Core Glossary
Core Glossary — 2 John (English → Thai)
This glossary covers every load-bearing theological/cultural term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, across the entirety of 2 John (vv. 1–13). Terms marked REUSE are already fixed in the baseline Romans/Galatians translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json and MUST be rendered identically here; their baseline risk tier and notes are carried forward unchanged. New terms follow the same risk-tier framework (Critical / High / Medium / Low) established by the baseline doctrine_risk_registry.json.
| # | English Term | Greek (transliteration) | Thai Rendering (transliteration) | Doctrine | Risk Tier | Reuse? | Rationale / Thai-Specific Risk Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elder | πρεσβύτερος (presbyteros) | ผู้ปกครอง (phu pokkhrong) | Perseverance in the Teaching of Christ | Medium | New | Contemporary Thai ผู้ปกครอง most commonly means “parent/guardian of a minor”; context must clarify this is a recognized church-teaching office. Also shares a root with the baseline’s ผู้ปกครองดูแล (“guardian,” Galatians’ temporary paidagogos role) — the two must be kept conceptually distinct for learners. |
| 2 | Elect lady | ἐκλεκτῇ κυρίᾳ (eklektē kyria) | ท่านสตรีที่ทรงเลือกไว้ (than sattri thi song lueak wai) | Walking in Truth and Love | Medium | Partial (ἐκλεκτή reuses election doctrine) | κυρία shares its root with the Critical baseline term lord (κύριος → องค์พระผู้เป็นเจ้า) though carrying no deity sense here; translator note required to prevent over-reading. ทรงเลือก must not drift toward fate/luck vocabulary, per the baseline election entry. |
| 3 | Children | τέκνα (tekna) | บุตร / ลูกๆ (but / luk-luk) | Walking in Truth and Love | Low | Partial (resonates with adoption) | Prefer บุตร to keep resonance with the baseline’s adoption term (การรับเป็นบุตร) when the familial/covenantal sense is in view. |
| 4 | Truth | ἀλήθεια (alētheia) | ความจริง (khwam jing) | Walking in Truth and Love | High | New | Must always be anchored explicitly to “the truth of the gospel concerning Christ,” not generic factual accuracy; parallels the baseline’s insistence that faith’s object always be specified. |
| 5 | Love (one another) | ἀγάπη / ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους (agapē / agapōmen allēlous) | ความรัก / รักซึ่งกันและกัน (khwam rak / rak sueng kan lae kan) | Walking in Truth and Love | Medium/High | New | ความรัก is correct but religiously unmarked; must be glossed as self-giving, command-shaped ἀγάπη, distinct from romantic รัก and from Buddhist compassion-cultivation vocabulary (เมตตา/กรุณา). |
| 6 | Grace | χάρις (charis) | พระคุณ (phra khun) | Walking in Truth and Love | Critical | REUSE | Never บุญ, กรรมดี, or บารมี. See baseline grace entry in full. |
| 7 | Mercy | ἔλεος (eleos) | ความเมตตา (khwam metta) | Walking in Truth and Love | High | New | Established Thai Bible rendering, but เมตตา is also one of Thai Buddhism’s Four Sublime Abodes (a self-cultivated virtue). Must always be taught as God’s own compassionate initiative in Christ, not a practitioner-cultivated disposition — same shared-vocabulary pattern the baseline documents for บาป (sin). |
| 8 | Peace | εἰρήνη (eirēnē) | สันติสุข (santisuk) | Walking in Truth and Love | Medium | REUSE | See baseline peace entry; distinguish from meditative calm (ความสงบทางใจ). |
| 9 | God the Father | θεοῦ πατρός (theou patros) | พระเจ้าพระบิดา (Phra Chao Phra Bida) | Walking in Truth and Love | Critical | REUSE | Combines baseline god and father entries; never เทวดา/พระพรหม for God, never พ่อขุน for Father. |
| 10 | Jesus Christ, Son of the Father | Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ πατρός | พระเยซูคริสต์พระบุตรของพระบิดา (Phra Yesu Khrit Phra But khong Phra Bida) | Warning against Deceivers Denying the Incarnation | Critical | REUSE | Combines baseline jesus, christ, son_of_god. Eternal, unique Sonship; never เทพบุตร or an avatar-adjacent gloss. |
| 11 | Walk (conduct of life) | περιπατέω (peripateō) | ดำเนินชีวิต (damnoen chiwit) | Walking in Truth and Love / Perseverance in the Teaching of Christ | High | New | Avoid “walk the path” imagery (เดินตามมรรคา) that would resonate with the Buddhist Eightfold Path (มรรค), a specific self-cultivated route to liberation. |
