Core Glossary
Core Glossary — Galatians
Language pair: English–Spanish (via Koine Greek) | Curriculum: Galatians 1–6 | Core passage: Galatians 2:15-21
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, citing terms from all six chapters of Galatians. [baseline] = established in the Spanish Romans package (language-packages/spanish/translation_memory.json) and reused here exactly as recorded. [new] = introduced by this Galatians package, to be seeded into this package’s own translation_memory.json (Wave 4) and, at promotion time, merged into the shared baseline. All terms are also carried into assets/bible_term_registry.json with formal risk tiers.
Coverage check: every chapter of Galatians (1–6) contributes terms to this glossary; none is treated as introducing no new vocabulary.
God and Christology
| Original | Transliteration | Possible meanings | English variants | Doctrinal importance | Status | Spanish term | Translation risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| θεός | theos | God | God | Deity of Christ, Father | [baseline] | Dios | No new risk; reuse Romans note verbatim. |
| πατήρ | patēr | Father | Father | Adoption, Abba | [baseline] | Padre | No new risk. |
| Ἰησοῦς / Χριστός | Iēsous / Christos | Jesus / Anointed One | Jesus, Christ | Christology throughout | [baseline] | Jesús / Cristo | No new risk. |
| κύριος | kyrios | lord, master, sovereign | Lord | Lordship of Christ | [baseline] | Señor | No new risk; less frequent in Galatians (1:3,19; 5:10; 6:14,18) than Romans but identical Critical weight wherever it occurs. |
| υἱὸς θεοῦ | huios theou | Son of God | Son of God | Sonship of Christ (Critical) | [baseline] | Hijo de Dios | Must stay lexically distinct from hijos de Dios (believers’ adoptive sonship, 3:26, 4:6-7) — see Adoption entry below. |
| ἀνάστασις / ἐγείρω | anastasis / egeirō | resurrection / to raise | resurrection, raised | Resurrection of Christ (Critical) | [baseline] | resurrección / levantó, resucitó | Reuse Romans’ bodily/historical/once-for-all note; Caribbean/Afro-Caribbean Espiritismo-Santería caution carries over unchanged. |
| δόξα | doxa | glory, radiant honor | glory | Deity of Christ | [baseline] | gloria | No new risk. |
Gospel and Apostleship
| Original | Transliteration | Possible meanings | English variants | Doctrinal importance | Status | Spanish term | Translation risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| εὐαγγέλιον | euangelion | good news, gospel | gospel | Gospel (High, baseline) | [baseline] | evangelio | No new risk on the noun itself; risk now concentrated in the contrastive phrase below. |
| εὐαγγέλιον ἕτερον | euangelion heteron | a different/other gospel | ”a different gospel,” “another gospel” | The True Gospel versus False Gospels (Critical) | [new] | un evangelio diferente / otro evangelio | Must never read as a legitimate variant message; this is Paul’s polemical target, not descriptive diversity. |
| ἀνάθεμα | anathema | accursed, devoted to destruction | ”let him be accursed,” anathema | The True Gospel versus False Gospels (Critical) | [new] | anatema / maldito | Must retain full weight of a solemn divine curse of exclusion; do not soften to disagreement language. |
| ἀπόστολος | apostolos | one sent with delegated authority | apostle | Paul’s Apostleship (High, elevated from Romans’ Low due to this letter’s polemical stakes) | [baseline] | apóstol | Lexically Low per Romans, but the surrounding doctrine (direct divine commissioning vs. human/ecclesial appointment) carries High doctrinal stakes here — see Doctrine Analysis. |
| ψευδάδελφοι | pseudadelphoi | false brothers | ”false brothers” | Paul’s Apostleship / True Gospel | [new] | falsos hermanos | Must not be softened to “hermanos con otra opinión.” |
| ἡ ἀλήθεια τοῦ εὐαγγελίου | hē alētheia tou euangeliou | the truth of the gospel | ”the truth of the gospel” | The True Gospel versus False Gospels | [new] | la verdad del evangelio | Doctrinal truth-content, not personal sincerity. |
Salvation, Faith, and Justification
| Original | Transliteration | Possible meanings | English variants | Doctrinal importance | Status | Spanish term | Translation risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| πίστις | pistis | faith, trust, faithfulness | faith, belief, trust | Faith (High, baseline); Justification by Faith (Critical) | [baseline] | fe | Reuse Romans note (personal trust in Christ, not inherited religiosity or saint/Marian devotion). The core passage’s πίστεως Χριστοῦ genitive is rendered as objective genitive (fe en Jesucristo), matching mainstream Spanish Bible tradition — see 07_semantic_analysis.md note at Gal 2:16. |
| δικαιοσύνη | dikaiosynē | righteousness, right standing | righteousness | Justification by Faith (Critical, baseline) | [baseline] | justicia | Forensic right-standing, not moral achievement; identical to Romans usage. |
