Core Glossary
Core Glossary: 1 Thessalonians (English–Thai)
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, drawn from all five chapters of 1 Thessalonians. Terms marked [BASELINE REUSE] carry forward the exact Thai rendering already recorded in the Romans/Galatians translation_memory.json and must never be altered. Terms marked [NEW] are proposed additions for this curriculum’s extended translation memory, pending Step 2 confirmation. Risk tiers follow the baseline’s four-tier framework (Critical / High / Medium / Low) and its review-routing convention (Critical/High → human theologian; Medium → native speaker; Low → automated).
Table A — Reused Baseline Terms (Status: [BASELINE REUSE], unchanged)
| English Term | Greek | Thai Rendering | Risk | Doctrine(s) in 1 Thessalonians | Key References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gospel | εὐαγγέλιον | ข่าวประเสริฐ | High | Return of Christ (context) | 1:5; 2:2,4,8-9; 3:2 |
| Grace | χάρις | พระคุณ | Critical | Salutation | 1:1; 5:28 |
| Peace | εἰρήνη | สันติสุข | Medium | Salutation; Day of the Lord contrast (“peace and safety”) | 1:1; 5:3,23 |
| Faith | πίστις | ความเชื่อ | Medium | Sanctification; core triad | 1:3,8; 3:2,5-10; 4:14; 5:8 |
| Salvation | σωτηρία | ความรอด | Critical | Day of the Lord; Hope in Grief | 5:8,9 |
| Apostle | ἀπόστολος | อัครทูต | Medium | Apostolic ministry | 2:6 |
| Called / Calling | κλητός / κλῆσις (καλέω) | ผู้ที่ทรงเรียก / การทรงเรียก | High | Sanctification; assurance | 2:12; 4:7; 5:24 |
| Holy | ἅγιος | บริสุทธิ์ | High | Sanctification | 3:13; 4:4,7-8; 5:26 |
| Saints | ἅγιοι | วิสุทธิชน | Medium | Return of Christ | 3:13 |
| Sanctification | ἁγιασμός | การทรงชำระให้บริสุทธิ์ | High | Sanctification (programmatic term) | 4:3-4,7; 5:23 |
| Resurrection (of Christ; verbal cognates for believers) | ἀνάστασις / ἀνίστημι | การเป็นขึ้นจากตาย | Critical | Resurrection of Believers (core passage) | 4:14,16 |
| Church | ἐκκλησία | คริสตจักร | Medium | Church as recipient community | 1:1; 2:14 |
| Lord | κύριος | องค์พระผู้เป็นเจ้า | Critical | Return of Christ; Day of the Lord | throughout; esp. 4:15-17; 5:2,9,23,27 |
| Son of God | υἱὸς [τοῦ θεοῦ] | พระบุตรของพระเจ้า | Critical | Return of Christ | 1:10 |
| God | θεός | พระเจ้า | Critical | All doctrines | throughout |
| Holy Spirit | πνεῦμα ἅγιον | พระวิญญาณบริสุทธิ์ | Critical | Sanctification | 1:5-6; 4:8; 5:19 |
| Father | πατήρ | พระบิดา | High | Salutation; prayer | 1:1,3; 3:11,13 |
| Jesus | Ἰησοῦς | พระเยซู | Critical | All doctrines | throughout |
| Christ | Χριστός | พระคริสต์ | Critical | All doctrines | throughout |
| Thanksgiving | εὐχαριστία (εὐχαριστέω) | การขอบพระคุณ | Low | Pastoral thanksgiving | 1:2; 2:13; 5:18 |
| Exhort / Encourage | παρακαλέω | หนุนใจ (encouragement) / วิงวอน (entreaty, context-dependent) | Low | Hope in Grief (pastoral application) | 2:12; 3:2; 4:1,10,18; 5:11,14 |
| Election | ἐκλογή | การทรงเลือก | High | Sanctification (corporate calling) | 1:4 |
| Prophet / Prophecy | προφήτης / προφητεία | ผู้เผยพระวจนะ / คำพยากรณ์ | Low | Day of the Lord (background) | 2:15; 5:20 |
| Gentiles | ἔθνη | คนต่างชาติ | Medium | Sanctification (contrast) | 2:16; 4:5 |
| Glory | δόξα | พระสิริ | High | Ministry motive (human-glory sense at 2:6; divine sense at 2:12) | 2:6,12,20 |
| Sin | ἁμαρτία | บาป | High | Universal accountability (background) | 2:16 |
| Power (of God) | δύναμις | ฤทธิ์เดช | High | Gospel’s arrival | 1:5 |
Table B — New Terms Proposed for This Curriculum ([NEW])
| English Term | Greek | Translit. | Thai Rendering | Thai Translit. | Risk | Doctrine | Grounded Reason for Risk Tier | Key References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hope | ἐλπίς | elpis | ความหวัง | khwam wang | High | Hope in Grief (organizing term) | Not lexically forbidden, but doctrinally must be taught as confident reliance on Christ’s resurrection promise, the opposite orientation of the Buddhist diagnosis of unfulfilled longing/craving (ตัณหา) as the root of suffering, to be relinquished rather than cultivated. | 1:3; 2:19; 4:13; 5:8 |
| Love (agapē) | ἀγάπη | agapē | ความรัก | khwam rak | Medium | Core triad; Sanctification | Thai does not lexically separate agapē from other forms of love as sharply as Greek; teaching content, not the word itself, must supply the self-giving/costly/God-oriented sense. | 1:3; 3:6,12; 4:9; 5:8,13 |
| Idols | εἴδωλον | eidōlon | รูปเคารพ | rup khaorop | High | Conversion narrative (background to Sanctification) | Must remain abstract (“any object of worship other than the true God”); explicit naming of Thai Buddha images or spirit-house objects by this term risks a confrontational, alienating reading rather than proclamation. | 1:9 |
| Wrath (of God) | ὀργή | orgē | พระพิโรธ | phra phirot | High | Day of the Lord; Return of Christ | Must remain God’s personal, righteous, judicial anger; never เคราะห์กรรม (impersonal karmic misfortune), the same personal/impersonal distinction the baseline already requires for “curse” and “providence.” | 1:10; 2:16 |
