Core Glossary
Core Glossary — 3 John (English–Greek–Thai)
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md. Terms marked [BASELINE REUSE] are already recorded in the Romans/Galatians translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json; their Thai rendering, risk tier, and doctrine assignment are reused verbatim and must never be altered by this curriculum. All other terms are NEW to this curriculum and are proposed here for addition to translation memory at Phase 2, subject to theologian review per the escalation rules already established in 12_ai_translation_requirements.md.
A. Baseline Terms Reused Exactly (No New Rendering)
| Term | Greek | Thai Rendering | Risk | Doctrine | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| God | θεός | พระเจ้า | Critical | Deity of Christ / God | [BASELINE REUSE]. 3 John 1:11 (“is of God” / “has not seen God”) requires the exact baseline rendering, never เทวดา/พระพรหม. |
| Church | ἐκκλησία | คริสตจักร | Medium | Church as God’s People | [BASELINE REUSE]. 3 John 1:6, 9, 10 — never วัด. |
| Peace | εἰρήνη | สันติสุข | Medium | Peace with God | [BASELINE REUSE]. 3 John 1:14 closing greeting; not the specific justification-context of Romans 5:1, but same lexical choice retained for consistency. |
B. New Terms Introduced by 3 John
| Doctrine (Curriculum) | English Term | Greek | Transliteration | Literal Meaning | Thai Rendering | Thai Transliteration | Risk | Alternatives Rejected | Translation Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Truth and Christian Fellowship | elder (self-designation) | πρεσβύτερος | presbyteros | elder, older man | ผู้ปกครอง | phu pokkhrong | High | อาจารย์ใหญ่ (senior teacher, understates apostolic authority) | Established Thai form (cf. 2 John 1:1). Must be distinguished from Galatians’ ผู้ปกครองดูแล (a different Greek word, “guardian/tutor,” a temporary custodial role) and from Buddhist monastic seniority titles (พระเถระ/พระอาวุโส). |
| Truth and Christian Fellowship | beloved | ἀγαπητός | agapetos | dear one | ที่รัก | thi rak | Low | — | Standard address term. |
| Truth and Christian Fellowship | love (verb) | ἀγαπάω | agapao | to love | รัก | rak | Low | — | — |
| Truth and Christian Fellowship | truth | ἀλήθεια | aletheia | truth, reality | ความจริง | khwam jing | Medium | สัจธรรม (impersonal cosmic/dharma truth-principle) | Governing term of the letter (vv. 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12). Must denote the personal, revealed truth of the gospel in Christ, not an impersonal metaphysical principle. |
| — | to wish/pray | εὔχομαι | euchomai | to wish, pray | อธิษฐานขอ | athitthan kho | Low | — | v. 2. |
| — | to prosper | εὐοδοῦσθαι | euodousthai | to have a good road, flourish | เจริญรุ่งเรือง | jaroen rungrueang | Medium | โชคดี (good fortune) | v. 2. Must be measured against, not equated with, spiritual condition; guard against detached prosperity-gospel reading. |
| — | to be healthy | ὑγιαίνειν | hygiainein | to be sound/healthy | มีสุขภาพดี | mi sukkhaphap di | Low | — | v. 2. |
| Truth and Christian Fellowship | soul | ψυχή | psyche | soul, inner self | จิตใจ | jit jai | High | วิญญาณ (risks confusion with baseline’s Holy Spirit / ghost caution) | v. 2. Collision risk: Thai Buddhist anattā doctrine denies an enduring self/soul; requires a translator note that this is ordinary biblical usage (the whole inner person), not a philosophical claim being adjudicated. |
| — | rejoice / joy | χαίρω / χαρά | chairo / chara | to rejoice / joy | ยินดี / ความยินดี | yindi / khwam yindi | Low | — | vv. 3-4. |
| Truth and Christian Fellowship | brother | ἀδελφός | adelphos | brother | พี่น้อง | phi nong | Medium | — | vv. 3, 5, 10. Must retain covenantal spiritual kinship sense, not generic Thai social-address kinship courtesy. |
| Commendation of Faithful Witness (Demetrius) | to testify / testimony | μαρτυρέω / μαρτυρία | martyreo / martyria | to bear witness / testimony | เป็นพยาน / คำพยาน | pen phayan / kham phayan | Medium | — | vv. 3, 6, 12. Keep semantically consistent across all three occurrences; central to Demetrius’s commendation (v. 12), where “the truth itself” personified testifies. |
| Truth and Christian Fellowship | to walk / conduct oneself | περιπατέω | peripateo | to walk | ดำเนินชีวิต | damnoen chiwit | Medium | เดิน (literal “walk” alone, loses metaphor) | vv. 3-4. Must retain habitual-lifestyle sense. |
| Truth and Christian Fellowship | children (spiritual) | τέκνον | teknon | child | บุตร | but | Medium | ลูก (acceptable informal alternative) | v. 4. Consistent with baseline adoption entry (การรับเป็นบุตร). |
| Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | faithful (adjectival) | πιστός | pistos | faithful, trustworthy | ซื่อสัตย์ | sue sat | Medium | — | v. 5. Describes the character of the hospitality-deed as gospel-consistent; must not imply merit-earning (บุญ). |
| — | to do / work | ἐργάζομαι | ergazomai | to work, do | กระทำ | kratham | Low | — | v. 5. |
| Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | stranger | ξένος | xenos | stranger, foreigner | คนแปลกหน้า | khon plaek na | Medium | ชาวต่างประเทศ (too narrowly political) | v. 5. Must retain the missionary-partnership significance; not generic Thai hospitality-to-guests custom alone. |
| Truth and Christian Fellowship | love (noun) | ἀγάπη | agape | covenantal, self-giving love | ความรัก | khwam rak | Medium | — | v. 6. Colloquial Thai carries romantic connotations; context must make clear this is love proven by concrete hospitality, publicly attested before the church. |
| Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | to send onward | προπέμπω | propempo | to send forward, escort with provision | ส่งเขาเดินทางต่อไป | song khao doen thang tor pai | Medium | — | v. 6. Must retain active material-support sense, not a passive farewell blessing. |
| — | worthily | ἀξίως | axios | in a manner worthy | อย่างสมควร | yang somkhuan | Low | — | v. 6. |
| Truth and Christian Fellowship / Commendation of Faithful Witness | the Name (Christ) | ὄνομα | onoma | name | พระนาม | phra nam | High | — | v. 7. Johannine absolute usage referring to Christ’s identity/authority. Must be distinguished from the Thai monarchy’s formal-name usage (also พระนาม); parallels the baseline’s caution for “Lord.” |
| Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | pagan / non-believer | ἐθνικός | ethnikos | Gentile, pagan | คนนอกศาสนา | khon nok sasana | Medium | คนต่างชาติ (baseline term for the Jew/Gentile unity doctrine — different theological point) | v. 7. Missionary-support context (refusing pagan patronage), not the Romans ethnic-unity doctrine; keep the two uses distinct in translator notes. |
| Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | ought / to owe | ὀφείλω | opheilo | to owe, be obligated | สมควร | somkhuan | Medium | หนี้กรรม / บุญคุณ (karmic-debt-adjacent vocabulary) | v. 8. Moral duty flowing from gospel partnership, not a karmic-debt or merit-debt frame. |
| Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | to support/receive | ὑπολαμβάνω | hypolambano | to take up, support | ให้การสนับสนุน | hai kan sanapsanun | Medium | — | v. 8. Active, practical provision, continuous with προπέμπω. |
| Hospitality to Traveling Ministers / Truth and Christian Fellowship | fellow worker | συνεργός | synergos | co-laborer, partner | ผู้ร่วมงาน | phu ruam ngan | High | — | v. 8. Genuine shared participation in gospel work through hospitality/support; must not imply merit-building (บุญ) for the supporter. |
| Church Leadership and Pride (Diotrephes) | loves to be first / craves preeminence | φιλοπρωτεύω | philoproteuo | to love being first | ปรารถนาเป็นใหญ่ | prathana pen yai | High | เป็นผู้นำ (neutral “is a leader,” loses negative moral coloring) | v. 9. Highest Thai cultural-collision term in the letter: Thai hierarchical-deference norms (ผู้ใหญ่, kreng jai) risk softening John’s explicit condemnation of self-seeking ambition into ordinary respected leadership. Requires unambiguous negative framing and a translator note contrasting with the humble eldership modeled in v. 1 and the commended Demetrius (v. 12). |
| Church Leadership and Pride (Diotrephes) | to receive/welcome (persons/authority) | ἐπιδέχομαι | epidechomai | to receive, accept | ยอมรับ | yomrap | Medium | ต้อนรับ (hospitality-only sense; acceptable secondary gloss) | vv. 9-10. Carries both hospitality-refusal and authority-rejection senses simultaneously. |
| Church Leadership and Pride (Diotrephes) | evil, malicious (adj.) | πονηρός | poneros | evil, wicked | ชั่วร้าย | chua rai | Medium | — | v. 10. |
| Church Leadership and Pride (Diotrephes) | to slander / bring baseless charges | φλυαρέω | phlyareo | to talk nonsense, slander | ใส่ร้าย | sai rai | High | พูดเล่น (mere idle talk, too weak) | v. 10. Must retain the sense of malicious, baseless accusation directed against apostolic authority, part of the core evidence of Diotrephes’ abusive pride. |
| Church Leadership and Pride (Diotrephes) | to hinder/forbid | κωλύω | koluo | to hinder, prevent | ขัดขวาง | khatkhwang | Medium | — | v. 10. |
| Church Leadership and Pride (Diotrephes) | to expel / cast out | ἐκβάλλω | ekballo | to cast out, expel | ขับออก | khap ok | High | ขอให้ออกไป (softens the severity) | v. 10. Must retain the gravity of an illegitimate, authority-overreaching expulsion, contrasted with legitimate church discipline exercised under proper accountability. |
| Imitating Good rather than Evil | to imitate | μιμέομαι | mimeomai | to imitate, follow as model | เอาเป็นแบบอย่าง | ao pen baep yang | High | เลียนแบบ (can sound merely imitative/superficial) | v. 11. Central doctrinal verb; the “good” imitated must be gospel/truth-defined (Demetrius), the “evil” avoided must be pride-defined (Diotrephes), not generic morality. |
| Imitating Good rather than Evil | evil (general) | κακός | kakos | bad, evil, worthless | ความชั่ว | khwam chua | Medium | — | v. 11. |
