Core Glossary
Core Glossary — Philippians
This glossary lists every load-bearing theological term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, across all four chapters of Philippians, with its Spanish rendering, risk tier, governing doctrine, and translation notes. Terms marked [BASELINE] are already fixed in the Romans translation_memory.json / bible_term_registry.json and MUST be reused exactly as recorded there; this glossary does not redefine them, only cites them for Philippians’ context. New terms proposed here extend, and must not contradict, the baseline Language Package. Risk tiers follow the baseline’s four-tier definition (Critical / High / Medium / Low).
A. Terms Reused Exactly from the Baseline (Romans) Language Package
| Term (EN) | Spanish rendering | Risk | Doctrine | Philippians occurrences | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gospel | evangelio | High | Gospel / Partnership in the Gospel | 1:5, 1:7, 1:12, 1:16, 1:27, 2:22, 4:3, 4:15 | Reuse exactly; Philippians adds the “partnership in the gospel” (κοινωνία εἰς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον) dimension — see new term below. |
| grace | gracia | High | Grace | 1:2, 1:7, 4:23 | Reuse exactly; also note the root-cognate ἐχαρίσατο in 2:9 (see semantic analysis). |
| faith | fe | High | Righteousness by Faith vs. the Law | 1:25, 1:27, 2:17, 3:9, 3:9 (πίστις Χριστοῦ) | Reuse exactly; central to the ch.3 righteousness-by-faith argument. |
| righteousness | justicia | Critical | Righteousness by Faith vs. the Law | 1:11, 3:6, 3:9 | Reuse exactly; Philippians 3:9 is the second-clearest righteousness-by-faith-vs-law text after Romans and Galatians — preserve the identical forensic framing. |
| justification / imputed righteousness pattern | justificación / justicia imputada | Critical | Righteousness by Faith vs. the Law | 3:9 (implied) | No separate lexical form in Philippians, but the doctrine is fully present at 3:9; reuse the baseline forensic framing and forbidden-substitution rule (“justicia infundida” never permitted). |
| salvation | salvación | Critical | Salvation | 1:19, 1:28, 2:12 | Reuse exactly; 2:12-13 pairing (human “working out,” divine enabling) requires the mandatory joint-teaching note described in the semantic analysis. |
| saints | santos | Critical | Sainthood | 1:1, 4:21, 4:22 | Reuse exactly with the mandatory “todo creyente es llamado santo” clarifying note. |
| calling | llamado | High | Divine Calling / Pressing on toward the Goal | 3:14 (κλῆσις) | Reuse exactly; never substitute “vocación” without a gloss. |
| lord | Señor | Critical | Lordship of Christ | 1:2, 2:11, 2:19, 2:24, 2:29, 3:1, 3:8, 3:20, 4:1, 4:2, 4:4, 4:5, 4:10, 4:23 | Reuse exactly. 2:11’s cosmic confession (“Jesucristo es el Señor”) is the Philippians counterpart to Romans 10:9 and must render κύριος identically. |
| glory | gloria | Medium/High | Deity of Christ / Christ’s Exaltation | 1:11, 2:11, 3:19, 3:21, 4:19, 4:20 | Reuse exactly. |
| peace | paz | Medium | Peace with God / Contentment | 1:2, 4:7, 4:9 | Reuse exactly; do not soften to “tranquilidad emocional.” |
| resurrection | resurrección | Critical | Resurrection / Citizenship in Heaven | 3:10, 3:11, 3:21 (implied bodily transformation) | Reuse exactly, including the Caribbean Espiritismo/Santería caution against a reincarnation or spirit-release reading. |
| fellowship | compañerismo | Low/High (context-dependent) | Partnership in the Gospel / Unity | 1:5, 2:1, 3:10, 4:14-15 | Reuse “compañerismo,” with contextual “comunión” (per baseline), but see the new “partnership_in_gospel” entry below for Philippians’ distinct financial/missional sense. |
| church | iglesia | Medium | Church as God’s People | (implied throughout; addressees are “la iglesia” at Philippi) | Reuse exactly. |
| father | Padre | Critical | Trinitarian Coherence | 1:2, 2:11, 2:22, 4:20 | Reuse exactly. |
| adoption (conceptual link) | hijos de Dios / adopción | Medium | Adoption into God’s Family | 2:15 (τέκνα θεοῦ) | Reuse baseline adoption framing for teaching continuity. |
| holy_spirit | Espíritu Santo | Critical | Fellowship of the Spirit | 1:19 (implied), 2:1 (κοινωνία πνεύματος) | Reuse exactly. |
| obedience_of_faith (conceptual link) | obediencia | High | Christ’s Redemptive Obedience | 2:8 (ὑπήκοος) | Reuse baseline obedience framing; distinguish Christ’s redemptive obedience (ground of salvation) from the believer’s responsive obedience. |
| apostle | apóstol | Low | Apostleship | 1:1 (Paul); explicitly NOT used for Epaphroditus (2:25, see below) | Reuse exactly for Paul; do not extend to Epaphroditus. |
B. New Terms Introduced or Requiring New Treatment in Philippians
| Term ID | Spanish rendering | Original (Greek) | Risk | Doctrine | Philippians occurrences | Alternatives rejected | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| form_of_god | forma de Dios | μορφῇ θεοῦ | Critical | Incarnation and Self-Emptying of Christ (Kenosis) | 2:6 | ”apariencia de Dios,” “imagen de Dios” | Asserts full, essential, pre-existent deity. “Imagen de Dios” rejected because it collides with imago Dei language applied to all humanity. |
| equal_with_god | igual a Dios | ἴσα θεῷ | Critical | Deity of Christ / Kenosis | 2:6 | ”semejante a Dios,” “parecido a Dios” | Any softening demotes Christ to a lesser, God-like being; non-negotiable exact equality. |
