Semantic Analysis
Semantic Analysis — Ephesians (Koine Greek → Ukrainian)
Methodology Note
This analysis follows the baseline Romans/Galatians Language Package conventions established for Ukrainian: terms already recorded in translation_memory.json are reused exactly as recorded (cited as “TM: —” below); new terms encountered in Ephesians are analyzed fresh, with a proposed Ukrainian rendering, doctrine-risk tier, and grounded Ukrainian-context risk reasoning consistent with the baseline’s risk framework (three living theological traditions in tension; the Ohienko translation as national/linguistic anchor; the acute 2022– wartime political context around church, authority, peace, freedom, and enmity vocabulary).
The core passage, Ephesians 2:1-10, receives full verse-by-verse treatment. Every other chapter of the book (1, 2:11-22, 3, 4, 5, 6) receives chapter-level treatment of its load-bearing terms with the same seven fields: original word, transliteration, literal meaning, semantic range, English variants, contextual theological meaning, destination-language rendering risk. No chapter is silently skipped; chapters that introduce no new theological vocabulary state this explicitly (none occur in Ephesians — every chapter contributes load-bearing terms).
PART A — CORE PASSAGE: Ephesians 2:1-10 (Verse-by-Verse)
Ephesians 2:1
Greek: καὶ ὑμᾶς ὄντας νεκροὺς τοῖς παραπτώμασιν καὶ ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ὑμῶν
| Terms | Variants | Contextual theological meaning | Ukrainian rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| νεκρός nekros dead, lifeless | physical death; metaphorical spiritual deadness; inertness ”dead” | Spiritual deadness prior to regeneration — total inability, not partial weakness. Foundational to the grace-alone argument of vv.4-9. | мертвий (mertvyy). Medium risk: must not be softened to “weak” or “sick” (a common devotional drift); the “totally unable, requires resurrection” force must be preserved for v.5’s contrast. |
| παράπτωμα paraptōma a false step, a falling-aside | trespass, transgression, misdeed ”trespasses,” “transgressions” | Concrete acts of wrongdoing, paired with ἁμαρτία for rhetorical fullness (not two distinct theological categories but reinforcing synonyms). | провина (provyna), following Ohienko’s established Ephesians 2:1 phrasing (“через ваші провини й гріхи”). Low risk: established rendering, reuse verbatim in all Ephesians occurrences (1:7, 2:1, 2:5). |
| ἁμαρτία hamartia missing the mark | moral transgression before a personal God ”sin,” “sins” | Universal human condition (cf. Romans 3:23, already TM). | гріх (hrikh). TM — High risk, reuse baseline notes exactly: retain the universal, personally-applicable category; do not narrow to “atrocity” per baseline’s wartime caution. |
Ephesians 2:2
Greek: ἐν αἷς ποτὲ περιεπατήσατε κατὰ τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ κόσμου τούτου, κατὰ τὸν ἄρχοντα τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ ἀέρος, τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ νῦν ἐνεργοῦντος ἐν τοῖς υἱοῖς τῆς ἀπειθείας
| Terms | Variants | Contextual theological meaning | Ukrainian rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| περιπατέω peripateō to walk around | to conduct one’s life, habitual conduct ”walked,” “lived,” “conducted yourselves” | Ephesians’ signature ethical-life metaphor (cf. 2:10, 4:1, 4:17, 5:2, 5:8, 5:15) — the whole letter’s practical section is organized around this verb. | ходити (khodyty). Medium risk: must be consistently rendered across all six occurrences so readers recognize the recurring “walk” motif structuring the letter; avoid varying synonyms (жити, поводитися) that would obscure the pattern. |
| αἰών aiōn age, epoch | a period of time; the present sinful world-order (idiomatic) “age,” “course,” “world” | The present, fallen world-order under sin’s dominion, distinct from αἰῶνες (ages) of God’s eternal plan in 1:21, 3:9, 3:21. | вік (vik) / “цей світ” as idiom. Medium risk: “вік цього світу” must not be flattened into a purely chronological “era” — it names a moral-spiritual order, not simply a period of history. |
| ἄρχων archōn ruler, first one, chief | ruler, prince, magistrate; here, of Satan ”prince,” “ruler,” “power” | Title for Satan as the animating power behind humanity’s former disobedient life. | князь (knyaz’). High risk, Ukraine-specific: князь is a historically resonant, dignified Ukrainian word (the medieval Kyivan Rus’ princes — a source of national pride) and must be clearly marked in context as Paul’s title for Satan, not accidentally imported dignity; consider pairing with “цього світу” and explicit glossing on first occurrence to prevent any positive historical association bleeding through. |
| ἐξουσία exousia authority, right, power | delegated authority; domain of power; in 6:12, cosmic powers ”power,” “authority,” “dominion” | The domain/authority Satan currently exercises “in the air” — cosmic, not merely political, authority. | влада (vlada). High risk, Ukraine-specific: влада is an acutely live political word in current Ukrainian civic discourse (government authority, wartime emergency powers); must be explicitly framed as spiritual, not earthly-political, authority, per this Language Package’s general caution about “authority” vocabulary being current news, not historical background. |
| ἐνεργέω energeō to work in, to be operative | to be active, effective, at work (of a force or person) “now works,” “is at work,” “operates” | The spirit of disobedience actively operating within the unregenerate — anticipates the same verb’s use of God’s power in 3:20. | діяти / бути дійовим (diyaty / buty diyovym) — render as a verb phrase, never as the noun “енергія.” Critical risk: see extended note under Chapter 3 (3:20) below — the noun ἐνέργεια/“енергія” carries a specific, technical meaning in Orthodox Palamite theology (uncreated divine energies) shared by the OCU, UOC, and Greek Catholic traditions; this and every other ἐνεργέω/ἐνέργεια occurrence in Ephesians must be rendered as a verb of active operation, never nominalized as “енергія,” to avoid importing an unrelated and highly technical theological debate. |
| ἀπείθεια apeitheia non-persuadability, disobedience | willful disobedience, especially toward God ”disobedience,” “unbelief" | "Sons of disobedience” — a Hebraic idiom for those characterized by disobedience as their defining nature. | неслухняність / непослух (nesluhnyanist’ / neposlukh), following Ohienko’s established Ephesians phrasing (“сини неслухняности”). Medium risk: must be distinguished from the baseline’s “obedience of faith” (послух віри) doctrine — this is the negative mirror-image (willful resistance to God), not a lesser degree of the positive category. |
Ephesians 2:3
Greek: ἐν οἷς καὶ ἡμεῖς πάντες ἀνεστράφημέν ποτε ἐν ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις τῆς σαρκὸς ἡμῶν, ποιοῦντες τὰ θελήματα τῆς σαρκὸς καὶ τῶν διανοιῶν, καὶ ἤμεθα τέκνα φύσει ὀργῆς ὡς καὶ οἱ λοιποί
| Terms | Variants | Contextual theological meaning | Ukrainian rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| ἐπιθυμία epithymia strong desire, craving | neutral desire or (usually in Paul) sinful lust/craving ”lusts,” “desires,” “cravings” | Disordered cravings that formerly governed conduct — universal, including Paul himself (“we all,” καὶ ἡμεῖς πάντες). | пожадливість / бажання (pozhadlyvist’ / bazhannya), following Ohienko (“пожадливості тіла нашого”). Medium risk: the universalizing “we all” (καὶ ἡμεῖς πάντες, including Paul and Jewish believers) must not be lost — this is not a Gentile-specific vice list. |
| σάρξ sarx flesh, physical body | (a) literal body; (b) corrupted, self-serving human nature (Pauline ethical sense) “flesh,” “sinful nature,” “body” | The corrupted human nature in view here (ethical σάρξ), the identical Pauline sense already flagged Critical in the Galatians baseline. | тіло (tilo). TM — Critical risk, reuse baseline notes exactly: тіло also renders σῶμα (the neutral physical body, and — critically in Ephesians — the church as Christ’s σῶμα, 1:23, 4:12, 5:23). Ephesians compounds this structural homograph risk beyond Galatians because the letter uses σῶμα Χριστοῦ (the Body of Christ = the church, an entire named doctrine of this curriculum) extensively; ethical σάρξ (2:3, 5:29-31 excepted) must be explicitly disambiguated from ecclesial σῶμα on first occurrence in every Ephesians lesson. |