| Imitating Good rather than Evil | good (general) | ἀγαθός | agathos | good, of moral excellence | ความดี | khwam di | Medium | — | v. 11. CROSS-REFERENCE: baseline rejects ความดี as a substitute for “righteousness” (ความชอบธรรม) in justification contexts (a different Greek word, δικαιοσύνη). Here ἀγαθός is genuinely general moral goodness, so ความดี is correct in this verse only; do not extrapolate this usage back into justification/righteousness contexts. |
| Imitating Good rather than Evil | to do good / to do evil | ἀγαθοποιέω / κακοποιέω | agathopoieo / kakopoieo | to do good / to do evil | ทำดี / ทำชั่ว | tham di / tham chua | Critical | ทำดีได้ดี ทำชั่วได้ชั่ว as the operative logic (the Thai karma proverb); กฎแห่งกรรม | v. 11. CRITICAL — near-identical in surface structure to the ubiquitous Thai folk-Buddhist maxim and to กฎแห่งกรรม (the law of karma), the same Thai-specific collision already flagged Critical for “sowing and reaping” in the Galatians package. Must preserve the relational logic explicitly: doing good is evidence of an existing relationship with a personal God (“is of God”), not an impersonal self-operating moral-ledger mechanism. Requires the same class of translator note used for Galatians 6:7-8. |
| Imitating Good rather than Evil | has seen / has known (God) | ὁράω (perf. ἑώρακεν) | horao | to see (perfect: has seen) | ไม่รู้จักพระเจ้า (primary); ไม่เคยเห็น (literal alt.) | mai ruchak Phra Chao / mai khoei hen | Medium | — | v. 11. Johannine idiom for relational knowledge/fellowship with God, not literal physical sight; a literal-only rendering risks sounding trivially true for everyone. |
| Commendation of Faithful Witness (Demetrius) / Truth and Christian Fellowship | true | ἀληθής | alethes | true | จริง | jing | Low | — | v. 12. Must stay lexically linked to ความจริง (ἀλήθεια). |
| — | ink | μέλαν | melan | ink | หมึก | muk | Low | — | v. 13. No theological content. |
| — | reed-pen | κάλαμος | kalamos | reed, pen | ปากกา (with note on ancient reed-pen) | pak ka | Low | — | v. 13. No theological content. |
| — | to hope | ἐλπίζω | elpizo | to hope | หวัง / มีความหวัง | wang / mi khwam wang | Low | — | v. 14. |
| — | to greet | ἀσπάζομαι | aspazomai | to greet, salute | ฝากความคิดถึง | fak khwam khid thueng | Low | — | v. 14 (x2). |
| Truth and Christian Fellowship | friend | φίλος | philos | friend | เพื่อน | phuean | Low | — | v. 14 (x2). Distinct from ἀδελφός (“brother”); echoes Johannine friendship theology (cf. John 15:14-15). Flag for translator awareness, not a doctrinal risk. |
C. Proper Names (Transliteration Standard)
| Name | Greek | Thai Rendering | Transliteration | Risk | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gaius | Γάϊος | กายอัส | Kaios | Low | Letter’s recipient; commended for hospitality (vv. 1-8). Confirm exact Thai Bible Society spelling in Phase 2. |
| Demetrius | Δημήτριος | เดเมตริอัส | Demetrios | Low | Positive model of faithful, truth-attested witness (v. 12). |
| Diotrephes | Διοτρέφης | ดิโอเตรเฟส | Diotrephes | Low | Negative model of prideful, authority-abusing leadership (vv. 9-10); doctrinal risk attaches to the surrounding verbs/nouns, not the name itself. |
D. Doctrine-to-Term Cross-Reference Summary
| Curriculum Doctrine | Key Terms |
|---|---|
| Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | ξένος, προπέμπω, ὑπολαμβάνω, συνεργός, ἐθνικός, ὀφείλω, πιστός, ἐπιδέχομαι (positive sense), ἀδελφός |
| Imitating Good rather than Evil | μιμέομαι, κακός, ἀγαθός, ἀγαθοποιέω, κακοποιέω, ὁράω |
| Church Leadership and Pride (Diotrephes) | πρεσβύτερος (contrast), φιλοπρωτεύω, ἐπιδέχομαι (negative sense), φλυαρέω, κωλύω, ἐκβάλλω, ἐκκλησία |
| Commendation of Faithful Witness (Demetrius) | μαρτυρέω, μαρτυρία, ἀληθής, ἀγαθός |
| Truth and Christian Fellowship | ἀλήθεια, ἀδελφός, ἀγάπη, συνεργός, ὄνομα, φίλος, ψυχή |
This glossary must be merged into translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json at the start of Phase 2 for 3 John, following the same version-increment and theologian-flagging procedure specified in 12_ai_translation_requirements.md. All Critical- and High-risk NEW terms above (φιλοπρωτεύω, ψυχή, ὄνομα as “the Name,” συνεργός, φλυαρέω, ἐκβάλλω, μιμέομαι, ἀγαθοποιέω/κακοποιέω, πρεσβύτερος) require human theologian review before Phase 2 translation proceeds.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: พระเจ้า
Transliteration: Phra Chao
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Rejected alternatives: เทวดา, พระพรหม
Original: θεός / אֱלֹהִים / יהוה
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package verbatim. 3 John 1:11 (‘is of God’ / ‘has not seen God’) requires this exact rendering; never เทวดา (a deva) or พระพรหม (Brahma). This verse’s action-to-spiritual-consequence structure must keep พระเจ้า as an explicit, personal, relational subject, not an impersonal moral-ledger mechanism (see do_good_do_evil below).
