Core Glossary
Core Glossary: Ephesians (English → Spanish)
Purpose
This glossary extends the baseline Romans Language Package for the Ephesians curriculum. It is organized in two parts:
- Part A — Terms already established in the Romans baseline that recur in Ephesians. These renderings are reused exactly, without modification, per the hard rule that the baseline is the language authority.
- Part B — New terms introduced by Ephesians, not present in the Romans baseline, proposed for addition to
translation_memory.jsonandbible_term_registry.jsonahead of Phase 2. Risk tiers use the identical Critical/High/Medium/Low framework.
All Spanish renderings follow the Reina-Valera-anchored register, neutral pan-regional vocabulary, and full-diacritic orthography mandated by the baseline’s 12_ai_translation_requirements.md.
Part A — Reused Baseline Terms (Exact Reuse Required)
| English Term | Spanish Rendering | Risk (Baseline) | Ephesians Occurrences | Reuse Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| gospel | evangelio | High | 1:13; 3:6; 6:15, 19 | Reuse exactly; the “gospel of peace” (6:15) and the “mystery” the gospel reveals (3:6) intensify but do not alter the baseline sense. |
| grace | gracia | High | 1:2, 6-7; 2:5, 7-9; 3:2, 7-8; 4:7; 6:24 | Reuse exactly. Ephesians 2:5-9 is a primary grace-works antithesis text alongside Romans 4 and 11:5-6; apply identical doctrinal caution. |
| faith | fe | High | 1:15; 2:8; 3:12, 17; 4:5, 13; 6:16, 23 | Reuse exactly across all occurrences, including the “shield of faith” (6:16) and “one faith” (4:5). |
| salvation | salvación | Critical | 1:13; 2:5, 8; 6:17 | Reuse exactly, including “helmet of salvation” (6:17). |
| apostle | apóstol | Low | 1:1; 2:20; 3:5; 4:11 | Reuse exactly. |
| called / calling | llamado | High | 1:18; 4:1, 4 | Reuse exactly; caution against narrow “vocación” fully applies. |
| holy | santo | Medium | 1:4; 5:27 | Reuse exactly (of believers and of the church presented “holy and without blemish”). |
| saints | santos | Critical | 1:1, 15, 18; 2:19; 3:8, 18; 4:12; 5:3; 6:18 | Reuse exactly with the mandatory all-believers clarifying note at every occurrence, per baseline escalation rule. Highest-frequency Critical term in Ephesians. |
| sanctification / holy living | santificación | High | 5:26 (implied, “sanctify her, cleansing her”) | Reuse exactly. |
| adoption | adopción | Medium | 1:5 | Reuse exactly; note Ephesians ties adoption explicitly to predestination (new High term), strengthening but not altering the baseline sense. |
| resurrection (union with Christ’s) | resurrección | Critical | 1:20 (of Christ); underlying 2:5-6 (συζωοποιέω/συνεγείρω) | Reuse exactly for explicit ἀνάστασις references; note new compound terms below extend but do not replace this baseline entry. |
| lord | Señor | Critical | 1:2-3, 15, 17; 2:21; 3:11; 4:1, 5, 17; 5:8, 10, 17, 19-20, 22; 6:1, 4, 7-8, 10, 21, 23-24 | Reuse exactly for every reference to Christ’s lordship. Must be explicitly distinguished from the lowercase human “master” (κύριος of slaves, 6:5, 9) — see Part B. |
| son of God | Hijo de Dios | Critical | (implicit Christological background; not a direct phrase in Ephesians but assumed throughout) | Reuse exactly if referenced in teaching notes on Christ’s deity. |
| incarnation | encarnación | High | (background doctrine, cf. 2:14-16 “in his flesh”) | Reuse exactly where teaching notes address Christ’s assumption of human nature. |
| peace | paz | Medium | 1:2; 2:14-15, 17; 4:3; 6:15, 23 | Reuse exactly; 2:14 (“he himself is our peace”) intensifies the baseline relational-peace sense into a title for Christ. |
| spiritual gifts | dones espirituales | Medium | 4:7-11 (extended to leadership offices) | Reuse exactly; extend explicitly to the five leadership gifts (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers). |
| thanksgiving | acción de gracias | Low | 1:16; 5:4, 20 | Reuse exactly. |
| fellowship | compañerismo | Low | 3:9 (κοινωνία in some MSS); general ecclesial context | Reuse exactly; avoid “comunión de los santos” per baseline caution. |
| church | iglesia | Medium | 1:22; 3:10, 21; 5:23-25, 27, 29, 32 | Reuse exactly. Ephesians’ ecclesiology is far more developed than Romans’; baseline caution against the capitalized institutional sense remains fully applicable and increasingly important given chapter 5’s bride-of-Christ imagery. |
| kingdom of God | reino de Dios | Medium | 5:5 (“kingdom of Christ and of God”) | Reuse exactly. |
| law | ley | High | 2:15 (“the law of commandments”) | Reuse exactly. |
| sin | pecado | Medium | 2:1 | Reuse exactly; never soften to “falta.” |
| gentiles | gentiles | Low | 2:11; 3:1, 6, 8; 4:17 | Reuse exactly; never substitute “paganos.” |
| glory | gloria | Medium | 1:6, 12, 14, 17-18; 3:13, 16, 21 | Reuse exactly. |
| power of God | poder de Dios | Medium | 1:19; 3:7, 20 | Reuse exactly; distinguish from the new “ἐνέργεια/energía” caution in Part B — “poder” itself remains the correct baseline noun. |
| covenant | pacto | High | 2:12 (“covenants of promise”) | Reuse exactly. |
| election | elección | High | 1:4 (ἐκλέγομαι) | Reuse exactly; pairs with new “predestinar” entry below. |
| intercession | intercesión | Critical | 6:18 (implicit, “praying… for all the saints”) | Reuse exactly with full baseline caution against saint/Marian-mediation framing. |
| providence | providencia | Medium | 1:11 (“works all things according to the counsel of his will”) | Reuse exactly. |
| mission | misión | Medium | 3:7-9; 6:19-20 (Paul’s ministry of proclamation) | Reuse exactly; baseline’s mild colonial-association note remains relevant. |
| jesus | Jesús | Critical | throughout | Reuse exactly. |
| god | Dios | Critical | throughout | Reuse exactly. |
| holy spirit | Espíritu Santo | Critical | 1:13; 2:18, 22; 3:5, 16; 4:3-4, 30; 5:18; 6:17-18 | Reuse exactly. Ephesians is one of Paul’s most Trinitarian-structured letters (cf. 1:3-14, 4:4-6); ensure absolute consistency. |
| father | Padre | Critical | 1:2-3, 17; 2:18; 3:14-15; 4:6; 5:20; 6:2-3, 23 | Reuse exactly. |
| exhort | exhortar | Low | 4:1 (“I… urge you”) | Reuse exactly (context leans toward earnest appeal). |
| christ | Cristo | Critical | throughout (over 90 occurrences) | Not a separate baseline TM entry but the universally established Spanish rendering (cf. baseline 12_ai_translation_requirements.md proper-name table: “Christ = Cristo”). Reuse exactly; treat with the same Critical care as “Jesús” and “Señor.” |
Part B — New Terms Introduced by Ephesians (Proposed Additions)
Critical Risk
| English Term | Greek (Translit.) | Spanish Rendering | Primary Passages | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| mystery | μυστήριον (mystērion) | misterio | 1:9; 3:3-9; 5:32; 6:19 | Direct collision with the Catholic devotional category of “misterios” (Rosary, sacraments, Eucharistic mystery). Ephesians’ sense — a previously hidden truth about Jew-Gentile unity and Christ-church union, now fully revealed — is the opposite of an ongoing devotional/ritual mystery. Structural to the entire letter. Mandatory theologian review at every occurrence. |
| body of Christ (ecclesiological) | σῶμα Χριστοῦ (sōma Christou) | cuerpo de Cristo | 1:23; 4:12, 16; 5:23, 30 | Identical Spanish phrase used liturgically at every Catholic Mass (“El Cuerpo de Cristo”) for the consecrated Eucharistic host under transubstantiation — a completely different referent from Ephesians’ living, corporate church metaphor. The single highest-stakes new collision risk in this curriculum; requires explicit orientation before any lesson using this phrase and mandatory theologian review at every occurrence. |
| saved by grace (perfect passive construction) | χάριτί ἐστε σεσωσμένοι | por gracia sois salvos / habéis sido salvados por gracia | 2:5, 8 | The Greek perfect passive periphrastic denotes a completed act with an abiding, secure result. Rendering as an ongoing/durative process (“están siendo salvos”) would directly reinforce the uncertain, sacraments-and-merit-dependent salvation framing the Romans baseline’s “salvation” entry already flags as Critical. Mandatory theologian review at every occurrence. |