| Satan | Σατανᾶς | Satanas | ซาตาน | Satan | Medium | Return of Christ (obstacle to ministry) | Established transliteration; must stay distinct from Thai folk-animist malevolent spirits (ผี) — a specific personal adversary of God, not one of many ancestral/nature spirits. | 2:18 |
| Parousia / Return of Christ | παρουσία | parousia | การเสด็จมาของพระคริสต์ | kan sadet ma khong Phra Khrit | Critical | Return of Christ (letter’s controlling term, 4 occurrences) | เสด็จ is Thai’s dedicated royal/divine honorific verb of motion; correct and necessary here but sits directly against Thailand’s lèse-majesté-sensitive royal-address register. Must be taught as Christ’s own unique, exclusive glorious return, never a commentary on or borrowing from the Thai monarchy’s honorific vocabulary. Full-book consistency required at 1:10; 2:19; 3:13; 4:15; 5:23. | 1:10; 2:19; 3:13; 4:15; 5:23 |
| Day of the Lord | ἡμέρα κυρίου | hēmera kyriou | วันขององค์พระผู้เป็นเจ้า | wan khong ong Phra Phu Pen Chao | Critical | The Day of the Lord (organizing term) | Must not be assimilated to any cyclical Buddhist-Brahmanic cosmological framework (recurring world-ages, or the sāsana’s gradual decline) — this is a single, unrepeatable, final divine intervention by a personal God, coordinated with, but distinct in name from, “the coming wrath” (1:10) and the Parousia. | 5:2,4 |
| Asleep / fallen asleep (death euphemism) | κοιμάομαι | koimaomai | ล่วงหลับ | luang lap | Critical | Resurrection of Believers; Hope in Grief (core passage) | Established Thai euphemism, but without explicit surrounding resurrection anchoring, risks being heard as a poetic gloss for the transition between rebirths in the cycle of samsara. Must never appear paired with rebirth vocabulary (การเกิดใหม่/การกลับชาติมาเกิด), already forbidden in the baseline for “resurrection.” | 4:13,14,15 |
| Caught up (rapture) | ἁρπάζω | harpazō | ถูกรับขึ้นไป | thuk rap khuen pai | Critical | Return of Christ; Resurrection of Believers (core passage) | Must remain passive with God/Christ as implied agent — a sudden, sovereign divine action, not (1) a self-attained psychic/levitative feat (อิทธิฤทธิ์) comparable to advanced-meditator lore, nor (2) a folk-animist account of a spirit being seized. | 4:17 |
| Meeting (technical, royal-reception term) | ἀπάντησις | apantēsis | ออกไปรับเสด็จ / การไปรับ | ok pai rap sadet / kan pai rap | Medium | Return of Christ | Must preserve the “escort back with the honoree” sense of the ancient royal-visit protocol; a rendering read as final upward departure would undercut the doctrine of Christ’s future reign coming to consummation. | 4:17 |
| Archangel | ἀρχάγγελος | archangelos | หัวหน้าทูตสวรรค์ | hua na thut sawan | Medium | Return of Christ | Built on the established, already-distinct Thai term for angel (ทูตสวรรค์, distinct from เทวดา); must not be rendered with vocabulary implying the graded deva-hierarchy of Buddhist-Brahmanic cosmology. | 4:16 |
| Trumpet of God | σάλπιγξ θεοῦ | salpinx theou | แตรของพระเจ้า | trae khong Phra Chao | Low-Medium | Return of Christ | Should evoke a Western-style trumpet/horn signal-instrument, not the Thai-Brahmanic ceremonial conch (สังข์) or spirit-summoning gongs. | 4:16 |
| Cry of command | κέλευσμα | keleusma | เสียงบัญชา | siang bancha | Medium | Return of Christ | Christ’s sovereign command-shout by his own inherent authority; must not be confused with ritual incantation (เวทมนตร์คาถา/มนตร์) used in Thai folk-magic or spirit-summoning practice. | 4:16 |
| Holiness (quality) | ἁγιωσύνη | hagiōsynē | ความบริสุทธิ์ | khwam borisut | High | Sanctification, tied to Return of Christ | Same collision profile as baseline “holy”/“sanctification”: moral/relational purity before a personal God, not ritual/ascetic purity pursued as a self-directed meditative attainment. | 3:13 |
| Sexual immorality | πορνεία | porneia | การล่วงประเวณี | kan luang praweni | Medium | Sanctification | Standard established vocabulary; must be framed as a matter of holiness before a personal God, not broken precept-observance for merit purposes. | 4:3 |
| Lust / illicit passion | ἐπιθυμία | epithymia | ความใคร่ / ความปรารถนาที่ชั่ว | khwam khrai / khwam prarthana thi chua | Critical | Sanctification | NEVER ตัณหา (tanha) — the precise Pali-Buddhist technical term for “craving,” the Second Noble Truth’s diagnosed root of suffering, extinguished through the Noble Eightfold Path. Using it would import an entire Buddhist self-discipline soteriology in place of Paul’s point (illicit desire as sin against a personal God, addressed by the Spirit’s sanctifying work). Same risk class as กิเลส already forbidden as a gloss for “flesh” in the Galatians baseline. | 4:5 |
| Impurity | ἀκαθαρσία | akatharsia | ความไม่บริสุทธิ์ | khwam mai borisut | Medium | Sanctification | Built on baseline “holy” adjective; must stay moral/relational, not ritual defilement requiring a purification rite. | 4:7 |