Jesus
Approved rendering: พระเยซู
Transliteration: Phra Yesu
Doctrine: Christ’s Name as the Motive for Ministry
Inherited from Romans package verbatim. Standard Thai Bible form. Relevant to 3 John as the referent implicitly named by ‘the Name’ (v.7), the letter’s motive-of-ministry doctrine.
Christ
Approved rendering: พระคริสต์
Transliteration: Phra Khrit
Doctrine: Christ’s Name as the Motive for Ministry
Inherited from Galatians extension of the Romans package verbatim. Relevant background term for 3 John’s ‘the Name’ doctrine and for surrounding lesson material, though 3 John’s own text does not use this word directly.
Grace
Approved rendering: พระคุณ
Transliteration: phra khun
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: บุญ, กรรมดี, บารมี
Inherited from Romans package verbatim. Not used as a direct rendering in 3 John’s own text, but the CRITICAL grace-versus-merit distinction it enforces is the doctrinal fence protecting fellow_worker (ผู้ร่วมงาน, v.8) and faithful_deed (ซื่อสัตย์, v.5) from collapsing toward บุญ (merit) via the Thai lay-Buddhist almsgiving (ตักบาตร) frame.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: ความชอบธรรม
Transliteration: khwam chop tham
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Rejected alternatives: บุญกุศล, ความดี
Inherited from Romans package verbatim. Cross-reference note: the baseline explicitly rejects ความดี as a substitute for ความชอบธรรม in justification contexts. 3 John 1:11’s ἀγαθός (‘good’) is correctly rendered ความดี in that verse’s distinct, non-forensic ethical sense; translators must not extrapolate that usage back into righteousness/justification contexts.
Lord
Approved rendering: องค์พระผู้เป็นเจ้า
Transliteration: ong phra phu pen chao
Doctrine: Christ’s Name as the Motive for Ministry
Rejected alternatives: เจ้านาย, ท่านผู้นำ
Inherited from Romans package verbatim. Not used directly in 3 John’s text, but its royal-honorific-collision caution is the direct precedent and required parallel note for ‘the Name’ (พระนาม, v.7), which risks the same collision with Thai’s reserved royal-honorific register.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: พระวิญญาณบริสุทธิ์
Transliteration: Phra Winyan Borisut
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: วิญญาณ, ผี
Inherited from Romans package verbatim. Relevant to 3 John because the reserved risky term วิญญาณ (used alone) is the reason ‘soul’ (ψυχή, v.2) is deliberately rendered จิตใจ rather than วิญญาณ — avoiding collision with this Critical Holy-Spirit/ghost-confusion caution.
Do Good Do Evil
Approved rendering: ทำดี / ทำชั่ว
Transliteration: tham di / tham chua
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Rejected alternatives: ทำดีได้ดี ทำชั่วได้ชั่ว, กฎแห่งกรรม
Original: ἀγαθοποιέω / κακοποιέω
Category: Ethics
NEW. CRITICAL. 3 John 1:11. This verse’s action-to-spiritual-consequence structure (‘does good… is of God; does evil… has not seen God’) is near-identical in surface form to the ubiquitous Thai folk-Buddhist maxim ‘ทำดีได้ดี ทำชั่วได้ชั่ว’ and to กฎแห่งกรรม (the law of karma), taught from primary school onward — the same Thai-specific collision already flagged Critical for ‘sowing and reaping’ in the Galatians package (Gal 6:7-8). No alternative Thai vocabulary avoids this collision; fencing must be structural: every occurrence must keep the relational clause (‘is of God’ / ‘has not seen God’) explicit and grammatically primary, so the passage reads as evidence of an existing relationship with a personal God, not an impersonal, self-operating moral-ledger mechanism. Mandatory translator note required, parallel to the Galatians 6:7-8 note.
High Risk Terms
Glory
Approved rendering: พระสิริ
Transliteration: Phra Siri
Doctrine: Commendation of Faithful Witness (Demetrius)
Rejected alternatives: บารมี
Inherited from Romans package verbatim. Not used directly in 3 John’s text, but its forbidden substitution (บารมี, accumulated charisma/moral perfection) is the explicit fence protecting Demetrius’s commendation (v.12) from being read as self-accumulated spiritual capital rather than a truth-grounded, communally verified reputation.
