Semantic Analysis
Semantic Analysis
Several Spanish terms in this Language Package carry a narrower, broader, or doctrinally split semantic range compared to their English source word, which affects how consistently they can be used across contexts and traditions.
Narrower-than-English (or tradition-split) terms
- santos (saints): English “saints” ranges from “all believers” to “especially holy people”; Spanish popular usage narrows further to “canonized figures venerated for intercession.” Romans 1:7 requires the broadest, all-believers sense, which must be actively asserted against the narrower default.
- vocación (calling): in general English “calling” is broad; in Catholic-culture Spanish “vocación” narrows specifically to a call to priesthood or religious life. This Language Package uses “llamado” instead to keep the general sense Romans intends.
- justicia / justificación: English “righteousness/justification” carries a single Reformation-descended forensic sense in most Evangelical theological usage; Spanish “justicia/justificación” spans both the forensic (Reformation) and infused-transformational (Tridentine) senses depending on the reader’s tradition — the widest doctrinal split in this glossary.
Broader-than-English terms
- fe (faith): covers both “belief” and “trust,” an advantage here since Romans uses “faith” to mean active personal trust, not mere intellectual assent — fe’s broader range captures both without needing two separate words.
- intercesión (intercession): covers prayer requested of the living, prayer to the departed saints, and (in Romans) the Spirit’s and Christ’s direct intercession — broader than English “intercession” typically implies in Protestant usage, which is exactly why it needs disambiguating notes here.
Implication
Where a Spanish term’s semantic range differs from its English source, or splits along the Catholic-Protestant doctrinal history, the glossary’s notes field exists specifically to flag the mismatch for translators, so a term is not applied mechanically in a context its broader or contested meaning doesn’t support.