| Vessel (body/spouse) | σκεῦος | skeuos | ร่างกาย(ของตน) | rangkai (khong ton) | Medium | Sanctification | Referential ambiguity (body vs. spouse) should be flagged for Phase 2 reviewers; “sanctification and honor” framing must be retained regardless of reading chosen. | 4:4 |
| Brotherly love | φιλαδελφία | philadelphia | ความรักฉันพี่น้อง | khwam rak chan phi nong | Low | Sanctification (communal expression) | Low collision risk; built on established family/adoption vocabulary. | 4:9 |
| Affliction / tribulation | θλῖψις | thlipsis | ความยากลำบาก | khwam yak lambak | Medium | Hope in Grief (background context) | Must be suffering endured in union with Christ, not karmic consequence of past wrongdoing nor something to be resolved purely through detachment. | 3:3,7 |
| Sons of light / sons of day | υἱοὶ φωτός / ἡμέρας | huioi phōtos / hēmeras | บุตรของความสว่าง / บุตรของกลางวัน | but khong khwam sawang / but khong klang wan | Medium | Day of the Lord | Light/darkness dualism is widespread (including in Buddhist wisdom/ignorance imagery); must stay specifically Christ-and-Day-of-the-Lord oriented, not a generic detachable wisdom-versus-ignorance framework. | 5:5 |
| Quench (the Spirit) | σβέννυμι | sbennymi | ดับ(พระวิญญาณ) | dap (Phra Winyan) | Medium | Sanctification | Shares a root flame-extinguishing metaphor with นิพพาน (nibbāna, already forbidden for “salvation”), though moral valence is reversed (warned against, not commended); a brief translator note is recommended. | 5:19 |
| Spirit, soul, body (tripartite anthropology) | πνεῦμα, ψυχή, σῶμα | pneuma, psychē, sōma | วิญญาณ (human spirit) / จิต หรือ จิตใจ (soul) / ร่างกาย (body) | winyan / chit (chitjai) / rangkai | Critical | Sanctification; Return of Christ | Sits directly beside the Buddhist five-aggregates (khandha) analysis under the doctrine of anattā (no permanent self). Must be taught as describing the integral wholeness of one continuing person whom God himself sanctifies and keeps for Christ’s coming — not a componential analysis compatible with no-self doctrine. This is the single highest anthropological risk in the letter. | 5:23 |
| Own selves/lives (contextual ψυχή, distinct from 5:23’s technical sense) | ψυχή | psychē | ชีวิตของเราเอง / ตัวเราเอง | chiwit khong rao eng / tua rao eng | Medium | Ministry model (background) | Context-sensitive rendering distinct from the technical “soul” (จิต) of 5:23; identical rendering in both places would flatten pastoral warmth into anthropological jargon. | 2:8 |
| Full assurance | πληροφορία | plērophoria | ความมั่นใจอย่างเต็มที่ | khwam manjai yang temthi | Medium | Assurance (background to Sanctification) | Connects to baseline’s High-risk “assurance_of_salvation” doctrine; assurance rests on God’s demonstrated power, not an accumulating personal merit-record. | 1:5 |
| Living and true God | θεὸς ζῶν καὶ ἀληθινός | theos zōn kai alēthinos | พระเจ้าผู้ทรงพระชนม์อยู่และเที่ยงแท้ | Phra Chao phu song phra chon yu lae thiang thae | Medium | Conversion narrative (background) | Both qualifiers (“living,” “true”) must be retained as the polemical contrast to the “dead” idols named in the same verse. | 1:9 |
| Crown of boasting/joy | στέφανος καυχήσεως | stephanos kauchēseōs | มงกุฎแห่งความยินดี | mongkut haeng khwam yindi | Low | Return of Christ (reward imagery) | Standard victor’s-wreath metaphor; avoid any term suggesting a Buddhist merit-crown or monastic honor-title. | 2:19 |
| Joy | χαρά | chara | ความยินดี | khwam yindi | Low | Return of Christ (affective register) | Standard vocabulary. | 1:6; 2:19-20; 3:9 |
| Blameless | ἄμεμπτος | amemptos | ปราศจากการติเตียน | prasjak kan titian | Low | Sanctification; Return of Christ | Standard vocabulary. | 3:13; 5:23 |
Risk Distribution Summary (This Curriculum’s New Terms)
| Risk Tier | Count | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 6 (Parousia/Return of Christ, Day of the Lord, Asleep/koimaomai, Caught up/harpazō, Lust/epithymia, Spirit-soul-body tripartite) | Human theologian, every occurrence |
| High | 5 (Hope, Idols, Wrath, Holiness/hagiōsynē — plus Hope-derived armor phrase) | Human theologian |
| Medium | 14 | Native speaker review |
| Low | 6 | Automated review |
Cross-Reference to Baseline Doctrine Risk Registry
This curriculum extends, and never contradicts, the baseline doctrine_risk_registry.json. The following new doctrine entries are proposed for that registry in Step 2, consistent with its existing schema:
return_of_christ(risk: Critical) — governs παρουσία throughout (1:10; 2:19; 3:13; 4:15; 5:23) and the Day-of-the-Lord unit (5:1-11).resurrection_of_believers(risk: Critical) — governs 4:13-18, extending the baseline’s existingresurrection_of_christentry to believers’ own future bodily resurrection.sanctification— reuses the baseline’s existing High-risksanctificationdoctrine entry unchanged; this curriculum adds ἁγιωσύνη (3:13) and the tripartite formula (5:23) as new load-bearing occurrences.hope_in_grief(risk: High) — new doctrine entry organizing ἐλπίς across 1:3; 2:19; 4:13,18; 5:8.day_of_the_lord(risk: Critical) — new doctrine entry governing 5:1-11, coordinated with but distinct fromreturn_of_christ.