| 12 | Commandment | ἐντολή (entolē) | พระบัญญัติ (phra banyat) | Walking in Truth and Love / Perseverance in the Teaching of Christ | Medium/High | New | Must remain visibly distinct from the baseline’s ธรรมบัญญัติ (law, the Mosaic Torah) — a one-syllable prefix difference carries real doctrinal weight; do not conflate the Johannine love-command with Mosaic law categories. |
| 13 | New commandment / from the beginning | ἐντολὴ καινή / ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς (entolē kainē / ap’ archēs) | พระบัญญัติใหม่ / ตั้งแต่เริ่มแรก (phra banyat mai / tang tae roem raek) | Walking in Truth and Love | Medium | New | Rhetorical point (continuity, not novelty, authenticates doctrine) must not be flattened into vague “in the past” language. |
| 14 | One another | ἀλλήλους (allēlous) | ซึ่งกันและกัน (sueng kan lae kan) | Walking in Truth and Love | Low | New | Standard reciprocal construction; minimal risk. |
| 15 | Deceivers | πλάνοι (planoi) | ผู้ล่อลวง (phu lo luang) | Warning against Deceivers Denying the Incarnation | High | New | Must read as doctrinal corruption from within the Christian movement, not a “different but valid” alternative teaching (Thailand’s religious pluralism makes the softer reading tempting) and not folk-animist trickster/spirit vocabulary. |
| 16 | World | κόσμος (kosmos) | โลก (lok) | Warning against Deceivers Denying the Incarnation | Low | New | Generic, low-risk; simply the created order/human society in view. |
| 17 | Confess | ὁμολογέω (homologeō) | ยอมรับว่า / รับสารภาพว่า (yomrap wa / rap sarapap wa) | Warning against Deceivers Denying the Incarnation | Critical | New | The letter’s central orthodoxy test hinges on this verb; must convey public doctrinal affirmation, not private assent alone, and must be distinguished by context from confessing personal sin. |
| 18 | Coming in the flesh (Incarnation) | ἐρχόμενον ἐν σαρκί (erchomenon en sarki) | เสด็จมาเป็นมนุษย์ / ทรงบังเกิดเป็นมนุษย์ (sadet ma pen manut / song bangkoet pen manut) | Warning against Deceivers Denying the Incarnation | Critical | REUSE | Directly reuses baseline incarnation. NEVER การอวตาร (avatar) — the single most tempting forbidden substitution in this entire book, given the Ramakien/Rama/Vishnu-avatar cultural backdrop, precisely because the verse narrates a deity “coming” bodily. |
| 19 | Antichrist | ἀντίχριστος (antichristos) | ปฏิปักษ์พระคริสต์ (patipak Phra Khrit) | Warning against Deceivers Denying the Incarnation | High | New | Built on baseline christ. Risk is under-explanation: Thai readers may default to a single future world-figure (reinforced by popular apocalyptic media) rather than the Johannine present-tense category of anyone denying the incarnation now. |
| 20 | Watch yourselves | βλέπετε ἑαυτούς (blepete heautous) | จงเฝ้าระวังตัวท่านเอง (chong fao rawang tua than eng) | Perseverance in the Teaching of Christ | Low | New | Standard vigilance imperative; minimal risk. |
| 21 | Full reward | μισθὸν πλήρη (misthon plērē) | บำเหน็จ / รางวัลอันสมบูรณ์ (bamnet / rangwan an sombun) | Perseverance in the Teaching of Christ | High | New | Commercial “wage” imagery risks collision with merit-ledger vocabulary already flagged Critical for grace/works_of_the_law (บุญ, กรรมดี); reward must be taught as grace-given divine commendation of Spirit-enabled faithfulness, never an independently accumulated merit balance. |
| 22 | Teaching of Christ | διδαχὴ τοῦ Χριστοῦ (didachē tou Christou) | คำสอนของพระคริสต์ (kham son khong Phra Khrit) | Perseverance in the Teaching of Christ | Critical | New | Must never be shortened to a generic “teaching” (คำสอน) detached from Christ as source and content; the verse’s entire logic depends on Christ, not an abstract topic, being what is taught. |
| 23 | Go on ahead / overstep | προάγων (proagōn) | ล่วงเลยไป / ก้าวล่วงออกไป (luang loei pai / kao luang ok pai) | Perseverance in the Teaching of Christ | Medium | New | Must retain clearly negative framing; a positive-sounding “progress/advance” rendering would accidentally align with the positively-valued Buddhist notion of spiritual advancement, inverting the verse’s judgment. |
| 24 | Abide / remain | μένω (menō) | ดำรงอยู่ / ยึดมั่นอยู่ใน (damrong yu / yuek man yu nai) | Perseverance in the Teaching of Christ | High | New | Must not be rendered with vocabulary suggesting self-driven meditative steadfastness (e.g., terms echoing ตั้งมั่น/สมาธิ); this is grace-enabled perseverance in received apostolic content, not a self-cultivated mental state. |
