Passage

Romans 11

• Glossary Term

  Apostle

  mtume is the established Christian Union Version term, but is also the standard Swahili title for the Islamic Prophet Muhammad ('Mtume Muhammad'), and along the Swahili coast this association is often the primary, most immediate sense of the word.

  ROM.11.13

• Doctrine

  Apostleship

  mtume is also the standard Swahili title for the Islamic Prophet Muhammad ('Mtume Muhammad'), and along the coast this is often the word's most immediate association.

  ROM.11.13

• Doctrine

  Effectual Calling

  God's sovereign call that ensures the salvation of the called must be kept distinct from majaliwa (fate/divine decree, al-qadar) and bahati (luck), both live popular categories with different theological content than Romans 9's personal, relational election.

  ROM.11.29

• Glossary Term

  Election

  God's sovereign personal choice.

  ROM.11.29

• Glossary Term

  Gentiles

  Mataifa ('the nations') is the standard Union Version rendering, correctly conveying 'non-Jewish peoples' without the pejorative charge wapagani (pagans/heathens) would carry.

  ROM.11.17-24

• Doctrine

  Grace

  CRITICAL: neema is standard Islamic vocabulary too, generally understood there as responsive to piety and obedience; and baraka (blessing), a tempting near-synonym, carries traditional African and Islamic connotations of reciprocal blessing earned through right conduct.

  ROM.11.5-6

• Glossary Term

  Grace

  CRITICAL: neema is the correct Union Version term, but it is also standard Islamic Swahili vocabulary for Allah's favor and bounty ('neema za Mwenyezi Mungu'), generally understood there as responsive to human piety and obedience rather than wholly unmerited.

  ROM.11.5-6

• Glossary Term

  Israel

  Standard proper name; note the modern nation-state of Israel shares the identical Swahili name, and East African public opinion on the contemporary state varies, so context should clarify when the biblical people/covenant referent, not the contemporary state, is meant.

  ROM.11.17-24

• Glossary Term

  Justification

  Compound phrase ('to be counted/reckoned as righteous') is the established Union Version rendering and required in full; no single Swahili word captures the forensic, declarative sense.

  ROM.11.11

• Doctrine

  Providence

  God's personal, purposive care must be distinguished from majaliwa (fate/divine decree, al-qadar) and bahati (luck/chance), keeping Romans 8:28's relational sense distinct from a more impersonal predetermination framework.

  ROM.11.33-36

• Glossary Term

  Providence

  uangalizi wa Mungu ('God's watchful care/oversight') is preferred over majaliwa (fate/divine decree, al-qadar) as the primary term, to keep Romans 8:28's personal, purposive, relational sense of God's care distinct from a more impersonal Islamic predetermination framework; majaliwa may be referenced comparatively but should not be the default rendering.

  ROM.11.33-36

• Glossary Term

  Righteousness

  haki is the established term but is also the everyday word for 'justice' and 'a right' (haki za binadamu, 'human rights'), a broader civic sense than Romans' theological sense of right standing before God received by faith.

  ROM.11.11

• Doctrine

  Salvation

  CRITICAL: Islamic soteriology has no atonement/substitutionary framework, understanding entry to paradise as Allah's mercy weighed against deeds; readers with Islamic exposure may default to a merit-weighing model unless Romans' basis for salvation in Christ's finished work (10:9-10) is stated explicitly.

  ROM.11.11

• Glossary Term

  Salvation

  CRITICAL: wokovu is the correct and only viable Union Version term.

  ROM.11.11

• Doctrine

  Unity of Jews and Gentiles

  Requires careful OT grounding for readers, whether of Muslim or traditional-religious background, who may have little independent narrative knowledge of Israel's covenant history beyond what either the Quran or the New Testament itself supplies.

  ROM.11.17-24