Critical Risk Terms
Grace
Approved rendering: พระคุณ
Transliteration: phra khun
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: บุญ, กรรมดี, บารมี
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. CRITICAL: never บุญ, กรรมดี, or บารมี. In 1 Thessalonians: frames the letter’s salutation (1:1) and its closing benediction (5:28), an unmerited favor given apart from any accumulated merit.
Salvation
Approved rendering: ความรอด
Transliteration: khwam rot
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: การบรรลุนิพพาน, การหลุดพ้น
Original: σωτηρία
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. CRITICAL: never การบรรลุนิพพาน or การหลุดพ้น. In 1 Thessalonians explicitly the opposite of wrath (5:9, ‘God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation’), worn as a helmet of hope (5:8) — a personal rescue by God through Christ, never a self-attained extinguishing of craving and rebirth.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: การเป็นขึ้นจากตาย
Transliteration: kan pen khuen chak tai
Doctrine: Resurrection of Believers
Rejected alternatives: การเกิดใหม่, การกลับชาติมาเกิด
Original: ἀνάστασις / ἀνίστημι
Category: Eschatology
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged, and EXTENDED in this curriculum from Christ’s own resurrection to believers’ future bodily resurrection. CRITICAL: never การเกิดใหม่ or การกลับชาติมาเกิด. Must be used identically for both Christ’s rising (4:14) and ‘the dead in Christ will rise’ (4:16), so the two are read as the same kind of bodily event, never a spiritualized transition into a new incarnate existence.
Lord
Approved rendering: องค์พระผู้เป็นเจ้า
Transliteration: ong phra phu pen chao
Doctrine: The Return of Christ
Rejected alternatives: เจ้านาย, ท่านผู้นำ
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Must never blur into ordinary respectful address or read as commentary on political sovereignty. In 1 Thessalonians occurs throughout, concentrated in the Parousia and Day-of-the-Lord passages (4:15-17; 5:2,9,23,27); ‘the Lord himself’ (αὐτὸς ὁ κύριος, 4:16) requires the emphatic เอง to preserve the direct, personal nature of his descent.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: พระบุตรของพระเจ้า
Transliteration: Phra But khong Phra Chao
Doctrine: The Return of Christ
Rejected alternatives: เทพบุตร, อวตารของพระเจ้า
Original: υἱὸς [τοῦ θεοῦ]
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Full phrase required; never เทพบุตร or อวตารของพระเจ้า. In 1 Thessalonians: believers ‘wait for his Son from heaven’ (1:10), anticipating the Parousia teaching of chapter 4.
God
Approved rendering: พระเจ้า
Transliteration: Phra Chao
Doctrine: Conversion from Idolatry
Rejected alternatives: เทวดา, พระพรหม
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Never เทวดา or พระพรหม. In 1 Thessalonians: the one true God from whom the Thessalonians turned from idols (1:9), addressed throughout as Father and named as the giver of calling, sanctification, and coming salvation.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: พระวิญญาณบริสุทธิ์
Transliteration: Phra Winyan Borisut
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: วิญญาณ, ผี
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Never วิญญาณ alone or ผี. In 1 Thessalonians: the agent of the gospel’s effective arrival (1:5-6), the giver of joy amid affliction (1:6), and the one believers are warned not to ‘quench’ (5:19). Note: the unprefixed human วิญญาณ used for the 5:23 tripartite anthropology must never be confused with this divine, พระ-prefixed term.
Jesus
Approved rendering: พระเยซู
Transliteration: Phra Yesu
Doctrine: The Return of Christ
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Standard Thai Bible form. In 1 Thessalonians occurs throughout, frequently in the full title ‘our Lord Jesus Christ’ bound to the Parousia (e.g., 2:19; 3:13; 5:23).
Christ
Approved rendering: พระคริสต์
Transliteration: Phra Khrit
Doctrine: Resurrection of Believers
Original: Χριστός
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Established proper-name form. In 1 Thessalonians: used throughout, including the resurrection formula ‘the dead in Christ’ (4:16), which must be read consistently with the baseline’s christian_identity_in_christ doctrine.
Parousia
Approved rendering: การเสด็จมาของพระคริสต์
Transliteration: kan sadet ma khong Phra Khrit
Doctrine: The Return of Christ
Rejected alternatives: มา (plain verb), กลับมา (colloquial ‘return’), ปาร์รูเซีย (opaque transliteration)
Original: παρουσία
Category: Eschatology
NEW. CRITICAL: เสด็จ is Thai’s dedicated royal/divine honorific verb of motion, correct and necessary here but sitting directly against Thailand’s lèse-majesté-sensitive royal-address register. Must be taught as Christ’s own unique, exclusive, glorious return as universal Judge and King, never a metaphor borrowed from, nor commentary on, the Thai monarchy. Requires IDENTICAL rendering at all five occurrences: 1:10; 2:19; 3:13; 4:15; 5:23.
Day Of The Lord
Approved rendering: วันขององค์พระผู้เป็นเจ้า
Transliteration: wan khong ong Phra Phu Pen Chao
Doctrine: The Day of the Lord
Rejected alternatives: กัปป์/ยุค (cyclical Buddhist-cosmological age vocabulary)
Original: ἡμέρα κυρίου
Category: Eschatology
NEW. CRITICAL: must not be assimilated to any cyclical Buddhist-Brahmanic cosmological framework (periodic decline and renewal of world-ages, or the gradual decline of the Buddhist sāsana). A single, unrepeatable, historically final divine intervention by a personal God (5:2-3), terminologically distinct from yet doctrinally coordinated with ‘the coming wrath’ (1:10) and the Parousia (4:15).