| good works (as fruit, not ground, of salvation) | ἔργα ἀγαθά (erga agatha) | buenas obras (creados… para buenas obras) | 2:10 | Same Greek noun (ἔργα) excluded as the ground of salvation in 2:9 is reintroduced in 2:10 as its purposed fruit. The causal direction (result, not cause) must never be blurred; a drift toward “salvos por buenas obras” would align the text with the Tridentine merit-cooperation framework the baseline’s “grace,” “justification,” and “imputed_righteousness” entries explicitly reject. Mandatory theologian review. |
| gift (of salvation) | δῶρον (dōron) | don / regalo (de Dios) | 2:8 | Names the direction of giving: from God to the sinner, with no reciprocal obligation — the reverse of the “ofrenda/promesa/manda” votive-offering pattern (offerings given by a devotee to God or a saint to secure favor) common in Latin American popular piety. Must be taught with this reversed-direction distinction explicit. |
High Risk
| English Term | Greek (Translit.) | Spanish Rendering | Primary Passages | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| predestined | προορίζω (proorizō) | predestinar / predestinación | 1:5, 11 | Risk of collapse into fatalistic “destino/suerte” vernacular, per the baseline’s existing caution on “election”; tightly paired here with adoption, requiring the doctrine be taught as a loving Father’s deliberate choice. |
| redemption | ἀπολύτρωσις (apolytrōsis) | redención | 1:7, 14 | Shared vocabulary across Catholic and Protestant Bibles; risk is catechetical — must be tied to Christ’s blood as a completed, sufficient price, not folded into an ongoing penance/merit framework. |
| forgiveness | ἄφεσις (aphesis) | perdón | 1:7 | Must be grounded directly in Christ’s blood and grace (1:7), not implicitly routed through sacramental confession as the mechanism of receipt in this text. |
| prince of the power of the air | ἄρχων τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ ἀέρος | el príncipe de la potestad del aire | 2:2 | Risk of absorption into existing Espiritismo/Santería ambient-spirit cosmologies and the folk-illness category “mal aire” prevalent in Latin American folk medicine; must be taught as the singular person of Satan. |
| flesh (sinful disposition) | σάρξ (sarx) | carne | 2:3 | Must be distinguished from (a) literal meat/dietary usage and (b) any implication the physical body itself is evil, consistent with the baseline’s positive Christological use of “encarnación.” |
| children of wrath / wrath | τέκνα … ὀργῆς / ὀργή | hijos de ira / ira | 2:3 | Universal, inherited liability to God’s righteous judgment prior to personal choice; risk that popular baptismal-regeneration catechesis leads learners to assume this describes only the unbaptized, softening the doctrine of universal accountability. |
| made/raised/seated together with Christ | συζωοποιέω / συνεγείρω / συγκαθίζω | vivificar / resucitar / sentar juntamente con Cristo | 2:5-6 | The “juntamente con” (union) element is doctrinally load-bearing; dropping it collapses union-with-Christ theology into generic subjective renewal, and directly implicates the baseline’s Critical “resurrection” caution regarding reincarnation/spirit-return readings in Caribbean contexts. |
| head | κεφαλή (kephalē) | cabeza | 1:22; 4:15; 5:23 | Establishes Christ’s headship as loving and self-giving (1:22-23) before the term is applied to marriage (5:23), where cultural risk (machismo, coercive authority readings) is highest; must not be redefined by culturally supplied notions of unilateral authority. |
| one new humanity | καινὸς ἄνθρωπος (corporate sense) | una nueva humanidad | 2:15 | Names one of the nine core doctrines of this curriculum. Must be lexically distinguished from the individual “new self” of 4:24, which uses closely related vocabulary for a different referent; conflating the two blurs corporate reconciliation with individual ethical renewal. |
| rulers and authorities | ἀρχαὶ καὶ ἐξουσίαι | principados y potestades | 1:21; 3:10; 6:12 | Risk of absorption into existing folk-religious spirit hierarchies (orishas, ancestral/guide spirits, indigenous spirit-lord cosmologies); must be taught as a real but subordinate, created order under Christ’s supreme authority. |
| working / power at work | ἐνέργεια / ἐνεργέω (energeia/energeō) | poder que actúa / operación (NEVER “energía”) | 1:19; 2:2; 3:7, 20; 4:16 | The false cognate “energía” carries strong New Age, chakra, and folk-healing (“limpias energéticas”) connotations in contemporary Spanish, describing an impersonal transferable force fundamentally unlike the personal divine power Ephesians describes. Flag for native speaker review at every occurrence. |
| unity | ἑνότης (henotēs) | unidad | 4:3, 13 | Names a second core doctrine of this curriculum. Carries real social weight given regional, racial (indigenous/Afro-descendant), and denominational (Catholic/Evangelical/Pentecostal) divisions in Latin American contexts, echoing the baseline’s “unity_of_jews_and_gentiles” note. |
| baptism | βάπτισμα (baptisma) | bautismo | 4:5 | Sits on a doctrinal fault line directly analogous to the baseline’s justification fault line: Catholic sacramental baptismal regeneration versus Evangelical/Protestant symbolic-ordinance readings. Requires an explicit teaching note that this curriculum affirms baptism’s unifying significance without adjudicating the mode/timing/efficacy debate. |
| old self / new self (individual) | παλαιὸς ἄνθρωπος / καινὸς ἄνθρωπος | el viejo hombre / el nuevo hombre | 4:22-24 | Must be lexically distinguished in teaching notes from the corporate “una nueva humanidad” of 2:15, since both may naturally attract overlapping Spanish vocabulary for two distinct theological referents. |
| submit | ὑποτάσσω (hypotassō) | someterse / sujetarse | 5:21-24 | Acute real-world pastoral risk given documented patterns of coercive or abusive readings of headship-submission language in Spanish-speaking cultural contexts. The text’s own framing (mutual submission, 5:21; Christ’s self-sacrificial love as the model for headship, 5:25) must never be dropped. Mandatory theologian review. |
| slave / bondservant | δοῦλος (doulos) | esclavo(s) | 6:5-8 | Historical-accuracy rendering preferred over softening “siervos.” Requires a mandatory teaching note distinguishing first-century Greco-Roman household slavery from the transatlantic chattel slavery central to Latin American and Caribbean regional history. |
| master (human, lowercase) | κύριος (kyrios, human referent) | amo / señor (lowercase) | 6:5, 9 | Same Greek word rendered “Señor” (capitalized) for Christ elsewhere in this same book; must be rendered lowercase for the human slave-master referent to preserve the baseline’s Critical capitalization convention reserving “Señor” for Christ’s exclusive lordship. |
| armor of God | πανοπλία τοῦ θεοῦ | toda la armadura de Dios | 6:11-17 | Names a core doctrine of this curriculum. Must be framed as defensive, spiritual, and already-won-in-Christ (cf. 2:6), given the risk of unintended resonance with real armed violence in some Latin American regional contexts. |
| schemes of the devil | μεθοδεία τοῦ διαβόλου | asechanzas / artimañas del diablo | 6:11 | Risk of absorption into existing folk-magic protective frameworks (amulets, limpias, Santería/curanderismo practices against spiritual attack); must teach the armor of God as sufficient and exclusive spiritual protection, not one option among several. |
| breastplate of righteousness | θώραξ τῆς δικαιοσύνης | coraza de justicia | 6:14 | Inherits Critical status from the baseline “justicia” entry; contextual nuance shifts toward lived ethical integrity rather than strictly forensic standing — teach the nuance without substituting vocabulary. |
| helmet of salvation | περικεφαλαία τοῦ σωτηρίου | yelmo / casco de la salvación | 6:17 | Inherits Critical status from the baseline “salvación” entry; same cautions against a merit-and-mediation salvation framework apply fully. |
Medium Risk
