Core Glossary
Core Glossary — 1 Corinthians (English → Cantonese)
This glossary compiles every load-bearing theological term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, drawn from all sixteen chapters of 1 Corinthians, organized by the curriculum’s ten core doctrines. Each entry gives the Cantonese rendering, Jyutping transliteration, risk tier, source status (reused from the Romans baseline vs. new to this curriculum), the chapters where the term is load-bearing, and the specific grounded reason for its risk tier.
Risk tier definitions follow doctrine_risk_registry.json exactly: Critical = human theologian review required, every occurrence; High = human theologian review required; Medium = native speaker review recommended; Low = automated review sufficient.
A. Reused Terms from the Romans Baseline (render exactly as recorded — no changes)
| English term | Cantonese | Jyutping | Risk | Chapters used in 1 Corinthians |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| gospel | 福音 | fuk1 jam1 | Medium | 1, 4, 9, 15, 16 |
| grace | 恩典 | jan1 din2 | Critical | 1, 3, 15, 16 |
| faith | 信心 | seon3 sam1 | High | 2, 12, 13, 15, 16 |
| salvation | 救恩 | gau3 jan1 | Critical | 1, 15 |
| apostle | 使徒 | si2 tou4 | Low | 1, 4, 9, 12, 15 |
| called / calling | 蒙召嘅 / 呼召 | mung4 siu6 ge3 / fu1 siu6 | High | 1, 7, 15 |
| holy | 聖潔 | sing3 git3 | High | 1, 3, 6, 7 |
| saints | 聖徒 | sing3 tou4 | High | 1, 6 |
| sanctification | 成聖 | sing4 sing3 | High | 1, 6 |
| resurrection | 復活 | fuk6 wut6 | Critical | 15 (throughout) |
| lord | 主 | zyu2 | Critical | 1, 8, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16 |
| church | 教會 | gaau3 wui2 | Medium | 1, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16 |
| kingdom of God | 神嘅國 | san4 ge3 gwok3 | Medium | 4, 6, 15 |
| sin | 罪 | zeoi6 | High | 6, 15 |
| gentiles | 外邦人 | ngoi6 bong1 jan4 | Medium | 1, 5, 10, 12 |
| glory | 榮耀 | wing4 jiu6 | Medium | 1, 6, 10, 11, 15 |
| power of God | 神嘅大能 | san4 ge3 daai6 nang4 | High | 1, 2, 6, 12 |
| messiah / Christ | 基督 | gei1 duk1 | Critical | throughout |
| prophecy | 預言 | jyu6 jin4 | Medium | 12, 13, 14 |
| covenant | 約 | joek3 | High | 11 |
| fellowship | 團契 | tyun4 kai3 | Low | 1, 10 |
| spiritual gifts | 屬靈恩賜 | suk6 ling4 jan1 ci3 | Medium | 1, 7, 12, 14 |
| jesus | 耶穌 | je4 sou1 | Critical | throughout |
| god | 神 | san4 | Critical | throughout |
| holy spirit | 聖靈 | sing3 ling4 | Critical | 2, 3, 6, 12, 14 |
| father | 父 | fu6 | High | 1, 8, 15 |
| david | 大衛 | daai6 wai6 | Low | — (not directly named, background only) |
| exhort | 勸勉 | hyun3 min5 | Low | 1, 4, 16 |
B. New Terms Introduced by 1 Corinthians — by Doctrine
1. The Resurrection of Christ and Believers
| Term | Cantonese | Jyutping | Risk | Chapters | Justification / rejected alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| appeared (resurrection appearance) | 顯現 | hin2 jin6 | Critical | 15 | NEVER 顯靈 — that verb is explicitly forbidden in the Romans baseline for describing a temple deity “manifesting its power” at a shrine (Wong Tai Sin, Man Mo Temple). Using it here would present the risen Christ’s bodily appearances as equivalent to folk-deity manifestation events. 顯現 is the safe standard. |
| fallen asleep (death euphemism) | 睡了 | seoi6 liu5 | Medium | 11, 15 | Must retain resurrection-hope content (temporary state awaiting bodily waking); avoid ancestral-rest imagery from grave-sweeping festival vocabulary (清明/重陽) that implies ongoing ancestral existence tended by descendants. |