Asleep Koimao
Approved rendering: ล่วงหลับ
Transliteration: luang lap
Doctrine: Resurrection of Believers
Rejected alternatives: การเกิดใหม่, การกลับชาติมาเกิด, ดับขันธ์
Original: κοιμάομαι
Category: Eschatology
NEW. CRITICAL: established Thai euphemism for death of believers, but without explicit surrounding resurrection anchoring risks being heard as a poetic gloss for the transition between rebirths in samsara. Must never appear paired with rebirth vocabulary, and never rendered ดับขันธ์ (a Buddhist honorific term for a monk’s death invoking the five-aggregates framework). Every occurrence (4:13,14,15) must appear in the same sentence or immediate co-text as การเป็นขึ้นจากตาย.
Caught Up Harpazo
Approved rendering: ถูกรับขึ้นไป
Transliteration: thuk rap khuen pai
Doctrine: Resurrection of Believers
Rejected alternatives: อิทธิฤทธิ์ (self-attained meditative levitation), การถูกผีสิงหรือลักพาตัวโดยวิญญาณ (folk-animist spirit abduction)
Original: ἁρπάζω
Category: Eschatology
NEW. CRITICAL: must remain grammatically passive (ถูก-) with Christ as implied agent, guarding against (1) confusion with self-attained psychic/levitative powers popularly attributed to advanced meditation masters, and (2) confusion with folk-animist accounts of a person’s วิญญาณ being seized by a malevolent spirit. Christ’s own sovereign action drawing believers to himself bodily (4:17).
Lust Epithymia
Approved rendering: ความใคร่ / ความปรารถนาที่ชั่ว
Transliteration: khwam khrai / khwam prarthana thi chua
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: ตัณหา, กิเลส
Original: ἐπιθυμία
Category: Sanctification
NEW. CRITICAL: explicit forbidden substitution — NEVER ตัณหา, the precise Pali-Buddhist technical term naming craving as the Second Noble Truth’s diagnosed root cause of suffering, extinguished through the Noble Eightfold Path; also never กิเลส (already forbidden as a gloss for ‘flesh’ in the Galatians baseline). Using either would silently import an entire Buddhist self-discipline soteriology in place of Paul’s point at 4:5: illicit desire is sin against a personal God, addressed by the Spirit’s sanctifying work.
Spirit Soul Body
Approved rendering: วิญญาณ (human spirit) / จิต หรือ จิตใจ (soul) / ร่างกาย (body)
Transliteration: winyan / chit (chitjai) / rangkai
Doctrine: Tripartite Anthropology and the Wholeness of the Person
Rejected alternatives: ขันธ์ 5 (the five aggregates framework)
Original: πνεῦμα, ψυχή, σῶμα
Category: Anthropology
NEW. CRITICAL: sits directly beside the Buddhist five-aggregates (khandha) analysis of the person under anattā (no permanent self). Must never be presented as a Christian equivalent or three-part restatement of the five aggregates. Teaching material must state explicitly that Paul describes the integral wholeness of one continuing person God sanctifies and keeps for Christ’s coming (5:23), the opposite doctrinal direction from a componential, ownerless-process analysis. The unprefixed human วิญญาณ here must never be confused with the divine พระวิญญาณบริสุทธิ์.
High Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: ข่าวประเสริฐ
Transliteration: khao prasoet
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: ข่าวดี
Original: εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Established Thai Bible term for the unique proclamation of salvation through Christ, not any pleasant announcement. In 1 Thessalonians: the gospel’s powerful, Spirit-attended arrival at Thessalonica (1:5), Paul’s costly proclamation of it (2:2,4,8-9), and its spread as a model to other churches (1:8; 3:2).
Called
Approved rendering: ผู้ที่ทรงเรียก
Transliteration: phu thi song riak
Doctrine: Divine Calling and Election
Rejected alternatives: ผู้ที่ได้รับเชิญ
Original: κλητός / καλέω
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Distinguished from a revocable social invitation. In 1 Thessalonians culminates at 5:24, ‘he who calls you is faithful,’ grounding assurance in God’s own character rather than a self-monitored merit-balance.
Calling
Approved rendering: การทรงเรียก
Transliteration: kan song riak
Doctrine: Divine Calling and Election
Rejected alternatives: โชคชะตา
Original: κλῆσις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Never conflate with โชคชะตา (fixed astrological destiny) or เวรกรรม (karmic determinism). In 1 Thessalonians: God’s summons into holiness (4:7) and into his own kingdom and glory (2:12).
Holy
Approved rendering: บริสุทธิ์
Transliteration: borisut
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: ศักดิ์สิทธิ์
Original: ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Moral/relational holiness, not ritual potency (ศักดิ์สิทธิ์). In 1 Thessalonians governs the marriage/body instruction of 4:4, the greeting of 5:26, and the Spirit throughout.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: การทรงชำระให้บริสุทธิ์
Transliteration: kan song chamra hai borisut
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: การชำระบาปด้วยตนเอง, ศีล, ภาวนา
Original: ἁγιασμός
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged; ศีล and ภาวนา additionally rejected for this curriculum since both name self-undertaken Buddhist disciplines whose telos is one’s own merit or insight. In 1 Thessalonians this is the letter’s programmatic doctrinal term, explicitly named ‘the will of God’ (4:3-4,7) and prayed for ‘wholly’ at 5:23, always the Spirit’s ongoing work, never self-directed precept-observance.