| θέλημα thelēma will, wish, desire | one’s will/intention; God’s will (usual NT sense) or, here, sinful human will ”desires,” “wishes,” “will” | Rare negative use of θέλημα (elsewhere in Ephesians always God’s will: 1:1, 1:5, 1:9, 1:11, 5:17, 6:6) — here the corrupted human will, paralleling ἐπιθυμία. | бажання / волі (bazhannya / voli). Medium risk: translators must not let this single negative occurrence color the term’s dominant positive use (“the will of God,” θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ) throughout the rest of the letter — context must clearly mark this as the aberrant case. |
| φύσις physis nature, natural condition | inherent nature; ethnic origin (rare) “nature,” “by nature" | "By nature children of wrath” — inherited, not merely acquired, condition; foundational to original-sin implications, absent as a developed category from Orthodox/Greek Catholic ancestral-sin frameworks in this precise Western forensic form. | природа (pryroda). High risk: “за природою діти гніву” must be explicitly taught rather than assumed self-evident, since the West’s Augustinian/Reformation “inherited guilt” framing differs from the Eastern traditions’ “ancestral sin as inherited mortality/corruption, not personal guilt” framing — a distinction analogous to the baseline’s grace/justification cautions. |
| ὀργή orgē wrath, settled anger | God’s righteous judicial anger against sin; occasionally human anger ”wrath,” “anger” | God’s holy, judicial response to sin — the backdrop against which grace (v.4ff.) is dramatically introduced. | гнів (hniv). High risk, Ukraine-specific: гнів carries strong currency in wartime moral and political discourse (righteous anger at an aggressor, calls for justice). God’s ὀργή must be presented as his own holy judicial response to universal sin (including the reader), not conflated with, or borrowed rhetorical force from, contemporary wartime anger-at-the-enemy discourse. |
Ephesians 2:4
Greek: ὁ δὲ θεὸς πλούσιος ὢν ἐν ἐλέει, διὰ τὴν πολλὴν ἀγάπην αὐτοῦ ἣν ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς
| Terms | Variants | Contextual theological meaning | Ukrainian rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| πλούσιος plousios rich, wealthy | material wealth; metaphorical abundance ”rich,” “abounding” | God’s abundant, inexhaustible mercy — sets up the “riches” (πλοῦτος) theme recurring through vv.7, 3:8, 3:16. | багатий (bahatyy). Low risk: standard, unambiguous. |
| ἔλεος eleos mercy, compassion | pity shown to the undeserving or suffering ”mercy,” “compassion” | God’s compassionate response to humanity’s helpless, dead condition (v.1) — distinct from but closely allied with χάρις (grace, v.5,8): mercy responds to misery, grace to unworthiness. | милосердя / милість (myloserdya / mylist’). Medium risk: must be kept distinct in exposition from благодать (grace) — mercy answers our misery, grace answers our lack of merit; conflating the two flattens Paul’s rhetorical build toward v.8’s climactic χάριτί. |
| ἀγάπη agapē love | committed, self-giving love (distinct from erotic or merely affectionate love) “love” | God’s initiating, self-giving love, motivating the whole salvation described in vv.4-10. | любов (lyubov). TM — High risk, reuse baseline notes exactly (established via Galatians 5:6, 5:13-14): here as God’s own love, not the human “faith working through love” sense — the fuller range must be taught (God’s initiating love here; the believer’s responsive love elsewhere, e.g., Ephesians 5:2, 5:25). |
Ephesians 2:5
Greek: καὶ ὄντας ἡμᾶς νεκρούς τοῖς παραπτώμασιν συνεζωοποίησεν τῷ Χριστῷ — χάριτί ἐστε σεσωσμένοι
| Terms | Variants | Contextual theological meaning | Ukrainian rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| συζωοποιέω syzōopoieō to make alive together with | to co-resurrect to life; a Pauline compound found almost nowhere outside biblical Greek ”made us alive together,” “made alive with” | The decisive reversal of v.1’s deadness — an accomplished, completed divine act (aorist), not an ongoing process; union with Christ’s own resurrection life. | оживити разом (з Христом) (ozhyvyty razom [z Khrystom]). High risk: the “together with Christ” (συν-) compound must not be lost — this is Paul’s first of three συν- compounds in vv.5-6 (συζωοποιέω, συνεγείρω, συγκαθίζω) expressing the believer’s real incorporation into Christ’s own resurrection and exaltation, a structural feature the Ukrainian rendering must preserve across all three verbs (see v.6 below), reinforcing rather than diluting воскресіння’s cultural centrality already noted in the baseline. |
| χάρις charis grace, favor, gift | unmerited favor from God apart from works ”grace” | The decisive, climactic term of the passage, restated with even greater emphasis in v.8 — salvation’s sole ground. | благодать (blahodat’). TM — Critical risk, reuse baseline notes exactly: this is Ephesians’ single most load-bearing occurrence of this Critical-risk term; the “apart from works” contrast that the baseline requires be stated explicitly for Romans 4:4-5/11:5-6 applies with even greater force here, since v.5’s χάριτί ἐστε σεσωσμένοι is echoed and expanded at v.8-9 into the letter’s most explicit grace-works antithesis in the entire NT. |
| σῴζω sōzō to save, rescue, deliver | deliverance from danger, illness, or (theologically) from sin’s penalty and power ”saved,” “have been saved” | Perfect passive periphrastic (ἐστε σεσωσμένοι) — a completed action with continuing present result: salvation as an already-accomplished, settled status, not merely a future hope. | спасіння / спасенний (spasinnya / spasennyy). TM — Critical risk, reuse baseline notes exactly: the perfect-tense “already saved, with abiding effect” nuance is grammatically distinctive to this passage and should be preserved in exposition (не “будете спасенні,” а “ви вже спасенні”) — this grammatical point directly serves the baseline’s requirement to anchor спасіння as a decisive, received event rather than an ongoing or uncertain process. |
Ephesians 2:6
Greek: καὶ συνήγειρεν καὶ συνεκάθισεν ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ
| Terms | Variants | Contextual theological meaning | Ukrainian rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| συνεγείρω synegeirō to raise up together with | co-resurrection with Christ ”raised us up with him” | Second of the three συν- compounds; believers already share Christ’s resurrection, not merely await their own future one (cf. Romans 6:4-5, already TM, воскресіння). | воскресив разом (з Христом) (voskresyv razom [z Khrystom]). Medium risk: keep consistent with воскресіння’s TM entry and the resurrection_of_christ doctrine’s Great-feast cultural resonance, while making clear this is the believer’s incorporation into that resurrection now, not a repetition or separate future event only. |
| συγκαθίζω synkathizō to seat together with | to be enthroned/seated jointly ”seated us with him” | Third συν- compound: believers already share Christ’s heavenly enthronement — an extraordinarily high, “already” statement of the believer’s present status, balancing the “not yet” of ongoing sanctification elsewhere in the letter (4:1ff). | посадив разом (з Христом) (posadyv razom [z Khrystom]). High risk: this is an “already” (realized) statement that must not be softened into a merely future hope; equally, it must not be over-realized into a claim of present divinization/theosis (обоження) — it is a legal/positional statement of the believer’s standing “in Christ,” parallel to the Galatians baseline’s caution on crucified_with_christ (2:19-20) needing explicit forensic-then-relational framing. |
| ἐπουράνιος epouranios heavenly, in the heavens | pertaining to the heavenly/spiritual realm (contrasted with ἐπίγειος, earthly) “heavenly places,” “heavenly realms” | The spiritual realm where Christ is enthroned (1:20) and where spiritual warfare is waged (6:12) — a key recurring Ephesians location-term. | небесні місця / небесні сфери (nebesni mistsya / nebesni sfery). Medium risk: must be consistently rendered across all five occurrences (1:3, 1:20, 2:6, 3:10, 6:12) so the reader tracks this as one coherent spiritual location/realm, not five unrelated idioms. |
Ephesians 2:7