| delivered / received (fixed apostolic tradition) | 傳 / 領受 | cyun4 / ling5 sau6 | High | 11, 15 | Names a fixed, closed apostolic deposit, not an evolving oral tradition; avoid vocabulary suggesting teacher-disciple lineage transmission (師傳) or ritual-lineage transmission. |
| untimely born | 未到產期而生嘅人 | mei6 dou3 caan2 kei4 ji4 sang1 ge3 jan4 | Medium | 15 | Rare, shocking self-abasement image (ἔκτρωμα); footnote strongly recommended to preserve force without clinical bluntness. |
| firstfruits | 初熟嘅果子 | co1 suk6 ge3 gwo2 zi2 | High | 15 | Requires OT harvest-offering background; grounds the “guarantee” logic of Christ’s resurrection for believers. |
| last Adam | 末後嘅亞當 | mut6 hau6 ge3 aa3 dong1 | High | 15 | Requires Genesis background; central to representative-headship doctrine. |
| spiritual body | 屬靈嘅身體 | suk6 ling4 ge3 san1 tai2 | Critical | 15 | Must be a real, physical, transformed body — not a disembodied-spirit afterlife, which is a common folk-religious expectation. |
| natural body | 血氣嘅身體 | hyut3 hei3 ge3 san1 tai2 | Medium | 2, 15 | Pairs with ch.2’s “natural man” (血氣嘅人); consistency required across both occurrences. |
| imperishable / immortality | 不朽壞 / 不死 | bat1 nau5 waai6 / bat1 sei2 | Medium | 15 | Standard descriptive terms; low collision but require pairing consistency with 復活. |
| vain / in vain | 徒然 | tou4 jin4 | High | 15 (throughout), 16 | Must not read as folk “bad luck” register; names the logical emptiness of a faith or labor without a true resurrection referent. |
2. Christian Unity versus Factionalism
| Term | Cantonese | Jyutping | Risk | Chapters | Justification / rejected alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| division / faction | 分黨 | fan1 dong2 | High | 1 | Must be named as sin against unity; avoid softening toward “different styles/opinions,” and avoid any term suggesting acceptable clan/faction loyalty (cf. baseline’s caution on 義氣 loyalty-and-honor idiom). |
| quarrels / contentions | 紛爭 | fan1 zaang1 | Medium | 1 | Reported factional strife; standard term, moderate risk. |
| boast | 誇口 | kwaa1 hau2 | Medium | 1, 13 | Connects to grace-versus-merit doctrine; must be explicitly contrasted with status-conscious “face” (面子) / “flashy success” (威水) culture already flagged in the baseline glory entry. |
| body of Christ | 基督嘅身體 | gei1 duk1 ge3 san1 tai2 | High | 6, 12 | Positive theological counter-image to factionalism; each member indispensable regardless of status. |
| baptized into one body | 受洗歸入一個身體 | sau6 sin2 gwai1 jap6 jat1 go3 san1 tai2 | High | 12 | Reinforces universal-scope-of-gospel/unity-of-Jews-and-Gentiles doctrine already Critical/High in the Romans baseline. |
3. The Cross as Wisdom and Power
| Term | Cantonese | Jyutping | Risk | Chapters | Justification / rejected alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| wisdom | 智慧 | zi3 wai6 | High | 1, 2, 3 | Must be distinguished from Buddhist prajñā-wisdom (般若智慧, attained through cultivation/enlightenment) and Confucian scholarly wisdom; biblical σοφία here is God’s redemptive plan centered on the cross, apprehended by faith, not attainment. |
| foolishness | 愚拙 | jyu4 zyut3 | Medium | 1 | Established Cantonese-Bible-tradition rendering; moderate risk of being read as simple stupidity rather than the deliberate paradox Paul intends. |
| cross | 十字架 | sap6 zi6 gaa3 | Critical | 1 | Must remain the specific historical execution instrument central to atonement, never merely decorative or generalized-suffering language. |