| δικαιόω / δικαίωσις | dikaioō / dikaiōsis | to justify / justification | justify, justification | Justification by Faith (Critical, baseline) — the letter’s central thesis (2:16 x3) | [baseline] | justificar / justificación | The single highest-stakes term in this package; MUST reuse Romans’ forensic “declared righteous” sense exactly, never the Tridentine infused-righteousness framing already explicitly rejected in the Romans TM. |
| ἔργα νόμου | erga nomou | works of the law | ”works of the law” | Justification by Faith / Law and Grace (Critical) | [new] | obras de la ley | Refers to Mosaic covenant boundary markers (circumcision, food laws, calendar), not “good works” generally; do not broadly moralize. |
| δωρεάν | dōrean | freely/as a gift; or, in a negative context, “for nothing/in vain" | "for free”; “in vain” (context-dependent) | Law and Grace (Critical) | [new] | en vano (Gal 2:21 context) | Context (the conditional clause of 2:21) requires “in vain,” not “gratuitamente” (which would invert Paul’s meaning); flag any draft reversing this. |
| ἀθετέω | atheteō | to nullify, set aside, reject | ”nullify,” “set aside,” “reject” | Law and Grace | [new] | anular / invalidar | Must retain active-rejection force, not a weak “ignorar.” |
| ἁμαρτία | hamartia | sin, moral transgression | sin | Universal Human Accountability (baseline) | [baseline] | pecado | Reuse Romans note (do not soften to “falta”). |
Union with Christ and the Cross
| Original | Transliteration | Possible meanings | English variants | Doctrinal importance | Status | Spanish term | Translation risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| συσταυρόω | systauroō | to crucify together with | ”crucified with [Christ]“ | Crucified with Christ (Critical) — core passage anchor, Gal 2:20 | [new] | crucificado(s) con Cristo / crucificado juntamente con Cristo | Genuine co-crucifixion/union with Christ, not mere imitation of Christ’s suffering or moral example. The single most theologically concentrated term in the core passage. |
| ζῇ ἐν ἐμοὶ Χριστός | zē en emoi Christos | Christ lives in me | ”Christ lives in me” | Crucified with Christ | [new] | Cristo vive en mí | Real, ongoing indwelling; complements (never replaces) forensic justification. |
| σάρξ (ethical/neutral senses) | sarx | flesh; either (a) the physical body/mortal life, neutral sense (2:20), or (b) the sinful nature opposed to the Spirit, ethical sense (5:13-24) | “flesh,” “body,” “sinful nature” | Flesh versus Spirit (High/Critical) | [new] | carne (context-dependent); “en el cuerpo”/“en esta vida mortal” for the neutral sense where needed for clarity | Two distinct senses in the same letter; a translator note at first ethical-sense occurrence (5:13) is recommended. See Linguistic Gap Analysis (06) for the full fencing strategy. |
| καινὴ κτίσις | kainē ktisis | new creation | ”new creation” | Circumcision and the New Creation (Critical) — letter’s theological capstone (6:15) | [new] | nueva creación | Supersedes the circumcision/uncircumcision distinction entirely; do not reduce to “una nueva vida” (a weaker, merely personal-renewal sense) — this is a cosmic-scale category the letter sets against the whole law-works framework. |
Law, Covenant, and Promise
| Original | Transliteration | Possible meanings | English variants | Doctrinal importance | Status | Spanish term | Translation risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| νόμος | nomos | the Mosaic Law | law | Law and Grace (baseline, elevated to Critical in Galatians) | [baseline] | ley | Reuse Romans note; Galatians’ sustained law/grace argument makes this the letter’s most pervasive term. |
| διαθήκη | diathēkē | covenant, testament | covenant | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise (High, baseline) | [baseline] | pacto | Reuse Romans’ Reina-Valera-tradition note in full, including the live “pacto con el diablo” folk-religious caution inherited from the shared Culture Analysis. |
| ἐπαγγελία | epangelia | promise | promise | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise (High) | [new] | promesa | Central to Galatians 3-4’s entire argument (promise precedes and outranks the law); keep distinct from pacto (the covenant vehicle) though closely related. |
| κατάρα | katara | curse | curse | Law and Grace (Critical) | [new] | maldición | Both the law’s curse on imperfect law-keepers (3:10) and Christ becoming a curse to redeem believers (3:13); must retain full covenantal-legal force, not a vague “mala suerte.” |
| ἐξαγοράζω | exagorazō | to redeem, buy back/out | ”redeemed” | Law and Grace / Crucified with Christ (Critical) | [new] | redimir | Distinct Greek word from Romans’ unaddressed “apolytrōsis” redemption vocabulary; establishes redimir as this package’s rendering, available for future Romans-package harmonization. |
