Transliteration: uchenik
Doctrine: Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus
Rejected alternatives: последователь (too weak, loses apprenticeship sense), студент (wrong register entirely)
Original: μαθητής
Category: Discipleship
NEW. Core passage term (5:1-2) and pervasive throughout. ученик is the ordinary secular word for ‘pupil/student’ in any classroom context; the weight of costly, life-reorienting apprenticeship (4:18-22; chs. 10, 16, 19) must be built up narratively, not assumed from the word alone.
Son Of David
Approved rendering: Сын Давидов
Transliteration: Syn Davidov
Doctrine: Jesus as the Promised Messiah and Son of David
Rejected alternatives: потомок Давида (acceptable plain-register gloss only, not full replacement)
Original: υἱὸς Δαβίδ
Category: Christology
NEW. Titular acclamation (1:1; 9:27; 12:23; 15:22; 20:30-31; 21:9,15). Use the established archaic Synodal genitive-adjective form consistently; requires explicit 2 Samuel 7 Davidic-covenant background teaching, since readers without sustained OT narrative literacy will not recover the title’s force from the phrase alone.
Virgin Birth
Approved rendering: Дева / девственница
Transliteration: Deva / devstvennitsa
Doctrine: The Incarnation and Virgin Birth
Original: παρθένος
Category: Christology
NEW. Matthew 1:23, fulfilling Isaiah 7:14. Дева carries strong, largely positive Orthodox Marian resonance (Дева Мария, Приснодева) — a genuine cultural asset — but risks importing additional Marian doctrine (perpetual virginity, veneration) not asserted by the plain text; keep the term’s use narrowly focused on the miraculous conception itself.
Fulfillment Formula
Approved rendering: да сбудется / чтобы исполнилось
Transliteration: da sbudetsya / chtoby ispolnilos’
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecy
Original: ἵνα πληρωθῇ
Category: Prophecy
NEW. Matthew’s recurring ten-fold formula (1:22; 2:15,17,23; 4:14; 8:17; 12:17; 13:35; 21:4; 27:9). Render identically at every occurrence per cross-document consistency rules. The sheer frequency risks OT citations being heard as generic religious literature rather than specific, historically anchored promises, absent sustained OT background teaching.
Perfect
Approved rendering: совершенны(е)
Transliteration: sovershenny(e)
Doctrine: Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees
Rejected alternatives: безупречны (too narrowly ‘flawless’, reinforces the wrong sense)
Original: τέλειος
Category: Sanctification
NEW. Matthew 5:48. совершенный in ordinary Russian strongly suggests flawless achievement, risking a demand for sinless self-achieved perfection in tension with grace and resonating uncomfortably with an unexplained theosis-as-attainment framework; teach as wholehearted, God-reflecting love, not flawless performance.
Love
Approved rendering: любить / любовь
Transliteration: lyubit’ / lyubov’
Doctrine: Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees
Original: ἀγαπάω / ἀγάπη
Category: Ethics
NEW — add to TM given its centrality to the Greatest Commandment (22:37-39) and love of enemies (5:44). The single Russian root любить/любовь is not distinguished by separate words the way Greek distinguishes ἀγάπη from φιλία/ἔρως; context must supply the willed, self-giving, non-romantic sense every time.
King Of The Jews
Approved rendering: Царь Иудейский
Transliteration: Tsar’ Iudeyskiy
Doctrine: Jesus as the Promised Messiah and Son of David
Original: βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων
Category: Christology
NEW. Established Synodal form (2:2; 27:37), forming an inclusio between the Magi’s acclamation and the ironic crucifixion inscription. ‘Иудейский’ must be read covenant-historically, not as a modern political/national referent, per the baseline’s israel caution.
Worship
Approved rendering: поклониться / поклонение
Transliteration: poklonit’sya / pokloneniye
Doctrine: The Deity of Christ (Confessional Statements)
Original: προσκυνέω
Category: Worship
NEW. Recurs with escalating force (2:11; 4:9-10; 14:33; 28:9,17). Strong positive Orthodox-prostration cultural resonance (bowing before icons/relics); clarify the object of worship is Christ himself, not an image or relic representing him.
Wrath
Approved rendering: гнев (Божий)
Transliteration: gnev (Bozhiy)
Doctrine: Judgment and the End of the Age
Original: ὀργή
Category: God
NEW. Matthew 3:7, ‘wrath to come.’ Must be read as God’s settled righteous judgment, not an emotional outburst, given secular Russian usage of гнев for ordinary human anger/irritation.