Elder
Approved rendering: ผู้ปกครอง
Transliteration: phu pokkhrong
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride (Diotrephes)
Rejected alternatives: อาจารย์ใหญ่
Original: πρεσβύτερος
Category: Church Leadership
NEW. 3 John 1:1. Established Thai Bible rendering for this Johannine self-title (cf. 2 John 1:1). Must be distinguished from (a) the Galatians package’s ผู้ปกครองดูแล (a different Greek word, παιδαγωγός, ‘guardian/tutor,’ a temporary custodial role for a minor) and (b) Thai Buddhist monastic seniority titles (พระเถระ/พระอาวุโส), which denote rank earned through accumulated years of monastic discipline. The letter’s positive model of humble eldership (v.1) is the deliberate foil to Diotrephes’ self-exalting leadership (vv.9-10).
Soul
Approved rendering: จิตใจ
Transliteration: jit jai
Doctrine: Spiritual Prosperity and the Soul’s Well-Being
Rejected alternatives: วิญญาณ
Original: ψυχή
Category: Anthropology
NEW. 3 John 1:2. Thai Theravada Buddhist anattā (อนัตตา, ‘no-self’) doctrine explicitly denies an enduring, unified self/soul; a Thai reader schooled in this framework may hear ‘soul’ as a philosophically contested metaphysical claim rather than plain reference to a person’s inner spiritual life. จิตใจ (‘heart-mind’) is preferred over วิญญาณ specifically because the baseline already reserves วิญญาณ (used alone) as a risky term for Holy Spirit/ghost confusion; requires a translator note that this is ordinary biblical usage of ‘soul’ as the whole inner person, not a claim being adjudicated against anattā. Also load-bearing for Truth and Christian Fellowship.
The Name
Approved rendering: พระนาม
Transliteration: phra nam
Doctrine: Christ’s Name as the Motive for Ministry
Original: ὄνομα
Category: Christology
NEW. 3 John 1:7. Johannine absolute usage referring to Christ’s own identity and authority as the missionaries’ sole motive. พระนาม is the correct honorific register, consistent with the ทรง/พระ convention, but Thai also uses พระนาม for the formal name of the reigning monarch; requires a translator note clarifying this instance names Christ’s unique saving identity, not an extension of royal honorific vocabulary — the same category of caution the baseline applies to ‘Lord’ (องค์พระผู้เป็นเจ้า).
Fellow Worker
Approved rendering: ผู้ร่วมงาน
Transliteration: phu ruam ngan
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Original: συνεργός
Category: Hospitality
NEW. 3 John 1:8. The doctrinal payoff of the hospitality passage: supporting gospel workers is genuine shared participation in the truth’s advance. Must be carefully kept apart from any suggestion that this participation is a merit-generating act (บุญ) building the supporter’s own spiritual credit — Thai lay Buddhist practice commonly frames material support of religious workers (almsgiving, ตักบาตร) as merit-accumulation for the giver, and this frame must not attach here. Religiously neutral compound (worker + together), deliberately chosen for this reason.
Love Of Preeminence
Approved rendering: ปรารถนาเป็นใหญ่
Transliteration: prathana pen yai
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride (Diotrephes)
Rejected alternatives: เป็นผู้นำ
Original: φιλοπρωτεύω
Category: Church Leadership
NEW. 3 John 1:9. Rare Greek compound (φιλοπρωτεύω), occurring only here in the NT; ambitious self-promotion, craving preeminence for its own sake. The single highest Thai-cultural-collision term in the letter: Thai hierarchical-deference norms (ผู้ใหญ่ status, kreng jai) risk softening this into ordinary, even admirable, leadership ambition rather than John’s clearly negative moral judgment. Requires unambiguous negative moral coloring, reinforced with a translator note contrasting with the humble eldership of v.1 and the commended Demetrius of v.12.
Slander
Approved rendering: ใส่ร้าย
Transliteration: sai rai
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride (Diotrephes)
Rejected alternatives: พูดเล่น
Original: φλυαρέω
Category: Church Leadership
NEW. 3 John 1:10. Must retain the sense of baseless, malicious accusation directed against apostolic authority, not merely idle gossip; core evidence that Diotrephes’ pride actively harms the church, and a weaker rendering would understate the church-discipline stakes the doctrine requires.
Expel
Approved rendering: ขับออก
Transliteration: khap ok
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride (Diotrephes)
Rejected alternatives: ขอให้ออกไป
Original: ἐκβάλλω
Category: Church Leadership
NEW. 3 John 1:10. Must retain the full gravity of an abusive, authority-overreaching expulsion, contrasted with legitimate church discipline exercised under proper accountability; Thailand’s own conflict-avoidance and face-preservation norms could tempt a euphemistic softening (‘asked to leave’) that understates the severity.
Imitate
Approved rendering: เอาเป็นแบบอย่าง
Transliteration: ao pen baep yang
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Rejected alternatives: เลียนแบบ
Original: μιμέομαι
Category: Ethics
NEW. 3 John 1:11. The letter’s explicit governing exhortation; the ‘good’ to be imitated must be defined by truth (ความจริง) and demonstrated in concrete deeds (Demetrius), not left as generic morality or reframed as merit-building self-cultivation. Thai reverence for following a virtuous teacher’s example is a genuinely positive cultural bridge, but the content of ‘good’ must stay gospel-defined.