| σπέρμα (singular argument) | sperma | seed, offspring | ”seed,” “offspring” | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise (Critical) | [new] | descendencia / simiente | Paul’s argument hinges on Greek grammatical number (singular “seed” = Christ); note for translators that Spanish descendencia is naturally collective and may obscure the singular-referent argument — see Linguistic Gap Analysis (06) for the recommended fencing strategy. |
| μεσίτης | mesitēs | mediator, go-between | ”mediator,” “intermediary” | The Law’s Purpose (High) | [new] | mediador | Direct relevance to the Romans baseline’s Critical intercession risk (saints/Marian mediation); Moses as a human, subordinate mediator here — do not let this reading bleed into or from later saint-mediator theology. |
| παιδαγωγός | paidagōgos | guardian, custodian, tutor (household slave who escorted/disciplined a minor) | “guardian,” “tutor,” “schoolmaster” | The Law’s Purpose (High) | [new] | ayo / tutor | Genuine linguistic-gap term (no precise modern Spanish social-role equivalent); see Linguistic Gap Analysis (06). |
| τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου | ta stoicheia tou kosmou | elemental things/principles of the world | ”elemental spirits,” “basic/elementary principles” | The Law’s Purpose (High) | [new] | los principios elementales del mundo | Avoid a rendering that reads as literally invoking spirit-beings (los espíritus elementales) given active Espiritismo/Santería practice in parts of the Spanish-speaking world — see Linguistic Gap Analysis (06). |
| κληρονόμος / κληρονομία | klēronomos / klēronomia | heir / inheritance | ”heir(s),” “inheritance” | Adoption and Sonship / Abrahamic Covenant (High) | [new] | heredero(s) / herencia | Full inheritance-rights status through promise, not law; ties directly to adopción (baseline). |
Adoption, Sonship, and the Spirit
| Original | Transliteration | Possible meanings | English variants | Doctrinal importance | Status | Spanish term | Translation risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| υἱοθεσία | huiothesia | adoption as sons | ”adoption” | Adoption and Sonship (Medium, baseline) — Gal 4:5, exact match to Romans 8:15,23 | [baseline] | adopción | MUST reuse Romans’ exact rendering; full heir status, not second-class. |
| Ἀββα ὁ πατήρ | Abba ho patēr | Abba, Father | ”Abba, Father” | Adoption and Sonship (Medium, baseline) — Gal 4:6, word-for-word match to Romans 8:15 | [baseline] | Abba, Padre | MUST reuse Romans’ exact transliteration-plus-translation pairing per Reina-Valera precedent. |
| πνεῦμα ἅγιον / πνεῦμα (of God) | pneuma hagion / pneuma | Holy Spirit / the Spirit | the Spirit, Holy Spirit | Adoption and Sonship; Freedom in Christ; Flesh versus Spirit (Critical, baseline) | [baseline] | Espíritu Santo / Espíritu | Reuse Romans’ Critical note (personal third Person of the Trinity, not an impersonal force or ancestral/guide spirit per Espiritismo/Santería frameworks) — especially important given how heavily Galatians 3-6 personifies “the Spirit” as an active agent in the believer’s life. |
| υἱοὶ θεοῦ (believers) | huioi theou | sons of God (believers, by faith) | “sons of God,” “children of God” | Adoption and Sonship | [new/baseline-adjacent] | hijos de Dios | Must remain lexically distinct from Hijo de Dios (Christ’s unique Sonship, Critical); this is the adoptive plural, exactly as Romans 8 already distinguishes. |
Freedom, Circumcision, and the Flesh/Spirit Contrast
| Original | Transliteration | Possible meanings | English variants | Doctrinal importance | Status | Spanish term | Translation risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἐλευθερία / ἐλεύθερος | eleutheria / eleutheros | freedom, liberty / free | ”freedom,” “liberty” / “free” | Freedom in Christ (High) | [new] | libertad / libre | Freedom from law-works as a justification-basis, not license for self-indulgence (5:13); pairs antithetically with esclavitud. |
| περιτομή / ἀκροβυστία | peritomē / akrobystia | circumcision / uncircumcision | ”circumcision” / “uncircumcision” | Circumcision and the New Creation (Critical) | [new] | circuncisión / incircuncisión | The letter’s central polemical target: circumcision demanded as necessary for justification. Must be rendered plainly and without euphemism; the doctrinal point (in Christ, neither counts for anything, 5:6, 6:15) must be unmistakable. |
| ἔργα τῆς σαρκός | erga tēs sarkos | works/deeds of the flesh | ”works of the flesh” | Flesh versus Spirit (High) | [new] | obras de la carne | The 5:19-21 vice list; two entries below carry Spanish-specific Critical/High notes. |
| εἰδωλολατρία | eidōlolatria | idolatry | ”idolatry” | Flesh versus Spirit / cultural syncretism | [new] | idolatría | Direct, ongoing relevance to folk-Catholic and Afro-diasporic syncretism risk already flagged for Spanish. |