| 25 | Have God / have Father and Son | θεὸν ἔχειν / πατέρα καὶ υἱὸν ἔχειν (theon echein / patera kai huion echein) | มีพระเจ้า / มีพระบิดาและพระบุตร (mi Phra Chao / mi Phra Bida lae Phra But) | Warning against Deceivers Denying the Incarnation | Critical | Partial (REUSE underlying god/father/son_of_god) | “Having” God must convey covenant-relational standing contingent on right confession of the Son, not a talismanic or transactional possession. |
| 26 | Receive into house | λαμβάνειν εἰς οἰκίαν (lambanein eis oikian) | รับ(เขา)ไว้ในบ้าน (rap [khao] wai nai baan) | Hospitality and Doctrinal Discernment | High | New | Sharpest cultural (not primarily religious-vocabulary) collision in the book: Thai hospitality norms and เกรงใจ (kreng jai) make blanket refusal of a guest feel like a severe breach of decency. Must be taught as refusal of specifically ministry-endorsing hospitality toward a known denier of the incarnation, not a general license for inhospitality. |
| 27 | Say greetings / give no greeting | χαίρειν λέγειν (chairein legein) | กล่าวคำทักทาย(อวยพร)แก่เขา (klao kham thakthai [uai phon] kae khao) | Hospitality and Doctrinal Discernment | High | New | Thai greeting customs (the wai gesture, formal blessing-language toward guests/elders/monks) carry heavier social-religious weight than an English “hello.” Must be clarified as withholding a formal welcome/blessing that functions as doctrinal endorsement, not ordinary politeness or the wai gesture generally. |
| 28 | Share / participate in (evil) | κοινωνέω (koinōneō) | มีส่วนร่วมใน (mi suan ruam nai) | Hospitality and Doctrinal Discernment | Medium/High | New (contrast with REUSE fellowship) | Deliberately not reusing การสามัคคีธรรม (the baseline’s positive fellowship noun) so the negative sense here is not confused with, or dignifies, Christian fellowship language elsewhere in the curriculum. The Greek’s ironic wordplay (same root as “fellowship,” now meaning complicity in evil) is largely lost in Thai and should be flagged in translator notes. |
| 29 | Evil works | ἔργα πονηρά (erga ponēra) | การกระทำที่ชั่วร้าย (kan kratham thi chua rai) | Hospitality and Doctrinal Discernment | Medium | New | Structurally parallel to (but lexically distinct from) the baseline’s การกระทำของเนื้อหนัง (works_of_the_flesh); catechists should note that denying the incarnation is itself classed here as “evil work,” a moral not merely intellectual category. |
| 30 | Paper and ink | χάρτης καὶ μέλαν (chartēs kai melan) | กระดาษและหมึก (kradat lae muk) | (background/cultural, no assigned doctrine) | Low | New | Purely material-historical reference; no doctrinal risk, useful contextual note only. |
| 31 | Face to face (mouth to mouth) | στόμα πρὸς στόμα (stoma pros stoma) | ต่อหน้ากัน / พูดกันซึ่งหน้า (to na kan / phut kan sueng na) | (background/cultural, no assigned doctrine) | Low | New | Fixed Greek idiom; must be rendered by natural Thai idiom for face-to-face conversation, never a literal “mouth-to-mouth” construction. |
| 32 | Joy fulfilled | χαρὰ πεπληρωμένη (chara peplērōmenē) | ความยินดีที่เต็มบริบูรณ์ (khwam yindi thi tem boribun) | (background/cultural, no assigned doctrine) | Low | New | No doctrinal collision; optional note on the χαρά/χαίρειν wordplay linking vv. 4, 10–12 in Greek, largely untranslatable into Thai. |
| 33 | Sister | ἀδελφή (adelphē) | น้องสาว / พี่สาว (nong sao / phi sao) | (background/cultural, no assigned doctrine) | Low | New | Straightforward kinship term; context determines relative-age register choice in Thai. |
| 34 | Greet (closing greeting) | ἀσπάζομαι (aspazomai) | ฝากความคิดถึงมายังท่าน / ส่งความคิดถึง (fak khwam khit thueng ma yang than / song khwam khit thueng) | Hospitality and Doctrinal Discernment | Low | New | Should use Thai vocabulary visibly distinct from the vv. 10–11 refused-greeting term (χαίρειν) so the letter’s warm closing greeting is not confused with the very greeting formula earlier withheld from deceivers. |
Cross-Reference to Baseline Reused Terms
The following terms are governed entirely by the baseline translation_memory.json / bible_term_registry.json and are reused in 2 John without modification: grace (พระคุณ), peace (สันติสุข), god (พระเจ้า), father (พระบิดา), jesus (พระเยซู), christ (พระคริสต์), son_of_god (พระบุตรของพระเจ้า), incarnation (การทรงบังเกิดเป็นมนุษย์), election (การทรงเลือก), fellowship (การสามัคคีธรรม — contrasted, not reused, at term #28 above), adoption (การรับเป็นบุตร — background resonance for “children,” term #3).