Temptation
Approved rendering: искушение
Transliteration: iskusheniye
Doctrine: Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus
Original: πειρασμός / πειράζω
Category: Discipleship
NEW. Shares its root with the Lord’s Prayer petition (6:13), useful for cross-referencing Jesus’ own wilderness testing (4:1-11) with the disciple’s prayer for deliverance.
Hypocrite
Approved rendering: лицемер
Transliteration: litsemer
Doctrine: Warning Against Hypocrisy and Externalized Religion
Original: ὑποκριτής
Category: Ethics
NEW. Recurring Matthean polemic (6:2,5,16; 15:7; 23:13-29). ‘Фарисей’ has itself become a standing Russian idiom for hypocrisy, a helpful cultural asset if handled without flattening the historical Pharisees into caricature.
Lawlessness
Approved rendering: беззаконие
Transliteration: bezzakoniye
Doctrine: Judgment and the End of the Age
Original: ἀνομία
Category: Sin
NEW. Matthew 7:23; 13:41; 23:28; 24:12. Must denote willful, active rebellion, not mere non-compliance; reuses baseline закон root.
Compassion
Approved rendering: сжалился / милосердие
Transliteration: szhalilsya / miloserdiye
Doctrine: Mercy and Compassion over Ritual Sacrifice
Original: σπλαγχνίζομαι
Category: God
NEW. Jesus’ visceral compassion for the crowds (9:36; 14:14; 15:32; 20:34) grounding mission. Reuses the милость word-family; distinct from, not a substitute for, благодать (grace).
Merciful
Approved rendering: милостивые
Transliteration: milostivyye
Doctrine: Mercy and Compassion over Ritual Sacrifice
Original: ἐλεήμων / ἔλεος
Category: Ethics
NEW. Core passage term (5:7); echoed at 9:13 and 12:7 (‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ quoting Hosea 6:6). милостивые/милость is the correct primary term for mercy itself — the baseline’s caution about милость concerns its use as a weak substitute for благодать, not its own correct use here.
Pure In Heart
Approved rendering: чистые сердцем
Transliteration: chistyye serdtsem
Doctrine: The Blessedness of Kingdom Citizens (Beatitudes)
Original: καθαρὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ
Category: Sanctification
NEW. Core passage term (5:8). чистый is the correct precise term for καθαρός here (distinct from the baseline’s unrelated rejection of чистый as a substitute for святой/holy); ensure the sense is inner moral integrity, not ritual cleanliness.
Judge Not
Approved rendering: не судите
Transliteration: ne sudite
Doctrine: Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees
Original: μὴ κρίνετε
Category: Ethics
NEW. Matthew 7:1-5. Frequently quoted out of context in secular Russian idiom as a blanket relativistic maxim; teaching text must restore the verse’s actual, narrower target (hypocritical double-standard judgment).
Yoke Rest
Approved rendering: иго / покой
Transliteration: igo / pokoy
Doctrine: The Authority of Jesus’ Teaching
Original: ζυγός / ἀνάπαυσις
Category: Discipleship
NEW. Matthew 11:28-30. иго (archaic, established Synodal) remains recognizable; покой is the correct primary term for ἀνάπαυσις here — a different concept from the baseline’s caution against покой as too passive a substitute for мир (peace); do not blend the two.
Coming One
Approved rendering: Грядущий
Transliteration: Gryadushchiy
Doctrine: Jesus as the Promised Messiah and Son of David
Rejected alternatives: будущий (too generic, loses fixed messianic-title sense)
Original: ὁ ἐρχόμενος
Category: Christology
NEW. Matthew 11:3, John the Baptist’s question. Грядущий (formal, elevated participial form) is the more precise theological-title rendering than a generic future reference.
Sign Of Jonah
Approved rendering: знамение Ионы
Transliteration: znameniye Iony
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecy
Original: σημεῖον Ἰωνᾶ
Category: Prophecy
NEW. Matthew 12:39-40. знамение (miraculous portent/sign) is a distinct register from чудо (miracle); reinforces fulfillment-through-typology, not direct prediction.