| φαρμακεία | pharmakeia | sorcery, ritual use of drugs/potions for magical ends | ”sorcery,” “witchcraft” | Flesh versus Spirit / cultural syncretism (Critical for Spanish) | [new] | hechicería | Direct relevance to curanderismo, Santería, and Espiritismo practices active in parts of the Spanish-speaking world; must not be minimized to “medicina popular” or similar folk-neutral framing. |
| καρπὸς τοῦ πνεύματος | karpos tou pneumatos | fruit of the Spirit (grammatically singular) | “fruit of the Spirit” | Fruit of the Spirit (Medium/High) | [new] | fruto del Espíritu | Preserve the Greek’s grammatical singular (el fruto, not los frutos) to retain the organic-unity sense. |
| πίστις δι’ ἀγάπης ἐνεργουμένη | pistis di’ agapēs energoumenē | faith working through love | ”faith working through love,” “faith expressing itself through love” | Faith Working through Love (Critical for Spanish — see Doctrine Analysis) | [new] | fe que obra por medio del amor | Historically read by Catholic tradition (fides caritate formada, Trent Session VI) as evidence that love/works complete or are integral to justifying faith; this package’s baseline reading (consistent with the Romans package’s forensic-justification stance) treats this clause as describing genuine faith’s active, observable fruit, not an additional formal cause of justification alongside faith. See Doctrine Analysis and Comparative Theology for full treatment — this is one of the two or three highest Spanish-specific doctrinal risks in the whole letter. |
| ἀγάπη | agapē | love | love | Faith Working through Love; Fruit of the Spirit | [new] | amor | Standard term, Medium risk only insofar as it appears inside the higher-risk phrases above. |
| ἀλλήλων τὰ βάρη βαστάζετε | allēlōn ta barē bastazete | bear one another’s burdens | ”bear one another’s burdens” | Bearing One Another’s Burdens | [new] | lleven los unos las cargas de los otros | Communal, weighty, extraordinary burdens (baros), distinguished from the ordinary “load” (phortion, 6:5) every believer carries individually. |
| νόμος τοῦ Χριστοῦ | nomos tou Christou | the law of Christ | ”the law of Christ” | The Law’s Purpose / Bearing One Another’s Burdens (High) | [new] | la ley de Cristo | The letter’s positive, non-Mosaic ethical norm; resolves the tension between “died to the law” (2:19) and continued moral obligation. |
Church, Fellowship, and Proper Names
| Original | Transliteration | Possible meanings | English variants | Doctrinal importance | Status | Spanish term | Translation risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἐκκλησία | ekklēsia | assembly, church | church | Church as God’s People (Medium, baseline) | [baseline] | iglesia | No new risk. |
| Ἀβραάμ | Abraam | Abraham | Abraham | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise | [new] | Abraham | Established Spanish Bible form; Medium doctrinal weight as the letter’s central Old Testament figure, Low lexical risk. |
| Κηφᾶς | Kēphas | Cephas (Peter) | Cephas, Peter | Paul’s Apostleship (narrative) | [new] | Cefas | Low risk; gloss as “Pedro” on first use. |
| Ἰάκωβος, Βαρναβᾶς, Τίτος | Iakōbos, Barnabas, Titos | James, Barnabas, Titus | James, Barnabas, Titus | Narrative/historical | [new] | Santiago, Bernabé, Tito | Low risk; established Spanish Bible forms. |
| Ἄγαρ, Σάρρα, Ἰσαάκ | Hagar, Sarra, Isaak | Hagar, Sarah, Isaac | Hagar, Sarah, Isaac | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise (allegory, 4:21-31) | [new] | Agar, Sara, Isaac | Medium doctrinal weight (allegorical roles), Low lexical risk. |
| Ἰσραὴλ τοῦ θεοῦ | Israēl tou theou | the Israel of God | ”the Israel of God” | Closing benediction; ties to Romans 9-11 | [baseline-adjacent] | el Israel de Dios | Israel is baseline (Medium); the full phrase’s referent (church vs. Jewish remnant vs. ethnic Israel) is not adjudicated lexically — flag for theologian review, per Romans’ escalation pattern for Israel-related content. |
| τὰ στίγματα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ | ta stigmata tou Iēsou | the marks of Jesus | ”the marks of Jesus” | Closing polemic against the circumcision party | [new] | las marcas de Jesús | Deliberately not estigmas, to avoid the later devotional stigmata association. |
Summary count
- Baseline terms reused exactly (verified against
language-packages/spanish/translation_memory.json): 20 — Dios, Padre, Jesús/Cristo, Señor, Hijo de Dios, resurrección, gloria, evangelio, apóstol, fe, justicia, justificar/justificación, pecado, ley, pacto, adopción, Abba/Padre, Espíritu Santo, iglesia, Israel. - New terms seeded by this package: 27 substantive theological/doctrinal terms plus 7 low-risk proper/place names, fully itemized in
assets/translation_memory.json(Wave 4). - Chapters cited: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 — full-book coverage confirmed; no chapter contributes zero new vocabulary.
