Bengali · বাংলা

Father's Heart Bible™ key-term glossary — anchored to the historic Bengali Scriptures · Script: Bengali (Bangla abugida)

For the reviewer

These are the proposed renderings of FHB's key terms. The heart of the review: wherever English says our Father, the rendering must feel like a beloved child addressing their own father — warm, reverent, natural to your language's Bible — and never the distant generic word for "God." Mark anything that reads wrong, stiff, or irreverent. Tip: your browser's translate feature can back-translate this page as a second witness. Approvals or corrections go to Kevin White.

Contemporary reverent Bengali Bible register (cholito-bhasha), matching the Bible Society of India Bengali Bible / Common-Language (Mangalsamachar) tradition that Bengali Christians read and pray from, not the older sadhu-bhasha Carey diction. Third-person deity takes honorific verb agreement and তাঁর; the Father is addressed with the intimate-yet-reverent তুমি of the Bengali Lord's Prayer (হে আমাদের স্বর্গস্থ পিতা), the register of a beloved child speaking to their own father.

Quotation marks

Straight double quotes " " around speech, matching the English source verbatim in count and placement; single quotes ' ' for a quotation nested inside a quotation.

Poetry lines

Preserve the English poetry line breaks exactly: one Bengali line per English line, same count, order, and indent (the numeric indent is copied, only the line text is translated). Hebrew parallelism is kept across the line pair; do not merge or split lines unless a native reviewer rebreaks them.

#	English term	Proposed rendering	Literal back-translation	Why
1	our Heavenly Father	আমাদের স্বর্গস্থ পিতা	our Father who is in heaven	Divine name. Matches the vocative of the Bengali Lord's Prayer (Matt 6:9), the phrase Bengali Christians know best; স্বর্গস্থ = 'in heaven'.
2	our Father	আমাদের পিতা	our Father	Primary filial divine name. পিতা is the reverent word for 'father' used of God in the Bengali Bible. NEVER revert to ঈশ্বর / সদাপ্রভু.
3	the Father	পিতা	(the) Father	Filial divine name (definite). Bengali has no article; definiteness carries through honorific verb agreement and context. Bare পিতা, capital-F, is preferred over demonstrative সেই পিতা.
4	Heavenly Father	স্বর্গস্থ পিতা	heavenly Father	Anchored to বাংলা কমন/BSI (Mt 6:14) — the established rendering this language's church already prays; FHB shifts only the person (our), never the construction. Was: "স্বর্গীয় পিতা". Sweep 2026-07-22 (Kevin: mine the existing translations, don't invent)
5	Abba, Father	আব্বা, পিতা	Abba, Father	Aramaic address retained + Bengali gloss (Mark 14:36; Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6). আব্বা doubles as the everyday Bengali word for 'dad', so the intimacy Paul intends lands natively — then পিתা reverently names it.
6	God	ঈশ্বর	God (the Deity)	REVERSION TOKEN. Standard Bengali Christian word for God (not the Muslim-idiom আল্লাহ/খোদা). Use ONLY where the English keeps 'God' as God-as-God; never as a substitute for 'our Father'.
7	the LORD	সদাপ্রভু	the Eternal Lord (Yahweh)	REVERSION TOKEN. The standard Bengali OT rendering of the covenant name. Use ONLY where the English keeps 'the LORD'; never as a substitute for 'our Father'. (Generic title 'Lord' for Jesus = প্রভু, distinct.)
8	the Holy Spirit	পবিত্র আত্মা	the Holy Spirit	Standard Bengali Bible term (John 3).
9	the Spirit of our Father	আমাদের পিতার আত্মা	the Spirit of our Father	Relational (of the Father), not by-identity; keeps the filial stem পিতা in the genitive পিতার.
10	the Son of Man	মনুষ্যপুত্র	Son of Man	The classic Bengali Bible compound for the title (John 3), literally 'man-son'.
11	the Son	পুত্র	(the) Son	The Son (Jesus). Bare পুত্র, definite by context/honorific agreement.
12	the Son of God	ঈশ্বরের পুত্র	Son of God	Christological title where the English retains 'God' → ঈশ্বর. Native reviewer to confirm vs the filial পিতার পুত্র ('Son of the Father').
13	one and only Son	একমাত্র পুত্র	only Son	John 3:16. একমাত্র = 'sole/only'; reviewer may prefer the classic একজাত ('only-begotten') of the older Bengali text.
14	the kingdom of our Father	আমাদের পিতার রাজ্য	the kingdom of our Father	FHB renders 'kingdom of God' filially (John 3:3,5): the standard ঈশ্বরের রাজ্য is refiled onto পিতার.
15	Jesus	যীশু	Jesus	Standard Bengali Bible spelling (also modern যিশু).
16	Christ	খ্রীষ্ট	Christ	Standard Bengali Bible term (John 3:28; also modern খ্রিষ্ট).
17	Messiah	মশীহ	Messiah	Bengali transliteration of the Hebrew title (John 1:41), distinct from the Greek-derived খ্রীষ্ট.
18	covenant	নিয়ম	covenant / testament	Standard Bengali Bible term — as in পুরাতন নিয়ম / নতুন নিয়ম (Old/New Covenant).
19	steadfast love	অবিচল প্রেম	unwavering love	Renders Hebrew hesed (loyal covenant love). অবিচল = 'unwavering'. Reviewer to confirm vs the traditional দয়া / করুণা ('loving-kindness, mercy') used for hesed in some Bengali texts.
20	compassion	করুণা	compassion / tender mercy	Renders Hebrew racham / Greek splanchnizomai (gut-level tender mercy). Standard করুণা; reviewer may prefer মমতা for the visceral, womb-deep tenderness of racham.
21	righteousness	ধার্মিকতা	righteousness	Standard Bengali Bible term.
22	eternal life	অনন্ত জীবন	endless / eternal life	John 3:16. অনন্ত = 'without end'.
23	born again	নতুন জন্ম	new birth	John 3:3,7. নতুন জন্ম = 'new birth'; reviewer to confirm against the 'from above' sense (উপর হইতে জন্ম) some Bengali texts carry.

Terms we deliberately avoid

These common words carry another religion's meaning, so Scripture in Bengali has always chosen different vocabulary — and so do we. Please don't recommend them; the established Bible alternative is listed beside each.

পুনর্জন্ম (reincarnation) → নতুন জন্ম
অবতার (Hindu avatar) → দেহধারণ
মোক্ষ (Hindu liberation) → পরিত্রাণ (salvation)
নির্বাণ (Buddhist nirvana) → অনন্ত জীবন

Machine conformance stems (every filial rendering must contain one): পিতা · আব্বা

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