| a_thing_to_be_grasped | cosa a que aferrarse | ἁρπαγμός | Critical | Kenosis | 2:6 | ”algo robado,” renderings implying uncertain/acquired deity | Must not imply Christ’s deity was in question or improperly obtained; the point is non-exploitation of a genuine, already-possessed status. |
| kenosis_emptied_himself | se despojó a sí mismo | ἐκένωσεν (κενόω) | Critical | Incarnation and Self-Emptying of Christ (Kenosis) | 2:7 | ”se vació de su divinidad,” “dejó de ser Dios” | THE central kenosis term. Mandatory teaching note every occurrence: Christ emptied himself of the use/display of divine prerogative, never of his divine essence. |
| form_of_a_servant | forma de siervo | μορφὴν δούλου | Critical | Kenosis / Christ’s Humanity | 2:7 | ”forma de esclavo” (rejected as primary; retained as footnoted literal sense) | Deliberately mirrors “forma de Dios” (2:6); “esclavo” is more literal but risks distracting from the theological point via its loaded Latin American colonial-slavery associations; footnote the literal sense once. |
| likeness_of_men | semejante a los hombres | ὁμοιώματι ἀνθρώπων | High | Christ’s Humanity | 2:7 | renderings implying mere appearance (anti-docetic guard) | Real, not apparent, humanity. |
| humbled_himself | se humilló a sí mismo | ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτόν | High | Unity and Humility in the Church | 2:8 | passive/externally-imposed renderings | Christ’s free, voluntary self-lowering; the pattern for ταπεινοφροσύνη (2:3). |
| humility | humildad | ταπεινοφροσύνη | High | Unity and Humility in the Church | 2:3 | renderings implying passivity or low self-worth | Active, Christ-patterned self-lowering for others’ good, not fatalistic self-deprecation. |
| same_mindset | tener este sentir / un mismo sentir | φρονέω / φρόνημα | High | Unity and Humility in the Church | 2:2, 2:5, 3:15, 4:2 | shallow “estar de acuerdo” | A shared moral-theological disposition modeled on Christ, not mere opinion-agreement. |
| joy_gozo | gozo | χαρά / χαίρω | High | Joy in Suffering and Imprisonment | 1:4, 1:18, 1:25, 2:2, 2:17, 2:18, 2:28, 2:29, 3:1, 4:1, 4:4, 4:10 | ”alegría” (as the primary doctrinal term; permissible as a lighter synonym in non-doctrinal register) | Anchor term of the doctrine; must be taught as joy independent of circumstance, resistant to a prosperity-gospel or shallow-happiness misreading. |
| overseers | obispos | ἐπίσκοποι | High | Church Leadership / Unity and Humility in the Church | 1:1 | ”supervisores” (considered, but rejected in favor of retaining the established RV1960 rendering for consistency) | Local, plural congregational overseers; must be explicitly distinguished from the Roman Catholic diocesan bishop with apostolic-succession authority. |
| deacons | diáconos | διάκονοι | Medium-High | Church Leadership | 1:1 | none rejected; established term | Distinguish from the Catholic sacramental holy-orders office of “diácono.” |
| slave_servant_identity | siervo(s) | δοῦλος | High | Kenosis / Christian Identity | 1:1 (Paul, Timothy), 2:7 (Christ) | “esclavos” (rejected as primary running-text rendering; retained as footnoted literal sense) | Consistent rendering across 1:1 and 2:7 is doctrinally important — deliberately links the apostles’ self-identity to Christ’s own self-emptying. |
| partnership_in_gospel | compañerismo en el evangelio / participación en el evangelio | κοινωνία εἰς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον | High | Partnership in the Gospel | 1:5, 4:14-15 | generic “amistad,” “apoyo” | Builds on baseline fellowship/compañerismo but specifies gospel-mission, often financial, partnership — must not collapse into generic warm feeling. |
| citizenship_in_heaven | ciudadanía (en los cielos) | πολίτευμα / πολιτεύομαι | High | Citizenship in Heaven | 1:27 (πολιτεύεσθε), 3:20 (πολίτευμα) | flattened renderings that drop the citizenship image (e.g. RV1960’s “comportaos” at 1:27) | Must be explicitly disentangled from earthly political nationalism, immigration-status debates, and national identity politics live in the target culture; primary, transcendent allegiance. |
| goal_pressing_on | prosigo a la meta | διώκω / σκοπός / βραβεῖον | Medium | Pressing on toward the Goal in Christ | 3:12, 3:14 | passive “seguir” | Active, effortful, ongoing pursuit of a single Christ-centered goal; athletic-contest imagery (prize, βραβεῖον). |
| contentment | contento(s) | αὐτάρκης | High | Contentment in All Circumstances | 4:11 | secular “autosuficiencia” self-help framing | Repurposed Stoic self-sufficiency term; Paul re-grounds it in Christ’s strength (4:13), not self-mastery — must be taught against both Stoic and modern self-help misreadings. |
| learned_the_secret | he aprendido | μεμύημαι (μυέω) | High | Contentment in All Circumstances | 4:12 | ”iniciación,” “misterio” | Mystery-religion initiation vocabulary repurposed by Paul; NEVER render with “iniciación”/“misterio” due to Santería/Espiritismo occult-initiation collision risk. |
| strengthens_me | el que me fortalece | ἐνδυναμοῦντι (ἐνδυναμόω) | High | Contentment in All Circumstances | 4:13 | prosperity-gospel “puedo lograr cualquier cosa” | Must be anchored in its contentment-in-hardship context (4:11-12), resisting decontextualized “I can achieve anything” readings widespread in both religious and secular self-help culture. |