Critical Risk Terms
False Gospel
Approved rendering: un evangelio diferente / otro evangelio
Doctrine: The True Gospel versus False Gospels
Rejected alternatives: una versión del evangelio (implies legitimate variation), otra manera de ver el evangelio
Original: εὐαγγέλιον ἕτερον
Category: Salvation
Gal 1:6-9. Must never read as a legitimate alternative or denominational variation. Paul’s point is that this message is not the gospel at all.
Anathema
Approved rendering: anatema
Doctrine: The True Gospel versus False Gospels
Rejected alternatives: está equivocado (weakens the formal curse to mere error), que sea reprendido (weakens to mere rebuke)
Original: ἀνάθεμα
Category: Salvation
Gal 1:8-9, pronounced twice. Must retain full weight of a solemn divine curse of exclusion. Established transliteration in Reina-Valera and Catholic Bibles alike.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: justicia
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: rectitud moral autónoma, mérito acumulado
Original: δικαιοσύνη
Category: Salvation
[inherited from Romans package, verbatim] A right standing granted by God through faith, not self-achieved moral rectitude.
Justification
Approved rendering: justificación
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: proceso gradual de purificación interior
Original: δικαίωσις / δικαιόω
Category: Salvation
[inherited from Romans package, verbatim] Gal 2:16 states this thesis three times in one sentence, even more polemically than Romans since the letter’s whole occasion is a direct challenge to this doctrine. Must preserve the forensic ‘declared righteous’ sense without softening toward gradual infusion (Council of Trent, Session VI).
Works Of The Law
Approved rendering: obras de la ley
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: buenas obras en general (over-broadens beyond Mosaic covenant boundary markers)
Original: ἔργα νόμου
Category: Salvation
Gal 2:16; 3:2,5,10. Refers to Mosaic covenant boundary markers (circumcision, food laws, calendar), not good works generally.
Sorcery
Approved rendering: hechicería
Doctrine: Flesh versus Spirit
Rejected alternatives: medicina popular (reframes as neutral folk healing)
Original: φαρμακεία
Category: Sin
Gal 5:20 (pharmakeia). CRITICAL for Spanish: direct relevance to curanderismo, Santería, and Espiritismo. Must not be rendered as neutral folk-healing practice.
Curse
Approved rendering: maldición
Doctrine: Law and Grace
Rejected alternatives: mala suerte (folk-superstitious sense, foreign to the covenantal-legal argument)
Original: κατάρα
Category: Covenant
Gal 3:10,13, quoting Deuteronomy 27:26 and 21:23. Must retain full covenantal-legal force; anchor first occurrence (3:10) to the Deuteronomy background via translator note.
Redeem
Approved rendering: redimir
Doctrine: Law and Grace
Original: ἐξαγοράζω
Category: Salvation
Gal 3:13; 4:5 (exagorazō — a different Greek word from Romans’ unaddressed apolytrōsis redemption vocabulary). Establishes ‘redimir’ as this package’s rendering; available for future Romans-package harmonization.
Seed Of Abraham Singular
Approved rendering: simiente (at Gal 3:16,19 specifically) / descendencia (elsewhere in the chapter)
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Rejected alternatives: descendencia throughout (loses the singular-referent grammatical argument at 3:16)
Original: τὸ σπέρμα
Category: Covenant
Gal 3:16. Paul’s argument depends on the Greek noun’s grammatical singular, read christologically. Follow Reina-Valera precedent using ‘simiente’ specifically where the singular argument is made (3:16,19); use natural ‘descendencia’ elsewhere (e.g. 3:29).
Crucified With Christ
Approved rendering: crucificado con Cristo
Doctrine: Crucified with Christ
Rejected alternatives: seguir el ejemplo de Cristo (reduces to moral imitation), vivir para Cristo (loses the co-crucifixion sense)
Original: συσταυρόω (Χριστῷ συνεσταύρωμαι)
Category: Salvation
Gal 2:20 (systauroō); also 5:24, 6:14. Genuine co-crucifixion/union with Christ; the core passage’s most theologically concentrated phrase.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Espíritu Santo / Espíritu
Doctrine: Flesh versus Spirit
Rejected alternatives: una fuerza impersonal, un espíritu guía o ancestral
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον / πνεῦμα
Category: God
[inherited from Romans package, verbatim] Personal third Person of the Trinity, explicitly distinguished from ancestral/guide spirits in Espiritismo and Santería. Especially important given how heavily Galatians 3-6 personifies ‘the Spirit’ as an active agent.