Doctrine-to-Term Index (per curriculum parameters)
- Walking in Truth and Love: #1–14 (elder, elect lady, children, truth, love, grace, mercy, peace, God the Father, Jesus Christ Son of the Father, walk, commandment, new commandment/from the beginning, one another)
- Warning against Deceivers Denying the Incarnation: #15–19, #25 (deceivers, world, confess, coming in the flesh, antichrist, have God/have Father and Son)
- Perseverance in the Teaching of Christ: #11, #20–24 (walk, watch yourselves, full reward, teaching of Christ, go on ahead/overstep, abide/remain)
- Hospitality and Doctrinal Discernment: #26–29, #34 (receive into house, say greetings, share/participate in evil, evil works, closing greeting)
Critical Risk Terms
Grace
Approved rendering: พระคุณ
Transliteration: phra khun
Doctrine: Grace, Mercy, and Peace
Rejected alternatives: บุญ, กรรมดี, บารมี
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. CRITICAL: Never use บุญ (merit) or กรรมดี (good karma), and never บารมี (accumulated charisma/perfection). Anchors the χάρις of 2 John 1:3’s grace-mercy-peace triad; must be taught as favor given apart from any accumulated merit, exactly as in Romans.
God
Approved rendering: พระเจ้า
Transliteration: Phra Chao
Doctrine: Having the Father and the Son
Rejected alternatives: เทวดา, พระพรหม
Original: θεός / אֱלֹהִים / יהוה
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. CRITICAL: never เทวดา or พระพรหม. In 2 John 1:9, ‘having God’ names covenant relational standing contingent on confessing the Son, never a talismanic possession.
Jesus
Approved rendering: พระเยซู
Transliteration: Phra Yesu
Doctrine: Warning against Deceivers Denying the Incarnation
Original: Ἰησοῦς / יֵשׁוּעַ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Standard Thai Bible form.
Christ
Approved rendering: พระคริสต์
Transliteration: Phra Khrit
Doctrine: Perseverance in the Teaching of Christ
Original: Χριστός
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans/Galatians package’s established proper-name form. Central to 2 John’s คำสอนของพระคริสต์ (teaching of Christ, 1:9) and the incarnation confession (1:7).
Son Of God
Approved rendering: พระบุตรของพระเจ้า
Transliteration: Phra But khong Phra Chao
Doctrine: Having the Father and the Son
Rejected alternatives: เทพบุตร, อวตารของพระเจ้า
Original: υἱὸς θεοῦ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. In 2 John 1:3 rendered พระบุตรของพระบิดา (‘the Son of the Father’) per the letter’s own wording; never a lesser or honorary-sonship gloss.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: การทรงบังเกิดเป็นมนุษย์
Transliteration: kan song bangkoet pen manut
Doctrine: Warning against Deceivers Denying the Incarnation
Rejected alternatives: การอวตาร
Original: ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans/Galatians package. CRITICAL — the single most tempting forbidden substitution in all of 2 John: 1:7 explicitly narrates Jesus Christ ‘coming in the flesh’ (ἐρχόμενον ἐν σαρκί), the exact grammatical shape of an avatar-descent story in the Ramakien/Vishnu-avatar cultural frame. NEVER การอวตาร.
Confess
Approved rendering: ยอมรับว่า / รับสารภาพว่า
Transliteration: yomrap wa / rap sarapap wa
Doctrine: Warning against Deceivers Denying the Incarnation
Original: ὁμολογέω
Category: Warning against Deceivers Denying the Incarnation
NEW. CRITICAL: the letter’s central orthodoxy test (2 John 1:7) hinges on this verb. Must convey public doctrinal affirmation, not private assent alone, or Thailand’s pluralistic ‘privately believe as you like’ habit of mind would silently satisfy the test. Distinguish by explicit context (‘confess that Jesus Christ…’) from confessing personal sin.