Mystery
Approved rendering: тайны Царства
Transliteration: tayny Tsarstva
Doctrine: The Mysteries of the Kingdom (Parables)
Rejected alternatives: секрет (too weak/casual)
Original: μυστήριον
Category: Kingdom
NEW. Matthew 13:11. тайна in secular Russian usage commonly denotes a puzzle, secret, or occult mystery; ensure the sense is a previously hidden divine truth NOW disclosed to responsive hearers, not an unsolved riddle — a distinction sharpened by post-Soviet interest in esoteric spirituality.
End Of Age
Approved rendering: кончина века
Transliteration: konchina veka
Doctrine: Judgment and the End of the Age
Original: συντέλεια τοῦ αἰῶνος
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Recurs at 13:39-40,49; 24:3; 28:20. Archaic register requiring a plain-language gloss; render identically across all occurrences per cross-document consistency rules, especially given its climactic echo at 28:20.
Weeping Gnashing
Approved rendering: плач и скрежет зубов
Transliteration: plach i skrezhet zubov
Doctrine: Judgment and the End of the Age
Original: κλαυθμὸς καὶ βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Recurring judgment formula (8:12; 13:42,50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30). Render identically across all six occurrences per cross-document consistency rules.
Little Faith
Approved rendering: маловерный
Transliteration: malovernyy
Doctrine: Faith
Original: ὀλιγόπιστος
Category: Faith
NEW. Matthew 6:30; 14:31; 16:8; 17:20. Natural, transparent compound built on the baseline вера root; depicts faith as real but growable, sometimes faltering, not an all-or-nothing binary.
Defile
Approved rendering: осквернять
Transliteration: oskvernyat’
Doctrine: Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees
Original: κοινόω
Category: Sanctification
NEW. Matthew 15:11,18-20. Standard term for both ritual and moral defilement in Russian religious vocabulary; ensure the interior-moral-source-over-external-ritual point is preserved, echoing 5:8’s pure-in-heart Beatitude.
Little Ones
Approved rendering: малые сии
Transliteration: malyye siyi
Doctrine: The Church and Church Discipline
Original: οἱ μικροὶ οὗτοι
Category: Church
NEW. Matthew 18:6,10,14. Archaic established Synodal phrase requiring a plain-language gloss; grounds church discipline in protective care, not punitive control.
Stumbling Block
Approved rendering: соблазн
Transliteration: soblazn
Doctrine: The Church and Church Discipline
Original: σκάνδαλον
Category: Sin
NEW. Matthew 18:6-9. Everyday usage often connotes mere temptation toward pleasurable indulgence; ensure the graver sense (causing another’s spiritual ruin) is preserved.
Eternal Life
Approved rendering: жизнь вечная
Transliteration: zhizn’ vechnaya
Doctrine: Judgment and the End of the Age
Original: ζωὴ αἰώνιος
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Matthew 19:16,29; 25:46. Risk of hearing only unending duration (quantity of time) rather than also a distinct quality of resurrection life; clarify given the parallel weighty use at 25:46 (see eternal_punishment).
Servant Slave
Approved rendering: слуга / раб
Transliteration: sluga / rab
Doctrine: Servant Leadership
Original: διάκονος / δοῦλος
Category: Discipleship
NEW. Matthew 20:26-28; 23:11. раб carries heavy negative historical resonance (крепостное право, serfdom; Soviet-era forced labor); leverage the existing positive Orthodox devotional phrase ‘раб Божий’ rather than the negative historical-social association alone.
Cornerstone
Approved rendering: камень, который отвергли строители, соделался главою угла
Transliteration: kamen’, kotoryy otvergli stroiteli, sodelalsya glavoyu ugla
Doctrine: The Rejected Stone Become the Cornerstone
Original: κεφαλὴ γωνίας
Category: Prophecy
NEW. Matthew 21:42, quoting Psalm 118:22. Archaic Synodal phrasing requires a plain gloss, though the rejected-become-foundational imagery translates cleanly without loss.
Abomination Of Desolation
Approved rendering: мерзость запустения
Transliteration: merzost’ zapusteniya
Doctrine: Judgment and the End of the Age
Original: βδέλυγμα τῆς ἐρημώσεως
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Matthew 24:15, quoting Daniel. Vivid, recognizable even as a broader Russian literary allusion for scenes of ruin; requires explicit historical-apocalyptic grounding so it is not read as a purely generic image of desolation.
This Generation
Approved rendering: род сей
Transliteration: rod sey
Doctrine: Judgment and the End of the Age
Original: ἡ γενεὰ αὕτη
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Matthew 24:34. Archaic established Synodal phrase requiring a plain-language gloss; the underlying interpretive ambiguity (contemporary generation vs. a future/final generation) is exegetical, not lexical, and should be flagged for content review, not resolved by translation choice alone.