| mystery | 奧秘 | ou3 bei3 | Medium | 2 | Distinguish from folk-occult “secret knowledge” or fortune-telling’s hidden fate; this is revealed truth, not esoteric/divinatory secret knowledge. |
| natural man / spiritual man | 血氣嘅人 / 屬靈嘅人 | hyut3 hei3 ge3 jan4 / suk6 ling4 ge3 jan4 | High | 2 | Not a statement about intelligence or social class — a Spirit/no-Spirit distinction; must stay consistent with 15:44’s “natural/spiritual body” vocabulary. |
| temple of God | 神嘅殿 | san4 ge3 din6 | Critical | 3, 6 | Must be sharply distinguished from a literal folk/Daoist/Buddhist temple building (廟, already forbidden for “church” in the baseline); metaphor for Spirit-indwelt community. |
4. Church Discipline and Holiness
| Term | Cantonese | Jyutping | Risk | Chapters | Justification / rejected alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sexual immorality | 淫亂 | jam4 lyun6 | High | 5, 6 | Must retain moral seriousness before a holy God, not reduce to a private lifestyle matter or a face/reputation issue (面子). |
| hand over to Satan | 交給撒但 | gaau1 kap6 saat3 daan2 | High | 5 | Redemptive discipline aimed at repentance, not vengeful curse or folk exorcism ritual. |
| leaven / unleavened | 酵 / 無酵 | haau1 / mou4 haau1 | Medium | 5 | Requires OT Passover background; low native collision but high explanatory need. |
| lawsuit | 訴訟 | sou3 zung6 | Medium | 6 | Standard legal term; context (believer vs. believer in secular court) carries the doctrinal weight, not the word itself. |
| bought with a price | 用重價買咗 | jung6 cung5 gaa3 maai5 zo2 | High | 6 | Must not sound like a cold commercial transaction devoid of costly self-giving love; connects to redemption doctrine. |
5. Marriage and Singleness
| Term | Cantonese | Jyutping | Risk | Chapters | Justification / rejected alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| marriage | 婚姻 | fan1 jan1 | Low-Medium | 7 | Standard term. |
| virgin / betrothed | 處女 | cyu3 neoi5 | Medium | 7 | Referent (virginity status vs. betrothal relationship) must be checked per verse. |
| separate / divorce | 分開 / 離婚 | fan1 hoi1 / lei4 fan1 | High | 7 | Must preserve Paul’s careful distinctions (command vs. permission; believer- vs. unbeliever-initiated) rather than flattening into one blanket term. |
| gift (of celibacy/marriage) | 屬靈恩賜 | suk6 ling4 jan1 ci3 | Medium | 7 | Same Greek word as ministry charismata (ch.12), but applied to a life-station capacity; baseline rule (never 恩賜 alone) still applies; footnote should clarify broader sense. |
| unmarried | 未婚嘅人 | mei6 fan1 ge3 jan4 | Low | 7 | Singleness as a legitimate, even advantageous, calling. |
6. Christian Liberty and Idol Meat
| Term | Cantonese | Jyutping | Risk | Chapters | Justification / rejected alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| idol | 偶像 | ngau5 zoeng6 | Critical | 8, 10, 12 | Theologically “nothing,” yet the practice of idol worship is spiritually dangerous; must not be flattened to mere superstition given how present idol veneration (Wong Tai Sin, Guanyin, ancestral tablets) is in the destination culture. |
| food offered to idols | 祭偶像之物 | zai3 ngau5 zoeng6 zi1 mat6 | Critical | 8, 10 | Closest real-world Hong Kong analogue is food from temple altars and ancestral-rite offerings later consumed; genuinely analogous, not merely illustrative — requires careful pastoral handling, not just translation. |
| conscience | 良心 | loeng4 sam1 | High | 8, 10 | Personal moral awareness answerable to God, not social conformity or “face.” |