| English Term | Greek (Translit.) | Spanish Rendering | Primary Passages | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| mercy | ἔλεος (eleos) | misericordia | 2:4 | Strong existing association with the Divine Mercy devotion (Sister Faustina) in Latin American Catholic piety; teach on Ephesians’ own comprehensive terms. |
| fullness | πλήρωμα (plērōma) | plenitud | 1:23; 3:19; 4:13 | Minor risk of confusion with the technical Gnostic/theosophical “Pleroma” concept in esoteric-adjacent contexts; brief clarifying note recommended. |
| dividing wall | μεσότοιχον τοῦ φραγμοῦ | la pared intermedia de separación | 2:14 | Requires Old Testament temple-background teaching; no doctrinal collision risk itself. |
| fellow citizens | συμπολῖται (sympolitai) | conciudadanos | 2:19 | Standard rendering; reinforces full, non-conditional inclusion. |
| temple (metaphorical) | ναός (naos) | templo | 2:21 | Risk of conflation with physical shrine/basilica devotional culture; must clarify the corporate people of God, not a building, is meant. |
| stewardship / administration | οἰκονομία (oikonomia) | administración / plan | 3:2, 9 | Avoid “dispensación,” which carries Dispensationalist system-specific technical baggage not implied by Paul’s general usage. |
| inner man | ἔσω ἄνθρωπος (esō anthrōpos) | el hombre interior / el ser interior | 3:16 | Standard anthropological term; low collision risk. |
| pastor / shepherd | ποιμήν (poimēn) | pastor | 4:11 | Dominant Evangelical/Protestant title for congregational leadership; distinct from the Catholic ordained priesthood — cross-tradition education point rather than mistranslation risk. |
| evangelist | εὐαγγελιστής (euangelistēs) | evangelista | 4:11 | Minor risk of confusion with “los cuatro evangelistas” (Gospel authors) in casual usage; brief clarifying note resolves this. |
| offering and sacrifice | προσφορὰ καὶ θυσία | ofrenda y sacrificio | 5:2 | Teach as Christ’s own once-for-all self-offering, not a template validating ongoing votive-offering piety. |
| light / darkness | φῶς / σκότος | luz / tinieblas | 5:8-14 | Precautionary note given light/darkness spirit-categorization present in Espiritismo/Santería; clarify this is an ethical-relational state defined by union with Christ. |
| filled with the Spirit | πληρόω ἐν πνεύματι | sed llenos del Espíritu | 5:18 | Carries differing associations across Pentecostal/Charismatic and non-charismatic Christian traditions; preserve the ongoing/repeated imperative sense without adjudicating the broader theological debate. |
| respect (in marriage) | φόβος (phobos, relational sense) | respeto | 5:33 | Never render as literal “temor” (fear), which risks endorsing fear of one’s spouse — the opposite of the passage’s intent; real domestic-safety stakes. |
| obey | ὑπακούω (hypakouō) | obedecer | 6:1 | Distinct from ὑποτάσσω (“someterse/sujetarse”); maintain the distinction Ephesians itself makes between related relational postures. |
| guarantee / down payment | ἀρραβών (arrabōn) | garantía | 1:14 | Avoid “arras,” which carries a specific Spanish wedding-custom connotation (coins exchanged at a wedding) that could distract from the financial-guarantee sense intended. |
| seal | σφραγίζω (sphragizō) | sellar / sello | 1:13; 4:30 | Standard sealing/ownership-mark metaphor; low doctrinal collision risk beyond ensuring consistency with “garantía” (1:14) in the same conceptual cluster. |
| heavenly places | ἐπουράνιος (epouranios) | lugares celestiales | 1:3, 20; 2:6; 3:10; 6:12 | Must render identically across all five occurrences so learners connect believers’ secure position in Christ (2:6) to the spiritual-warfare setting (6:12). |
| workmanship | ποίημα (poiēma) | hechura | 2:10 | Prefer over generic “obra,” which would collide confusingly with ἔργα (“obras,” works) in the same two verses (2:9-10); teach as purposeful, not passive, creation. |
| dead (in sin) | νεκρός (nekros) | muerto(s) | 2:1, 5 | Must be taught as total spiritual incapacity, not a softened “gravely weakened” state. |
| transgression | παράπτωμα (paraptōma) | transgresión | 2:1, 5 | Prefer over RV1960’s “delito” (which reads as a criminal-code offense in modern Spanish) for clearer register. |
Low Risk
| English Term | Greek (Translit.) | Spanish Rendering | Primary Passages | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| cornerstone | ἀκρογωνιαῖος (akrogōniaios) | piedra angular | 2:20 | Well-established Spanish Christian term; no significant risk. |
| kindness | χρηστότης (chrēstotēs) | bondad | 2:7 | Standard, safe rendering. |
| love | ἀγάπη (agapē) | amor | 2:4; 5:2, 25, 28 | No false-cognate risk; theological weight (self-giving, God-initiated love) taught rather than lexically encoded. |
| boast | καυχάομαι (kauchaomai) | gloriarse | 2:9 | Standard rendering; ensure the negative self-congratulatory sense is clear in this context. |
| prepared beforehand | προετοιμάζω (proetoimazō) | preparar de antemano | 2:10 | Standard; connects to chapter 1’s predestination language for doctrinal coherence. |
| honor | τιμάω (timaō) | honrar | 6:2 | Standard rendering of the fifth-commandment citation. |
| belt of truth | ζώνη τῆς ἀληθείας | el cinto de la verdad | 6:14 | Standard imagery; no significant risk. |
Cross-Reference to Doctrine Coverage
Every one of the nine core doctrines specified for this curriculum is anchored by at least one Critical or High risk term in this glossary:
| Curriculum Doctrine | Anchoring Term(s) |
|---|---|
| Salvation by Grace through Faith | grace (baseline), faith (baseline), gift (don), saved-by-grace construction, good works |
| Election and Predestination in Christ | election (baseline), predestined |
| The Church as the Body of Christ | body of Christ, head, church (baseline) |
| Unity of Jews and Gentiles in One New Humanity | one new humanity, unity, dividing wall, fellow citizens |
| The Mystery of Christ Revealed | mystery |
| Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of God | armor of God, rulers and authorities, prince of the power of the air, schemes of the devil |
| Household Codes and Christ-Centered Relationships | submit, head, respect, obey, slave/master |
| Gifts for Building Up the Church | spiritual gifts (baseline), pastor, evangelist |
| Walking in Newness of Life | old self/new self, walk (περιπατέω), filled with the Spirit |
This glossary, together with 07_semantic_analysis.md, forms the complete Step 1 deliverable for the Ephesians curriculum and must be loaded alongside the Romans baseline artifacts before any Phase 2 translation work begins.
Critical Risk Terms
Righteousness
Approved rendering: justicia
Transliteration: dikaiosynē
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: rectitud moral autónoma, mérito acumulado
[Inherited from Romans package.] justicia de Dios is a right standing granted by God through faith, not self-achieved moral rectitude. Ephesians occurrence: 6:14 (‘breastplate of righteousness,’ coraza de justicia). Contextual nuance in 6:14 shifts toward lived ethical integrity rather than the strictly forensic sense central to Romans 3-5; teach the nuance without substituting vocabulary.
Salvation
Approved rendering: salvación
Transliteration: sōtēria
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: salvarse por buenas obras, merecer el cielo mediante sacramentos y penitencia
Original: σωτηρία
Category: Salvation
[Inherited from Romans package.] Latin American folk Catholic piety commonly treats salvación as a lifelong, uncertain outcome secured through sacraments, penance, and intercession of saints and the Virgin; Ephesians presents salvation as a completed, secure reconciliation. Ephesians occurrences: 1:13; 2:5, 8 (see saved_by_grace_construction); 6:17 (helmet of salvation).
Saints
Approved rendering: santos
Transliteration: hagioi
Doctrine: Sainthood
Rejected alternatives: los santos (canonizados, objeto de veneración e intercesión)
Original: ἅγιοι
Category: Church
[Inherited from Romans package.] Every believer is called santo; must be paired with the mandatory explanatory note distinguishing this from canonized/venerated saints in popular Catholic piety. Ephesians is the highest-frequency book for this term in the curriculum: 1:1, 15, 18; 2:19; 3:8, 18; 4:12; 5:3; 6:18 (nine occurrences).