Teaching Of Christ
Approved rendering: คำสอนของพระคริสต์
Transliteration: kham son khong Phra Khrit
Doctrine: Perseverance in the Teaching of Christ
Rejected alternatives: คำสอน (bare ‘teaching,’ detached from Christ as source and content)
Original: διδαχὴ τοῦ Χριστοῦ
Category: Perseverance in the Teaching of Christ
NEW. CRITICAL: must never be shortened to a generic ‘teaching’ (คำสอน), since Thai already uses that word as default vocabulary for a wide range of religious instruction, including Buddhist doctrine. 2 John 1:9’s entire logic depends on Christ being the content, not merely a topic, of the teaching.
Have God And Father And Son
Approved rendering: มีพระเจ้า / มีพระบิดาและพระบุตร
Transliteration: mi Phra Chao / mi Phra Bida lae Phra But
Doctrine: Having the Father and the Son
Original: θεὸν ἔχειν / τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὸν υἱὸν ἔχειν
Category: Warning against Deceivers Denying the Incarnation
NEW. CRITICAL: a binary relational-status claim (2 John 1:9) — no such thing as having the Father while rejecting the Son. Risk: ‘having’ God could be misheard through a transactional/talismanic frame, as one might ‘have’ a protective amulet’s blessing (วัตถุมงคล) or accumulated merit-standing. Must be taught as covenant relationship contingent specifically on confessing the incarnate Son.
High Risk Terms
Father
Approved rendering: พระบิดา
Transliteration: Phra Bida
Doctrine: Having the Father and the Son
Rejected alternatives: พ่อขุน
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. God as personal, relational Father; avoid พ่อขุน. Paired with พระบุตร throughout 2 John’s Father/Son relational claims (1:3, 1:9).
Election
Approved rendering: การทรงเลือก
Transliteration: kan song lueak
Doctrine: Divine Election of the Church
Rejected alternatives: โชคชะตา, เวรกรรม
Original: ἐκλογή / ἐκλεκτός
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Governs 2 John 1:1’s ἐκλεκτῇ κυρίᾳ and 1:13’s ἐκλεκτῆς ἀδελφῆς; never fate/karma vocabulary.
Law
Approved rendering: ธรรมบัญญัติ
Transliteration: tham banyat
Doctrine: Walking in Truth and Love
Rejected alternatives: พระธรรมวินัย
Original: νόμος
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Must remain visibly distinct from 2 John’s own ἐντολή (commandment, พระบัญญัติ) — a single-prefix difference (พระ- vs ธรรม-) carries real doctrinal weight; do not conflate the Johannine love-command with Mosaic-law categories.
Truth
Approved rendering: ความจริง
Transliteration: khwam jing
Doctrine: Walking in Truth and Love
Original: ἀλήθεια
Category: Walking in Truth and Love
NEW. Must always be anchored explicitly to ‘the truth of the gospel concerning Christ,’ not generic factual accuracy or sincerity — the risk is under-translation, not a false-friend collision. Parallels the baseline’s insistence that ความเชื่อ (faith) always specify Christ as its object.
Love One Another
Approved rendering: ความรัก / รักซึ่งกันและกัน
Transliteration: khwam rak / rak sueng kan lae kan
Doctrine: Walking in Truth and Love
Rejected alternatives: เมตตา/กรุณา (self-cultivated Buddhist compassion, as the primary gloss)
Original: ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους
Category: Walking in Truth and Love
NEW. ความรัก is the correct religiously neutral choice but must always be glossed as the self-giving, command-shaped ἀγάπη of the gospel, distinct from romantic รัก and from the self-cultivated compassion vocabulary of เมตตา/กรุณา. Must be held together with truth (2 John 1:1-6); the letter forecloses both loveless orthodoxy and doctrine-less sentiment.
Mercy
Approved rendering: ความเมตตา
Transliteration: khwam metta
Doctrine: Grace, Mercy, and Peace
Original: ἔλεος
Category: Walking in Truth and Love
NEW. Established Thai Bible rendering, but เมตตา is also one of Thai Buddhism’s Four Sublime Abodes (พรหมวิหาร 4), a virtue a practitioner cultivates toward all beings through personal moral/meditative discipline. Every occurrence must be taught as God’s own compassionate initiative flowing from his character and expressed climactically in Christ — never a self-cultivated disposition the reader develops. Same shared-vocabulary re-anchoring pattern the baseline documents for บาป (sin).
