Persian · فارسی
Father's Heart Bible™ key-term glossary — anchored to the historic Persian Scriptures · Script: Perso-Arabic (Naskh/Nastaʿlīq, right-to-left)
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.
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Warm, reverent contemporary literary Persian in the tradition of the New Millennium Version (ترجمهٔ هزارهٔ نو, Tarjome-ye Hezāre-ye No, Elam 2003) — the translation most-loved among Iranian believers — with the dignified cadence of the classic Old Persian Version (OPV) behind it. Devotional but not archaic; the intimacy an Iranian Christian would use praying to their own father, not the formality of theological prose.
Quotation marks
Guillemets «…» (گیومه) for speech, nested speech in single guillemets ‹…›; RTL punctuation (، ؛ ؟).
Poetry lines
Poetry (Psalms, Prophets, canticles) set as indented broken free-verse lines RTL, parallel/second cola indented one step — as in the NMV Psalter; not classical beyt/mesraʿ couplet layout.
| # | English term | Proposed rendering | Literal back-translation | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | our Heavenly Father | پدر آسمانی ما | our heavenly Father | Filial divine name; پدر آسمانی is the natural Persian devotional phrase, + ما for the beloved-child possessive. NOT خدای آسمان ('God of heaven'). |
| 2 | our Father | پدر ما | our Father | Anchored to ترجمهٔ قدیم / هزارهٔ نو (Mt 6:9 / Rom 1:7) — the established rendering this language's church already prays; FHB shifts only the person (our), never the construction. Was: "پدرِ ما". Sweep 2026-07-22 (Kevin: mine the existing translations, don't invent) |
| 3 | the Father | پدر | (the) Father | Persian has no definite article; capitalized/context-marked پدر carries the definite reverent 'the Father'. Kept bare to preserve intimacy, not ذاتِ اقدس-type formality. |
| 4 | Heavenly Father | پدر آسمانی | heavenly Father | Filial divine name without possessive; standard tender form in Iranian Christian prayer and hymnody. |
| 5 | Abba, Father | ابّا، پدر | Abba (Aramaic 'papa'), Father | Anchored to ترجمهٔ قدیم / هزارهٔ نو (Rom 8:15 / Mk 14:36) — the established rendering this language's church already prays; FHB shifts only the person (our), never the construction. Was: "اَبّا، پدر". Sweep 2026-07-22 (Kevin: mine the existing translations, don't invent) |
| 6 | God | خدا | God | REVERSION TOKEN — generic deity, God-as-God. Universal Persian word (خدا). Use ONLY where English keeps 'God'; never as a substitute for پدرِ ما. |
| 7 | the LORD | خداوند | the LORD (covenant name, Yahweh) | REVERSION TOKEN — traditional Persian rendering of the covenant name (small-caps LORD) in OPV/NMV. Distinct from the generic title 'Lord' for Jesus (خداوند عیسی / سرور). Never a substitute for پدرِ ما. |
| 8 | the Holy Spirit | روحالقدس | the Holy Spirit | Fixed standard Persian term (Arabic-loan Rūhu'l-Qudus) in every Persian Bible; by-identity title, do not paraphrase. |
| 9 | the Spirit of our Father | روح پدر ما | the Spirit of our Father | Anchored to ترجمهٔ قدیم / هزارهٔ نو (Mt 10:20) — the established rendering this language's church already prays; FHB shifts only the person (our), never the construction. Was: "روحِ پدرِ ما". Sweep 2026-07-22 (Kevin: mine the existing translations, don't invent) |
| 10 | the Son of Man | پسرِ انسان | the Son of Man | Standard Persian Gospel title (Pesar-e Ensān). |
| 11 | the Son | پسر | the Son | The Son (Jesus), definite by context; پسر pairs with پدر so the filial Father–Son bond reads plainly. |
| 12 | the Son of God | پسرِ خدا | the Son of God | Christological title; retains خدا (God-as-God) as the fixed confession, not the filial Father. Reviewer to confirm پسرِ خدا vs a filial پسرِ پدر ('Son of the Father'). |
| 13 | one and only Son | پسرِ یگانه | the one and only / unique Son | یگانه (yegāneh, 'sole/unique') is the John 3:16 wording of the NMV — monogenēs, 'one and only'. |
| 14 | the kingdom of our Father | پادشاهی پدر ما | the kingdom of our Father | Anchored to ترجمهٔ قدیم / هزارهٔ نو (Mt 26:29) — the established rendering this language's church already prays; FHB shifts only the person (our), never the construction. Was: "ملکوتِ پدرِ ما". Sweep 2026-07-22 (Kevin: mine the existing translations, don't invent) |
| 15 | Jesus | عیسی | Jesus | Dominant Persian Christian name (Īsā), used across OPV/NMV; often عیسی مسیح in full. (یسوع is a rarer variant.) |
| 16 | Christ | مسیح | Christ / the Anointed | Standard Persian title (Masīh). |
| 17 | Messiah | مسیحِ موعود | the promised Messiah / Anointed One | Persian collapses Christ and Messiah to مسیح; where English marks the awaited Hebrew title, موعود ('promised') distinguishes it. Reviewer to confirm vs bare مسیح or transliterated ماشیح. |
| 18 | covenant | عهد | covenant | Standard Persian Bible term (Ahd), as in عهد عتیق/جدید (Old/New Covenant). |
| 19 | steadfast love | محبتِ پایدار | steadfast / enduring love | Renders Hebrew ḥesed (loyal covenant love). محبت is the biblical agape-word (not romantic عشق); پایدار marks the loyal, unfailing quality. Reviewer to confirm vs محبتِ وفادار ('faithful love'). |
| 20 | compassion | شفقت | compassion / tender affection | Renders raḥam / splanchnizomai (gut-level tender mercy). شفقت is warm, heartfelt pity; رأفت or دلسوزی are alternates. Distinct from bare رحم ('mercy'). |
| 21 | righteousness | عدالت | righteousness / justice | Standard Persian theological term (Adālat). Reviewer to confirm vs پارسایی ('uprightness/piety'), which the NMV sometimes uses for personal righteousness. |
| 22 | eternal life | حیاتِ جاودان | eternal / everlasting life | John 3:16 wording of the NMV (ḥayāt-e jāvedān); زندگی جاویدان is the plainer contemporary alternate. |
| 23 | born again | تولّدِ تازه | new birth / born anew | John 3:3,7 idiom (tavallod-e tāzeh, 'fresh birth'); verbal form از نو متولّد شدن ('to be born anew'). Standard in Persian John 3. |
Terms we deliberately avoid
These common words carry another religion's meaning, so Scripture in Persian has always chosen different vocabulary — and so do we. Please don't recommend them; the established Bible alternative is listed beside each.
- تناسخ (reincarnation) → تولد تازه (new birth, Jn 3:3)
Machine conformance stems (every filial rendering must contain one): پدر · اَبّا
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Your review goes directly to Kevin White. Corrections can be written in Persian or English.