Resurrection
Approved rendering: resurrección
Transliteration: anastasis
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: reencarnación
Original: ἀνάστασις / ἐγείρω
Category: Eschatology
[Inherited from Romans package.] Caribbean and Afro-Caribbean contexts with active Espiritismo and Santería create a live syncretism risk; resurrección is bodily, historical, once-for-all. Ephesians occurrence: 1:20 (of Christ). Ephesians 2:5-6 extends this doctrine with the new compound union-language terms below (made_raised_seated_with_christ); those terms extend but do not replace this entry.
Lord
Approved rendering: Señor
Transliteration: kyrios
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Señor mío (devotional-only, without lordship claim over the whole of life)
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
[Inherited from Romans package.] Must convey exclusive, supreme lordship. Ephesians occurrences (capitalized, Christ only): 1:2-3, 15, 17; 2:21; 3:11; 4:1, 5, 17; 5:8, 10, 17, 19-20, 22; 6:1, 4, 7-8, 10, 21, 23-24. Must be explicitly distinguished from the lowercase human ‘master’ (κύριος of slaves, 6:5, 9) — see master_human entry below; never render a human slave-owner with capitalized ‘Señor.‘
Son Of God
Approved rendering: Hijo de Dios
Transliteration: huios theou
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: hijo de Dios en el sentido genérico aplicado a todo creyente
Original: υἱὸς θεοῦ
Category: Christology
[Inherited from Romans package.] Full phrase required; unique, eternal, divine Sonship. Referenced in Ephesians only as background Christology underlying the letter’s teaching; must not be confused with the adoptive ‘hijos de Dios’ language applied to believers (1:5).
Christ
Approved rendering: Cristo
Transliteration: Christos
Doctrine: Christology
Original: Χριστός
Category: Christology
New formal Language Package entry (not a separate baseline TM key but the universally established Spanish rendering per the baseline’s proper-name table). Over 90 occurrences throughout Ephesians. The phrase ‘en Cristo’ (ἐν Χριστῷ, over 30 occurrences) must render identically at every occurrence to preserve Ephesians’ structural theological emphasis. Treat with the same Critical care as Jesús and Señor.
Intercession
Approved rendering: intercesión
Transliteration: proseuchē kai deēsis / enteuxis
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Rejected alternatives: intercesión de los santos o de la Virgen como mediadores necesarios ante Dios
Original: προσευχή καὶ δέησις (implicit intercessory sense)
Category: Faith
[Inherited from Romans package.] Must not default to saint/Marian mediation as the primary model. Ephesians occurrences: 6:18 (‘praying… for all the saints’); 1:16-19 and 3:14-19 model Paul’s own direct intercessory prayer.
Jesus
Approved rendering: Jesús
Transliteration: Iēsous
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
[Inherited from Romans package.] Universally standard; no variant-form risk. Occurs throughout Ephesians.
God
Approved rendering: Dios
Transliteration: theos
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: θεός
Category: God
[Inherited from Romans package.] Universally standard. Ephesians 4:4-6’s unity creed (‘one God and Father of all’) requires absolute consistency with the rest of the book.
Father
Approved rendering: Padre
Transliteration: patēr
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
[Inherited from Romans package.] God as personal Father. Ephesians occurrences: 1:2-3, 17; 2:18; 3:14-15; 4:6; 5:20; 6:2-3, 23.
Mystery
Approved rendering: misterio
Transliteration: mystērion
Doctrine: The Mystery of Christ Revealed
Rejected alternatives: un secreto esotérico reservado a iniciados, una verdad ritual parcialmente velada
Original: μυστήριον
Category: Mystery
New Critical-risk term introduced by Ephesians. ‘Misterio’ is the only viable Spanish rendering but collides directly with the Catholic devotional category of ‘misterios’ (Rosary mysteries, sacraments as ‘los sacros misterios,’ the Eucharistic mystery at Mass — ‘Éste es el Misterio de la fe’). Ephesians’ sense is the theological opposite: a previously hidden truth about Jew-Gentile unity and Christ-church union, now fully and openly disclosed to all believers, not an ongoing devotional or ritual mystery. Occurrences: 1:9; 3:3-9 (five uses, the letter’s most concentrated treatment); 5:32; 6:19. Mandatory theologian review and explicit teaching note (‘revelado,’ ‘manifestado,’ ‘dado a conocer’) at every occurrence.
Body Of Christ
Approved rendering: cuerpo de Cristo
Transliteration: sōma Christou
Doctrine: The Church as the Body of Christ
Rejected alternatives: el Cuerpo de Cristo en sentido eucarístico (nunca aplicar a la hostia consagrada al enseñar Efesios)
Original: σῶμα Χριστοῦ
Category: Church
New Critical-risk term; the single highest-stakes new collision risk in this curriculum. The identical Spanish phrase ‘El Cuerpo de Cristo’ is pronounced over the consecrated Eucharistic host at every Catholic Mass, affirming transubstantiation — a completely different referent from Ephesians’ living, corporate church metaphor. Occurrences: 1:23; 4:12, 16; 5:23, 30. Requires explicit orientation before any lesson using this phrase and mandatory theologian review at every occurrence.
Saved By Grace Construction
Approved rendering: por gracia sois salvos
Transliteration: chariti este sesōsmenoi
Doctrine: Salvation by Grace through Faith
Rejected alternatives: están siendo salvos (durative/ongoing framing), se van salvando (durative/ongoing framing)
Original: χάριτί ἐστε σεσωσμένοι
Category: Salvation
New Critical-risk grammatical-theological construction. The Greek perfect passive periphrastic denotes a completed act with a continuing, settled present result, not an ongoing or uncertain process. Occurrences: 2:5, 8. Must render as ‘por gracia sois salvos’ (RV1960) or ‘habéis sido salvados por gracia,’ never a durative construction, which would reinforce the folk Catholic uncertain-outcome salvation framing the baseline’s Critical ‘salvation’ entry already flags. Mandatory theologian review at every occurrence.
Good Works
Approved rendering: buenas obras
Transliteration: erga agatha
Doctrine: Salvation by Grace through Faith
Rejected alternatives: salvos por buenas obras (reverses the causal direction of 2:9-10)
Original: ἔργα ἀγαθά (contrasted with οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων, 2:9)
Category: Salvation
New Critical-risk term. The same Greek noun (ἔργα) excluded as the ground of salvation in 2:9 (οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων) is reintroduced in 2:10 as its purposed fruit (ἐπὶ ἔργοις ἀγαθοῖς). The causal direction (result, not cause) must never be blurred; a drift toward ‘salvos por buenas obras’ would align the text with the Tridentine merit-cooperation framework the baseline’s ‘grace,’ ‘justification,’ and ‘imputed_righteousness’ entries explicitly reject. Render ‘creados… para buenas obras.’ Mandatory theologian review.
Gift Of Salvation
Approved rendering: don de Dios
Transliteration: dōron
Doctrine: Salvation by Grace through Faith
Rejected alternatives: ofrenda/promesa/manda dada a Dios para obtener un favor (dirección invertida)
Original: δῶρον
Category: Salvation
New Critical-risk term (2:8). Names the direction of giving — from God to the sinner, with no reciprocal obligation — the reverse of the votive-offering pattern (‘ofrenda,’ ‘promesa,’ ‘manda’) common in Latin American popular piety, where offerings are given by a devotee to God or a saint to secure favor. This reversed direction must be taught explicitly or ‘don de Dios’ risks absorption into that existing devotional category.
High Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: evangelio
Transliteration: euangelion
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: buenas nuevas (only as a descriptive gloss, never the standalone technical term)
Original: εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Salvation
[Inherited from Romans package.] Evangelio is the universal Spanish Christian term shared by Protestant and Catholic Bibles alike; must be taught as the specific proclamation of salvation through the crucified and risen Christ, not a generic inspirational message. Ephesians occurrences: 1:13; 3:6; 6:15, 19. The ‘gospel of peace’ (6:15) and the mystery the gospel reveals (3:6) intensify but do not alter the baseline sense.
Grace
Approved rendering: gracia
Transliteration: charis
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: favor merecido, recompensa por buenas obras
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
[Inherited from Romans package.] Gracia is standard across all Spanish Bible traditions; Catholic catechesis has historically framed grace as infused and increased through sacramental cooperation and merit, while this Language Package requires the unmerited-favor-by-faith sense. Ephesians occurrences: 1:2, 6-7; 2:5, 7-9; 3:2, 7-8; 4:7; 6:24. Ephesians 2:5-9 is, alongside Romans 4 and 11:5-6, one of the clearest grace-versus-works antithesis texts in the New Testament; apply identical doctrinal caution.