Walk
Approved rendering: ดำเนินชีวิต
Transliteration: damnoen chiwit
Doctrine: Walking in Truth and Love
Rejected alternatives: เดินตามมรรคา, เดินบนวิถี
Original: περιπατέω
Category: Walking in Truth and Love
NEW. Must not be rendered with ‘walk the path’ imagery, which would resonate with the Noble Eightfold Path (มรรค), the specific Buddhist term for a self-cultivated route to liberation. ดำเนินชีวิต keeps the metaphor at the level of general conduct.
Commandment
Approved rendering: พระบัญญัติ
Transliteration: phra banyat
Doctrine: Walking in Truth and Love
Original: ἐντολή
Category: Walking in Truth and Love
NEW. Must be kept visibly distinct from ธรรมบัญญัติ (baseline law, the Mosaic Torah) — a single prefix’s difference (พระ- vs ธรรม-) carries real doctrinal weight. Conflating the two would import Mosaic-law, works-based categories into a Johannine love-command with a different referent and force.
Deceivers
Approved rendering: ผู้ล่อลวง
Transliteration: phu lo luang
Doctrine: Warning against Deceivers Denying the Incarnation
Rejected alternatives: ครูผิด (generic ‘wrong teacher,’ understates active deception), folk-religious trickster/spirit-deception vocabulary
Original: πλάνοι
Category: Warning against Deceivers Denying the Incarnation
NEW. Must read as doctrinal corruption from within the Christian movement, not a ‘different but valid’ alternative teaching — Thailand’s religiously pluralistic culture makes that softer reading especially tempting. Consistent with the baseline’s false_gospel entry.
Antichrist
Approved rendering: ปฏิปักษ์พระคริสต์
Transliteration: patipak Phra Khrit
Doctrine: Antichrist and False Teachers
Rejected alternatives: แอนตี้ไครสต์ (foreign pop-culture loanword transliteration, no doctrinal content)
Original: ἀντίχριστος
Category: Warning against Deceivers Denying the Incarnation
NEW. Built on baseline christ. Risk is under-explanation: Thai readers, shaped by popular apocalyptic media, will likely default to a single future world-figure rather than John’s present-tense category of anyone now denying the incarnation. Mandatory translator note required at every occurrence; also risks confusion with the positively-valenced Thai millenarian figure พระศรีอริยเมตไตรย (Phra Si Ariya Metrai), the inverse valence of ‘antichrist.‘
Full Reward
Approved rendering: บำเหน็จ / รางวัลอันสมบูรณ์
Transliteration: bamnet / rangwan an sombun
Doctrine: Faithful Labor and Full Reward
Rejected alternatives: ค่าจ้าง (flatly commercial ‘wage,’ heightens the merit-transaction reading)
Original: μισθὸν πλήρη
Category: Perseverance in the Teaching of Christ
NEW. The commercial μισθός ‘wage’ image is structurally similar to a merit-transaction and carries the same doctrinal exposure the baseline flags Critical for grace/works_of_the_law; must never be taught as an independently accumulated balance (echoing บุญ/กรรมดี) but as God’s own gracious commendation of Spirit-enabled faithfulness continuing labor another began.
Abide
Approved rendering: ดำรงอยู่ / ยึดมั่นอยู่ใน
Transliteration: damrong yu / yuek man yu nai
Doctrine: Perseverance in the Teaching of Christ
Rejected alternatives: ตั้งมั่น/สมาธิ-adjacent vocabulary (self-cultivated meditative steadiness)
Original: μένω
Category: Perseverance in the Teaching of Christ
NEW. Must not be rendered with vocabulary suggesting self-driven meditative steadfastness prized in Thai Buddhist practice; this is grace-enabled perseverance in received apostolic content, not a self-attained inner stillness. Must always be paired explicitly with คำสอนของพระคริสต์, never a bare, sourceless object.
Receive Into House
Approved rendering: อย่ารับเขาไว้ในบ้าน
Transliteration: ya rap khao wai nai baan
Doctrine: Hospitality and Doctrinal Discernment
Original: λαμβάνειν εἰς οἰκίαν
Category: Hospitality and Doctrinal Discernment
NEW. The sharpest cultural collision point in the letter (2 John 1:10): Thai hospitality norms and เกรงใจ (kreng jai) make a flat refusal-of-guest command land as a severe breach of decency. Must be explicitly scoped to refusal of ministry-endorsing hospitality toward a known denier of the incarnation, never a general license for inhospitality, and paired with the letter’s own emphasis on love (1:5-6).