Greek: ἵνα ἐνδείξηται ἐν τοῖς αἰῶσιν τοῖς ἐπερχομένοις τὸ ὑπερβάλλον πλοῦτος τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ ἐν χρηστότητι ἐφ᾽ ἡμᾶς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ
| Terms | Variants | Contextual theological meaning | Ukrainian rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| ἐνδείκνυμι endeiknymi to show, demonstrate, prove | to display publicly, exhibit as evidence ”might show,” “demonstrate,” “display” | God’s purpose in saving believers is itself a cosmic display of his grace to all future ages — salvation has a doxological, not merely personal, purpose. | показати / виявити (pokazaty / vyyavyty). Low risk: standard vocabulary. |
| πλοῦτος ploutos riches, wealth | material wealth; metaphorical abundance (a favorite Ephesians word: 1:7, 1:18, 2:7, 3:8, 3:16) “riches,” “wealth” | God’s inexhaustible, deliberately excessive (“surpassing,” ὑπερβάλλον) generosity in grace. | багатство (bahatstvo). Low risk, but note for consistency: track alongside πλούσιος (v.4) as one thematic cluster. |
| χρηστότης chrēstotēs kindness, goodness, benevolence | moral goodness expressed in kind action ”kindness,” “goodness” | God’s kindness expressed concretely in the act of salvation. | доброта / добрість (dobrota / dobrist’). Low risk: standard. |
Ephesians 2:8
Greek: τῇ γὰρ χάριτί ἐστε σεσωσμένοι διὰ πίστεως· καὶ τοῦτο οὐκ ἐξ ὑμῶν, θεοῦ τὸ δῶρον
| Terms | Variants | Contextual theological meaning | Ukrainian rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| χάρις / πίστις charis / pistis grace / faith | (see above) / trust, reliance ”grace… through faith” | The letter’s — and arguably the NT’s — single most concentrated statement of salvation by grace through faith: grace is the source, faith the means (the instrument, not the ground) of salvation. | благодать… через віру. TM — Critical/High risk, reuse baseline notes exactly for both terms. This clause is the doctrinal anchor of the entire curriculum’s named doctrine “Salvation by Grace through Faith” and must be rendered identically wherever quoted across every lesson (per the baseline’s cross-document consistency rule already established for Romans 1:16-17 and 10:9-10). Faith (πίστις) here is the channel, not the source, of salvation — this distinction must be made explicit, since Ukrainian everyday usage of віра as confessional identity (already flagged Critical in the baseline) risks obscuring the personal, instrumental sense Paul intends. |
| δῶρον dōron gift, present | a gift, freely given (contrasted with something earned or purchased) “gift” | Salvation itself (or, per a live exegetical question, faith as well) is God’s free gift, not a human achievement — reinforcing χάρις. | дар (dar). High risk: distinguish in exposition from χάρισμα/δωρεά (spiritual gifts for ministry, ch.4) and δόμα (Ps 68 quotation, 4:8) — δῶρον here names the single gift of salvation itself, not a ministry enablement; conflating these creates confusion between the doctrines “Salvation by Grace through Faith” and “Gifts for Building Up the Church.” |
Ephesians 2:9
Greek: οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων, ἵνα μή τις καυχήσηται
| Terms | Variants | Contextual theological meaning | Ukrainian rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| ἔργον ergon work, deed, action | any human deed; in Paul’s soteriological argument, works done to earn standing with God ”works,” “deeds” | Here ἔργα stands alone (not the compound διά ἔργων νόμου of Galatians 2:16) — a broader denial than just Torah-observance: no human achievement whatsoever contributes to salvation. | діла (dila). Critical risk: unlike the Galatians баseline’s діла закону (which specifically denotes Torah-boundary markers and must not be broadened to “good works” generally), this Ephesians occurrence is the reverse case — it is Paul’s own deliberately unqualified, general negation (“not of works” full stop) and must not be narrowed back down to only “ritual/ceremonial works,” which would blunt the verse’s full force and create an apparent inconsistency with the Galatians glossary entry if handled carelessly. Explicit exposition should clarify both are true and non-contradictory: Galatians denies a specific category (boundary markers) as grounds for standing; Ephesians denies any human achievement whatsoever. |
| καυχάομαι kauchaomai to boast, glory in | to take pride in, exult over (often negatively, self-congratulation) “boast,” “brag” | The purpose-clause explaining why salvation excludes works: so that no room remains for human self-congratulation before God. | хвалитися (khvalytysya). Medium risk: standard; note thematic echo with баseline’s caution about слава (glory) — human boasting is precisely what is excluded so that God alone receives слава/doxa. |
Ephesians 2:10
Greek: αὐτοῦ γάρ ἐσμεν ποίημα, κτισθέντες ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ ἐπὶ ἔργοις ἀγαθοῖς, οἷς προητοίμασεν ὁ θεὸς ἵνα ἐν αὐτοῖς περιπατήσωμεν
| Terms | Variants | Contextual theological meaning | Ukrainian rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| ποίημα poiēma a thing made, a work | a product, handiwork, artistic creation (root of English “poem”) “workmanship,” “handiwork,” “masterpiece” | Believers are God’s own artistic creation/handiwork — the crowning positive counterpart to v.9’s negation: works are excluded as the ground of salvation but are its intended fruit and purpose. | творіння / вироб Божий (tvorinnya / vyrib Bozhyy). High risk: тworinnya here must be distinguished in exposition from the same word used for God’s original creation of the cosmos (κτίσις) and from the Galatians baseline’s нове творіння (new creation, Gal 6:15) — related but not identical concepts; risk of collapsing all three into one undifferentiated idea of “God’s making.” |
| κτίζω ktizō to create, make | to bring into being, especially of God’s creative act ”created” | Salvation described as a new act of divine creation — echoes Genesis creation-language, applied to spiritual re-creation “in Christ Jesus.” | створити (stvoryty). Medium risk: standard, but reinforces (rather than duplicates) the new_creation doctrine already flagged High-risk in the Galatians baseline; cross-reference explicitly. |
| ἔργα ἀγαθά erga agatha good works, good deeds | deeds that are morally good, beneficial ”good works” | The result, not the cause, of salvation — deliberately positioned after v.9’s negation to prevent works-righteousness while still requiring a transformed life of good works, resolving the passage’s entire argument. | добрі діла (dobri dila). Critical risk: the ordering must be preserved in all exposition — good works follow from, and never precede or contribute to, salvation; this is the passage’s climactic resolution of the grace/works tension and the doctrinal hinge connecting “Salvation by Grace through Faith” to “Walking in Newness of Life.” |
| προετοιμάζω proetoimazō to prepare beforehand | advance preparation ”prepared beforehand,” “predestined” | Links to 1:4-5, 1:11’s election/predestination language — God had these good works in view for believers before they walked in them, continuing the letter’s strong providential-purpose emphasis. | наперед приготував (naperid pryhotuvav). High risk: connects directly to προορίζω (predestine, 1:5, 1:11) and must be handled with the same care the baseline requires for election/predestination language generally (see Chapter 1 below) — not fatalistic доля, but personal, purposive divine planning. |
| περιπατέω peripateō to walk | (see v.2 above) “walk,” “live” | The passage’s opening (v.2, “in which you once walked” — in sin) and closing (v.10, “that we should walk” — in good works) verbs form a deliberate inclusio: the whole passage is framed by two contrasting “walks.” | ходити (khodyty). Medium risk: this inclusio structure (v.2 / v.10) is a key literary-theological feature and should be preserved by using the same Ukrainian verb in both places, allowing Ukrainian readers to perceive the same “before and after” contrast Paul constructs. |
PART B — CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER STUDY OF THE WHOLE BOOK
Chapter 1 (Ephesians 1:1-23)
Chapter 1 establishes the letter’s doctrinal foundation for Election and Predestination, the Mystery of Christ, and the Church as Christ’s Body — introducing several of the letter’s most theologically dense terms.