| fellowship_of_sufferings | participación de sus padecimientos / comunión de sus padecimientos | κοινωνία παθημάτων | High | Joy in Suffering / Partnership | 3:10 | renderings implying meritorious, purgatorial “offering up” of suffering | Must not be read through the Catholic popular-piety lens of suffering “ofrecido” for personal or others’ merit; this is relational participation in Christ’s pattern. |
| conformed_to_his_death | conformado(s) a su muerte | συμμορφιζόμενος | Medium-High | Kenosis / Joy in Suffering | 3:10 | none specific; risk is losing the μορφή-root link | Shares the μορφή root with 2:6-7; teach as one connected argument with the kenosis hymn. |
| messenger_not_apostle | mensajero | ἀπόστολος (of Epaphroditus) | Medium-High | Church Leadership (disambiguation) | 2:25 | ”apóstol” (explicitly rejected here) | Same Greek word as the technical “apóstol,” but non-technical sense; must not imply Epaphroditus held foundational apostolic office. |
| service_not_liturgy | servicio | λειτουργία / λειτουργός | High | Church Leadership / Sacrificial Giving | 2:17, 2:25, 2:30 | ”liturgia,” “litúrgico” (explicitly rejected) | Modern Spanish “liturgia” denotes formal Mass/Divine Office rites; Paul’s use is metaphorical/non-cultic and must not import sacramental connotations. |
| gospel_progress | progreso (del evangelio) | προκοπή | Low | Joy in Suffering and Imprisonment | 1:12 | none | Paradoxical advance of the gospel through imprisonment; low risk. |
| self_humbling_rubbish | basura (footnote: estiércol) | σκύβαλα | Medium | Righteousness by Faith vs. the Law | 3:8 | overly decorous softening that loses all rhetorical force | Paul’s deliberately shocking devaluation of works-righteousness credentials compared to knowing Christ. |
| knowledge_of_christ | conocimiento de Cristo | γνῶσις Χριστοῦ | Medium | Righteousness by Faith vs. the Law | 3:8 | esoteric “gnosis,” “conocimiento superior” | Personal, relational knowing of a Person, explicitly distinguished from esoteric/New Age “gnosis” movements present in the target culture. |
| every_knee_bow | doblar toda rodilla | γόνυ κάμψῃ | Critical | Lordship of Christ | 2:10 | polite-deference renderings | Worship-level submission owed uniquely to God, now given to Christ (echoing Isaiah 45:23); reuse alongside baseline Señor entry. |
| cosmic_confession | toda lengua confiese | ἐξομολογήσηται | Critical | Lordship of Christ | 2:11 | private-assent-only renderings | Public, universal proclamation; must render consistently with Romans 10:9’s salvation confession per the cross-document consistency rule. |
| sacrificial_offering_gift | sacrificio acepto, agradable a Dios | θυσία δεκτή, εὐάρεστος τῷ θεῷ | Medium | Partnership in the Gospel | 4:18 | none rejected; caution against Mass-offering collision in teaching, no lexical change | Metaphorical sacrificial-offering language for the Philippians’ financial gift; parallel caution to λειτουργία at 2:17. |
| exalted_highly | exaltó hasta lo sumo | ὑπερύψωσεν | High | Christ’s Exaltation | 2:9 | flat “le exaltó” | Must preserve the intensifying ὑπερ- (“hyper-”) force of the compound verb. |
| name_above_every_name | nombre que es sobre todo nombre | ὄνομα τὸ ὑπὲρ πᾶν ὄνομα | High | Lordship of Christ | 2:9 | ”un nombre muy importante” | Absolute, comparative superlative; not merely a very significant name. |
Risk Summary (Philippians-Specific New Terms)
| Risk Tier | Count (new terms, Section B) |
|---|---|
| Critical | 6 |
| High | 15 |
| Medium-High | 3 |
| Medium | 4 |
| Low | 1 |
| Total new terms | 29 |
Combined with the 21 reused baseline terms in Section A (all retaining their original baseline risk tiers), this glossary provides full-book, chapter-by-chapter coverage of Philippians’ load-bearing theological vocabulary, anchored by the verse-by-verse treatment of the core passage, Philippians 2:1–11, in 07_semantic_analysis.md.
Critical Risk Terms
Righteousness
Approved rendering: justicia
Transliteration: dikaiosynē
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: rectitud moral autónoma, mérito acumulado
Original: δικαιοσύνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Philippians occurrences: 1:11 (fruit of righteousness — sanctification sense, must be taught as consistent with, not contradicting, the forensic sense), 3:6, 3:9 (forensic, faith-vs-law contrast). Never let contemporary ‘justicia social’ usage flatten the forensic sense at 3:9.
Justification
Approved rendering: justificación
Transliteration: dikaiōsis
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: proceso gradual de purificación interior
Original: δικαίωσις (concept present at 3:9, no distinct noun form in Philippians)
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. No distinct noun form in Philippians, but the doctrine is fully present at 3:9 (δικαιοσύνη … διὰ πίστεως Χριστοῦ); apply the identical forensic, non-infused framing established for Romans without modification.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: justicia imputada
Transliteration: elogisthē autō eis dikaiosynēn (Romans 4:3 pattern, realized in Philippians as διὰ πίστεως Χριστοῦ … δικαιοσύνην)
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: justicia infundida (Tridentine category of righteousness progressively infused and increased through merit)
Original: διὰ πίστεως Χριστοῦ … δικαιοσύνην
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Philippians 3:9 relocates the identical Reformation/Trent fault line into this letter; ‘justicia infundida’ remains a forbidden substitution here exactly as in Romans.