Least Of These
Approved rendering: меньшие братья Мои
Transliteration: men’shiye brat’ya Moi
Doctrine: Mercy and Compassion over Ritual Sacrifice
Original: τῶν ἀδελφῶν μου τῶν ἐλαχίστων
Category: Ethics
NEW. Matthew 25:40,45. Must be framed as fruit flowing from genuine faith, not a separate meritorious path to salvation — a live exegetical debate the curriculum should address explicitly.
Betray
Approved rendering: предать / предавать
Transliteration: predat’ / predavat’
Doctrine: Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus
Original: παραδίδωμι
Category: Discipleship
NEW. Judas’s betrayal (26:14-16,21-25,47-50). Standard and vivid; note the broader semantic range (‘hand over’ neutrally) is a nuance for advanced comparative teaching only, not required at narrative level.
Veil Torn
Approved rendering: завеса раздралась
Transliteration: zavesa razdralas’
Doctrine: Salvation
Original: τὸ καταπέτασμα… ἐσχίσθη
Category: Salvation
NEW. Matthew 27:51. Standard vocabulary but requires explicit OT tabernacle/temple background teaching (the veil separating the Holy of Holies) to land with full theological force rather than as merely a dramatic special effect.
Low Risk Terms
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: благодарение
Transliteration: blagodareniye
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Original: εὐχαριστέω
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Used at the feeding miracles and the Last Supper (14:19; 15:36; 26:27), directly over the bread and cup, linking to Евхаристия; see body_and_blood for the separate contested sacramental question.
Fellowship
Approved rendering: общение
Transliteration: obshcheniye
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: дружба, коллектив (avoid Soviet-collective connotation)
Original: κοινωνία (concept; cf. shared table fellowship, ch. 9, 26)
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Narrated concretely through Jesus’ table fellowship with tax collectors and sinners (9:10-13; see tax_collectors_sinners).
Prophet
Approved rendering: пророк
Transliteration: prorok
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: предсказатель, экстрасенс
Original: προφήτης
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Matthew distinguishes true OT prophets fulfilled by Jesus from false prophets warned against (7:15; 24:11) — see the compound лжепророки, forbidden-substitution note unchanged.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: пророчество
Transliteration: prorochestvo
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: предсказание, гороскоп
Original: προφητεία
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Structurally central to Matthew via the ten-fold fulfillment formula (see fulfillment_formula).
David
Approved rendering: Давид
Transliteration: David
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: Δαβίδ / דָּוִד
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Matthew’s genealogy (1:1-17) and repeated ‘Son of David’ acclamations make David’s covenant background essential OT literacy for this book.
Israel
Approved rendering: Израиль
Transliteration: Izrail’
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Original: Ἰσραήλ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Also the object of Jesus’ mission (10:5-6; 15:24) and lament (23:37-39); retain the baseline’s caution distinguishing the covenant people from the modern nation-state.
Exhort
Approved rendering: увещевать / утешать (context-dependent)
Transliteration: uveshchevat’ / uteshat’
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Original: παρακαλέω
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package, with a Matthew-specific clarification: Matthew 5:4’s ‘they shall be comforted’ (παρακληθήσονται) uses a DIFFERENT Russian word family (утешатся) than the baseline’s увещевать entry. Context, not shared Greek root, determines which Russian rendering applies — do not assume automatic continuity.
Emmanuel
Approved rendering: Эммануил
Transliteration: Emmanuil
Doctrine: The Incarnation and Virgin Birth
Original: Ἐμμανουήλ
Category: Christology
NEW. Matthew 1:23, explicitly glossed in-text as ‘с нами Бог’ (established Synodal gloss), also familiar from Orthodox Nativity liturgical hymnody — a strong positive cultural and doctrinal asset.
Devil Satan
Approved rendering: диавол / сатана
Transliteration: diavol / satana
Doctrine: Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus
Original: διάβολος / Σατανᾶς
Category: Spiritual Warfare
NEW. Wilderness temptation narrative (4:1-11). Well-established, doctrinally settled terms shared across Orthodox and Protestant usage, with no significant native rival concept requiring caution.