Medium Risk Terms
Church
Approved rendering: คริสตจักร
Transliteration: khritsatchak
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride (Diotrephes)
Rejected alternatives: วัด
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package verbatim. 3 John 1:6, 9, 10 — the local gathered congregation before whom testimony was publicly given (v.6) and from which Diotrephes illegitimately expelled believers (v.10). Never วัด (Buddhist temple compound).
Peace
Approved rendering: สันติสุข
Transliteration: santisuk
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: ความสงบทางใจ
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package verbatim. 3 John 1:14 closing epistolary blessing; not the specific justification context of Romans 5:1, but the same lexical choice is retained for cross-curriculum consistency and the relational, God-given sense (not meditative calm) still applies.
Adoption
Approved rendering: การรับเป็นบุตร
Transliteration: kan rap pen but
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: การอุปการะ
Inherited from Romans package verbatim. Relevant to 3 John 1:4’s τέκνον (‘my children,’ spiritual children) — spiritual_children (บุตร) below must stay consistent with this baseline entry’s full, permanent family-status register.
Faith
Approved rendering: ความเชื่อ
Transliteration: khwam cheua
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: ศรัทธา
Inherited from Romans package verbatim. Relevant background term; not used directly in 3 John’s text but part of the shared theological vocabulary underlying ‘faithful’ (πιστός, ซื่อสัตย์, v.5).
Gentiles
Approved rendering: คนต่างชาติ
Transliteration: khon tang chat
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: ชาวต่างประเทศ
Inherited from Romans package verbatim. Must be kept distinct from pagan_nonbeliever (คนนอกศาสนา) below: this term names the Jew/Gentile ethnic-theological unity category (Romans), while 3 John 1:7’s ἐθνικός makes a missionary-support/financial-independence point, not a statement about ethnic or religious unity. Do not conflate the two contexts.
Truth
Approved rendering: ความจริง
Transliteration: khwam jing
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: สัจธรรม
Original: ἀλήθεια
Category: Truth
NEW. Governing term of the whole letter (vv.1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12). Must be anchored to the specific, personal, revealed truth of the gospel in Christ, never explained or glossed through สัจธรรม (an impersonal Buddhist cosmic/dharma truth-principle discovered through insight), which would relocate ‘truth’ from a personal revealed reality to an impersonal metaphysical one.
Prosper
Approved rendering: เจริญรุ่งเรือง
Transliteration: jaroen rungrueang
Doctrine: Spiritual Prosperity and the Soul’s Well-Being
Rejected alternatives: โชคดี
Original: εὐοδοῦσθαι
Category: Blessing
NEW. 3 John 1:2. Must not be preached as a stand-alone prosperity promise; must remain explicitly measured against, not equated with, the soul’s already-attested spiritual condition. Never glossed with โชคดี (good fortune/luck), which would relocate the standard from spiritual health to impersonal fortune.
Brother
Approved rendering: พี่น้อง
Transliteration: phi nong
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: ἀδελφός
Category: Fellowship
NEW. 3 John 1:3, 5, 10. Thai everyday speech uses kinship terms broadly as generic social courtesy address for strangers (e.g., ‘phi/nong’ toward any unrelated stranger); the term here must retain covenantal, gospel-grounded spiritual kinship, specifically the itinerant gospel workers, not merely ordinary Thai politeness address.
Testify
Approved rendering: เป็นพยาน / คำพยาน
Transliteration: pen phayan / kham phayan
Doctrine: Commendation of Faithful Witness (Demetrius)
Original: μαρτυρέω / μαρτυρία
Category: Witness
NEW. 3 John 1:3, 6, 12. Public, verifiable, community-verified report of another’s conduct, not private opinion. Must be kept semantically consistent across all three occurrences, especially the personified ‘testified by the truth itself’ (v.12) commending Demetrius — preserve as a deliberate rhetorical device, not flattened into simple crowd opinion.
Walk Conduct
Approved rendering: ดำเนินชีวิต
Transliteration: damnoen chiwit
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: เดิน
Original: περιπατέω
Category: Ethics
NEW. 3 John 1:3-4. Must retain the habitual, ongoing-lifestyle metaphor (truth lived out, not merely believed); a literal ‘walk’ (เดิน) alone would lose the metaphor.
Spiritual Children
Approved rendering: บุตร
Transliteration: but
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: ลูก
Original: τέκνον
Category: Church
NEW. 3 John 1:4. Spiritual child/convert under the elder’s pastoral influence. Consistent with the baseline’s adoption entry (การรับเป็นบุตร); denotes genuine spiritual kinship in the faith community, not a merely figurative or sentimental usage.
Faithful Deed
Approved rendering: ซื่อสัตย์
Transliteration: sue sat
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Original: πιστός
Category: Hospitality
NEW. 3 John 1:5. Describes the character of Gaius’s hospitality as trustworthy and gospel-consistent, flowing from an existing relationship with the truth. Must not be framed as Gaius earning standing through the deed, which would collapse toward บุญ (merit) vocabulary explicitly forbidden for grace and works of the law in the baseline.
