Turkish · Türkçe
Father's Heart Bible™ key-term glossary — anchored to the historic Turkish Scriptures · Script: Latin
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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Reverent contemporary Turkish matching the Kutsal Kitap: Yeni Çeviri (2001/2009, Kitab-ı Mukaddes Şirketi & Yeni Yaşam Yayınları) — the most-trusted modern Protestant Turkish Bible, which uses Tanrı for the generic deity and small-cap RAB for the covenant name. Warm, dignified, everyday-accessible Turkish rather than the archaic 1941 Kitabı Mukaddes register.
Quotation marks
Turkish guillemets «…» for direct speech (as set in the Kutsal Kitap), with nested speech in ‹…›; contemporary editions also accept straight double quotes "…".
Poetry lines
Poetic books (Psalms, Proverbs, Prophets) set as indented verse, each stich on its own line with a hanging indent on runover, preserving Hebrew parallelism line-for-line, as in the Kutsal Kitap poetic sections.
| # | English term | Proposed rendering | Literal back-translation | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | our Heavenly Father | Göklerdeki Babamız | our Father who is in the heavens | Uses the beloved Lord's Prayer wording (Matta 6:9, 'Göklerdeki Babamız') every Turkish believer knows — maximally filial and familiar; never 'Tanrımız'. |
| 2 | our Father | Babamız | our Father | Baba + -mız (1pl possessive). The primary filial divine name; the address of a child, NEVER reverted to Tanrı / RAB. |
| 3 | the Father | Baba | the Father | Bare 'Baba' is the standard Turkish theological name for the first Person (Baba, Oğul, Kutsal Ruh); definiteness carried by context, not an article. |
| 4 | Heavenly Father | Göksel Baba | Heavenly / celestial Father | 'Göksel' (heavenly) is the natural adjective form when no possessive is present; reserves 'Göklerdeki Babamız' for the possessive 'our'. |
| 5 | Abba, Father | Abba, Baba | Abba, Father | Retains the Aramaic cry with its Turkish gloss exactly as the Yeni Çeviri renders Markos 14:36 / Romalılar 8:15 / Galatyalılar 4:6 — the intimacy of the term is already canonical here. |
| 6 | God | Tanrı | God (the deity) | REVERSION TOKEN — the Yeni Çeviri word for God-as-God. Use only where English keeps 'God'; never as a stand-in for Babamız. |
| 7 | the LORD | RAB | the LORD (YHWH) | REVERSION TOKEN — small-cap RAB is the Yeni Çeviri rendering of the covenant name. Distinct from generic 'Lord' for Jesus = Rab / Rab'bimiz. Never a substitute for Babamız. |
| 8 | the Holy Spirit | Kutsal Ruh | the Holy Spirit | Standard, universally recognized Turkish Bible term. |
| 9 | the Spirit of our Father | Babamız'ın Ruhu | the Spirit of our Father | Anchored to Kutsal Kitap (Mt 10:20) — the established rendering this language's church already prays; FHB shifts only the person (our), never the construction. Was: "Babamızın Ruhu". Sweep 2026-07-22 (Kevin: mine the existing translations, don't invent) |
| 10 | the Son of Man | İnsanoğlu | the Son of Man | Fixed compound (insan + oğlu) used throughout the Turkish Gospels for Jesus' self-title. |
| 11 | the Son | Oğul | the Son | Bare 'Oğul' pairs with 'Baba' in the Turkish Trinitarian formula; the eternal Son, Jesus. |
| 12 | the Son of God | Tanrı'nın Oğlu | the Son of God | Standard Christological title in the Yeni Çeviri. Kept as-is (not filialized to 'Baba'nın Oğlu') — native reviewer to confirm this contrast term stays with Tanrı. |
| 13 | one and only Son | biricik Oğul | the one and only / unique Son | 'biricik' = sole/one-and-only, exactly the Yeni Çeviri wording of Yuhanna 3:16 ('biricik Oğlunu verdi'). |
| 14 | the kingdom of our Father | Babamız'ın egemenliği | the reign / sovereignty of our Father | Anchored to Kutsal Kitap (Mt 26:29) — the established rendering this language's church already prays; FHB shifts only the person (our), never the construction. Was: "Babamızın Egemenliği". Sweep 2026-07-22 (Kevin: mine the existing translations, don't invent) |
| 15 | Jesus | İsa | Jesus | The universal Turkish name for Jesus, often İsa Mesih in full. |
| 16 | Christ | Mesih | Christ / Anointed One | Standard title for Jesus (İsa Mesih); Turkish uses the Semitic 'Mesih' rather than a Greek-derived form. |
| 17 | Messiah | Mesih | Messiah / the Anointed One | Same word as 'Christ' in Turkish; distinguished only by context (the awaited Deliverer vs. the title of Jesus). |
| 18 | covenant | antlaşma | covenant / binding agreement | The Yeni Çeviri term (Eski/Yeni Antlaşma = Old/New Testament); replaces archaic 'ahit'. |
| 19 | steadfast love | vefalı sevgi | loyal / faithful love | Renders hesed — 'vefa' carries the covenant-loyalty sense Turkish readers feel, pairing it with 'sevgi' (love). Reviewer to confirm vs. plain 'sadık sevgi'. |
| 20 | compassion | şefkat | tender compassion / affectionate mercy | 'şefkat' is gut-level parental tenderness — the precise sense of racham / splanchnizomai — distinct from 'merhamet' (mercy). |
| 21 | righteousness | doğruluk | righteousness / uprightness | The Yeni Çeviri term for righteousness; 'adalet' (justice) is reserved for judicial contexts. |
| 22 | eternal life | sonsuz yaşam | endless / eternal life | Exact Yeni Çeviri wording of Yuhanna 3:16 ('sonsuz yaşama kavuşsun'). |
| 23 | born again | yeniden doğmak | to be born again / anew | The Yeni Çeviri phrasing of Yuhanna 3:3,7 ('Yeniden doğmadıkça'); inflected as 'yeniden doğmuş' where the participle is needed. |
Terms we deliberately avoid
These common words carry another religion's meaning, so Scripture in Turkish has always chosen different vocabulary — and so do we. Please don't recommend them; the established Bible alternative is listed beside each.
- reenkarnasyon (reincarnation) → yeniden doğuş (new birth, Jn 3:3)
- karma (karma-fate) → yapılan işler (deeds)
Machine conformance stems (every filial rendering must contain one): Baba · Bab
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Your review goes directly to Kevin White. Corrections can be written in Turkish or English.