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. Philippians occurrences: 1:19, 1:28, 2:12. Philippians 2:12-13 pairs human ‘working out’ with divine enabling; the two verses must always be taught jointly with work_out_salvation and god_will_complete below to prevent a merit-based misreading already flagged as a live risk in Catholic-majority Spanish-speaking contexts.
Saints
Approved rendering: santos
Transliteration: hagioi
Doctrine: Sainthood
Rejected alternatives: los santos (canonizados, objeto de veneración e intercesión)
Original: ἁγίοις
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Philippians occurrences: 1:1, 4:21, 4:22. Reuse baseline note verbatim: ‘todo creyente es llamado santo,’ distinct from ‘los santos’ as venerated heavenly intercessors — mandatory at every occurrence, including the letter’s opening salutation.
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. Philippians occurrences: 1:2, 2:11, 2:19, 2:24, 2:29, 3:1, 3:8, 3:20, 4:1, 4:2, 4:4, 4:5, 4:10, 4:23. Philippians 2:11’s cosmic confession (‘Jesucristo es el Señor’) is the liturgical/cosmic counterpart to Romans 10:9’s personal salvation confession; both must render κύριος identically as ‘Señor,’ with no qualification.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: resurrección
Transliteration: anastasis
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: reencarnación
Inherited from Romans package. Philippians occurrences: 3:10, 3:11, 3:21 (implied bodily transformation). Reuse exactly, including the Caribbean Espiritismo/Santería caution against a reincarnation or spirit-release reading, now directly relevant to 3:21’s ‘cuerpo de gloria.‘
Father
Approved rendering: Padre
Transliteration: patēr
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Philippians occurrences: 1:2, 2:11, 2:22, 4:20.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Espíritu Santo
Transliteration: pneuma hagion
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: una fuerza impersonal, un espíritu guía o ancestral
Original: πνεῦμα (ἅγιον implied; πνεῦμα Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ at 1:19; κοινωνία πνεύματος at 2:1)
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Philippians occurrences: 1:19 (implied, πνεῦμα Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ), 2:1 (κοινωνία πνεύματος). Must be taught as the personal third Person of the Trinity, explicitly distinguished from ancestral or ‘guide’ spirits invoked in Espiritismo and Santería.
Righteousness By Faith Vs Law
Approved rendering: justicia por la ley / justicia por medio de la fe en Cristo
Transliteration: dikaiosynē ek nomou / dia pisteōs Christou
Doctrine: Righteousness by Faith versus the Law
Rejected alternatives: una sola cláusula fusionada de ‘justicia alcanzada mediante fe fiel a la ley’
Original: δικαιοσύνη ἐκ νόμου / διὰ πίστεως Χριστοῦ
Category: Salvation
New compound term for Philippians 3:9’s explicit contrast clause. Must be rendered so the two sources of righteousness are visibly opposed in Spanish, mirroring Romans 3-4’s forensic argument; blending the two clauses into a single ‘righteousness by faithful law-observance’ reading is a critical doctrinal error.
Form Of God
Approved rendering: forma de Dios
Transliteration: morphē theou
Doctrine: Deity of Christ / Kenosis
Rejected alternatives: apariencia de Dios, imagen de Dios
Original: μορφῇ θεοῦ
Category: Christology
Philippians 2:6. Asserts Christ’s pre-existent, essential deity. ‘Imagen de Dios’ rejected because it collides with imago Dei language applied to all humanity in Genesis; ‘apariencia de Dios’ rejected as implying mere outward semblance.
Equal With God
Approved rendering: igual a Dios
Transliteration: isa theō
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: semejante a Dios, parecido a Dios
Original: ἴσα θεῷ
Category: Christology
Philippians 2:6. Full, undiminished equality with God in the plainest New Testament terms; any softening demotes Christ to a lesser, God-like being and is flagged as doctrinal error, not stylistic variation.
A Thing To Be Grasped
Approved rendering: cosa a que aferrarse
Transliteration: harpagmos
Doctrine: Kenosis
Rejected alternatives: algo robado, renderings implying Christ’s deity was uncertain or acquired
Original: ἁρπαγμός
Category: Christology
Philippians 2:6. Christ did not exploit his already-possessed divine equality for advantage; must not imply his deity was in question or improperly obtained.
Kenosis Emptied Himself
Approved rendering: se despojó a sí mismo
Transliteration: ekenōsen
Doctrine: Incarnation and Self-Emptying of Christ (Kenosis)
Rejected alternatives: se vació de su divinidad, dejó de ser Dios
Original: ἐκένωσεν (κενόω)
Category: Christology
Philippians 2:7. THE central kenosis term of the letter. Mandatory teaching note at every occurrence: Christ emptied himself of the use and display of divine prerogative, never of his divine essence — a live heretical-kenotic-Christology risk, compounded by everyday Spanish ‘despojarse’ meaning renouncing possessions/status, and by Afro-Caribbean Espiritismo/Santería mediumship framing of spirits ‘descending’ temporarily.
Form Of A Servant
Approved rendering: forma de siervo
Transliteration: morphēn doulou
Doctrine: Kenosis / Christ’s Humanity
Rejected alternatives: forma de esclavo (retained only as a footnoted literal sense)
Original: μορφὴν δούλου
Category: Christology
Philippians 2:7. Deliberately mirrors ‘forma de Dios’ (2:6). ‘Esclavo’ is more literal but is set aside as the primary running-text term due to its loaded colonial-slavery associations in Latin America; footnote the literal sense once so the totality of Christ’s self-abasement is not lost to euphemism.