Circumcision
Approved rendering: circuncisión / incircuncisión
Doctrine: Circumcision and the New Creation
Original: περιτομή / ἀκροβυστία
Category: Covenant
Gal 2:3-5,12; 5:2-12; 6:12-15. The letter’s central polemical target; render plainly and without euphemism.
New Creation
Approved rendering: nueva creación
Doctrine: Circumcision and the New Creation
Rejected alternatives: una nueva vida (weaker, merely personal-renewal sense)
Original: καινὴ κτίσις
Category: Salvation
Gal 6:15. Cosmic-scale category superseding the circumcision/uncircumcision distinction entirely; the letter’s theological capstone alongside crucified_with_christ.
Faith Working Through Love
Approved rendering: la fe que obra por medio del amor
Doctrine: Faith Working through Love
Original: πίστις δι’ ἀγάπης ἐνεργουμένη
Category: Faith
Gal 5:6. Historically cited Catholic proof-text (fides caritate formata, Trent Session VI) for love/works as constituting justifying faith; this package’s baseline reading treats the clause as describing genuine faith’s active fruit, not an additional formal cause of justification. One of the two or three highest Spanish-specific doctrinal risks in the letter.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: Hijo de Dios
Doctrine: Adoption and Sonship
Rejected alternatives: hijo de Dios en el sentido genérico aplicado a todo creyente
Original: υἱὸς θεοῦ
Category: Christology
[inherited from Romans package, verbatim] Full phrase required. Gal 1:16; 2:20; 4:4,6. Unique, eternal, divine Sonship, distinct from believers’ adoptive ‘hijos de Dios.‘
Lord
Approved rendering: Señor
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: Señor mío (devotional-only, without lordship claim)
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
[inherited from Romans package, verbatim] Gal 1:3,19; 5:10; 6:14,18. Less frequent than in Romans but identical Critical weight wherever it occurs.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: resurrección
Doctrine: Crucified with Christ
Rejected alternatives: reencarnación
Original: ἀνάστασις / ἐγείρω
Category: Eschatology
[inherited from Romans package, verbatim] Gal 1:1 grounds Paul’s apostolic authority in God ‘who raised him from the dead.’ Bodily, historical, once-for-all; Caribbean/Afro-Caribbean Espiritismo/Santería caution carries over unchanged.
Jesus
Approved rendering: Jesús
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
[inherited from Romans package, verbatim] Universally standard across all Spanish Bible traditions.
God
Approved rendering: Dios
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Original: θεός
Category: God
[inherited from Romans package, verbatim] Universally standard; no rival deity-name confusion in mainstream Hispanic Christian usage.
High Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: evangelio
Doctrine: The True Gospel versus False Gospels
Rejected alternatives: buenas nuevas (only as a descriptive gloss, never the standalone technical term)
Original: εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Salvation
[inherited from Romans package, verbatim] 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.
False Brothers
Approved rendering: falsos hermanos
Doctrine: Paul’s Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: hermanos con otra opinión (softens to legitimate diversity), hermanos separados
Original: ψευδάδελφοι
Category: Church
Gal 2:4. Infiltrators seeking to reimpose the law; frame as a gospel-integrity threat, not a matter of legitimate theological diversity.
Truth Of The Gospel
Approved rendering: la verdad del evangelio
Doctrine: The True Gospel versus False Gospels
Rejected alternatives: la sinceridad del evangelio (loses doctrinal-content sense)
Original: ἡ ἀλήθεια τοῦ εὐαγγελίου
Category: Salvation
Gal 2:5,14. Doctrinal truth-content, not personal candor.
Faith
Approved rendering: fe
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: devoción religiosa general, creencia cultural heredada
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
[inherited from Romans package, verbatim] Personal trust in Christ specifically. Gal 2:16’s ‘pisteōs Christou’ is rendered as objective genitive (‘fe en Jesucristo’), matching mainstream Spanish Bible tradition, not the minority subjective-genitive ‘faithfulness of Christ’ reading.
Grace
Approved rendering: gracia
Doctrine: Law and Grace
Rejected alternatives: favor merecido, recompensa por buenas obras
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
[inherited from Romans package, verbatim] Unmerited favor received by faith alone, not infused/increased through merit and sacramental cooperation. Gal 5:4’s ‘fallen away from grace’ is frequently misapplied in popular preaching to unrelated moral failures; this package restricts its referent to embracing law-works as the ground of justification.
Sin
Approved rendering: pecado
Doctrine: Law and Grace
Rejected alternatives: falta (minimizing euphemism)
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
[inherited from Romans package, verbatim] Moral transgression before a personal God; avoid the softening euphemism ‘falta.‘
Flesh
Approved rendering: carne
Doctrine: Flesh versus Spirit
Rejected alternatives: cuerpo (loses the ethical sense entirely), naturaleza pecaminosa (accurate for the ethical sense but loses the wordplay with the neutral sense at 2:20)
Original: σάρξ
Category: Sin
Dual sense: neutral/bodily (Gal 2:20, 4:13-14) vs. ethical/sinful-nature (5:13-24, 6:8). Retain ‘carne’ for both to preserve Paul’s own wordplay, but require a translator note at the first ethical-sense occurrence (5:13).