| Terms | Variants | Contextual theological meaning | Ukrainian rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| εὐλογητός / εὐλογία eulogētos / eulogia well-spoken-of / a speaking well of | blessed (of God); blessing (bestowed) “blessed,” “blessing” | Opens the letter’s long, single-sentence doxology (vv.3-14) — God is blessed for the blessings he has given. | благословенний / благословення (blahoslovennyy / blahoslovennya). Low risk: standard across all traditions. |
| ἐκλέγομαι eklegomai to choose out, select | to choose (of God’s sovereign selection) “chose,” “elected" | "He chose us in him before the foundation of the world” (1:4) — the verbal root of the baseline’s already-established обрання (election) noun. | обрати (obraty). TM-extending — High risk: verb form of the baseline’s election entry; reuse the same doctrinal caution (never доля/фатум/приречення without careful qualification). |
| προορίζω proorizō to determine/mark out beforehand | to predestine, foreordain ”predestined,” “foreordained” | Appears twice (1:5, “predestined for adoption”; 1:11, “predestined according to his purpose”) — the letter’s programmatic predestination language, central to the named doctrine “Election and Predestination in Christ.” | наперед призначив (naperid pryznachyv), following Ohienko’s established participial phrasing. Critical risk, Ukraine-specific: this is a sharper, more explicit statement of predestination than anywhere in Romans or Galatians; per the baseline’s election entry, Reformed predestination categories have no developed parallel in Orthodox or Greek Catholic soteriology (which emphasize synergy/cooperation, συνέργεια, with human free will) — this term requires the most explicit theological framing in the entire book and mandatory theologian review at every occurrence. |
| πρόθεσις prothesis a setting-forth beforehand | purpose, plan, resolve ”purpose,” “plan,” “intention" | "According to his purpose” (1:11) — God’s deliberate, personal plan behind election, closely related to провидіння Боже (providence, already TM). | задум / намір (zadum / namir). High risk: must be kept distinct from доля (fate) exactly as the baseline requires for providence — this is personal, purposive planning, not impersonal destiny. |
| υἱοθεσία huiothesia placing as a son | adoption with full inheritance rights ”adoption" | "Predestined for adoption as sons” (1:5) — ties election directly to the adoption doctrine. | усиновлення (usynovlennya). TM — High risk, reuse baseline notes exactly: retains the wartime-orphan emotional resonance already documented; here specifically as the goal of predestination, strengthening rather than replacing that resonance. |
| ἀπολύτρωσις apolytrōsis a releasing by payment of a ransom | redemption, deliverance by payment ”redemption" | "Redemption through his blood” (1:7) — the costly, purchased nature of forgiveness. | відкуплення / викуплення (vidkuplennya / vykuplennya). High risk: this commercial-legal ransom metaphor (payment for release from bondage) is a genuinely new image for readers accustomed primarily to освячення/спасіння in more general terms; requires explicit unpacking of the “payment/ransom” component, distinct from — though related to — виправдання’s forensic-declaration sense already flagged Critical in the baseline. |
| ἄφεσις aphesis a sending away, release | forgiveness, pardon, release from debt/captivity ”forgiveness" | "The forgiveness of our trespasses” (1:7) — the content of redemption. | прощення (proshchennya). Medium risk: per the baseline’s justification entry, прощення гріхів alone must not be allowed to substitute for виправдання’s fuller declarative sense elsewhere in the curriculum — here it is legitimately used in its own right, but translators should not let this occurrence blur the sharper distinction required in salvation-doctrine passages. |
| μυστήριον mystērion a secret thing, mystery | a previously hidden truth now disclosed by revelation (not an unsolvable puzzle) “mystery,” “secret” | The letter’s central revelatory theme (1:9; 3:3-9; 5:32; 6:19) — God’s long-hidden plan to unite Jews and Gentiles in Christ, now disclosed. Anchors the named doctrine “The Mystery of Christ Revealed.” | таємниця (tayemnytsya) for exposition / тайна (tayna) for direct Scripture citation, following the register split already established in the baseline for the свобода/воля pattern (Galatians 5:1, 13). Critical risk: μυστήριον must never be presented as an unsolvable riddle or esoteric/gnostic secret-knowledge concept (a genuine collision risk given renewed public interest in esoteric and New Age spirituality among some urban/younger Ukrainian readers, the same population flagged for the “avatar” risk in the baseline’s incarnation entry) — it means a now-revealed, publicly proclaimed truth, the opposite of a still-hidden secret. |
| οἰκονομία oikonomia household management | administration, stewardship, plan of management ”administration,” “plan,” “stewardship" | "The stewardship/administration of the fullness of times” (1:10); reused for Paul’s own “stewardship of grace” (3:2, 3:9) — God’s ordered unfolding of his redemptive plan in history. | Божий задум / устрій спасіння (Bozhyy zadum / ustriy spasinnya), with домоуправительство as an available literal-but-heavier alternative. Medium risk: no single settled Ukrainian equivalent exists; must be defined explicitly on first use rather than assumed self-evident, and kept distinct from προθεσις (purpose) and πρόνοια/провидіння (providence) despite semantic overlap. |
| ἀνακεφαλαιόω anakephalaioō to sum up under one head | to unite/gather under a single head; to summarize ”gather together,” “unite,” “sum up" | "To unite all things in him” (1:10) — Christ as the singular unifying head of all creation, echoing κεφαλή (head) imagery developed later (1:22, 4:15, 5:23). | об’єднати (все) в Христі (ob’yednaty [vse] v Khrysti). Medium risk: the literal “under one head” image (κεφαλή root) should be noted in exposition to connect this verse forward to the Body-of-Christ headship language in chapters 4-5. |
| κληρονομία / κλῆρος klēronomia / klēros inheritance / a lot, portion | an inherited possession or portion ”inheritance,” “portion” | Believers as God’s inheritance (1:11) and possessing an inheritance themselves (1:14, 1:18) — closely paired with υἱοθεσία (adoption) as its natural legal consequence. | спадщина / спадок (spadshchyna / spadok). High risk: must be explicitly linked to усиновлення (adoption) in exposition — the inheritance is the content of what full adoption secures, echoing the baseline’s insistence (Romans 8:17) that adoption include full inheritance rights, not merely nominal status; given the wartime-orphans resonance already flagged for adoption, this term shares that same acute emotional weight. |
| σφραγίζω sphragizō to seal | to mark with a seal, authenticating ownership or securing a document ”sealed" | "Sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise” (1:13; also 4:30) — the Spirit as God’s mark of ownership and guarantee. | запечатати (zapechataty). Medium risk: standard sealing-metaphor; ensure it is not confused with освячення’s everyday “blessing/consecration of objects” sense already flagged Critical in the baseline — this seal is upon the person, marking secure ownership, not a ritual blessing of an object. |
| ἀρραβών arrabōn a pledge, down payment, earnest money | a partial payment guaranteeing the full amount to follow; a commercial-legal term ”guarantee,” “deposit,” “down payment,” “pledge” | The Spirit as God’s guarantee of the believer’s future full inheritance — an “already/not yet” term. | запорука (zaporuka). Medium risk: запорука conveys “guarantee/pledge” without the potentially unsettling financial-collateral connotation a literal застава (loan collateral) might carry; recommended over more literal alternatives. |
| πλήρωμα plērōma fullness, that which fills | totality, completeness; that which fills something else ”fullness" | "The fullness of him who fills all in all” (1:23) — Christ’s church as the space where his fullness is expressed; recurs at 3:19, 4:13, forming a key structural term across the whole letter. | повнота (povnota). High risk: this is one of Ephesians’ most theologically loaded and recurring terms; must be tracked consistently across all four occurrences (1:23, 3:19, 4:13) so readers perceive it as one unified concept (the church’s participation in Christ’s own completeness), and must not be confused with philosophical “pleroma” concepts from Gnosticism (a genuine historical collision Paul himself may be countering) nor with any New Age “fullness/wholeness” self-help usage circulating in contemporary Ukrainian wellness culture. |
| σῶμα (of Christ, ecclesial) sōma body | physical body; corporate body (metaphorical) “body" | "His body, the fullness of him” (1:23) — the first occurrence of the letter’s central ecclesiological metaphor, the Church as the Body of Christ (a named curriculum doctrine), recurring at 2:16, 4:4, 4:12, 4:16, 5:23, 5:30. | тіло (Христове) (tilo [Khrystove]). Critical risk: as flagged already at 2:3 above, тіло renders both the neutral/positive σῶμα (here, and the physical body generally) and the ethical σάρξ (2:3; ties to the Galatians baseline’s Critical flesh/Spirit risk). This ecclesial sense must be explicitly distinguished on first occurrence from both the ethical-flesh sense and mere physical-body sense, and its positive, dignified force preserved consistently with the traditions’ shared positive body-theology already noted as an asset in the baseline. |
| κεφαλή kephalē head | the physical head; metaphorically, source, authority, or preeminence ”head” | Christ as head over all things and specifically over the church (1:22) — foundational to the Body-of-Christ doctrine and later applied to marriage (5:23). | голова (holova). High risk: must be handled with care given its dual application (Christ/church in ch.1 and 4; husband/wife in ch.5) — see extended treatment under Chapter 5 below regarding the household-codes sensitivity. |
| δύναμις dynamis power, might, ability | inherent power or capability ”power,” “might" | "The immeasurable greatness of his power” (1:19) toward believers — resurrection power now operative in ordinary Christian life. | сила (Божа) (syla [Bozha]). TM — Medium risk, reuse baseline notes exactly: avoid енергія as a substitute, per the baseline’s existing caution (Palamite technical resonance) — this caution becomes still more important given ἐνέργεια’s own explicit appearance nearby (1:19’s ἐνέργειαν; 3:20). |
Chapter 2:11-22 (continuing the chapter; vv.1-10 treated above as the core passage)
This section shifts from individual salvation (2:1-10) to corporate reconciliation, introducing the letter’s central Unity of Jews and Gentiles vocabulary.