Death On Cross
Approved rendering: muerte de cruz
Transliteration: thanatos … thanatou de staurou
Doctrine: Kenosis / Humanity of Christ
Original: θάνατος … θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ
Category: Christology
Philippians 2:8. The most degrading Roman execution, reserved for slaves and criminals, tying back to μορφὴν δούλου. The cross’s deep devotional/iconographic weight in Hispanic Catholic culture (crucifijos, Semana Santa) risks aestheticizing the cross into an image rather than the historical, scandalous execution described here — teaching notes must recover the scandal, not only the veneration.
Every Knee Bow
Approved rendering: se doble toda rodilla
Transliteration: gony kampsē
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: renderings implying polite deference rather than worship
Original: γόνυ κάμψῃ
Category: Christology
Philippians 2:10. Universal, compelled homage echoing Isaiah 45:23, now given to Jesus; worship-level submission owed uniquely to God, must never be softened, especially given existing Hispanic devotional reverence patterns toward saints and the Virgin.
Cosmic Confession
Approved rendering: toda lengua confiese
Transliteration: exomologēsētai
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: renderings implying private assent only
Original: ἐξομολογήσηται (ἐξομολογέω)
Category: Christology
Philippians 2:11. Public, universal proclamation; must render consistently with Romans 10:9’s salvation confession per the cross-document consistency rule.
Savior
Approved rendering: Salvador
Transliteration: sōtēr
Doctrine: Salvation / Resurrection Power and Hope
Original: σωτήρ
Category: Christology
Philippians 3:20. Christ awaited from heaven to complete believers’ salvation and transform their bodies; ‘Salvador’ is standard and safe, reinforcing rather than complicating the baseline salvación entry.
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. Philippians occurrences: 1:5, 1:7, 1:12, 1:16, 1:27, 2:22, 4:3, 4:15. Philippians adds a financial/missional partnership dimension (see partnership_in_gospel) not present in Romans; the term itself is unchanged.
Grace
Approved rendering: gracia
Transliteration: charis
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: favor merecido, recompensa por buenas obras
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Philippians occurrences: 1:2, 1:7, 4:23. Also underlies the cognate verb ἐχαρίσατο (2:9, ‘le dio’ — the Father’s gracious gift of the supreme name to the exalted Son); do not alter the noun rendering to accommodate this echo.
Faith
Approved rendering: fe
Transliteration: pistis
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: devoción religiosa general, creencia cultural heredada
Original: πίστις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Philippians occurrences: 1:25, 1:27, 2:17, 3:9 (πίστις Χριστοῦ). Central to the chapter 3 righteousness-by-faith argument; the object of faith (Christ) must remain recoverable from context.
Calling
Approved rendering: llamado
Transliteration: klēsis
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: vocación (in the narrow sense of a call to priesthood or religious life)
Original: κλῆσις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Philippians 3:14: ‘el llamado (κλῆσις) de Dios en Cristo Jesús’ — the upward call tied to pressing on toward the goal; never substitute ‘vocación’ without a gloss.
Obedience Of Faith
Approved rendering: obediencia de la fe / obediencia
Transliteration: hypakoē pisteōs / hypēkoos
Doctrine: Obedience of Faith
Rejected alternatives: obediencia a los preceptos de la Iglesia, cumplimiento de mandamientos eclesiásticos
Original: ὑπήκοος (of the church, 2:12)
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Philippians 2:8 (ὑπήκοος, Christ’s redemptive obedience) and 2:12 (‘como siempre habéis obedecido,’ the believer’s responsive obedience) must be distinguished per the baseline note — Christ’s obedience is the ground of salvation, the believer’s is its fruit.
Work Out Salvation
Approved rendering: ocupaos en vuestra salvación
Transliteration: katergazesthe
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: ganad vuestra salvación
Original: κατεργάζεσθε
Category: Salvation
Philippians 2:12. Render ‘ocupaos en,’ never ‘ganad vuestra salvación,’ which would directly contradict the baseline grace/justification doctrine. Must always be taught jointly with god_will_complete (2:13’s divine-enablement clause).
Pre Existence Hyparchon
Approved rendering: siendo (desde siempre) en forma de Dios
Transliteration: hyparchōn
Doctrine: Deity of Christ / Pre-existence
Original: ὑπάρχων
Category: Christology
Philippians 2:6. The present participle ὑπάρχων signals continuous, pre-incarnate existence; Spanish ‘siendo’ alone is grammatically thinner than the Greek — teaching notes must supply the pre-existence force to guard against an adoptionist misreading.
Likeness Of Men
Approved rendering: semejante a los hombres
Transliteration: homoiōmati anthrōpōn
Doctrine: Humanity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: renderings implying mere appearance or costume
Original: ὁμοιώματι ἀνθρώπων
Category: Christology
Philippians 2:7. Affirms real, not merely apparent, humanity — an anti-docetic guard against esoteric/Gnostic-adjacent popular religiosity present in parts of the Spanish-speaking world.
Humbled Himself
Approved rendering: se humilló a sí mismo
Transliteration: etapeinōsen heauton
Doctrine: Unity and Humility in the Church / Kenosis
Rejected alternatives: passive/externally-imposed renderings of abasement
Original: ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτόν
Category: Christology
Philippians 2:8. Christ’s own free, active self-lowering — the pattern for the church’s ταπεινοφροσύνη (2:3); the reflexive form is doctrinally important.
Christ Obedience
Approved rendering: obediente
Transliteration: hypēkoos
Doctrine: Kenosis / Christ’s Redemptive Obedience
Original: ὑπήκοος
Category: Christology
Philippians 2:8. Distinguish Christ’s redemptive obedience (the ground of salvation) from the believer’s responsive obedience (its fruit, 2:12), continuing the distinction required for the baseline obedience_of_faith entry.