Peacemakers
Approved rendering: миротворцы
Transliteration: mirotvortsy
Doctrine: The Blessedness of Kingdom Citizens (Beatitudes)
Original: εἰρηνοποιός
Category: Ethics
NEW. Core passage term (5:9). A natural Russian compound (мир + творец); active/verbal sense (peace-making) distinct from the baseline’s мир (the state of peace itself).
Treasure Mammon
Approved rendering: сокровище / маммона
Transliteration: sokrovishche / mammona
Doctrine: Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus
Original: θησαυρός / μαμωνᾶς
Category: Ethics
NEW. Matthew 6:19-24. маммона is retained as an established Synodal transliterated loanword (‘не можете служить Богу и маммоне’); no significant collision.
Tax Collectors Sinners
Approved rendering: мытари и грешники
Transliteration: mytari i greshniki
Doctrine: Mercy and Compassion over Ritual Sacrifice
Original: τελῶναι καὶ ἁμαρτωλοί
Category: Church
NEW. Matthew 9:10-13. Standard, transparent, well-known established Synodal phrase; no significant collision.
Parable
Approved rendering: притча
Transliteration: pritcha
Doctrine: The Mysteries of the Kingdom (Parables)
Original: παραβολή
Category: Kingdom
NEW. Chapter 13 and throughout. Standard, well-established Russian term used broadly even in secular literary contexts for any illustrative story.
Transfiguration
Approved rendering: преображение
Transliteration: preobrazheniye
Doctrine: The Transfiguration as Confirmation of Divine Sonship
Original: μεταμορφόω
Category: Christology
NEW. Matthew 17:1-8. Strong positive liturgical asset (Преображение Господне, a major fixed Orthodox feast); distinguish the specific narrative event and its Christological argument from the feast-day association alone.
Hosanna
Approved rendering: Осанна
Transliteration: Osanna
Doctrine: The Triumphal Entry and Messianic Acclamation
Original: Ὡσαννά
Category: Christology
NEW. Matthew 21:9,15. Retained, established Synodal transliteration, well recognized; no significant collision.
Woe
Approved rendering: горе (вам)
Transliteration: gore (vam)
Doctrine: Warning Against Hypocrisy and Externalized Religion
Original: οὐαί
Category: Prophecy
NEW. Chapter 23’s seven-fold prophetic denunciation. Standard OT-prophetic-register term, well understood via familiar prophetic literature.
Parousia
Approved rendering: пришествие
Transliteration: prishestviye
Doctrine: Judgment and the End of the Age
Original: παρουσία
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Matthew 24:3,27,37,39. As in ‘Второе пришествие’ (Second Coming) — a strong, well-established, positive doctrinal and cultural asset across both Orthodox and Protestant Russian Christianity.
Watch Be Alert
Approved rendering: бодрствовать
Transliteration: bodrstvovat’
Doctrine: Watchfulness and Readiness for Christ’s Return
Original: γρηγορέω
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Matthew 24:42-44; 25:13. Connects positively to the Orthodox practice of the all-night vigil (всенощное бдение), a strong positive cultural asset making watchful spiritual alertness intuitive.
Talent
Approved rendering: таланты
Transliteration: talanty
Doctrine: Servant Leadership
Original: τάλαντον
Category: Discipleship
NEW. Matthew 25:14-30. Carries the identical dual sense (ancient monetary unit / modern ability) as English, making the parable’s metaphorical development transparent; clarify the original literal monetary referent before the modern-metaphor application. Distinct from the baseline’s духовные дары (spiritual gifts, a narrower concept).
Deny
Approved rendering: отрекся
Transliteration: otreksya
Doctrine: Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus
Original: ἀρνέομαι
Category: Discipleship
NEW. Peter’s denial (26:69-75). Standard and clear, reinforcing the cost-of-discipleship theme with Peter’s own failure and (implied, ch. 28) eventual restoration.
Bethlehem
Approved rendering: Вифлеем
Transliteration: Vifleyem
Doctrine: Historical/Geographic Background
NEW — proper name, established Synodal form. Matthew 2:1ff.
Nazareth
Approved rendering: Назарет
Transliteration: Nazaret
Doctrine: Historical/Geographic Background
NEW — proper name, established Synodal form. Matthew 2:23.
Capernaum
Approved rendering: Капернаум
Transliteration: Kapernaum
Doctrine: Historical/Geographic Background
NEW — proper name, established Synodal form. Matthew 4:13; 8:5.