| Terms | Variants | Contextual theological meaning | Ukrainian rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| περιτομή / ἀκροβυστία peritomē / akrobystia circumcision / foreskin (uncircumcision) | the Mosaic covenant sign / its absence, used as an ethnic-religious label ”circumcision” / “uncircumcision” | The old ethnic-religious division being addressed and abolished in Christ. | обрізання (TM) / необрізання (neobrizannya, new). TM (circumcision) — High risk, reuse baseline notes exactly; необрізання is new but low-risk, being a transparent negation. |
| ξένος / πάροικος xenos / paroikos foreigner / one dwelling beside (resident alien) | stranger, outsider / resident alien without full civic rights ”strangers,” “aliens,” “foreigners” | Gentiles’ former status “outside” God’s covenant community (2:12, 2:19). | чужі / чужинці / приходьки (chuzhi / chuzhyntsi / prykhod’ky). Medium risk: note чужинці was flagged as a rejected alternative specifically for погани (gentiles) in the baseline TM — here it renders a different Greek word (ξένος) describing covenant-status, not ethnic identity, so its use is legitimate, but translators should ensure exposition does not blur the two distinct baseline cautions. |
| διαθῆκαι τῆς ἐπαγγελίας diathēkai tēs epangelias covenants of the promise | the OT covenant promises ”covenants of promise” | Gentiles were formerly excluded from these specific covenant promises — now included in Christ. | завіти обітниці (zavity obitnytsi). TM-extending — Medium risk: reuses завіт and обітниця exactly as recorded in the baseline; note plural завіти (covenants, plural) is grammatically unusual in Ukrainian and may require a footnote gloss. |
| ἔχθρα echthra hostility, enmity | active hostility, feud, enmity (personal or corporate) “hostility,” “enmity” | The mutual hostility between Jew and Gentile (2:14) and between humanity and God (2:16) that Christ’s cross abolishes — doubly used, both horizontally and vertically. | ворожість / неприязнь (vorozhist’ / nepryyazn’). Critical risk, Ukraine-specific: ворожість shares its root with ворог (enemy), a word carrying maximal, immediate emotional and political charge in a nation at war since 2022. Christ’s abolition of ἔχθρα between Jew and Gentile — and between humanity and God — must be taught with explicit care that this is not a political peace-treaty metaphor nor a call to reconcile with a literal wartime aggressor, while still allowing the passage’s authentic pastoral power (reconciliation is possible even across the deepest hostility) to be felt. Mandatory theologian review recommended for every occurrence, on the same footing as the baseline’s existing мир (peace) caution. |
| μεσότοιχον τοῦ φραγμοῦ mesotoichon tou phragmou the middle wall of the partition | a dividing wall/barrier ”dividing wall,” “barrier” | Likely alludes to the Jerusalem Temple’s barrier excluding Gentiles from the inner courts — now demolished in Christ. | розділяюча стіна / перегородка (rozdilyayucha stina / perehorodka). Medium risk: benefits from brief historical explanation of the Temple background for readers without continuous OT/Second Temple exposure. |
| καινὸς ἄνθρωπος kainos anthrōpos new man/person | a newly-formed, previously non-existent kind of humanity ”one new man,” “one new humanity,” “new humanity” | Jew and Gentile united into a genuinely new corporate humanity in Christ (2:15) — anchors the named doctrine “Unity of Jews and Gentiles in One New Humanity.” | нова людина (nova lyudyna). Critical risk: this exact Ukrainian phrase must also render the individual renewal sense of Ephesians 4:24 (there, νέος/καινὸς ἄνθρωπος describes putting off the old self and putting on the new self personally) — the two senses (corporate, one-new-humanity-from-two-peoples here in 2:15; individual, one-person’s-renewed-self in 4:24) share identical or near-identical Greek and Ukrainian vocabulary but are distinct doctrinal claims. Explicit exposition must distinguish which sense is active in each passage, on the same structural-translation-gap principle already flagged in the Galatians baseline for seed_of_abraham’s singular/plural argument. |
| ἀποκαταλλάσσω apokatallassō to reconcile fully/completely | to restore to friendly relations after hostility (intensive compound of καταλλάσσω) “reconcile,” “reconciled” | Christ’s cross reconciles both parties (Jew and Gentile) to God in one body (2:16), and by extension to each other. | примирити (prymyryty). High risk: distinguish from generic “make peace” (миритися) — this is a decisive, accomplished reconciliation achieved specifically through the cross, not an ongoing negotiation or diplomatic process, a distinction worth making given мир/peace’s live political resonance already flagged. |
| προσαγωγή prosagōgē a bringing near, access | access, means of approach (e.g., to a king’s presence) “access” | Both Jew and Gentile now have equal “access” to the Father through Christ (2:18) — royal-court imagery of approaching a sovereign. | доступ (dostup). Low risk: standard, clear. |
| συμπολίτης sympolitēs fellow-citizen | one who shares citizenship with another ”fellow citizens” | Gentile believers are now full “fellow citizens” with Jewish believers in God’s kingdom-community (2:19). | співгромадянин (spivhromadyanyn). High risk, Ukraine-specific: громадянин (citizen) carries strong contemporary civic-national resonance in wartime Ukraine (citizenship, civic duty, conscription eligibility, national belonging). This heavenly/spiritual citizenship metaphor should be taught so its dignity and reality are felt without being collapsed into, or made to compete with, the reader’s earthly Ukrainian civic identity — an analogous caution to the baseline’s kingdom_of_god entry regarding царство’s imperial resonance. |
| θεμέλιος / ἀκρογωνιαῖος (λίθος) themelios / akrogōniaios (lithos) foundation / corner(most) stone | a building’s base / the key structural stone at a building’s corner, bearing structural weight ”foundation” / “cornerstone” | The apostles and prophets as foundation, Christ himself as the load-bearing cornerstone (2:20) — architectural ecclesiology, continuing into ναός below. | основа/фундамент / наріжний камінь (osnova/fundament / narizhnyy kamin’). Medium risk: наріжний камінь is an established, recognizable Ukrainian Bible idiom (also used idiomatically in secular Ukrainian for “cornerstone principle”); ensure the specifically Christological referent (Christ himself, not merely an important founding principle) is retained. |
| ναός naos temple, sanctuary (inner shrine) | the sacred inner sanctuary where deity dwells (distinct from ἱερόν, the wider temple precinct) “temple,” “sanctuary” | The church, corporately, as God’s holy dwelling place (2:21), continuing into 1 Corinthians-style temple ecclesiology. | храм (khram). High risk: the baseline explicitly rejects храм as a substitute for церква (church) precisely because it risks a building/institution-only reading; here, however, ναός genuinely and deliberately means “temple” as a metaphor for the corporate church — so храм is the correct rendering of this specific word, but exposition must make unmistakably clear that Paul means the people, not a physical building or any one denomination’s church buildings, resolving rather than reproducing the very confusion the baseline warns against. |
| κατοικητήριον katoikētērion a dwelling place, habitation | a place of settled residence ”dwelling place,” “habitation” | The church as the place where God’s Spirit takes up permanent residence (2:22). | житло / оселя (Божа) (zhytlo / oselya [Bozha]). Low-Medium risk: standard; reinforces ναός’s temple imagery. |
Chapter 3 (Ephesians 3:1-21)
Chapter 3 deepens the Mystery doctrine and contains the letter’s most theologically technical single word for Ukrainian purposes: ἐνέργεια.
| Terms | Variants | Contextual theological meaning | Ukrainian rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| μυστήριον / οἰκονομία τῆς χάριτος mystērion / oikonomia tēs charitos mystery / stewardship of grace | (see Ch.1) / the specific commission Paul was given to administer this grace ”mystery” / “stewardship of grace,” “administration of grace” | Paul’s personal apostolic role as steward of the now-revealed mystery (3:2-9). | таємниця/тайна (as above) / Богом дане служіння благодаті (Bohom dane sluzhinnya blahodati). Critical / High risk: reuse the register-split convention established in Ch.1; note the compounding with благодать (Critical, TM) requires the same explicit “apart from works” framing wherever this phrase recurs. |
| συγκληρονόμος / σύσσωμος / συμμέτοχος synklēronomos / syssōmos / symmetochos fellow-heir / fellow-body-member / fellow-partaker | three rare Pauline compounds (this is the only NT occurrence of σύσσωμος) naming Gentiles’ full, equal share with Jews in Christ ”fellow heirs, … members of the same body, and … partakers” | The triple compound in 3:6 is Paul’s most emphatic statement of Gentile equality, not mere inclusion, in the promise. | співспадкоємець / співчлен тіла / співучасник (spivspadkoyemets’ / spivchlen tila / spivuchasnyk). High risk: these compound coinages are unusual even in Greek; Ukrainian equivalents (formed with the со-/спів- prefix, paralleling лже- in the Galatians baseline’s false_brothers precedent) should be used consistently, with explicit exposition that these are not three separate ideas but three angles on one claim: full equality, not second-class inclusion. |
| ἀνεξιχνίαστος πλοῦτος anexichniastos ploutos untraceable/unfathomable riches | riches too vast to be tracked or measured ”unsearchable riches,” “boundless riches” | Christ’s riches, which Paul is commissioned to preach to the Gentiles (3:8). | невимірне / незглибиме багатство (nevymirne / nezglybyme bahatstvo). Low risk: standard superlative, part of the πλοῦτος cluster already noted (1:7, 1:18, 2:7). |
| παρρησία parrēsia freedom of speech, boldness | frank, confident, unafraid speech (originally political/civic term for free speech in the assembly) “boldness,” “confidence,” “freedom of access” | Confident access to God in prayer, grounded in Christ’s finished work (3:12), not in personal merit or status. | відвага / сміливість (vidvaha / smilyvist’). Medium risk: avoid дерзновение (a Church-Slavonic/Russicism-adjacent liturgical term still occasionally heard in some Ukrainian Orthodox devotional registers); prefer modern literary відвага or сміливість for the exposition register per this Language Package’s general Ukrainian-over-Russicism preference. |
| πλήρωμα τοῦ θεοῦ plērōma tou theou fullness of God | the totality/completeness of God’s own being or presence ”fullness of God” | The astonishing prayer-request that believers be “filled with all the fullness of God” (3:19) — the boldest of the letter’s πλήρωμα occurrences. | повнота Божа (povnota Bozha). Critical risk: must be handled with the same explicit care the baseline requires for освячення/theosis — this phrase, read through an Eastern lens, could easily be heard as directly teaching обоження (theosis, deification) as an achieved present possession; exposition should clarify this is the fullness of God’s character and presence filling the believer’s life (love, v.17-19’s immediate context), a real but relational/moral filling, not an ontological absorption into divine essence — precisely the distinction the Galatians baseline already requires for crucified_with_christ. |
| ἐνέργεια / ἐνεργέω energeia / energeō working, operation / to work, operate | active power in operation, effectual working ”power that works,” “the working of,” “at work" | "According to the power (δύναμις) that is at work (ἐνεργουμένην) within us” (3:20) — God’s resurrection-power actively operating in ordinary believers’ lives. | сила, яка діє (в нас) (syla, yaka diye [v nas]) — a verb-phrase circumlocution; never render as the noun “енергія.” Critical risk, mandatory theologian review: ἐνέργεια/energeia is a precise technical term in Orthodox Palamite theology, denoting the “uncreated divine energies” through which God is genuinely experienced while his essence (οὐσία) remains forever inaccessible — a doctrine shared by both the OCU and UOC and taught at seminary level. Nominalizing Ephesians 3:20 as “за силою, що діє в нас, — Його енергією” would import this specific, contested technical framework into a text that (in this curriculum’s Protestant-evangelical frame) simply describes God’s active power at work in ordinary Christian experience, with no reference to the essence/energies distinction. This is a higher-stakes version of the caution the baseline already raises for power_of_god (Romans 1:16) and must be treated as the single most sensitive lexical choice in Ephesians 3 for Ukrainian. |
Chapter 4 (Ephesians 4:1-32)
Chapter 4 pivots to the practical/ethical section, opening the “Gifts for Building Up the Church” doctrine and the individual-renewal companion to chapter 2’s corporate “new humanity.”