Give No Greeting
Approved rendering: อย่ากล่าวคำทักทาย(อวยพร)แก่เขา
Transliteration: ya klao kham thakthai (uai phon) kae khao
Doctrine: Hospitality and Doctrinal Discernment
Original: χαίρειν λέγειν
Category: Hospitality and Doctrinal Discernment
NEW. Thai greeting/leave-taking customs (the wai gesture, formal blessing-language toward guests, elders, monks) carry heavier social-religious weight than an English ‘hello.’ Must be taught as withholding a formal welcome/blessing that would function as doctrinal endorsement (2 John 1:10), not ordinary politeness or the wai gesture generally.
Share In Evil Works
Approved rendering: มีส่วนร่วมใน
Transliteration: mi suan ruam nai
Doctrine: Complicity in False Teaching
Rejected alternatives: การสามัคคีธรรม (the baseline’s positive fellowship noun, sharing the same Greek root κοινωνία — deliberately rejected here)
Original: κοινωνέω
Category: Hospitality and Doctrinal Discernment
NEW. κοινωνέω (2 John 1:11) is deliberately NOT rendered with การสามัคคีธรรม so the negative sense (real moral participation in evil) is not confused with, or accidentally dignified by, positive Christian-fellowship language used elsewhere in the curriculum. The Greek’s ironic wordplay is lost across Thai’s two distinct roots and must be carried by explicit surrounding wording in translator notes.
Medium Risk Terms
Peace
Approved rendering: สันติสุข
Transliteration: santisuk
Doctrine: Grace, Mercy, and Peace
Rejected alternatives: ความสงบทางใจ
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Relational peace with God through justification, distinct from meditative calm. Completes the grace-mercy-peace triad of 2 John 1:3.
Adoption
Approved rendering: การรับเป็นบุตร
Transliteration: kan rap pen but
Doctrine: Walking in Truth and Love
Rejected alternatives: การอุปการะ
Original: υἱοθεσία
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Provides background resonance for 2 John’s τέκνα (‘children’) vocabulary throughout the letter; full, permanent son-status, not a lesser or fostered standing.
Elder
Approved rendering: ผู้ปกครอง
Transliteration: phu pokkhrong
Doctrine: Pastoral Authority and Eldership
Rejected alternatives: อาจารย์ใหญ่ (senior teacher, understates delegated ecclesial authority)
Original: πρεσβύτερος
Category: Church
NEW. Contemporary Thai ผู้ปกครอง most commonly denotes a child’s parent/legal guardian; context must clarify a recognized church-teaching office. Shares a root with the Galatians package’s ผู้ปกครองดูแล (the law’s temporary paidagogos role) — the two must not be confused.
Elect Lady
Approved rendering: ท่านสตรีที่ทรงเลือกไว้
Transliteration: than sattri thi song lueak wai
Doctrine: Divine Election of the Church
Original: ἐκλεκτῇ κυρίᾳ
Category: Church
NEW. Honorific address (2 John 1:1) to an individual or, more likely, a congregation personified as a household. κυρία shares its root with the Critical baseline term lord (κύριος) though carrying no deity sense here; a translator note is required so reviewers do not read deity-adjacent weight into this purely honorific social address. Uses the established ทรง- election construction.
New Commandment From Beginning
Approved rendering: พระบัญญัติใหม่ / ตั้งแต่เริ่มแรก
Transliteration: phra banyat mai / tang tae roem raek
Doctrine: Walking in Truth and Love
Original: ἐντολὴ καινή / ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς
Category: Walking in Truth and Love
NEW. ἀπ’ ἀρχῆς must be rendered pointedly (‘from the very beginning of your faith’), not vaguely as ‘in the past,’ or the letter’s continuity-versus-novelty argument for authenticating true doctrine is lost.
Go On Ahead
Approved rendering: ล่วงเลยไป / ก้าวล่วงออกไป
Transliteration: luang loei pai / kao luang ok pai
Doctrine: Perseverance in the Teaching of Christ
Rejected alternatives: ก้าวหน้าไป (a positive-sounding ‘advances further’)
Original: προάγων
Category: Perseverance in the Teaching of Christ
NEW. A neutral or positive-sounding Thai rendering would accidentally align this verb with the positively-valued Buddhist notion of spiritual progress/attainment, inverting 2 John 1:9’s clearly negative judgment on going ‘beyond’ Christ’s teaching. Must retain clearly negative framing.