Father
Approved rendering: พระบิดา
Transliteration: Phra Bida
Doctrine: Divine Calling and Election
Rejected alternatives: พ่อขุน
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Avoid พ่อขุน. In 1 Thessalonians: invoked in the salutation and in Paul’s prayers for the church (1:1,3; 3:11,13).
Election
Approved rendering: การทรงเลือก
Transliteration: kan song lueak
Doctrine: Divine Calling and Election
Rejected alternatives: โชคชะตา, เวรกรรม
Original: ἐκλογή
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. In 1 Thessalonians: God’s sovereign choice of the Thessalonian church, evidenced by the gospel’s powerful reception among them (1:4-5); never โชคชะตา/เวรกรรม.
Glory
Approved rendering: พระสิริ / เกียรติ (human-honor sense at 2:6,20)
Transliteration: Phra Siri / kiat
Doctrine: Apostolic Ministry and Integrity
Rejected alternatives: บารมี
Original: δόξα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. บารมี must never substitute for the divine sense (2:12, God’s own kingdom and glory); the human-honor sense (2:6,20, Paul disclaiming glory from people) carries lower risk but should still avoid vocabulary suggesting accumulated charisma.
Sin
Approved rendering: บาป
Transliteration: bap
Doctrine: Divine Wrath and Judgment
Rejected alternatives: อกุศลกรรม
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Must always be anchored to an offense against a personal God, not impersonal negative karma. In 1 Thessalonians: the persecutors’ opposition to the gospel is said to compound their own sin (2:16).
Power Of God
Approved rendering: ฤทธิ์เดชของพระเจ้า
Transliteration: rit det khong Phra Chao
Doctrine: Assurance of Salvation
Rejected alternatives: อำนาจศักดิ์สิทธิ์ของวัตถุมงคล
Original: δύναμις
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Never the sacred potency ascribed to amulets. In 1 Thessalonians: how the gospel arrived at Thessalonica, ‘not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit’ (1:5).
Hope
Approved rendering: ความหวัง
Transliteration: khwam wang
Doctrine: Hope in Grief
Rejected alternatives: ตัณหา
Original: ἐλπίς
Category: Hope
NEW. HIGH: ความหวัง carries no forbidden lexical collision, but its doctrinal direction runs opposite to popular Thai-Buddhist moral reasoning, which diagnoses unfulfilled longing (ตัณหา) as the root cause of suffering, to be extinguished through detachment, not cultivated. Every occurrence in the grief-comfort unit (4:13,18) and the founding triad (1:3) requires teaching content stating this is confident reliance on a promise already secured by Christ’s resurrection. The qualifying clause ‘as those who have no hope’ (4:13) must remain grammatically attached so the text is not read as an absolute prohibition on mourning.
Idols
Approved rendering: รูปเคารพ
Transliteration: rup khaorop
Doctrine: Conversion from Idolatry
Rejected alternatives: พระพุทธรูป (naming Buddha images explicitly), ศาลพระภูมิ (naming spirit-house objects explicitly)
Original: εἴδωλον
Category: Sin
NEW. HIGH: an appropriately abstract established Bible term for ‘any object of worship other than the true God’ (1:9). Must NOT be taught by direct equation with Buddha images or spirit-house objects by name; doing so would read as a confrontational attack on the dominant national religion rather than proclamation of the text’s own conversion pattern.
Wrath
Approved rendering: พระพิโรธ
Transliteration: phra phirot
Doctrine: Divine Wrath and Judgment
Rejected alternatives: เคราะห์กรรม
Original: ὀργή
Category: Eschatology
NEW. HIGH: consistent with established Thai Bible convention (marked with the พระ-honorific for deity); must never be rendered เคราะห์กรรม (impersonal karmic misfortune), the same personal-versus-impersonal distinction the baseline already requires for ‘curse’ and ‘providence.’ Occurs at 1:10 (future wrath), 2:16 (historical outworking — requires a translator note guarding against anti-Jewish misreading), and 5:9 (salvation’s negative counterpart).
Holiness Hagiosyne
Approved rendering: ความบริสุทธิ์
Transliteration: khwam borisut
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: ศีล, ภาวนา
Original: ἁγιωσύνη
Category: Sanctification
NEW. HIGH: built on the baseline adjective บริสุทธิ์; must denote moral and relational purity before a personal God, not ritual/ascetic purity associated with monastic precept-keeping (ศีล) or meditative mind-purification pursued as a self-directed attainment (ภาวนา). Prayed for at 3:13, joined explicitly to the Return of Christ.
Medium Risk Terms
Peace
Approved rendering: สันติสุข
Transliteration: santisuk
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: ความสงบทางใจ
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. In 1 Thessalonians appears both positively in the salutation (1:1) and, at 5:3, on the lips of the complacent as a false, ironic security (‘peace and safety’) just before the Day of the Lord arrives. Translators must keep the two uses distinct; the negative occurrence at 5:3 must not dilute the term’s positive doctrinal weight elsewhere.
Faith
Approved rendering: ความเชื่อ
Transliteration: khwam cheua
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: ศรัทธา
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Object of faith must always be specified as Christ. In 1 Thessalonians: part of the founding triad (faith, love, hope, 1:3), the basis of the resurrection promise (4:14, ‘if we believe that Jesus died and rose’), and paired with love as a breastplate (5:8).
Apostle
Approved rendering: อัครทูต
Transliteration: akkhrathut
Doctrine: Apostolic Ministry and Integrity
Rejected alternatives: อาจารย์ใหญ่
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. In 1 Thessalonians: Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy’s commissioned authority (2:6), exercised gently, ‘like a nursing mother,’ distinct from a respected senior teacher role.