| Terms | Variants | Contextual theological meaning | Ukrainian rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| κλῆσις klēsis a calling | (see Romans baseline) “calling" | "The calling with which you have been called” (4:1) — introduces the ethical section as flowing from, not earning, one’s calling. | покликання (poklykannya). TM — Medium risk, reuse baseline notes exactly. |
| ἑνότης τοῦ πνεύματος / σύνδεσμος τῆς εἰρήνης henotēs tou pneumatos / syndesmos tēs eirēnēs unity of the Spirit / bond of peace | organic oneness produced by the Spirit / a binding tie characterized by peace ”unity of the Spirit,” “bond of peace” | The unity believers are to “keep” (4:3) — already given by the Spirit, not achieved by human effort, but requiring active maintenance. | єдність Духа / зв’язок миру (yednist’ Dukha / zv’yazok myru). High risk: єдність Духа must not be heard as institutional/jurisdictional unity (i.e., as an implicit comment on OCU/UOC/Greek Catholic relations, the acutely live ecclesial-jurisdiction question already flagged Critical in the baseline’s church entry) — this is Spirit-given unity among all true believers regardless of church body; мир here again carries the baseline’s wartime resonance caution. |
| δωρεά / δόμα dōrea / doma a free gift / a gift given | a gift bestowed by grace (δωρεά, abstract); a specific given gift (δόμα, concrete, from the Psalm 68 quotation) “grace … given,” “gifts” | Christ’s gifts to the church in the persons of its ministers (4:7-8, 4:11) — distinct from δῶρον (2:8, the gift of salvation itself) and from χάρισμα (spiritual gifts generally, not used in Ephesians but established via the Romans baseline’s spiritual_gifts entry). | обдарування / дар(и) (obdaruvannya / dar[y]). Medium risk: exposition should note the terminological distinction from 2:8’s δῶρον (salvation) to prevent readers conflating “the gift of salvation” with “gifts for ministry,” two related but distinct doctrines in this curriculum. |
| ἀπόστολος / προφήτης / εὐαγγελιστής / ποιμήν / διδάσκαλος apostolos / prophētēs / euangelistēs / poimēn / didaskalos apostle / prophet / one who announces good news / shepherd / teacher | the five (or four, depending on grammatical reading) ministry gifts/offices of 4:11 ”apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors/shepherds, teachers” | The gifted persons Christ gives the church for its equipping and building up. | апостол (TM) / пророк (TM) / євангелист (yevanhelyst, new) / пастир (pastyr, new) / учитель (uchytel’, new). Medium-High risk overall, with ποιμήν flagged separately as High: пастир (shepherd) risks being heard as synonymous with пастор — a title used almost exclusively, and with strong denominational specificity, by Protestant/Evangelical congregations in Ukraine — while Orthodox and Greek Catholic readers associate shepherding language primarily with the priestly/episcopal office (панотець, владика). Exposition should present ποιμήν as a functional gift (the shepherding function itself), not an endorsement of any one tradition’s specific clergy title or ordination structure, echoing the baseline’s church-jurisdiction-neutrality principle. |
| καταρτισμός katartismos a making fit, equipping | equipping, outfitting, preparing fully for a task ”equipping,” “for the work of ministry” | The purpose of the ministry gifts: to equip all believers for ministry, not to perform ministry on their behalf (a live and sometimes contested point across traditions with more clergy-centered models of ministry). | приготування / спорядження (pryhotuvannya / sporyadzhennya). Medium risk: should be explicitly framed as equipping the whole congregation for ministry, not concentrating ministry solely in ordained clergy — a gentle but real point of emphasis relative to more strongly clergy-centered practice in parts of the Orthodox and Greek Catholic traditions. |
| οἰκοδομή oikodomē a building up | construction; metaphorically, spiritual edification/growth ”building up,” “edification” | The goal of both the ministry gifts (4:12) and of loving speech (4:16, 4:29) — the church’s organic growth into maturity. | збудування / зростання (у зрілість) (zbuduvannya / zrostannya [u zrilist’]). Low-Medium risk: extends the baseline’s already Low-risk mutual_edification doctrine; ensure consistent rendering across 4:12, 4:16, 4:29. |
| πλήρωμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ plērōma tou Christou fullness of Christ | the full stature/maturity that corresponds to Christ himself ”fullness of Christ,” “measure of the stature of Christ” | The church’s corporate goal: maturity that reflects Christ’s own completeness (4:13) — third of the letter’s four πλήρωμα occurrences. | повнота Христова (povnota Khrystova). High risk: track consistently with 1:23 and 3:19 per the earlier note; here the referent is corporate ecclesial maturity specifically, a nuance worth making explicit. |
| παλαιὸς ἄνθρωπος / νέος ἄνθρωπος (individual) palaios anthrōpos / neos anthrōpos old man/person / new man/person | one’s former, unregenerate self / one’s regenerate, Spirit-renewed self ”old self,” “old man” / “new self,” “new man” | The individual-renewal companion to 2:15’s corporate καινὸς ἄνθρωπος — putting off the old self and putting on the new (4:22-24). | стара людина / нова людина (stara lyudyna / nova lyudyna). Critical risk — see extended cross-reference at 2:15 above: this individual sense and 2:15’s corporate sense use identical or near-identical Ukrainian phrasing; both must be explicitly distinguished in exposition on every occurrence to prevent readers conflating “God has made Jews and Gentiles into one new humanity” (corporate, 2:15) with “I have put off my old sinful self” (individual, 4:22-24) as though they were the same claim. |
| ἀνακαινόω anakainoō to renew, make new again | ongoing renewal/transformation ”renewed" | "Renewed in the spirit of your mind” (4:23) — the internal, ongoing process underlying the old-self/new-self change, distinct from the once-for-all event of regeneration. | оновити / обновити (onovyty / obnovyty). Medium risk: present tense force (“being renewed,” ongoing) should be preserved against a one-time-event misreading, paralleling освячення’s ongoing-process caution already flagged Critical in the baseline. |
| διάβολος diabolos slanderer, accuser | the Devil, Satan, the personal enemy of God and believers ”devil" | "Give no opportunity to the devil” (4:27) — the letter’s first direct naming of Satan by this title, anticipating chapter 6’s spiritual warfare doctrine. | диявол (dyyavol). Medium risk: standard, established, uncontested term across all traditions; note only as connective tissue to chapter 6. |
| λυπέω τὸ Πνεῦμα lypeō to Pneuma to grieve the Spirit | to cause sorrow/distress to a person ”grieve the Holy Spirit” | A striking personal, relational statement — the Spirit can be genuinely grieved by believers’ sin (4:30), assuming and reinforcing the Spirit’s personhood. | засмучувати Святого Духа (zasmuchuvaty Svyatoho Dukha). High risk: must retain Святий (per the baseline’s holy_spirit entry’s mandatory caution against bare “дух,” which risks the secular “бойовий дух”/fighting-spirit wartime idiom) and must present the Spirit as a grievable person, not an impersonal force that can merely be “disrupted.” |
| χαρίζομαι charizomai to show favor, to give graciously; to forgive | to grant freely, forgive (root shared with χάρις, grace) “forgiving,” “as God … forgave you" | "Forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (4:32) — human forgiveness modeled explicitly on, and rooted in the same word as, divine grace. | прощати (proshchaty), with an optional exposition note on the etymological link to благодать. Medium risk, high teaching value: worth explicitly noting the χάρις root for teaching purposes — the same grace that saves (2:8) is the pattern for interpersonal forgiveness — without implying this etymological link must be reproduced lexically in Ukrainian, where прощати and благодать share no root. |
Chapter 5 (Ephesians 5:1-33)
Chapter 5 addresses “Walking in Newness of Life” ethics and opens the household-codes material with its most sensitive term, ὑποτάσσω.