Evil Works
Approved rendering: การกระทำที่ชั่วร้าย
Transliteration: kan kratham thi chua rai
Doctrine: Hospitality and Doctrinal Discernment
Original: τὰ ἔργα τὰ πονηρά
Category: Hospitality and Doctrinal Discernment
NEW. Structurally parallel to, but lexically distinct from, the Galatians package’s การกระทำของเนื้อหนัง (works_of_the_flesh); catechists should note that denying the incarnation is itself classed here (2 John 1:11) among ‘evil works,’ a moral rather than merely intellectual category.
Low Risk Terms
Fellowship
Approved rendering: การสามัคคีธรรม
Transliteration: kan samakkhi tham
Doctrine: Joy in Personal Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: มิตรภาพ
Original: κοινωνία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Reserved exclusively for the letter’s positive sense of shared participation; deliberately NEVER reused for 2 John 1:11’s negative κοινωνέω (see share_in_evil_works), preserving a clean separation the Greek’s own wordplay does not have.
Children
Approved rendering: บุตร
Transliteration: but
Doctrine: Walking in Truth and Love
Rejected alternatives: ลูกๆ (acceptable general alternative, lower formal register)
Original: τέκνα
Category: Church
NEW. Prefer บุตร to keep resonance with the baseline adoption entry (การรับเป็นบุตร) when the familial/covenantal sense of τέκνα is in view (2 John 1:1, 1:4, 1:13).
One Another
Approved rendering: ซึ่งกันและกัน
Transliteration: sueng kan lae kan
Doctrine: Walking in Truth and Love
Original: ἀλλήλους
Category: Walking in Truth and Love
NEW. Standard reciprocal construction; minimal doctrinal risk.
World
Approved rendering: โลก
Transliteration: lok
Doctrine: Warning against Deceivers Denying the Incarnation
Original: κόσμος
Category: Warning against Deceivers Denying the Incarnation
NEW. Generic; human society/created order into which the deceivers have gone out (2 John 1:7). Low Thai-specific collision risk.
Watch Yourselves
Approved rendering: จงเฝ้าระวังตัวท่านเอง
Transliteration: chong fao rawang tua than eng
Doctrine: Faithful Labor and Full Reward
Original: βλέπετε ἑαυτούς
Category: Perseverance in the Teaching of Christ
NEW. Standard, non-controversial vigilance imperative (2 John 1:8); minimal risk.
Paper And Ink
Approved rendering: กระดาษและหมึก
Transliteration: kradat lae muk
Doctrine: Joy in Personal Fellowship
Original: χάρτης καὶ μέλαν
Category: Epistolary Background
NEW. Purely material/cultural-historical reference (2 John 1:12); no doctrinal risk, though a brief explanatory note on ancient letter-writing materials aids comprehension.
Face To Face
Approved rendering: ต่อหน้ากัน / พูดกันซึ่งหน้า
Transliteration: to na kan / phut kan sueng na
Doctrine: Joy in Personal Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: a literal ‘mouth to mouth’ construction
Original: στόμα πρὸς στόμα
Category: Epistolary Background
NEW. στόμα πρὸς στόμα (2 John 1:12) is a fixed Greek idiom for direct, in-person conversation; must not be translated literally, which would wrongly suggest physical contact. Render by natural Thai idiom per the standing idiom-handling rule.
Joy Fulfilled
Approved rendering: ความยินดีที่เต็มบริบูรณ์
Transliteration: khwam yindi thi tem boribun
Doctrine: Joy in Personal Fellowship
Original: χαρὰ πεπληρωμένη
Category: Epistolary Background
NEW. No doctrinal collision (2 John 1:12); an optional note on the lost χαρά/χαίρειν wordplay linking 1:4, 1:10-12 in Greek is useful for advanced study but not required for basic comprehension.
Sister
Approved rendering: น้องสาว / พี่สาว
Transliteration: nong sao / phi sao
Doctrine: Joy in Personal Fellowship
Original: ἀδελφή
Category: Epistolary Background
NEW. Kinship term identifying a second congregation/individual (2 John 1:13), itself also described as ἐκλεκτή; relative-age register determined by context.
Greet Closing
Approved rendering: ฝากความคิดถึงมายังท่าน / ส่งความคิดถึง
Transliteration: fak khwam khit thueng ma yang than / song khwam khit thueng
Doctrine: Joy in Personal Fellowship
Original: ἀσπάζομαι
Category: Hospitality and Doctrinal Discernment
NEW. Must use Thai vocabulary visibly distinct from the 1:10-11 refused-greeting term (χαίρειν, rendered give_no_greeting) so the letter’s warm closing greeting (ἀσπάζομαι, 1:13) is not confused with the very greeting formula it earlier withholds from deceivers.
Referenced passages