Saints
Approved rendering: วิสุทธิชน
Transliteration: wisutthichon
Doctrine: The Return of Christ
Rejected alternatives: พระอรหันต์
Original: ἅγιοι
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. A corporate designation for every believer, not an ascetic elite comparable to พระอรหันต์. In 1 Thessalonians: all believers who accompany Christ at his coming (3:13).
Church
Approved rendering: คริสตจักร
Transliteration: khritsatchak
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: วัด
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Never วัด. In 1 Thessalonians: the gathered congregation at Thessalonica, addressed as being ‘in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ’ (1:1).
Gentiles
Approved rendering: คนต่างชาติ
Transliteration: khon tang chat
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: ชาวต่างประเทศ
Original: ἔθνη
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. In 1 Thessalonians: named at 2:16 (obstruction of gospel to Gentiles) and 4:5 (the contrasted moral pattern of illicit desire ‘like the Gentiles who do not know God’).
Love Agape
Approved rendering: ความรัก
Transliteration: khwam rak
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: ἀγάπη
Category: Faith
NEW. Thai does not lexically separate agapē from other forms of love (ἔρως, φιλία) as sharply as Greek; teaching material, not the word ความรัก alone, must supply the self-giving, costly, God-and-other-oriented sense. Part of the founding triad (1:3), commended at 4:9-10, worn as a breastplate at 5:8.
Satan
Approved rendering: ซาตาน
Transliteration: Satan
Doctrine: Spiritual Opposition and Satan
Rejected alternatives: ผีร้าย, มาร
Original: Σατανᾶς
Category: Sin
NEW. Established Thai Christian transliteration; must stay distinct from Thai folk-animist malevolent spirits (ผีร้าย) or the generic tempter word มาร — a specific personal adversary of God, not one of many ancestral or nature spirits. Occurs at 2:18 (hindered Paul’s return) and 3:5 (feared tempter of the church).
Meeting Apantesis
Approved rendering: ออกไปรับเสด็จ / การไปรับ
Transliteration: ok pai rap sadet / kan pai rap
Doctrine: The Return of Christ
Rejected alternatives: พบ (bare ‘meet’), การหลบหนีขึ้นสวรรค์ (misread as final upward departure)
Original: ἀπάντησις
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Technical term for a delegation going out to formally receive and escort home an arriving dignitary. Must preserve the ‘escort back with the honoree’ sense (4:17), not a final upward departure from earth, or the doctrine of Christ’s future reign coming to consummation is undercut.
Archangel
Approved rendering: หัวหน้าทูตสวรรค์
Transliteration: hua na thut sawan
Doctrine: The Return of Christ
Rejected alternatives: เทวดาชั้นสูง
Original: ἀρχάγγελος
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Built on the established, already-distinct Thai term for angel (ทูตสวรรค์, distinct from เทวดา); must not be rendered with vocabulary implying the graded deva-hierarchy of Buddhist-Brahmanic cosmology. The archangel’s voice heralds the Lord’s descent (4:16).
Trumpet Of God
Approved rendering: แตรของพระเจ้า
Transliteration: trae khong Phra Chao
Doctrine: The Return of Christ
Rejected alternatives: สังข์ (Thai-Brahmanic ceremonial conch)
Original: σάλπιγξ θεοῦ
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Should evoke a Western-style trumpet/horn signal-instrument, not the ceremonial conch blown at royal and religious ceremonies, nor gongs used in Thai spirit-summoning rites (4:16).
Cry Of Command
Approved rendering: เสียงบัญชา
Transliteration: siang bancha
Doctrine: The Return of Christ
Rejected alternatives: เวทมนตร์คาถา, มนตร์ (ritual incantation)
Original: κέλευσμα
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Christ’s sovereign command-shout arising from his own inherent authority (4:16); must not be confused with ritual chant or incantation used in Thai folk-magic or spirit-summoning practice.
Sudden Destruction Olethros
Approved rendering: ความพินาศ
Transliteration: khwam phinat
Doctrine: The Day of the Lord
Rejected alternatives: เคราะห์กรรม
Original: ὄλεθρος
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Sudden, total ruin befalling the unprepared (5:3), paired with the labor-pains image for its inescapability; must be read as the personal, righteous judgment of a personal God, not impersonal cosmic catastrophe or karmic reckoning.
Sons Of Light
Approved rendering: บุตรของความสว่าง / บุตรของกลางวัน
Transliteration: but khong khwam sawang / but khong klang wan
Doctrine: The Day of the Lord
Original: υἱοὶ φωτός / ἡμέρας
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Hebraic ‘sons of X’ idiom naming believers’ present moral identity as already aligned with the coming Day (5:5). Light/darkness dualism is widespread across religious traditions including Buddhist wisdom/ignorance imagery; must stay specifically Christ-and-Day-of-the-Lord oriented, not a generic detachable wisdom-versus-ignorance framework.
Sexual Immorality Porneia
Approved rendering: การล่วงประเวณี
Transliteration: kan luang praweni
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: πορνεία
Category: Sanctification
NEW. Standard established Thai Bible vocabulary for sexual sin (4:3); must be framed as a matter of holiness before a personal God, not merely broken precept-observance for merit purposes.
Impurity Akatharsia
Approved rendering: ความไม่บริสุทธิ์
Transliteration: khwam mai borisut
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: ἀκαθαρσία
Category: Sanctification
NEW. Built directly on the baseline ‘holy’ adjective; must retain moral/relational sense, not slide toward ritual impurity requiring a purification rite. The direct antonym of sanctification in the binary frame of 4:7.
Vessel Skeuos
Approved rendering: ร่างกาย(ของตน)
Transliteration: rangkai (khong ton)
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: σκεῦος
Category: Sanctification
NEW. Referential ambiguity (body vs. spouse) at 4:4 should be flagged for Phase 2 reviewers; the ‘sanctification and honor’ framing must be retained regardless of which reading is followed.