Galilee
Approved rendering: Галилея
Transliteration: Galileya
Doctrine: Historical/Geographic Background
NEW — proper name, established Synodal form. Matthew 4:12ff.
Jerusalem
Approved rendering: Иерусалим
Transliteration: Iyerusalim
Doctrine: Historical/Geographic Background
NEW — proper name, established Synodal form. Matthew 2:1ff.
Jordan River
Approved rendering: Иордан
Transliteration: Iordan
Doctrine: Historical/Geographic Background
NEW — proper name, established Synodal form. Matthew 3:6.
Gethsemane
Approved rendering: Гефсимания / Гефсиманский сад
Transliteration: Gefsimaniya / Gefsimanskiy sad
Doctrine: Historical/Geographic Background
NEW — proper name, established Synodal form. Matthew 26:36.
Golgotha
Approved rendering: Голгофа
Transliteration: Golgofa
Doctrine: Historical/Geographic Background
NEW — proper name, established Synodal form. Matthew 27:33.
Herod
Approved rendering: Ирод (Великий / Антипа)
Transliteration: Irod (Velikiy / Antipa)
Doctrine: Historical/Geographic Background
NEW — proper name, established Synodal form. Distinguish Herod the Great (2:1) from Herod Antipas (14:1) in teaching text.
Herodias
Approved rendering: Иродиада
Transliteration: Irodiada
Doctrine: Historical/Geographic Background
NEW — proper name, established Synodal form. Matthew 14:3.
Pilate
Approved rendering: Пилат / Понтий Пилат
Transliteration: Pilat / Pontiy Pilat
Doctrine: Historical/Geographic Background
NEW — proper name, established Synodal form. Matthew 27:2ff.
Caiaphas
Approved rendering: Каиафа
Transliteration: Kaiafa
Doctrine: Historical/Geographic Background
NEW — proper name, established Synodal form. Matthew 26:3,57.
Barabbas
Approved rendering: Варавва
Transliteration: Varavva
Doctrine: Historical/Geographic Background
NEW — proper name, established Synodal form. Matthew 27:16ff.
Simon Of Cyrene
Approved rendering: Симон Киринеянин
Transliteration: Simon Kirineyanin
Doctrine: Historical/Geographic Background
NEW — proper name, established Synodal form. Matthew 27:32.
Joseph Of Arimathea
Approved rendering: Иосиф из Аримафеи
Transliteration: Iosif iz Arimafei
Doctrine: Historical/Geographic Background
NEW — proper name, established Synodal form. Matthew 27:57.
John The Baptist
Approved rendering: Иоанн Креститель
Transliteration: Ioann Krestitel’
Doctrine: Historical/Geographic Background
NEW — proper name, established Synodal form. Matthew 3:1ff. Note the shared root with крестить/крещение (see baptism entry).
Magi
Approved rendering: волхвы
Transliteration: volkhvy
Doctrine: Historical/Geographic Background
NEW — established Synodal term. Matthew 2:1-12. Not to be confused with occultist connotations; the text presents them as legitimate Gentile worshippers led by God to the Messiah.
Pharisee
Approved rendering: фарисей
Transliteration: farisey
Doctrine: Historical/Geographic Background
NEW — established Synodal term, throughout. Has entered Russian idiom as a synonym for hypocrisy; a cultural asset if handled without flattening the historical group into caricature (see hypocrite).
Sadducee
Approved rendering: саддукей
Transliteration: saddukey
Doctrine: Historical/Geographic Background
NEW — established Synodal term. Matthew 3:7; 16:1-12; 22:23.
Scribe
Approved rendering: книжник
Transliteration: knizhnik
Doctrine: Historical/Geographic Background
NEW — established Synodal term, throughout, notably contrasted with Jesus’ own authority at 7:28-29.
Sanhedrin
Approved rendering: синедрион
Transliteration: sinedrion
Doctrine: Historical/Geographic Background
NEW — established Synodal term. Matthew 26:59.
Centurion
Approved rendering: сотник
Transliteration: sotnik
Doctrine: Historical/Geographic Background
NEW — established Synodal term. Matthew 8:5; 27:54; both occurrences are notable Gentile-faith confession contexts (see the universal_scope_of_mission doctrine).
Denarius
Approved rendering: динарий
Transliteration: dinariy
Doctrine: Historical/Geographic Background
NEW — established Synodal term. Matthew 18:28; 20:2; 22:19. Distinct unit from talent (see talent entry) — do not conflate the two monetary references.
Referenced passages