Exalted Highly
Approved rendering: le exaltó hasta lo sumo
Transliteration: hyperypsōsen
Doctrine: Lordship and Exaltation of Christ
Rejected alternatives: le exaltó (flat, without the intensifying ὑπερ- force)
Original: ὑπερύψωσεν (ὑπερυψόω)
Category: Christology
Philippians 2:9. Must preserve the intensifying prefix force; a flat ‘le exaltó’ loses the hyper- compound and must be flagged.
Name Above Every Name
Approved rendering: nombre que es sobre todo nombre
Transliteration: onoma to hyper pan onoma
Doctrine: Lordship and Exaltation of Christ
Rejected alternatives: un nombre muy importante
Original: ὄνομα τὸ ὑπὲρ πᾶν ὄνομα
Category: Christology
Philippians 2:9. Absolute, comparative superlative rank/authority conferred on the exalted Christ; must not be diluted to a merely significant name.
Glorified Body
Approved rendering: transformará … en un cuerpo de gloria
Transliteration: metaschēmatisei … sōma tēs doxēs
Doctrine: Resurrection Power and Hope
Original: μετασχηματίσει … σῶμα τῆς δόξης
Category: Christology
Philippians 3:21. Bodily, not merely spiritual, transformation. Connects to the baseline resurrection entry and carries the same Caribbean Espiritismo/Santería caution against a ‘spirit released from the body’ misreading.
Overseers
Approved rendering: obispos
Transliteration: episkopoi
Doctrine: Church Leadership
Rejected alternatives: supervisores
Original: ἐπίσκοποι
Category: Church
Philippians 1:1. Plural, local congregational overseers/elders of one church. Retain the established RV1960 rendering for consistency, but this is a major collision point with Roman Catholic ecclesiology (hierarchical diocesan office with apostolic-succession authority); mandatory teaching note distinguishing the two every occurrence.
Service Not Liturgy
Approved rendering: servicio
Transliteration: leitourgia / leitourgos
Doctrine: Church Leadership / Sacrificial Giving
Rejected alternatives: liturgia, litúrgico
Original: λειτουργία / λειτουργός
Category: Church
Philippians 2:17, 2:25, 2:30. Modern Spanish ‘liturgia’ denotes the formal Mass/Divine Office rites; Paul’s use is metaphorical/non-cultic and must never import sacramental-Mass connotations.
Slave Servant Identity
Approved rendering: siervo(s)
Transliteration: doulos
Doctrine: Kenosis / Christian Identity
Rejected alternatives: esclavos (footnoted once for literal sense, rejected as primary), sirviente (understates total ownership)
Original: δοῦλος
Category: Church
Philippians 1:1 (Paul, Timothy), 2:7 (Christ). Consistent rendering across both occurrences is doctrinally important — deliberately links the apostles’ self-identity to Christ’s own self-emptying.
Fellowship Of Spirit
Approved rendering: comunión del Espíritu
Transliteration: koinōnia pneumatos
Doctrine: Fellowship of the Spirit as the Ground of Unity
Rejected alternatives: comunión de los santos (forbidden Catholic creedal formula)
Original: κοινωνία πνεύματος
Category: Church
Philippians 2:1. Believers’ shared life in the Spirit, grounding the appeal to unity (2:1-4). Must not drift toward the forbidden creedal formula nor toward Pentecostal/charismatic experiential readings divorced from Paul’s unity argument.
Partnership In Gospel
Approved rendering: compañerismo en el evangelio / participación en el evangelio
Transliteration: koinōnia eis to euangelion / synkoinōnēsantes
Doctrine: Partnership in the Gospel
Rejected alternatives: amistad genérica, apoyo (too generic)
Original: κοινωνία εἰς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον / συγκοινωνήσαντες
Category: Church
Philippians 1:5, 4:14-15. Extends baseline fellowship/compañerismo to specify the gospel-mission, often financial, partnership sense unique to Philippians; must not collapse into generic warm feeling.
Humility
Approved rendering: humildad
Transliteration: tapeinophrosynē
Doctrine: Unity and Humility in the Church
Rejected alternatives: renderings implying passivity or low self-worth
Original: ταπεινοφροσύνη
Category: Sanctification
Philippians 2:3. Active, Christ-patterned self-lowering for others’ good, not the culturally coded passivity, low self-worth, or fatalistic resignation (‘no valgo nada’) ‘humildad’ can carry in popular usage; direct verbal link to Christ’s own ἐταπείνωσεν ἑαυτόν (2:8).
Same Mindset
Approved rendering: tener este sentir / un mismo sentir
Transliteration: phroneō / phronēma
Doctrine: Unity and Humility in the Church
Rejected alternatives: estar de acuerdo (shallow opinion-agreement)
Original: φρονέω / φρόνημα
Category: Sanctification
Philippians 2:2, 2:5, 3:15, 4:2. A shared, Christ-shaped disposition of will and affection, not mere opinion-agreement; recurs at 2:5 to introduce Christ’s own pattern.
Joy
Approved rendering: gozo
Transliteration: chara / chairō
Doctrine: Joy in Suffering and Imprisonment
Rejected alternatives: alegría (permitted only as a lighter, non-doctrinal synonym, never as the standalone doctrinal term)
Original: χαρά / χαίρω
Category: Faith
Philippians 1:4, 1:18, 1:25, 2:2, 2:17-18, 2:28-29, 3:1, 4:1, 4:4, 4:10. Anchor term of the doctrine of Joy in Suffering; must be taught as joy independent of circumstance — written from prison — resisting both prosperity-gospel and secular-stoic-resignation misreadings.