| Terms | Variants | Contextual theological meaning | Ukrainian rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| μιμητής mimētēs an imitator | one who copies/models another’s example ”imitators" | "Be imitators of God, as beloved children” (5:1) — the theological grounding for all following ethical instruction: imitation flows from identity (children), not rule-keeping. | подобитель / наслідувач (podobytel’ / nasliduvach). Low risk: наслідувач is the more accessible modern-register choice. |
| προσφορὰ καὶ θυσία prosphora kai thysia offering and sacrifice | cultic/sacrificial terminology, here applied metaphorically to Christ’s self-giving ”offering and sacrifice” | Christ’s death described in Levitical sacrificial terms (5:2) — atonement theology briefly surfacing within the ethical section. | приношення і жертва (prynoshennya i zhertva). Medium risk: benefits from brief OT sacrificial-system background for readers without continuous Levitical exposure; low risk of doctrinal drift given shared sacrificial imagery across Orthodox, Greek Catholic, and Protestant Eucharistic theology (though this curriculum does not need to engage that specific debate here). |
| πορνεία / ἀκαθαρσία / πλεονεξία porneia / akatharsia / pleonexia sexual immorality / uncleanness / greediness | a representative vice-list of sins incompatible with the kingdom ”sexual immorality,” “impurity,” “greed” | Vices excluding one from “any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God” (5:5) — connects back to κληρονομία (inheritance, ch.1) and Царство (kingdom, TM). | розпуста / нечистота / зажерливість (rozpusta / nechystota / zazherlyvist’). Medium risk: standard vocabulary; note the connection to Царство Боже (TM) and its established caution against imperial/царський resonance should be reaffirmed here (5:5’s “kingdom of Christ and God”). |
| τέκνα φωτός / καρπὸς τοῦ φωτός tekna phōtos / karpos tou phōtos children of light / fruit of light | a life characterized by, and producing the results of, moral/spiritual illumination ”children of light,” “fruit of light” (some MSS “fruit of the Spirit”) | The believer’s new identity and its natural moral “fruit” (5:8-9) — a close conceptual and possibly textual cousin of the Galatians baseline’s плід Духа. | діти світла / плід світла (dity svitla / plid svitla). Low-Medium risk: the manuscript variant (φωτός/“light” vs. πνεύματος/“Spirit”) should be noted for translators; either way, keep the singular “fruit” form per the Galatians baseline’s established caution against pluralizing плід. |
| πληρόω ἐν Πνεύματι plēroō en Pneumati to be filled in/by the Spirit | to be continuously, repeatedly filled (present imperative, ongoing force) “be filled with the Spirit” | The command replacing drunkenness’s counterfeit “filling” (5:18) with the Spirit’s genuine, ongoing filling — evidenced by worship, thanksgiving, and mutual submission (5:19-21). | наповнюватися Духом (napovnyuvatysya Dukhom). High risk: retain Святим/capitalized Дух per the baseline’s mandatory holy_spirit caution; the present-tense, repeated/ongoing force (“keep on being filled,” not a one-time event) should be preserved in exposition, distinct from any one tradition’s specific sacramental “filling” rite (e.g., chrismation) — this is Paul’s own general exhortation to all believers, not a reference to a particular liturgical rite. |
| ὑποτάσσω hypotassō to arrange under, to subordinate | to place in a supportive, ordered relationship; submission (voluntary or structural) “submit,” “be subject to” | The governing verb of the entire household-code section (5:21-6:9): mutual submission among all believers (5:21) as the frame for the specific wife-husband (5:22-24), child-parent (6:1), and slave-master (6:5) applications — the named doctrine “Household Codes and Christ-Centered Relationships.” | підкорятися / коритися (pidkoryatysya / korytysya). Critical risk: this is the single most contemporarily sensitive term in the household-codes material. It must be taught with explicit attention to (a) 5:21’s often-overlooked mutual submission (“submitting to one another”) as the interpretive frame for the specific applications that follow, (b) the term’s use here as Christ-centered, voluntary, love-motivated self-giving rather than coerced inferiority or diminished personhood, and (c) contemporary Ukrainian social context, where wartime conditions have visibly and rapidly expanded women’s public, economic, and even combat roles, making an uncritical, decontextualized reading of this passage liable to land as tone-deaf or regressive if not carefully and pastorally framed. Mandatory theologian review for every occurrence. |
| κεφαλή (of husband) kephalē head | (see Ch.1) “head" | "The husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church” (5:23) — the same word applied to both Christ/church and husband/wife, drawing a deliberate analogy. | голова (holova). Critical risk: must be handled in explicit continuity with, and clear distinction from, its ecclesial use (1:22, 4:15) — the analogy’s point (self-sacrificial, others-serving headship modeled on Christ’s own self-giving love, 5:25) must be foregrounded over any reading that isolates “head” as a bare authority/hierarchy claim divorced from that self-sacrificial model. |
| σωτήρ sōtēr savior, deliverer | one who saves/rescues; a divine title ”savior" | "Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior” (5:23) — σωτήρ as a title for Christ (distinct from the abstract noun σωτηρία, already TM спасіння). | Спаситель (Spasytel’). Low-Medium risk: standard, uncontested title across all three living traditions; no significant Ukraine-specific complication. |
| μυστήριον μέγα mystērion mega a great/profound mystery | a mystery of exceptional significance ”this mystery is profound” | Marriage’s typological pointer to Christ and the church (5:32) — a distinctive, specific application of the letter’s overarching mystery theme. | велика тайна/таємниця (велика following the register-split convention above). High risk: must not be read as elevating marriage itself to a salvific sacrament in a way that displaces this curriculum’s forensic salvation doctrine (a live point of contrast with sacramental theologies that treat marriage as one of the seven mysteries/sacraments in both Orthodox and Greek Catholic tradition) — the text’s own point is typological (marriage illustrates Christ-and-church), not a claim that marriage itself confers saving grace. |
Chapter 6 (Ephesians 6:1-24)
Chapter 6 completes the household codes (children, parents, slaves, masters) and delivers the letter’s climactic Spiritual Warfare and Armor of God material.
