Arabic · العربية
Father's Heart Bible™ key-term glossary — anchored to the historic Arabic Scriptures · Script: Arabic
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.
Register
Reverent contemporary Christian Arabic in the wording family of the Van Dyck Bible (فان دايك، 1865) — the most-trusted and best-loved Arabic scripture across Protestant and Orthodox communities — warmed toward the register of كتاب الحياة (Book of Life / NAV) where Van Dyck reads archaic. The filial vision is anchored in living Arabic-Christian usage: the Lord's-Prayer address «أبانا الذي في السموات» and the Trinitarian name الآب, which every Arabic-speaking believer hears as their own Father, never as the generic الله.
Quotation marks
Arabic guillemets «…» for direct speech, with nested speech in single ‹…›; text is right-to-left.
Poetry lines
Poetry (Psalms, Prophets, canticles) set as separate indented lines, one poetic stich per line with the parallel colon on the following indented line; hemistich breaks preserved, right-to-left.
| # | English term | Proposed rendering | Literal back-translation | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | our Heavenly Father | أبانا الذي في السماوات | our Father, the heavenly [one] | Anchored to Van Dyck (فاندايك) (Mt 6:9) — the established rendering this language's church already prays; FHB shifts only the person (our), never the construction. Was: "أبونا السماوي". Sweep 2026-07-22 (Kevin: mine the existing translations, don't invent) |
| 2 | our Father | أبانا | our Father | Anchored to Van Dyck (فاندايك) (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: "أبونا (vocative: أبانا)". Sweep 2026-07-22 (Kevin: mine the existing translations, don't invent) |
| 3 | the Father | الآب | the Father | The living Arabic-Christian name for God the Father (الآب والابن والروح القدس); distinct from the generic الله. |
| 4 | Heavenly Father | الآب السماوي | the heavenly Father | Definite filial form: الآب + السماوي; matches Trinitarian usage, not الله. |
| 5 | Abba, Father | يا أبَا الآب | O Abba, the Father | Anchored to Van Dyck (فاندايك) (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: "يا أبا الآب". Sweep 2026-07-22 (Kevin: mine the existing translations, don't invent) |
| 6 | God | الله | God (Allāh) | REVERSION / CONTRAST term — the standard Arabic-Bible word for God-as-God. Use only where English keeps 'God'; never as a substitute for أبونا. |
| 7 | the LORD | الرَّبّ | the Lord | REVERSION / CONTRAST term — the covenant name (Yahweh) rendered الرب in Arabic Bibles. NB: unlike Telugu, Arabic uses the same word الرب for the title 'Lord' applied to Jesus; disambiguate by context. Never a substitute for أبونا. |
| 8 | the Holy Spirit | الروح القدس | the Holy Spirit | Standard Van Dyck term. |
| 9 | the Spirit of our Father | روح أبينا | the Spirit of our Father | Relational (of the Father), not روح الله 'Spirit of God' — carries the filial أب stem. |
| 10 | the Son of Man | ابن الإنسان | the Son of Man | Standard messianic self-title. |
| 11 | the Son | الابن | the Son | The Son (Jesus); the Trinitarian الابن answering to الآب. |
| 12 | the Son of God | ابن الله | the Son of God | Christological title; the standard Van Dyck ابن الله is retained (Sonship declared toward God). Reviewer to confirm vs ابن الآب. |
| 13 | one and only Son | الابن الوحيد | the only / unique Son | John 3:16 (Van Dyck: ابنه الوحيد). وحيد = only-begotten / one-of-a-kind. |
| 14 | the kingdom of our Father | ملكوت أبينا | the kingdom of our Father | FHB renders 'kingdom of God' filially: the special divine-kingdom word ملكوت + أبينا, not ملكوت الله. Confirmed pattern (John 3:3,5). |
| 15 | Jesus | يسوع | Jesus | Christian-Arabic form يسوع (not the Qur'anic عيسى). |
| 16 | Christ | المسيح | the Christ / the Anointed | Standard title (John 3:28). |
| 17 | Messiah | المسيّا | the Messiah (transliterated) | Where English keeps 'Messiah', Van Dyck transliterates مسيّا and glosses it المسيح (John 1:41; 4:25) — kept distinct from the title المسيح. |
| 18 | covenant | العهد | the covenant | Standard Arabic-Bible term (also 'Testament', العهد القديم/الجديد). |
| 19 | steadfast love | المحبة الثابتة | the steadfast / firm love | Renders Hebrew ḥesed (loyal covenant love). Reviewer to confirm vs traditional Van Dyck رحمة / إحسان. |
| 20 | compassion | الرأفة | tender mercy, compassion (lit. 'inward pity') | Renders racham / splanchnizomai (gut-level tenderness); Van Dyck uses رأفات / تحنن. The رحم/womb-tenderness resonance is available via مراحم if reviewer prefers. |
| 21 | righteousness | البرّ | righteousness | Van Dyck البر for dikaiosynē / ṣedeq. |
| 22 | eternal life | الحياة الأبدية | the eternal life | John 3:16 (Van Dyck: الحياة الأبدية). |
| 23 | born again | يُولَد من جديد | to be born anew / again | Van Dyck reads يُولَد من فوق 'born from above' (anōthen, John 3:3,7); noun form: الولادة الجديدة. Reviewer to confirm جديد vs من فوق. |
Terms we deliberately avoid
These common words carry another religion's meaning, so Scripture in Arabic has always chosen different vocabulary — and so do we. Please don't recommend them; the established Bible alternative is listed beside each.
- تناسخ (reincarnation/transmigration) → الولادة الجديدة (new birth, Van Dyck Jn 3:3)
Machine conformance stems (every filial rendering must contain one): أب · آب · أبو · أبي · أبا · الآب · أبانا · أبينا
Submit your review
Your review goes directly to Kevin White. Corrections can be written in Arabic or English.