Contentment
Approved rendering: contento
Transliteration: autarkēs
Doctrine: Contentment in All Circumstances
Rejected alternatives: autosuficiencia (secular self-help/Stoic self-mastery framing, explicitly forbidden)
Original: αὐτάρκης
Category: Faith
Philippians 4:11. A Stoic technical term for self-sufficiency, repurposed by Paul and re-grounded in Christ’s strength (4:13), not self-mastery. Teaching notes must make clear Paul’s contentment is Christ-dependent.
Learned The Secret
Approved rendering: he aprendido
Transliteration: memyēmai
Doctrine: Contentment in All Circumstances
Rejected alternatives: iniciación, misterio (both forbidden — occult/mystery-cult collision)
Original: μεμύημαι (μυέω)
Category: Faith
Philippians 4:12. Mystery-religion initiation vocabulary repurposed by Paul; NEVER render with ‘iniciación’ or ‘misterio,’ which evoke Santería/Espiritismo initiation rites and occult ‘secret knowledge’ in Spanish-speaking Caribbean and Latin American contexts.
Strengthens Me
Approved rendering: el que me fortalece
Transliteration: endynamounti
Doctrine: Contentment in All Circumstances
Rejected alternatives: puedo lograr cualquier cosa (decontextualized prosperity-gospel/self-help reading, forbidden)
Original: ἐνδυναμοῦντι (ἐνδυναμόω)
Category: Faith
Philippians 4:13. Must be anchored in its contentment-in-hardship context (4:11-12), resisting widespread decontextualization into an unlimited-achievement promise.
Fellowship Of Sufferings
Approved rendering: participación de sus padecimientos
Transliteration: koinōnia pathēmatōn
Doctrine: Joy in Suffering / Partnership
Rejected alternatives: renderings implying meritorious, purgatorial ‘offering up’ of suffering
Original: κοινωνία παθημάτων
Category: Faith
Philippians 3:10. Shared, relational participation in Christ’s own sufferings as part of union with him. Major collision risk: Catholic popular piety frames suffering as meritorious when ‘offered up’ (ofrecer los sufrimientos), linked to indulgences and purgatorial merit; must be taught as relational participation in Christ’s pattern, not merit accrual.
Citizenship In Heaven
Approved rendering: ciudadanía (en los cielos)
Transliteration: politeuma / politeuomai
Doctrine: Citizenship in Heaven
Rejected alternatives: comportaos (flattened, loses the citizenship wordplay)
Original: πολίτευμα / πολιτεύομαι
Category: Faith
Philippians 1:27 (verbal πολιτεύεσθε), 3:20 (nominal πολίτευμα). ‘Ciudadanía’ carries heavy real-world political freight in contemporary Latin American and diaspora contexts (immigration status, nationalism); must be taught as transcendent, comprehensive primary allegiance, not commentary on any earthly citizenship debate. Preserve the wordplay link between 1:27 and 3:20.
Medium Risk Terms
Glory
Approved rendering: gloria
Transliteration: doxa
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: δόξα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Philippians occurrences: 1:11, 2:11, 3:19, 3:21, 4:19, 4:20.
Peace
Approved rendering: paz
Transliteration: eirēnē
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: tranquilidad emocional
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Philippians occurrences: 1:2, 4:7, 4:9. Philippians 4:7’s ‘la paz de Dios … que sobrepasa todo entendimiento’ must not be reduced to ‘tranquilidad emocional.‘
Church
Approved rendering: iglesia
Transliteration: ekklēsia
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: la Iglesia (institución jerárquica en sentido católico-institucional)
Original: ἐκκλησία (implied; addressees are the assembled believers at Philippi)
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Implied throughout Philippians as the gathered addressees at Philippi; distinguish from the capitalized institutional-hierarchical sense foregrounded in Catholic usage.
Adoption
Approved rendering: adopción / hijos de Dios
Transliteration: huiothesia / tekna theou
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: τέκνα θεοῦ
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package. Philippians 2:15 uses ‘hijos de Dios’ (τέκνα θεοῦ), reinforcing the baseline adoption doctrine; full-heir status should be taught explicitly rather than assumed.
God Will Complete
Approved rendering: la perfeccionará / la completará
Transliteration: epitelesei
Doctrine: Providence / Assurance
Original: ἐπιτελέσει (ἐπιτελέω)
Category: Salvation
Philippians 1:6. God’s certain completion of the saving work begun in believers. Pair with assurance teaching so it is not misread as a promise contingent on the believer finishing a work of self-improvement.
Cosmic Scope Of Lordship
Approved rendering: en los cielos, en la tierra y debajo de la tierra
Transliteration: epouraniōn kai epigeiōn kai katachthoniōn
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: ἐπουρανίων καὶ ἐπιγείων καὶ καταχθονίων
Category: Christology
Philippians 2:10. Total, cosmic scope of Christ’s lordship. ‘Debajo de la tierra’ should not be read through a folk-Catholic purgatory lens; signals cosmic totality, not an intermediate state of the dead.
Selfish Ambition Vain Conceit
Approved rendering: contienda / vanagloria
Transliteration: eritheia / kenodoxia
Doctrine: Unity and Humility in the Church
Original: ἐριθεία / κενοδοξία
Category: Sanctification
Philippians 2:3. Negative foil to humility and unity. Note the κενο-/ἐκένωσεν wordplay linking 2:3 (κενοδοξία) and 2:7 (ἐκένωσεν), easily lost in Spanish but valuable for teaching the contrast between selfish emptiness and Christ’s self-giving emptying.
Enemies Of The Cross
Approved rendering: enemigos de la cruz
Transliteration: echthroi tou staurou
Doctrine: Warning Against False Teachers and Enemies of the Cross
Original: ἐχθροὶ τοῦ σταυροῦ
Category: Sanctification
Philippians 3:18. Those whose lives contradict the self-humbling, suffering pattern of the cross; teach alongside death_on_cross (2:8) to keep the contrast visible.