Faith
Approved rendering: fe
Transliteration: pistis
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: devoción religiosa general, creencia cultural heredada
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
[Inherited from Romans package.] Personal trust in Christ specifically, not inherited cultural religiosity or devotional loyalty to a saint or the Virgin. Ephesians occurrences: 1:15; 2:8; 3:12, 17; 4:5, 13; 6:16, 23, including the instrumental sense in 2:8 (faith as the means, not meritorious cause, of receiving grace) and the metaphorical ‘shield of faith’ (6:16).
Called
Approved rendering: llamado
Transliteration: klētos
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: convocado (bureaucratic/legal register)
Original: κλητός / κλῆσις
Category: Salvation
[Inherited from Romans package.] Context-sensitive across at least three distinct senses (apostleship, sainthood, salvation). Ephesians occurrences: 1:18; 4:1, 4.
Calling
Approved rendering: llamado
Transliteration: klēsis
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: vocación (in the narrow sense of a call to priesthood or religious life)
[Inherited from Romans package.] Never use ‘vocación’ for the general call of every believer. Ephesians 4:1 explicitly ties this term to the unity of the body; 4:4 (‘one hope of your calling’).
Sanctification
Approved rendering: santificación
Transliteration: hagiasmos
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: purificación penitencial, vía purgativa
Original: ἁγιασμός / ἁγιάζω
Category: Sanctification
[Inherited from Romans package.] The Spirit’s ongoing work of making believers holy; must not collapse into a penitential/purgatorial merit framework. Ephesians occurrence: 5:26 (Christ ‘sanctifying’ the church, implicit ἁγιάζω).
Incarnation
Approved rendering: encarnación
Transliteration: ho logos sarx egeneto
Doctrine: Incarnation
Original: ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο (background doctrine; cf. Eph. 2:14-16 ‘in his flesh’)
Category: Christology
[Inherited from Romans package.] Standard, unambiguous term; risk is catechetical, narrowing ‘encarnación’ to the Christmas nativity rather than Christ’s permanent assumption of human nature. Presupposed by Ephesians 2:14-16 (‘in his flesh he… put to death the hostility’).
Law
Approved rendering: ley
Transliteration: nomos
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Original: νόμος
Category: Covenant
[Inherited from Romans package.] The Mosaic law/Torah. Ephesians occurrence: 2:15 (‘the law of commandments and ordinances’).
Covenant
Approved rendering: pacto
Transliteration: diathēkē
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: contrato legal
Original: διαθήκη
Category: Covenant
[Inherited from Romans package.] Never reduce to a mere legal contract; ‘alianza’ recognized as a valid Catholic-tradition synonym in ecumenical settings. Ephesians occurrence: 2:12 (‘covenants of promise,’ describing Gentile exclusion from Israel’s covenants prior to Christ).
Election
Approved rendering: elección
Transliteration: eklegomai / eklogē
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: destino, suerte
Original: ἐκλέγομαι
Category: Salvation
[Inherited from Romans package.] Avoid the fatalistic vernacular framing of ‘destino’ or ‘suerte.’ Ephesians occurrence: 1:4 (‘he chose us in him before the foundation of the world’); pairs tightly with the new ‘predestinado’ entry below.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Espíritu Santo
Transliteration: pneuma hagion
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: una fuerza impersonal, un espíritu guía o ancestral
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον
Category: God
[Inherited from Romans package.] Must be taught as the personal third Person of the Trinity, distinguished from ancestral/guide spirits in Espiritismo and Santería, and never rendered with the impersonal-force connotations of ‘energía’ (see working_energeia below). Ephesians occurrences: 1:13; 2:18, 22; 3:5, 16; 4:3-4, 30; 5:18; 6:17-18. Ephesians is one of Paul’s most Trinitarian-structured letters (1:3-14; 4:4-6).
Predestined
Approved rendering: predestinar / predestinación
Transliteration: proorizō
Doctrine: Election and Predestination in Christ
Rejected alternatives: destino, suerte
Original: προορίζω
Category: Salvation
New High-risk term (1:5, 11). No false-cognate risk lexically, but carries the same fatalistic-vernacular risk the baseline flags for ‘elección.’ Ephesians pairs this tightly with adoption (1:5); teach as a loving Father’s deliberate, familial choice, not an impersonal cosmic mechanism.
Redemption
Approved rendering: redención
Transliteration: apolytrōsis
Doctrine: Redemption and Forgiveness
Original: ἀπολύτρωσις
Category: Salvation
New High-risk term (1:7, 14). Shared vocabulary across Catholic and Protestant Spanish Bibles, so no lexical rival; the risk is catechetical — must be tied explicitly to Christ’s blood as a completed, sufficient payment, not folded into an ongoing penance/indulgence framework, echoing the baseline’s caution on ‘salvation’ and ‘grace.‘
Forgiveness
Approved rendering: perdón
Transliteration: aphesis
Doctrine: Redemption and Forgiveness
Original: ἄφεσις
Category: Salvation
New High-risk term (1:7). Must be grounded directly in Christ’s blood and grace, not implicitly re-routed through the sacrament of confession as the mechanism of receipt.
Prince Of Power Of Air
Approved rendering: el príncipe de la potestad del aire
Transliteration: archōn tēs exousias tou aeros
Doctrine: Cosmic Spiritual Powers
Rejected alternatives: un espíritu ambiental más entre varios (marco de Espiritismo/Santería)
Original: ὁ ἄρχων τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ ἀέρος
Category: Spiritual Warfare
New High-risk term (2:2). Risk of absorption into Espiritismo/Santería ambient-spirit cosmologies and the folk-illness category ‘mal aire’ widespread in Latin American folk medicine. Must be taught as the singular person of Satan, not one ambient spiritual force among many.
Flesh
Approved rendering: carne
Transliteration: sarx
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Original: σάρξ
Category: Sin
New High-risk term (2:3). Must be distinguished from (a) literal dietary ‘carne’ (meat) and (b) any implication the physical body itself is evil — a docetic-adjacent misreading contradicting the baseline’s positive Christological use of ‘encarnación.’ Teach explicitly: ‘carne’ names the old, sin-bent orientation, not embodiment itself.
Children Of Wrath
Approved rendering: hijos de ira
Transliteration: tekna physei orgēs
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Original: τέκνα φύσει ὀργῆς
Category: Sin
New High-risk term (2:3), rendered fully as ‘hijos de ira por naturaleza.’ Popular folk-Catholic infant-baptism catechesis (guilt of original sin removed at baptism) risks leading learners to read this as describing only the unbaptized, or ‘por naturaleza’ as inherited weakness rather than actual liability to wrath. Teach alongside the baseline’s universal_human_accountability doctrine (Romans 3:23).
Wrath
Approved rendering: ira
Transliteration: orgē
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: un enojo pasajero (minimizes the settled, judicial sense)
New High-risk term (2:3), the noun underlying children_of_wrath. God’s settled, righteous judicial wrath, not a passing emotional outburst; must be taught with this judicial weight intact.
Made Raised Seated With Christ
Approved rendering: juntamente con Cristo
Transliteration: syzōopoieō / synegeirō / synkathizō
Doctrine: Resurrection and Exaltation of Christ
Rejected alternatives: nos dio vida/nos resucitó/nos sentó (dropping the ‘juntamente con’ union element)
Original: συζωοποιέω / συνεγείρω / συγκαθίζω
Category: Salvation
New High-risk compound term (2:5-6). The ‘juntamente con’ (union) element is doctrinally load-bearing; dropping it collapses union-with-Christ theology into generic subjective renewal, directly implicating the baseline’s Critical ‘resurrection’ caution against reincarnation/spirit-return readings prevalent in Caribbean Espiritismo and Santería contexts. Render ‘nos dio vida / nos resucitó / nos sentó juntamente con Cristo.‘
Head
Approved rendering: cabeza
Transliteration: kephalē
Doctrine: The Church as the Body of Christ
Rejected alternatives: autoridad unilateral impuesta culturalmente
Original: κεφαλή
Category: Christology
New High-risk term. Occurrences: 1:22; 4:15; 5:23. Must establish Christ’s headship as loving and self-giving (1:22-23) before the term is applied to marriage (5:23), where cultural risk (patterns of machismo and coercive-authority readings) is highest. Never allow redefinition by a culturally supplied notion of unilateral authority.