Works Of The Flesh
Approved rendering: las obras de la carne
Doctrine: Flesh versus Spirit
Original: ἔργα τῆς σαρκός
Category: Sin
Gal 5:19-21 vice list. Render completely and plainly; see idolatry and sorcery for two Spanish-specific escalated items within the list.
Idolatry
Approved rendering: idolatría
Doctrine: Flesh versus Spirit
Rejected alternatives: tradición cultural (minimizes), devoción popular (minimizes)
Original: εἰδωλολατρία
Category: Sin
Gal 5:20; 4:8. Direct, ongoing relevance to folk-Catholic devotional syncretism and Afro-diasporic religious practice documented for Spanish.
Promise
Approved rendering: promesa
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: ἐπαγγελία
Category: Covenant
Gal 3:14-22; 4:28. Central to the argument that the promise precedes and outranks the law. Keep distinct from ‘pacto’ (the covenant vehicle).
Covenant
Approved rendering: pacto
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Rejected alternatives: contrato legal
Original: διαθήκη
Category: Covenant
[inherited from Romans package, verbatim] Reina-Valera tradition favors ‘pacto’; recognizes ‘alianza’ as a valid Catholic-tradition synonym. Retains the live folk-religious ‘pacto con el diablo’ caution flagged in the shared Culture Analysis.
Mediator
Approved rendering: mediador
Doctrine: The Law’s Purpose
Original: μεσίτης
Category: Covenant
Gal 3:19-20. Moses as the law’s subordinate human mediator. Direct relevance to the baseline’s Critical intercession risk (saints/Marian mediation); do not let either reading bleed into the other.
Law As Guardian
Approved rendering: ayo
Doctrine: The Law’s Purpose
Rejected alternatives: tutor (implies modern academic/legal role, loses temporary-custodian nuance), guía/guardián (too generic, loses disciplinary connotation)
Original: παιδαγωγός
Category: Covenant
Gal 3:24-25 (paidagōgos). Genuine linguistic-gap term; use ‘ayo’ (closest lexical match, real Reina-Valera-tradition precedent) with a mandatory gloss at first occurrence.
Elemental Principles
Approved rendering: los principios elementales del mundo
Doctrine: The Law’s Purpose
Rejected alternatives: los espíritus elementales del mundo (risks occult-affirming misreading given Espiritismo/Santería practice)
Original: τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου
Category: Covenant
Gal 4:3,9 (stoicheia). Avoid personifying as spirit-beings; pair with explicit teaching note on these principles’ powerlessness for believers in Christ.
Heir Inheritance
Approved rendering: heredero(s) / herencia
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: κληρονόμος / κληρονομία
Category: Covenant
Gal 3:18,29; 4:1,7,30. Ties to the baseline adoption entry’s full-heir-status note.
Law
Approved rendering: ley
Doctrine: Law and Grace
Original: νόμος
Category: Covenant
[inherited from Romans package, verbatim] The Mosaic law/Torah; standard and unambiguous. Galatians’ sustained law/grace argument makes this the letter’s single most pervasive term.
Law Of Christ
Approved rendering: la ley de Cristo
Doctrine: Bearing One Another’s Burdens
Original: ὁ νόμος τοῦ Χριστοῦ
Category: Covenant
Gal 6:2. The letter’s positive, non-Mosaic ethical norm; must not be read as reintroducing law-as-justification.
Sons Of God Believers
Approved rendering: hijos de Dios
Doctrine: Adoption and Sonship
Original: υἱοὶ θεοῦ
Category: Salvation
Gal 3:26; 4:6-7. Must remain lexically distinct from ‘Hijo de Dios’ (Christ’s unique Sonship, Critical, baseline).
Adoption
Approved rendering: adopción
Doctrine: Adoption and Sonship
Original: υἱοθεσία
Category: Salvation
[inherited from Romans package, verbatim] Full son-status with complete inheritance rights. Gal 4:5 (huiothesia), word-for-word match to Romans 8:15,23.
Freedom
Approved rendering: libertad
Doctrine: Freedom in Christ
Original: ἐλευθερία / ἐλεύθερος
Category: Salvation
Gal 2:4; 5:1,13. Freedom from law-works as a justification-basis, not license for self-indulgence; distinguish from secular/political ‘libertad’ in teaching material without changing the base rendering.
Israel Of God
Approved rendering: el Israel de Dios
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: ὁ Ἰσραὴλ τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Covenant
Gal 6:16. Debated referent (believing remnant, whole church, or ethnic Israel); does not adjudicate the supersessionism debate lexically. Render literally and flag for theologian review, consistent with the Romans baseline’s Israel-related escalation pattern.