Stranger
Approved rendering: คนแปลกหน้า
Transliteration: khon plaek na
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: ชาวต่างประเทศ
Original: ξένος
Category: Hospitality
NEW. 3 John 1:5. Thailand’s strong cultural hospitality norms toward guests are a genuine bridge but risk flattening the term into generic social courtesy detached from its specific missionary-partnership significance (vv.7-8); a translator note should specify these are itinerant gospel workers, not tourists or generic visitors.
Love Noun
Approved rendering: ความรัก
Transliteration: khwam rak
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: ἀγάπη
Category: Fellowship
NEW. 3 John 1:6. Colloquial Thai ความรัก carries strong romantic/emotional connotations; the doctrinal context (love proven by concrete hospitality, publicly attested before the church) must be made explicit so it is not read as private affection.
Send Onward
Approved rendering: ส่งเขาเดินทางต่อไป
Transliteration: song khao doen thang tor pai
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Original: προπέμπω
Category: Hospitality
NEW. 3 John 1:6. Must retain the sense of active material support and partnership (provisions, funds, escort), the concrete expression of becoming a ‘fellow worker with the truth’ (v.8), not a passive verbal farewell or blessing alone.
Pagan Nonbeliever
Approved rendering: คนนอกศาสนา
Transliteration: khon nok sasana
Doctrine: Christ’s Name as the Motive for Ministry
Rejected alternatives: คนต่างชาติ
Original: ἐθνικός
Category: Hospitality
NEW. 3 John 1:7. Must be kept distinct from the baseline’s คนต่างชาติ (used for the Jew/Gentile ethnic-theological unity doctrine in Romans); this verse makes a missionary-support/financial-independence point (refusing pagan patronage), not a statement about ethnic or religious unity.
Ought Obligation
Approved rendering: สมควร
Transliteration: somkhuan
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: บุญคุณ, หนี้กรรม
Original: ὀφείλω
Category: Hospitality
NEW. 3 John 1:8. Must convey moral duty flowing from gospel partnership and gratitude, not a karmic-debt frame; Thai idioms of ‘owing a debt of gratitude’ (บุญคุณ) sit adjacent to, though are not identical with, the merit/บุญ vocabulary already forbidden for grace, so translators must avoid wording that drifts toward that collision.
Support Receive
Approved rendering: ให้การสนับสนุน
Transliteration: hai kan sanapsanun
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Original: ὑπολαμβάνω
Category: Hospitality
NEW. 3 John 1:8. Must retain the sense of active, practical provision (lodging, funds, escort), continuous with send_onward (v.6), not mere passive tolerance of a visitor’s presence.
Receive Welcome
Approved rendering: ยอมรับ
Transliteration: yomrap
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride (Diotrephes)
Rejected alternatives: ต้อนรับ
Original: ἐπιδέχομαι
Category: Church Leadership
NEW. 3 John 1:9-10. Diotrephes’ refusal is simultaneously a refusal of ordinary hospitality and a rejection of the elder’s own legitimate pastoral authority; the Thai rendering must carry both senses at once.
Evil Malicious
Approved rendering: ชั่วร้าย
Transliteration: chua rai
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride (Diotrephes)
Original: πονηρός
Category: Ethics
NEW. 3 John 1:10. Standard general-evil vocabulary; minimal Thai-specific collision beyond ordinary caution.
Hinder
Approved rendering: ขัดขวาง
Transliteration: khatkhwang
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride (Diotrephes)
Original: κωλύω
Category: Church Leadership
NEW. 3 John 1:10. Standard obstruction vocabulary; minimal doctrinal risk beyond the surrounding narrative of authority abuse.
Evil General
Approved rendering: ความชั่ว
Transliteration: khwam chua
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Original: κακός
Category: Ethics
NEW. 3 John 1:11. Standard general-evil vocabulary; minimal independent risk, though closely paired with the Critical-risk do_good_do_evil entry.
Good General
Approved rendering: ความดี
Transliteration: khwam di
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Original: ἀγαθός
Category: Ethics
NEW. 3 John 1:11. CROSS-REFERENCE: the baseline rejects ความดี as a substitute for righteousness (ความชอบธรรม, δικαιοσύνη) in justification contexts. Here ἀγαθός genuinely denotes general ethical goodness, so ความดี is correct and doctrinally safe in this verse only; translators must not extrapolate this usage back into righteousness/justification contexts elsewhere in the curriculum.
Has Seen Known God
Approved rendering: ไม่รู้จักพระเจ้า
Transliteration: mai ruchak Phra Chao
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Original: ὁράω (perfect ἑώρακεν)
Category: God
NEW. 3 John 1:11. Johannine idiom (perfect ἑώρακεν) for relational knowledge/fellowship with God, not literal physical vision. A literal-only rendering (‘ไม่เคยเห็น,’ has never seen) risks sounding trivially true for everyone, since no one sees God physically in this life; ไม่เคยเห็น may be supplied as a literal alternative gloss alongside a translator note distinguishing this from a claim about physical sight.