One New Humanity
Approved rendering: una nueva humanidad
Transliteration: kainos anthrōpos (corporate sense)
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles in One New Humanity
Rejected alternatives: un nuevo hombre (favors an individual, single-person reading in natural Spanish)
Original: καινὸς ἄνθρωπος (corporate sense)
Category: Church
New High-risk term (2:15). Must be lexically distinguished from the individual ‘el nuevo hombre’ of 4:24 (old_self_new_self entry below), which uses closely related vocabulary for a different, individual-ethical referent. Conflating the two blurs corporate reconciliation with individual ethical renewal. Fix this distinction in translation memory before Phase 2 begins.
Rulers And Authorities
Approved rendering: principados y potestades
Transliteration: archai kai exousiai
Doctrine: Cosmic Spiritual Powers
Rejected alternatives: una jerarquía espiritual entre varias igualmente válidas (marco de Santería/Espiritismo)
Original: ἀρχαὶ καὶ ἐξουσίαι
Category: Spiritual Warfare
New High-risk term. Occurrences: 1:21; 3:10; 6:12. Risk of absorption into existing folk-religious spirit hierarchies (orishas, ancestral/guide spirits, indigenous spirit-lord cosmologies). Must be taught as a real but subordinate, created spiritual order under Christ’s supreme authority.
Working Energeia
Approved rendering: poder que actúa
Transliteration: energeia / energeō
Doctrine: Cosmic Spiritual Powers
Rejected alternatives: energía (New Age/chakra/curanderismo ‘limpias energéticas’ loanword — FORBIDDEN)
Original: ἐνέργεια / ἐνεργέω
Category: God
New High-risk term. Occurrences: 1:19; 2:2 (Satan’s counterfeit operation); 3:7, 20; 4:16. NEVER render as ‘energía,’ deeply embedded in contemporary Spanish New Age, folk-healing, and Afro-diasporic devotional vocabulary describing an impersonal, transferable force fundamentally unlike the personal divine power Ephesians describes. Render ‘poder que actúa,’ ‘poder eficaz,’ or ‘la obra/operación de su poder.’ Flag for native speaker review at every occurrence.
Unity
Approved rendering: unidad
Transliteration: henotēs
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles in One New Humanity
Original: ἑνότης
Category: Church
New High-risk term. Occurrences: 4:3, 13. Lexically safe, but carries real social weight in Latin American contexts marked by regional, racial (indigenous and Afro-descendant), and denominational (Catholic/Evangelical/Pentecostal) divisions, echoing the baseline’s unity_of_jews_and_gentiles note. Teach with contemporary application.
Baptism
Approved rendering: bautismo
Transliteration: baptisma
Doctrine: Baptism as a Mark of Christian Unity
Original: βάπτισμα
Category: Church
New High-risk term (4:5, ‘one baptism’). Sits on a doctrinal fault line directly analogous to the baseline’s justification fault line: Catholic sacramental baptismal regeneration versus Evangelical/Protestant symbolic-ordinance readings. Requires an explicit teaching note affirming baptism’s unifying significance without adjudicating the mode/timing/efficacy debate. Flag for theologian review given doctrinal sensitivity.
Old Self New Self
Approved rendering: el viejo hombre / el nuevo hombre
Transliteration: palaios anthrōpos / kainos (neos) anthrōpos (individual sense)
Doctrine: Walking in Newness of Life
Rejected alternatives: una nueva humanidad (reserved exclusively for the corporate sense of 2:15)
Original: παλαιὸς ἄνθρωπος / καινὸς (νέος) ἄνθρωπος (individual sense)
Category: Sanctification
New High-risk term (4:22-24). Must be lexically distinguished in teaching notes from the corporate ‘una nueva humanidad’ of 2:15 (one_new_humanity entry above), since both attract overlapping ‘hombre nuevo’ vocabulary for two distinct theological referents — one corporate/reconciliatory, one individual/ethical.
Submit
Approved rendering: someterse
Transliteration: hypotassō
Doctrine: Household Codes and Christ-Centered Relationships
Rejected alternatives: obedecer (collapses this term into ὑπακούω, a distinct relational posture Ephesians uses separately for children, 6:1)
Original: ὑποτάσσω
Category: Household
New High-risk term (5:21-24). Carries acute real-world pastoral risk given documented patterns of coercive or abusive readings of headship-submission language in Spanish-speaking cultural contexts. The text’s own framing — mutual submission (5:21) preceding the specific instruction, and Christ’s self-sacrificial love as the explicit model for headship (5:25) — must never be dropped or minimized. Mandatory theologian review.
Slave
Approved rendering: esclavo
Transliteration: doulos
Doctrine: Slavery, Masters, and the Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: siervos (softening euphemism obscuring the real historical referent)
Original: δοῦλος
Category: Household
New High-risk term (6:5-8). ‘Esclavo(s)’ preferred for historical accuracy over the softening ‘siervos.’ Requires a mandatory teaching note distinguishing first-century Greco-Roman household slavery from the transatlantic chattel slavery central to Latin American and Caribbean regional history.
Master Human
Approved rendering: amo
Transliteration: kyrios (human referent)
Doctrine: Slavery, Masters, and the Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Señor (capitalizado; reservado exclusivamente para Cristo)
Original: κύριος (human referent)
Category: Household
New High-risk term (6:5, 9). Same Greek word rendered capitalized ‘Señor’ for Christ elsewhere in this letter; must render lowercase ‘amo’ (or lowercase ‘señor’) for the human slave-owner referent to preserve the baseline’s Critical capitalization convention. 6:9’s rhetorical wordplay (‘he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven’) best preserved via a translator’s note, not identical capitalized wording. Flag for theologian review.
Armor Of God
Approved rendering: toda la armadura de Dios
Transliteration: panoplia tou theou
Doctrine: Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of God
Original: πανοπλία τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Spiritual Warfare
New High-risk term (6:11-17). In regions marked by real armed violence, must be framed as defensive, spiritual, and already-won-in-Christ (cf. 2:6), not literal aggression. Individual armor pieces reuse Critical/High baseline terms (justicia, salvación, fe) and must render consistently.
Schemes Of Devil
Approved rendering: las asechanzas del diablo
Transliteration: methodeia tou diabolou
Doctrine: Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of God
Rejected alternatives: trucos del diablo (too trivial), estrategias del diablo (too neutral/secular)
Original: μεθοδεία τοῦ διαβόλου
Category: Spiritual Warfare
New High-risk term (6:11). Risks absorption into existing folk-magic protective frameworks (amulets, limpias, Santería/curanderismo practices against spiritual attack). Teach the armor of God as sufficient and exclusive protection, not one option among several.
Breastplate Of Righteousness
Approved rendering: la coraza de justicia
Transliteration: thōrax tēs dikaiosynēs
Doctrine: Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of God
Original: θώραξ τῆς δικαιοσύνης
Category: Spiritual Warfare
New High-risk compound term (6:14), reusing the baseline’s Critical ‘justicia’ exactly. Contextual nuance shifts toward lived ethical integrity rather than the strictly forensic sense central to Romans 3-5; teach the nuance without substituting vocabulary.
Helmet Of Salvation
Approved rendering: el yelmo de la salvación
Transliteration: perikephalaia tou sōtēriou
Doctrine: Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of God
Original: περικεφαλαία τοῦ σωτηρίου
Category: Spiritual Warfare
New High-risk compound term (6:17), reusing the baseline’s Critical ‘salvación’ exactly. The same cautions against a merit-and-mediation salvation framework apply fully here.
Shield Of Faith
Approved rendering: el escudo de la fe
Transliteration: thyreos tēs pisteōs
Doctrine: Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of God
Original: θυρεὸς τῆς πίστεως
Category: Spiritual Warfare
New High-risk compound term (6:16), reusing the baseline’s High ‘fe’ exactly. Faith functions here as trust in a specific object (God/Christ), consistent with its baseline sense, quenching the enemy’s attacks.