| Terms | Variants | Contextual theological meaning | Ukrainian rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| ὑπακούω / τιμάω hypakouō / timaō to obey / to honor | to submit to instruction; to esteem highly ”obey” / “honor” | Children’s obedience to parents (6:1) grounded in the Decalogue’s honor command (6:2-3, quoting Exodus 20:12). | слухатися / шанувати (slukhatysya / shanuvaty). Medium risk: слухатися here names ordinary filial obedience and must not be confused with — nor substitute for — послух віри (obedience of faith, the baseline’s distinct soteriological term); the two are related in spirit (obedience flowing from right relationship) but describe different objects and contexts. |
| δοῦλος / κύριος (household) doulos / kyrios slave, bondservant / lord, master | a person in legal bondage to another / one exercising legal authority over a slave ”slaves”/“bondservants” / “masters” | The ancient household slave-master relationship, addressed (not instituted or endorsed) with instructions pointing toward its underlying Christ-centered accountability (6:5-9), including the striking reminder that masters and slaves share one Master in heaven “who shows no partiality” (6:9). | раб / пан, слуга / господар (rab / pan, sluha / hospodar). High risk, Ukraine-specific: раб (slave) inevitably evokes Ukraine’s own historical memory of кріпацтво (serfdom under the Russian Empire, abolished 1861) as well as the broader Soviet-era forced-labor memory, layered atop the passage’s ancient Greco-Roman institutional context; exposition must clearly distinguish the historical ancient institution being addressed from these later, distinct Ukrainian historical experiences, and should highlight 6:9’s radical relativizing of the master-slave hierarchy (a shared heavenly Master, no partiality) as the passage’s real point, rather than allowing the vocabulary alone to dominate the reading. |
| ὀφθαλμοδουλία ophthalmodoulia eye-service | service performed only when being watched, insincere compliance ”eye-service,” “to please only when watched” | Contrasted with sincere, wholehearted service “as to the Lord” (6:6-7) — applies well beyond the ancient household context to any work relationship. | показне служіння / служіння на показ (pokazne sluzhinnya / sluzhinnya na pokaz). Low risk: vivid, transparent compound, low ambiguity. |
| πανοπλία τοῦ θεοῦ panoplia tou theou full armor of God | complete set of armor/weaponry (Roman legionary equipment) provided by God ”whole armor of God,” “full armor of God” | The controlling image of 6:10-17 — anchors the named doctrine “Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of God.” | повна Божа зброя / повний обладунок Божий (povna Bozha zbroya / povnyy obladunok Bozhyy). High risk, Ukraine-specific: given the acute, immediate, literal reality of military equipment, armor, and weaponry in current Ukrainian daily life and news, this extended metaphor carries far heavier and more immediate resonance for a contemporary Ukrainian reader than for most other audiences — potentially a genuine pastoral asset (many readers or their family members have handled literal armor), but requiring explicit, repeated grounding in the text’s own clarification (6:12, “not against flesh and blood”) that this is spiritual, not literal military, combat, so the passage is not misheard as endorsing or spiritually validating a literal war effort, however just that effort may independently be judged to be. |
| πάλη palē a wrestling match | hand-to-hand grappling combat (as opposed to μάχη, pitched battle) “struggle,” “wrestling" | "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against…” (6:12) — Paul’s own chosen image is close, personal combat, not organized warfare between armies. | боротьба (borot’ba). Critical risk, Ukraine-specific: боротьба is one of the most politically and emotionally loaded words in current Ukrainian public discourse (боротьба за незалежність, боротьба з агресором — “the struggle for independence,” “the struggle against the aggressor”), comparable in weight to the baseline’s existing cautions on мир, слава, and свобода/воля. Paul’s own text supplies the needed corrective (“not against flesh and blood”) and this should be foregrounded explicitly in all exposition, but translators must not allow the vocabulary’s contemporary charge to silently convert a text about spiritual combat against “rulers, authorities, cosmic powers” into an implicit endorsement or commentary on the literal war. Mandatory theologian review for the entire 6:10-20 unit. |
| ἀρχαί, ἐξουσίαι, κοσμοκράτορες τοῦ σκότους, πνευματικὰ τῆς πονηρίας archai, exousiai, kosmokratores tou skotous, pneumatika tēs ponērias rulers, authorities, world-rulers of darkness, spiritual [forces] of wickedness | a four-part escalating list of hierarchical demonic/cosmic powers ”rulers,” “authorities,” “cosmic powers over this present darkness,” “spiritual forces of evil” | The real, personal, organized opposition believers face — not abstract impersonal evil but structured spiritual hostility (6:12). | начала, власті, володарі темряви цього світу, духи злоби (nachala, vlasti, volodari temryavy tsʹoho svitu, dukhy zloby). High risk, Ukraine-specific: власть/влада again touches the acutely live “authority” vocabulary already flagged (2:2 above; baseline general notes) — exposition must make unmistakably clear these are cosmic-spiritual powers, with zero reference to any earthly government, political authority, or the current invading state, however tempting a rhetorical parallel some readers might independently be inclined to draw. |
| ζώνη τῆς ἀληθείας / θώραξ τῆς δικαιοσύνης / ὑπόδημα ἑτοιμασίας τοῦ εὐαγγελίου / θυρεὸς τῆς πίστεως / περικεφαλαία τοῦ σωτηρίου / μάχαιρα τοῦ Πνεύματος zōnē tēs alētheias / thōrax tēs dikaiosynēs / hypodēma hetoimasias tou euangeliou / thyreos tēs pisteōs / perikephalaia tou sōtēriou / machaira tou Pneumatos belt of truth / breastplate of righteousness / shoes of gospel-readiness / shield of faith / helmet of salvation / sword of the Spirit | the six individually named pieces of armor (6:14-17), each paired with a theological virtue already established in the curriculum’s other doctrines ”belt of truth,” “breastplate of righteousness,” “gospel of peace” (readiness), “shield of faith,” “helmet of salvation,” “sword of the Spirit” | Each piece names a doctrine already treated elsewhere in this and the baseline curricula (righteousness, faith, salvation, gospel, the Spirit/word of God) now re-deployed as protective/offensive spiritual equipment. | пояс правди / нагрудник праведності / взуття готовності Євангелія (миру) / щит віри / шолом спасіння / меч Духа (poyas pravdy / nahrudnyk pravednosti / vzuttya hotovnosti Yevanheliya [myru] / shchyt viry / sholom spasinnya / mech Dukha). High risk, cumulative: each compound must reuse the exact baseline TM rendering for its embedded doctrinal noun (праведність, віра, спасіння, Дух all TM-Critical/High) — the armor metaphor is doctrinally rich precisely because each piece recapitulates an already-established Critical/High-risk term, so any drift in the embedded noun’s rendering here would create inconsistency with its established use elsewhere in the curriculum. The military imagery itself (нагрудник, панцир, щит, шолом, меч) draws on vocabulary with unusually high, current real-world salience for a wartime Ukrainian readership (see πανοπλία note above) — an asset for vivid comprehension that must remain anchored to the passage’s stated spiritual, not literal-military, referent. |
| ῥῆμα θεοῦ rhēma theou word (spoken utterance) of God | a specific spoken word/utterance (distinct from λόγος’ broader sense) “word of God” | The Spirit’s sword identified specifically with God’s spoken word (6:17) — Scripture and Spirit-given utterance as the believer’s only offensive weapon in the whole list (the rest being defensive). | слово Боже (slovo Bozhe). Low-Medium risk: standard; note ῥῆμα’s narrower “spoken utterance” nuance versus λόγος for advanced exposition, though the distinction carries no major doctrinal weight for this curriculum. |
| προσευχή / δέησις proseuchē / deēsis prayer / petition, request | general prayer / specific, urgent requests ”prayer” / “supplication" | "Praying at all times … with all prayer and supplication” (6:18) — sustained, comprehensive prayer as the animating practice of the whole armor-of-God unit. | молитва / благання (molytva / blahannya). Low risk: standard vocabulary. |
| πρεσβεύω ἐν ἁλύσει presbeuō en halysei to act as an ambassador in a chain | to serve as an official representative/envoy, here while imprisoned ”an ambassador … in chains” | Paul’s self-description (6:20) — his imprisonment does not diminish, but rather dramatizes, his ongoing apostolic representative role. | посол у кайданах / посланець у ланцюгах (posol u kaydanakh / poslanets’ u lantsyuhakh). Medium-High risk, Ukraine-specific pastoral sensitivity: given the current, real, and painful prominence of Ukrainian prisoners of war and unjustly detained civilians, this image of costly, chained witness carries genuine and immediate resonance; it can be a source of real pastoral comfort and solidarity (suffering for the gospel is not defeat but a form of ambassadorial dignity) but should be introduced with pastoral sensitivity rather than treated as a merely historical or rhetorical detail, given how many readers may have a family member or acquaintance currently held captive. |
Summary of Highest-Priority Cross-Chapter Risks
- ἐνέργεια/energeia (3:20; cf. 2:2) — Critical, unique to Ephesians in this curriculum series: must never be nominalized as “енергія” given its precise Orthodox Palamite technical meaning.
- σῶμα/σάρξ homograph via тіло, now compounded by the Body-of-Christ ecclesiology running through the whole letter (1:23; 2:16; 4:4, 12, 16; 5:23, 30) alongside the ethical-flesh sense (2:3) — the single highest-density recurrence of this Critical risk pattern encountered so far.
- καινὸς/νέος ἄνθρωπος — corporate (2:15) vs. individual (4:22-24) — identical Ukrainian phrasing for two distinct doctrinal claims; requires explicit disambiguation every time.
- ὑποτάσσω / household codes (5:21-6:9) — Critical, acute contemporary Ukrainian social-context sensitivity (wartime shifts in gender and social roles) layered on top of the baseline’s cross-tradition sensitivities.
- ἔχθρα (2:14-16), boт (πάλη, 6:12), πανοπλία (6:11) — a cluster of war/enmity/combat vocabulary carrying unusually heavy, immediate, current real-world resonance for a wartime Ukrainian readership, requiring the same order of pastoral care the baseline already applies to мир (peace) and свобода/воля (freedom).
- προορίζω/predestination (1:5, 1:11) — the sharpest, most explicit predestination language in the curriculum to date; no developed Orthodox/Greek Catholic parallel category, mandatory theologian review.
- μυστήριον (1:9; 3:3-9; 5:32; 6:19) and πλήρωμα (1:23; 3:19; 4:13) — two recurring structural terms requiring register-split (тайна/таємниця) and cross-occurrence consistency respectively.
All chapters of Ephesians contribute new load-bearing theological vocabulary; no chapter is without doctrinal content requiring analysis.