Glory
Approved rendering: gloria
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Original: δόξα
Category: God
[inherited from Romans package, verbatim] Gal 1:5. God’s radiant honor and presence.
Father
Approved rendering: Padre
Doctrine: Adoption and Sonship
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
[inherited from Romans package, verbatim] God as personal Father; standard and unambiguous.
Medium Risk Terms
Apostle
Approved rendering: apóstol
Doctrine: Paul’s Apostleship
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Church
[inherited from Romans package, verbatim] Established, unambiguous term across all Spanish Christian traditions. Doctrine risk elevated to High for Galatians’ surrounding doctrinal argument in doctrine_risk_registry.json even though the bare term’s lexical risk remains Medium/Low.
Fruit Of The Spirit
Approved rendering: el fruto del Espíritu
Doctrine: Fruit of the Spirit
Rejected alternatives: los frutos del Espíritu (loses the grammatical-singular organic-unity sense)
Original: καρπὸς τοῦ πνεύματος
Category: Sanctification
Gal 5:22-23. Preserve the Greek’s grammatical singular (‘el fruto,’ not ‘los frutos’).
Abba
Approved rendering: Abba, Padre
Doctrine: Adoption and Sonship
Original: Ἀββα ὁ πατήρ
Category: God
[inherited from Romans package, verbatim] Gal 4:6, word-for-word identical to Romans 8:15. Retain the transliteration paired with ‘Padre’ per Reina-Valera precedent.
Love
Approved rendering: amor
Doctrine: Faith Working through Love
Original: ἀγάπη
Category: Faith
Gal 2:20; 5:6,13-14,22. Standard term; risk concentrated in the higher-risk phrases it appears in.
Bear One Anothers Burdens
Approved rendering: lleven los unos las cargas de los otros
Doctrine: Bearing One Another’s Burdens
Original: ἀλλήλων τὰ βάρη βαστάζετε
Category: Church
Gal 6:2 (baros). Distinguish from the ordinary ‘own load’ (phortion, 6:5) each believer carries individually; consider a translator note preserving the distinction.
Allegory
Approved rendering: alegoría / interpretación alegórica
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: ἀλληγορούμενα
Category: Covenant
Gal 4:24. Paul’s own explicit signal that he is reading the Hagar/Sarah narrative typologically.
Abraham
Approved rendering: Abraham
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: Ἀβραάμ
Category: Covenant
Gal 3:6-9,14-18,29; 4:22. Established Spanish Bible form; central Old Testament figure for this letter’s whole argument, direct link to the baseline imputed_righteousness entry via the identical Genesis 15:6 citation (Gal 3:6 = Romans 4:3).
Hagar Sarah Isaac
Approved rendering: Agar, Sara, Isaac
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: Ἄγαρ, Σάρρα, Ἰσαάκ
Category: Covenant
Gal 4:21-31. Allegorical roles in Paul’s Sinai/Jerusalem-above argument; established Spanish Bible forms.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: gentiles
Doctrine: Circumcision and the New Creation
Rejected alternatives: paganos (pejorative in modern Spanish)
Original: ἔθνη
Category: Church
[inherited from Romans package, verbatim] Standard term; avoid ‘paganos.‘
Church
Approved rendering: iglesia
Doctrine: Paul’s Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: la Iglesia (institución jerárquica en sentido católico-institucional)
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
[inherited from Romans package, verbatim] Gal 1:2,13,22. Distinguish the gathered-people sense from the capitalized institutional-hierarchical sense.
Israel
Approved rendering: Israel
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: יִשְׂרָאֵל
Category: Covenant
[inherited from Romans package, verbatim] Standard proper name; see israel_of_god for the Gal 6:16 phrase specifically.
Low Risk Terms
Cephas
Approved rendering: Cefas
Doctrine: Paul’s Apostleship
Original: Κηφᾶς
Category: Church
Gal 1:18; 2:9,11,14. Gloss as ‘Pedro’ on first use.
James Barnabas Titus
Approved rendering: Santiago, Bernabé, Tito
Doctrine: Paul’s Apostleship
Original: Ἰάκωβος, Βαρναβᾶς, Τίτος
Category: Church
Gal 1:19; 2:1,9,13. Established Spanish Bible forms. On James (Gal 1:19, ‘the Lord’s brother’), render ‘hermano’ literally without adjudicating the Catholic kinsman/cousin reading lexically.
Marks Of Jesus
Approved rendering: las marcas de Jesús
Doctrine: Bearing One Another’s Burdens
Rejected alternatives: estigmas (imports later devotional stigmata association not present in this text)
Original: τὰ στίγματα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ
Category: Church
Gal 6:17. Scars from persecution, worn as marks of authentic apostolic suffering, contrasted with the circumcision-mark the agitators wanted imposed.
Referenced passages