Medium Risk Terms
Holy
Approved rendering: santo
Transliteration: hagios
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: puro en sentido ritual
Original: ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
[Inherited from Romans package.] Set apart for God and morally pure; applied to all believers. Ephesians occurrences: 1:4; 5:27 (the church presented ‘holy and without blemish’).
Adoption
Approved rendering: adopción
Transliteration: huiothesia
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: υἱοθεσία
Category: Salvation
[Inherited from Romans package.] Full son-status with complete inheritance rights. Ephesians 1:5 ties adoption explicitly to predestination, more tightly than Romans 8; teach both together as a loving Father’s deliberate, familial choice.
Peace
Approved rendering: paz
Transliteration: eirēnē
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: tranquilidad emocional
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
[Inherited from Romans package.] Relational, covenantal peace with God through justification, not emotional tranquility. Ephesians occurrences: 1:2; 2:14-15, 17; 4:3; 6:15, 23. Ephesians 2:14 (‘he himself is our peace’) intensifies the baseline sense into a title for Christ himself.
Spiritual Gifts
Approved rendering: dones espirituales
Transliteration: charismata
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts
Rejected alternatives: poderes espirituales
Original: χαρίσματα / δόμα
Category: Church
[Inherited from Romans package.] Must not be read through the curanderismo/Santería folk-healing ‘dones’ framework. Ephesians 4:7-11 extends this term explicitly to leadership offices (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers), not only individual-member enablements as in Romans 12.
Church
Approved rendering: iglesia
Transliteration: ekklēsia
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: la Iglesia (institución jerárquica en sentido católico-institucional)
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
[Inherited from Romans package.] Distinguish the gathered people of God from the capitalized institutional-hierarchical sense. Ephesians occurrences: 1:22; 3:10, 21; 5:23-25, 27, 29, 32. Ephesians’ ecclesiology (body, temple, bride) is far more developed than Romans’; the baseline caution is increasingly important given chapter 5’s bride-of-Christ imagery.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: reino de Dios
Transliteration: basileia tou theou
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ θεοῦ
Category: Kingdom
[Inherited from Romans package.] God’s sovereign reign, distinct from a political or institutional kingdom. Ephesians occurrence: 5:5 (‘kingdom of Christ and of God’).
Sin
Approved rendering: pecado
Transliteration: hamartia
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: falta (minimizing euphemism common in pastoral speech)
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
[Inherited from Romans package.] Never soften to ‘falta.’ Ephesians occurrence: 2:1, paired with παράπτωμα (transgression).
Glory
Approved rendering: gloria
Transliteration: doxa
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: δόξα
Category: God
[Inherited from Romans package.] Ephesians occurrences: 1:6, 12, 14, 17-18; 3:13, 16, 21. The doxological refrain ‘to the praise of his glory’ (1:6, 12, 14) must render identically across all three occurrences.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: poder de Dios
Transliteration: dynamis theou
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Original: δύναμις θεοῦ
Category: God
[Inherited from Romans package.] Ephesians occurrences: 1:19; 3:7, 20 (resurrection-power at work in believers). Must remain distinct from the related but separate ‘working_energeia’ entry below; never substitute ‘energía’ for either term.
Providence
Approved rendering: providencia
Transliteration: boulē tou thelēmatos autou
Doctrine: Providence
Rejected alternatives: destino, la suerte
Original: βουλή τοῦ θελήματος αὐτοῦ
Category: God
[Inherited from Romans package.] God’s personal, purposive governance. Ephesians occurrence: 1:11 (‘who works all things according to the counsel of his will’).
Mission
Approved rendering: misión
Transliteration: oikonomia tēs charitos / euangelisasthai
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
Original: οἰκονομία τῆς χάριτος / εὐαγγελίσασθαι
Category: Church
[Inherited from Romans package.] Mild historical association with the Spanish colonial mission system in the Americas; term not rejected. Ephesians occurrences: 3:7-9; 6:19-20 (Paul’s ministry of proclamation, stewardship of the mystery).
Abba
Approved rendering: Abba
Transliteration: Abba
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
[Inherited from Romans package.] Aramaic term of intimacy retained transliterated, paired with ‘Padre’ per Reina-Valera precedent. Not directly attested in Ephesians’ text but relevant background to the letter’s Trinitarian and adoption vocabulary (1:2-3, 17; 1:5).
Mercy
Approved rendering: misericordia
Transliteration: eleos
Doctrine: Salvation by Grace through Faith
Original: ἔλεος
Category: Salvation
New Medium-risk term (2:4). Carries a strong existing devotional association in much of Latin America with the Divine Mercy devotion (Sister Faustina Kowalska, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, ‘Domingo de la Divina Misericordia’). Not doctrinally hostile, but teach on Ephesians’ own comprehensive terms.
Fullness
Approved rendering: plenitud
Transliteration: plērōma
Doctrine: The Church as the Body of Christ
Original: πλήρωμα
Category: Church
New Medium-risk term. Occurrences: 1:23; 3:19; 4:13. Minor but real risk: πλήρωμα became a technical term in later Gnostic cosmological systems (‘Pleroma’), occasionally resurfacing in esoteric/theosophical circles in urban Latin America. Brief clarifying note recommended.
Dividing Wall
Approved rendering: la pared intermedia de separación
Transliteration: mesotoichon tou phragmou
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles in One New Humanity
Original: μεσότοιχον τοῦ φραγμοῦ
Category: Church
New Medium-risk term (2:14). Likely evokes the Jerusalem temple’s Court of the Gentiles wall; requires Old Testament/Second Temple background teaching, no doctrinal collision risk itself.
Fellow Citizens
Approved rendering: conciudadanos
Transliteration: sympolitai
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles in One New Humanity
Original: συμπολῖται
Category: Church
New Medium-risk term (2:19). Standard and clear; reinforces full, non-conditional civic inclusion of Gentile believers.
Temple
Approved rendering: templo
Transliteration: naos
Doctrine: The Church as the Body of Christ
Original: ναός
Category: Church
New Medium-risk term (2:21-22). Given the strength of physical shrine/basilica devotional culture across the Spanish-speaking Catholic world, must clarify the corporate people of God, not a physical building, is meant.
Stewardship
Approved rendering: administración
Transliteration: oikonomia
Doctrine: The Mystery of Christ Revealed
Rejected alternatives: dispensación (imports Dispensationalist system-specific technical baggage)
Original: οἰκονομία
Category: Church
New Medium-risk term (3:2, 9). Avoid ‘dispensación,’ a technical term tied to Dispensationalist theological systems not implied by Paul’s general usage.
Inner Man
Approved rendering: el hombre interior
Transliteration: esō anthrōpos
Doctrine: Walking in Newness of Life
Original: ἔσω ἄνθρωπος
Category: Sanctification
New Medium-risk term (3:16). Standard anthropological term; low collision risk.
Pastor
Approved rendering: pastor
Transliteration: poimēn
Doctrine: Gifts for Building Up the Church
Original: ποιμήν
Category: Church
New Medium-risk term (4:11). Dominant Evangelical/Protestant congregational-leadership title, distinct from the Catholic ordained priesthood (‘sacerdote,’ ‘cura,’ ‘padre’). Cross-tradition education point: Catholic-background learners should be taught this describes a gift-based functional role, not a sacramental priestly office.
Evangelist
Approved rendering: evangelista
Transliteration: euangelistēs
Doctrine: Gifts for Building Up the Church
Original: εὐαγγελιστής
Category: Church
New Medium-risk term (4:11). Minor risk of confusion with ‘los cuatro evangelistas’ (the Gospel authors) in casual usage; a brief clarifying note resolves this.
Offering And Sacrifice
Approved rendering: ofrenda y sacrificio
Transliteration: prosphora kai thysia
Doctrine: Household Codes and Christ-Centered Relationships
Original: προσφορὰ καὶ θυσία
Category: Christology
New Medium-risk term (5:2). Teach as Christ’s own once-for-all self-offering, not a template validating ongoing votive-offering piety — the same underlying direction-of-giving risk as gift_of_salvation above.
Light Darkness
Approved rendering: luz / tinieblas
Transliteration: phōs / skotos
Doctrine: Walking in Newness of Life
Original: φῶς / σκότος
Category: Sanctification
New Medium-risk term (5:8-14). Standard, safe biblical vocabulary; precautionary note given light/darkness spirit-categorization present in Espiritismo/Santería (‘espíritus de luz’). Clarify this is an ethical-relational state defined by union with Christ (‘luz en el Señor,’ 5:8), not a spirit-type taxonomy.