Low Risk Terms
Fellowship
Approved rendering: การสามัคคีธรรม
Transliteration: kan samakkhi tham
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: มิตรภาพ
Inherited from Romans package verbatim. Relevant background term for 3 John’s Truth and Christian Fellowship doctrine; translators should be aware (per comparative theology analysis) that การสามัคคีธรรม shares its ธรรม root with Buddhist dhamma vocabulary — an accepted, established Christian loanword register, not an error, but worth translator awareness alongside ความจริง’s own สัจธรรม caution below.
Beloved
Approved rendering: ที่รัก
Transliteration: thi rak
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: ἀγαπητός
Category: Fellowship
NEW. 3 John 1:1. Standard, already-natural Thai Christian address term.
Love Verb
Approved rendering: รัก
Transliteration: rak
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: ἀγαπάω
Category: Fellowship
NEW. 3 John 1:1. Standard vocabulary; must be read together with ความจริง (truth) since the letter ties love and truth together as its controlling pair.
Prayer Wish
Approved rendering: อธิษฐานขอ
Transliteration: athitthan kho
Doctrine: Spiritual Prosperity and the Soul’s Well-Being
Original: εὔχομαι
Category: Faith
NEW. 3 John 1:2. A milder request verb than the standard προσεύχομαι prayer term; minimal doctrinal risk.
Good Health
Approved rendering: มีสุขภาพดี
Transliteration: mi sukkhaphap di
Doctrine: Spiritual Prosperity and the Soul’s Well-Being
Original: ὑγιαίνειν
Category: Blessing
NEW. 3 John 1:2. Standard vocabulary; minimal doctrinal risk.
Rejoice
Approved rendering: ยินดี
Transliteration: yindi
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: χαίρω
Category: Fellowship
NEW. 3 John 1:3. Standard; minimal doctrinal risk.
Joy
Approved rendering: ความยินดี
Transliteration: khwam yindi
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: χαρά
Category: Fellowship
NEW. 3 John 1:4. Standard; minimal doctrinal risk.
Work Do
Approved rendering: กระทำ
Transliteration: kratham
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Original: ἐργάζομαι
Category: Hospitality
NEW. 3 John 1:5. Standard; minor theological weight as part of the hospitality commendation.
Worthily
Approved rendering: อย่างสมควร
Transliteration: yang somkhuan
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Original: ἀξίως
Category: Hospitality
NEW. 3 John 1:6. Standard; minimal risk.
True
Approved rendering: จริง
Transliteration: jing
Doctrine: Commendation of Faithful Witness (Demetrius)
Original: ἀληθής
Category: Truth
NEW. 3 John 1:12. Adjectival cognate of ἀλήθεια; must stay lexically tied to ความจริง so the reader recognizes the verbal link between ‘truth’ (v.1 etc.) and ‘true testimony’ here.
Ink
Approved rendering: หมึก
Transliteration: muk
Doctrine: None (administrative, no new doctrinal load)
NEW. 3 John 1:13. Ancient letter-writing material culture term; no theological content.
Reed Pen
Approved rendering: ปากกา
Transliteration: pak ka
Doctrine: None (administrative, no new doctrinal load)
NEW. 3 John 1:13. A translator note may explain the ancient reed-pen (κάλαμος) if a modern Thai reader would otherwise picture a ballpoint pen; no theological content.
Hope
Approved rendering: หวัง / มีความหวัง
Transliteration: wang / mi khwam wang
Doctrine: None (administrative, no new doctrinal load)
Original: ἐλπίζω
Category: Faith
NEW. 3 John 1:14. Standard; minimal doctrinal risk.
Greet
Approved rendering: ฝากความคิดถึง
Transliteration: fak khwam khid thueng
Doctrine: None (administrative, no new doctrinal load)
Original: ἀσπάζομαι
Category: Fellowship
NEW. 3 John 1:14 (x2). Standard epistolary greeting formula; minimal doctrinal content.
Friend
Approved rendering: เพื่อน
Transliteration: phuean
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: φίλος
Category: Fellowship
NEW. 3 John 1:14 (x2). Distinct from พี่น้อง (brother, the letter’s dominant spiritual-kinship term); echoes Johannine friendship theology (cf. John 15:14-15). Minor stylistic/relational nuance for translator awareness, not a doctrinal risk in itself.
Gaius
Approved rendering: กายอัส
Transliteration: Kaios
Doctrine: Proper Names
Original: Γάϊος
Category: Proper Names
NEW. Proper name; the letter’s primary recipient, commended for hospitality (vv.1-8). Confirm exact Thai Bible Society spelling in Phase 2.
Demetrius
Approved rendering: เดเมตริอัส
Transliteration: Demetrios
Doctrine: Proper Names
Original: Δημήτριος
Category: Proper Names
NEW. Proper name; positive model of faithful, truth-attested witness (v.12).
Diotrephes
Approved rendering: ดิโอเตรเฟส
Transliteration: Diotrephes
Doctrine: Proper Names
Original: Διοτρέφης
Category: Proper Names
NEW. Proper name; negative model of prideful, authority-abusing leadership (vv.9-10). Doctrinal risk attaches entirely to the surrounding verbs/nouns describing his conduct (love_of_preeminence, slander, expel), never to the name itself.
Referenced passages