Conformed To His Death
Approved rendering: conformidad a su muerte
Transliteration: symmorphizomenos
Doctrine: Kenosis / Joy in Suffering
Original: συμμορφιζόμενος
Category: Faith
Philippians 3:10. Shares the μορφή root of 2:6-7; flag the link in teaching notes so the kenosis hymn and Paul’s personal testimony are read as one connected argument.
Goal Pressing On
Approved rendering: prosigo a la meta
Transliteration: diōkō / skopos / brabeion
Doctrine: Pressing on toward the Goal in Christ
Rejected alternatives: seguir (passive)
Original: διώκω / σκοπός / βραβεῖον
Category: Faith
Philippians 3:12, 3:14. Active, effortful, ongoing pursuit of a single Christ-centered goal, athletic-contest imagery; note the σκοπέω (2:4)/σκοπός (3:14) root link for teaching continuity.
Knowledge Of Christ
Approved rendering: conocimiento de Cristo
Transliteration: gnōsis Christou
Doctrine: Righteousness by Faith versus the Law
Rejected alternatives: gnosis esotérica, conocimiento superior
Original: γνῶσις Χριστοῦ
Category: Faith
Philippians 3:8. Personal, relational, surpassing knowledge of Christ himself; must be distinguished from esoteric/New Age ‘gnosis’ movements with real market presence in Latin American spirituality.
Self Humbling Rubbish
Approved rendering: basura
Transliteration: skybala
Doctrine: Righteousness by Faith versus the Law
Rejected alternatives: overly decorous softening that loses all rhetorical force
Original: σκύβαλα
Category: Faith
Philippians 3:8. Paul’s deliberately crude devaluation of his pre-conversion religious credentials. RV1960 ‘basura’ is decorous but softer than the Greek; footnote the coarser literal sense (‘estiércol’) once to preserve rhetorical force.
Sacrificial Offering Gift
Approved rendering: sacrificio acepto, agradable a Dios
Transliteration: osmē euōdias / thysia dektē, euarestos tō theō
Doctrine: Partnership in the Gospel
Original: ὀσμὴ εὐωδίας / θυσία δεκτή, εὐάρεστος τῷ θεῷ
Category: Stewardship
Philippians 4:18. Sacrificial-offering idiom applied metaphorically to the Philippians’ financial gift; parallel caution to service_not_liturgy (2:17) — metaphorical language, not a claim about a sacramental Mass-offering.
Low Risk Terms
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. Philippians uses κοινωνία across several distinct senses (general fellowship 2:1; gospel partnership 1:5; shared suffering 3:10; financial partnership 4:14-15); see fellowship_of_spirit, partnership_in_gospel, and fellowship_of_sufferings below for senses carrying elevated risk beyond this baseline general sense.
Apostle
Approved rendering: apóstol
Transliteration: apostolos
Doctrine: Apostleship
Original: ἀπόστολος (of Paul, 1:1 implied by office, not the word itself in the salutation)
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Applies to Paul’s office (1:1, implied); explicitly NOT extended to Epaphroditus (2:25), who is called ἀπόστολος in the non-technical sense — see messenger_not_apostle below.
United In Soul
Approved rendering: unánimes
Transliteration: sympsychos
Doctrine: Unity and Humility in the Church
Original: σύμψυχος
Category: Sanctification
Philippians 2:2. Deep unanimity among believers; standard and safe.
Pattern Imitators
Approved rendering: ejemplo / imitadores
Transliteration: typos / mimētai
Doctrine: Pressing on toward the Goal in Christ
Original: τύπος / μιμηταί
Category: Sanctification
Philippians 3:17. Paul offers himself as a pattern to imitate, itself patterned after Christ (cf. 2:5).
Giving And Receiving
Approved rendering: cuenta de dar y recibir
Transliteration: dosis kai lēpsis
Doctrine: Partnership in the Gospel
Original: δόσις καὶ λῆψις
Category: Stewardship
Philippians 4:15. Commercial ledger idiom describing the Philippians’ financial partnership with Paul’s gospel work.
Riches Supply
Approved rendering: riquezas
Transliteration: ploutos
Doctrine: Partnership in the Gospel
Original: πλοῦτος
Category: Stewardship
Philippians 4:19. God’s abundant supply of every need, closing the material-partnership theme with doxological confidence; pairs with baseline glory/gloria.
Gospel Progress
Approved rendering: progreso (del evangelio)
Transliteration: prokopē
Doctrine: Gospel Progress through Suffering
Original: προκοπή
Category: Stewardship
Philippians 1:12. The paradoxical forward movement of the gospel through Paul’s imprisonment; sets up the doctrine of Joy in Suffering.
Medium-High Risk Terms
Deacons
Approved rendering: diáconos
Transliteration: diakonoi
Doctrine: Church Leadership
Original: διάκονοι
Category: Church
Philippians 1:1. Local congregational servant-leaders. In Catholic usage ‘diácono’ denotes a rung of sacramental holy orders; teaching note must clarify this is a local-church service role, not a step in a sacramental hierarchy.
Messenger Not Apostle
Approved rendering: mensajero
Transliteration: apostolos (of Epaphroditus)
Doctrine: Church Leadership (disambiguation)
Rejected alternatives: apóstol
Original: ἀπόστολος (of Epaphroditus)
Category: Church
Philippians 2:25. Same Greek word as the technical ‘apóstol,’ but non-technical sense — ‘your messenger,’ not a claim to foundational apostolic office; must not imply Epaphroditus held apostolic office alongside Paul or the Twelve.
Referenced passages