Filled With Spirit
Approved rendering: sed llenos del Espíritu
Transliteration: plēroō en pneumati
Doctrine: Filled with the Spirit
Original: πληρόω ἐν πνεύματι
Category: Sanctification
New Medium-risk term (5:18). Carries differing associations across Pentecostal/Charismatic traditions (often tied to a specific, sometimes datable experience) and non-charismatic traditions (ongoing, character-focused sanctification). Preserve the Greek’s repeated/ongoing imperative sense without adjudicating the broader theological debate; flag for native speaker review.
Respect
Approved rendering: respeto
Transliteration: phobos (relational sense)
Doctrine: Household Codes and Christ-Centered Relationships
Rejected alternatives: temor (risks endorsing fear of one’s spouse)
Original: φόβος (relational sense)
Category: Household
New Medium-risk term (5:33). Never render as literal ‘temor,’ which in a marital context could be misread as endorsing fear of one’s spouse — precisely the opposite of the passage’s pastoral intent. Real domestic-safety stakes; flag for native speaker review.
Obey
Approved rendering: obedecer
Transliteration: hypakouō
Doctrine: Household Codes and Christ-Centered Relationships
Rejected alternatives: someterse/sujetarse (a distinct relational posture Ephesians uses separately for wives, 5:21-24)
Original: ὑπακούω
Category: Household
New Medium-risk term (6:1). Distinct from ὑποτάσσω; maintain the distinction Ephesians itself makes between related-but-different relational postures rather than collapsing both into one Spanish verb.
Guarantee
Approved rendering: garantía
Transliteration: arrabōn
Doctrine: Sealing and Guarantee of the Holy Spirit
Rejected alternatives: arras (specific Spanish wedding-custom connotation, distracting from the financial-guarantee sense)
Original: ἀρραβών
Category: Salvation
New Medium-risk term (1:14). Avoid ‘arras’; ‘garantía’ is the financially precise, culturally unencumbered choice for a down payment guaranteeing future inheritance.
Seal
Approved rendering: sellar
Transliteration: sphragizō
Doctrine: Sealing and Guarantee of the Holy Spirit
Original: σφραγίζω
Category: Salvation
New Medium-risk term. Occurrences: 1:13; 4:30. Standard sealing/ownership-mark metaphor; ensure consistency with ‘garantía’ (1:14) in the same conceptual cluster.
Heavenly Places
Approved rendering: lugares celestiales
Transliteration: epouranios
Doctrine: Resurrection and Exaltation of Christ
Original: ἐπουράνιος
Category: Christology
New Medium-risk term. Occurrences: 1:3, 20; 2:6; 3:10; 6:12. Must render identically across all five occurrences so learners connect believers’ secure position in Christ (2:6) to the spiritual-warfare setting (6:12).
Workmanship
Approved rendering: hechura
Transliteration: poiēma
Doctrine: Salvation by Grace through Faith
Rejected alternatives: obra (would collide confusingly with ἔργα, ‘obras,’ in the same two verses)
Original: ποίημα
Category: Salvation
New Medium-risk term (2:10). Preferred over generic ‘obra’ to avoid collision with ‘buenas obras’/‘obras’ in 2:9-10. Teach as purposeful, skilled creation for a specific end, not inert passivity.
Dead In Sin
Approved rendering: muerto
Transliteration: nekros
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: gravemente enfermo espiritualmente (softens total incapacity into diminished capacity)
Original: νεκρός
Category: Sin
New Medium-risk term. Occurrences: 2:1, 5 (core passage). Must be taught as total spiritual incapacity before God prior to regeneration, not a softened ‘gravely weakened’ state; resurrection-life must be given entirely from outside the person.
Transgression
Approved rendering: transgresión
Transliteration: paraptōma
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: delito (RV1960; reads as a criminal-code offense in modern Spanish)
Original: παράπτωμα
Category: Sin
New Medium-risk term. Occurrences: 2:1, 5 (core passage). Preferred over RV1960’s ‘delito’ for a clearer relational-theological register rather than a legalistic/criminal one.
Sword Of The Spirit
Approved rendering: la espada del Espíritu
Transliteration: machaira tou pneumatos, ho estin rhēma theou
Doctrine: Inspiration and Authority of Scripture
Original: μάχαιρα τοῦ πνεύματος, ὅ ἐστιν ῥῆμα θεοῦ
Category: Spiritual Warfare
New Medium-risk compound term (6:17). Ensure ‘Espíritu’ is capitalized (Espíritu Santo per baseline) and consistent throughout. Connects to the baseline’s Medium-risk inspiration_of_scripture doctrine; Scripture is the believer’s only offensive weapon in the armor-of-God list.
Low Risk Terms
Apostle
Approved rendering: apóstol
Transliteration: apostolos
Doctrine: Apostleship
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Church
[Inherited from Romans package.] Established, unambiguous term across all Spanish Christian traditions. Ephesians occurrences: 1:1; 2:20; 3:5; 4:11.
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: acción de gracias
Transliteration: eucharistia
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Original: εὐχαριστία
Category: Faith
[Inherited from Romans package.] Standard term. Ephesians occurrences: 1:16; 5:4, 20.
Fellowship
Approved rendering: compañerismo
Transliteration: koinōnia
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: comunión de los santos (specific Catholic liturgical formula)
Original: κοινωνία
Category: Church
[Inherited from Romans package.] Avoid conflating with the specific Catholic creedal phrase. Ephesians occurrence: 3:9 (κοινωνία in some manuscript traditions; general ecclesial context).
Gentiles
Approved rendering: gentiles
Transliteration: ethnē
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: paganos (pejorative in modern Spanish)
Original: ἔθνη
Category: Church
[Inherited from Romans package.] Never substitute ‘paganos.’ Ephesians occurrences: 2:11; 3:1, 6, 8; 4:17.
Exhort
Approved rendering: exhortar
Transliteration: parakaleō
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Original: παρακαλέω
Category: Faith
[Inherited from Romans package.] Standard term. Ephesians occurrence: 4:1 (‘I… urge you’), leaning toward earnest appeal.
Cornerstone
Approved rendering: piedra angular
Transliteration: akrogōniaios
Doctrine: The Church as the Body of Christ
Original: ἀκρογωνιαῖος
Category: Church
New Low-risk term (2:20). Well-established Spanish Christian term with no significant risk.
Kindness
Approved rendering: bondad
Transliteration: chrēstotēs
Doctrine: Salvation by Grace through Faith
Original: χρηστότης
Category: Salvation
New Low-risk term (2:7). Standard, safe rendering; grace expressed as personal kindness, not cold legal transaction.
Love
Approved rendering: amor
Transliteration: agapē
Doctrine: Salvation by Grace through Faith
Original: ἀγάπη
Category: Sanctification
New Low-risk term. Occurrences: 2:4; 5:2, 25, 28. No false-cognate risk; theological weight (self-giving, God-initiated love, not romantic affection) is taught, not lexically encoded.
Boast
Approved rendering: gloriarse
Transliteration: kauchaomai
Doctrine: Salvation by Grace through Faith
Rejected alternatives: jactarse (acceptable contemporary alternative)
Original: καυχάομαι
Category: Salvation
New Low-risk term (2:9). Ensure the negative, self-congratulatory sense is clear rather than the positive ‘boasting in the Lord’ sense used elsewhere in Paul.
Prepared Beforehand
Approved rendering: preparó de antemano
Transliteration: proetoimazō
Doctrine: Salvation by Grace through Faith
Original: προετοιμάζω
Category: Salvation
New Low-risk term (2:10). Standard; connects to chapter 1’s predestination language for doctrinal coherence.
Honor
Approved rendering: honrar
Transliteration: timaō
Doctrine: Household Codes and Christ-Centered Relationships
Original: τιμάω
Category: Household
New Low-risk term (6:2). Standard rendering of the fifth-commandment citation.
Belt Of Truth
Approved rendering: el cinto de la verdad
Transliteration: zōnē tēs alētheias
Doctrine: Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of God
Original: ζώνη τῆς ἀληθείας
Category: Spiritual Warfare
New Low-risk compound term (6:14). Standard imagery; no significant risk.
Referenced passages