Quench The Spirit
Approved rendering: อย่าดับพระวิญญาณ
Transliteration: ya dap Phra Winyan
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: μὴ τὸ πνεῦμα σβέννυτε
Category: Sanctification
NEW. The verb ดับ (‘extinguish/put out [a flame]’) shares its root image with นิพพาน (nibbāna, ‘blowing out’ the flame of craving), already forbidden for ‘salvation.’ Collision is at the shared root-metaphor level only, and moral direction is reversed (warned against here, commended there, 5:19); a brief translator note is recommended.
Living And True God
Approved rendering: พระเจ้าผู้ทรงพระชนม์อยู่และเที่ยงแท้
Transliteration: Phra Chao phu song phra chon yu lae thiang thae
Doctrine: Conversion from Idolatry
Original: θεὸς ζῶν καὶ ἀληθινός
Category: God
NEW. Both qualifiers (‘living,’ ‘true’) must be retained, since together they form the polemical contrast with the lifeless idols named in the same verse (1:9).
Affliction Thlipsis
Approved rendering: ความยากลำบาก
Transliteration: khwam yak lambak
Doctrine: Hope in Grief
Original: θλῖψις
Category: Faith
NEW. Must be understood as suffering endured in union with and for the sake of Christ (3:3,7), not as karmic consequence of past wrongdoing nor as something to be transcended purely through detachment.
Full Assurance Plerophoria
Approved rendering: ความมั่นใจอย่างเต็มที่
Transliteration: khwam manjai yang temthi
Doctrine: Assurance of Salvation
Original: πληροφορία
Category: Faith
NEW. Connects to the baseline’s High-risk ‘assurance_of_salvation’ doctrine (1:5); this assurance rests on God’s power demonstrated in the gospel’s arrival, not an accumulating personal merit-record.
Own Selves Psyche
Approved rendering: ชีวิตของเราเอง / ตัวเราเอง
Transliteration: chiwit khong rao eng / tua rao eng
Doctrine: Apostolic Ministry and Integrity
Original: ψυχή
Category: Anthropology
NEW. Context-sensitive rendering of ψυχή at 2:8 (‘our own selves/lives’), distinct from the technical tripartite anthropology of 5:23; identical rendering in both places would flatten the pastoral warmth of this ministry-model passage into anthropological jargon.
Low Risk Terms
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: การขอบพระคุณ
Transliteration: kan khop phra khun
Doctrine: Mutual Edification and Fellowship
Original: εὐχαριστία / εὐχαριστέω
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. In 1 Thessalonians: opens the letter (1:2) and is commanded as a constant posture (5:18); minor risk of collapsing into generic merit-dedication language.
Exhort
Approved rendering: หนุนใจ (encouragement) / วิงวอน (entreaty, context-dependent)
Transliteration: nun jai / wingwon
Doctrine: Mutual Edification and Fellowship
Original: παρακαλέω
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. In 1 Thessalonians: หนุนใจ specifically at 4:18 (comfort one another with the resurrection/Parousia teaching just given), 5:11, 5:14.
Prophet
Approved rendering: ผู้เผยพระวจนะ
Transliteration: phu phoei phra wotchana
Doctrine: Divine Wrath and Judgment
Rejected alternatives: หมอดู
Original: προφήτης
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Do not confuse with หมอดู. In 1 Thessalonians: referenced at 2:15 in Paul’s rebuke of those who killed the prophets.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: คำพยากรณ์
Transliteration: kham phayakon
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: คำทำนายดวงชะตา
Original: προφητεία
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Distinct from astrological or fortune-telling prediction. In 1 Thessalonians: Spirit-given prophetic speech in the church, which believers must not despise but must test (5:20-21).
Thief In The Night
Approved rendering: ขโมยที่มาในเวลากลางคืน
Transliteration: khamoi thi ma nai wela klang khuen
Doctrine: The Day of the Lord
Rejected alternatives: ฤกษ์งามยามดี (auspicious-timing framing)
Original: κλέπτης ἐν νυκτί
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Proverbial image for the Day of the Lord’s sudden, unannounced, uncalculable timing (5:2); must not be paired with any Thai astrological timing-calculation framework, since the entire point of the image is that the timing cannot be calculated.
Brotherly Love Philadelphia
Approved rendering: ความรักฉันพี่น้อง
Transliteration: khwam rak chan phi nong
Doctrine: Mutual Edification and Fellowship
Original: φιλαδελφία
Category: Church
NEW. Low collision risk; built on established family/adoption vocabulary. An area where the Thessalonians already excel, ‘taught by God’ (4:9).
Crown Of Boasting
Approved rendering: มงกุฎแห่งความยินดี
Transliteration: mongkut haeng khwam yindi
Doctrine: The Return of Christ
Rejected alternatives: มงกุฎ (bare, sovereignty-only rendering)
Original: στέφανος καυχήσεως
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Standard athletic/victory-wreath metaphor for the joy of presenting one’s converts to Christ at his coming (2:19); avoid any term suggesting a Buddhist merit-crown or monastic honor-title, or a bare royal crown that would import unintended sovereignty connotations.
Joy Chara
Approved rendering: ความยินดี
Transliteration: khwam yindi
Doctrine: The Return of Christ
Original: χαρά
Category: Faith
NEW. Standard Thai Bible vocabulary; deep gladness tied to salvation and eschatological hope (1:6; 2:19-20; 3:9).
Blameless Amemptos
Approved rendering: ปราศจากการติเตียน
Transliteration: prasjak kan titian
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: ἄμεμπτος
Category: Sanctification
NEW. Standard vocabulary; the goal-state of holiness prayed for, realized fully at Christ’s coming (3:13; 5:23).
Referenced passages