| right / liberty | 自由 | zi6 jau4 | High | 8, 9, 10 | Real but self-limiting-for-love’s-sake liberty, the opposite of unrestrained license; note distinct governmental-authority sense of the same Greek word (ἐξουσία) elsewhere, not covered here. |
| stumbling block | 絆腳石 | bun6 goek3 sek6 | High | 8, 10 | The controlling pastoral concern of the whole liberty discussion. |
| idolatry | 拜偶像 | baai3 ngau5 zoeng6 | Critical | 10 | Direct, urgent command with live cultural analogues (temple offerings, ancestral veneration, incense worship); must not be softened into purely ancient-historical warning. |
| demons | 鬼魔 | gwai2 mo4 | Critical | 10 | Must be sharply distinguished from Cantonese folk-ghost vocabulary (鬼, 盂蘭節 Hungry Ghost Festival, ancestral spirits, 問米 spirit-mediumship). Biblical δαιμόνιον names hostile, personal, fallen spiritual beings tied to idol worship, not wandering ancestral ghosts requiring appeasement. |
| table of the Lord / of demons | 主嘅筵席 / 鬼魔嘅筵席 | zyu2 ge3 jin4 zik6 / gwai2 mo4 ge3 jin4 zik6 | High | 10 | Exclusive-loyalty structure parallel to, but morally opposite of, Lord’s Supper participation. |
| baptized (typological) | 洗禮 | sai2 lai5 | High | 10, 12 | Sacramental union with Christ/his covenant community, distinct from generic ritual water-cleansing found across many traditions. |
| spiritual food/drink | 屬靈嘅食物 / 飲品 | suk6 ling4 ge3 sik6 mat6 / jam2 ban2 | Medium | 10 | Typological OT provision pointing to Christ; requires narrative background. |
| the Rock (typological) | 磐石 | pun4 sek6 | Medium | 10 | Typological identification with Christ, not a claim that a literal stone was itself divine. |
7. The Lord’s Supper
| Term | Cantonese | Jyutping | Risk | Chapters | Justification / rejected alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| the Lord’s Supper | 聖餐 | sing3 caan1 | Critical | 11 | Established HK church sacramental term; must be kept distinct from a common potluck meal (the Corinthian abuse) and from folk-ritual communal-offering meals (temple banquet food, ancestral-rite shared meals). |
| remembrance | 記念 | gei3 nim6 | Medium | 11 | Standard term for “do this in remembrance of me.” |
| new covenant | 新約 | san1 joek3 | High | 11 | Builds on baseline’s 約 (covenant) entry; must retain relational, blood-sealed covenant sense, not a commercial contract sense. |
| in an unworthy manner | 唔配 | m4 pui3 | High | 11 | Warning against careless, self-examination-less participation. |
| discerning the body | 分辨主嘅身體 | fan1 bin6 zyu2 ge3 san1 tai2 | High | 11 | Failure to rightly recognize Christ’s body (both sacramentally and as the gathered church) brings judgment. |
| participation / communion | 團契 / 有份於 | tyun4 kai3 / jau5 fan6 jyu1 | High | 10, 11 | Same Greek word (κοινωνία) links Lord’s Supper communion (positive) and idol-feast participation (negative); rendering must keep the structural parallel visible while the moral content stays opposite. |
8. Spiritual Gifts and the Body of Christ
| Term | Cantonese | Jyutping | Risk | Chapters | Justification / rejected alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| spiritual gifts/matters | 屬靈嘅事 | suk6 ling4 ge3 si6 | Medium | 12 | Broader heading term than 屬靈恩賜 (charismata); topic-level, not gift-level. |
| Jesus is Lord (confession) | 耶穌是主 | je4 sou1 si6 zyu2 | Critical | 12 | Must render verbatim identical to Romans 10:9 per the baseline’s cross-document consistency rule. |
| gifts of healing | 醫病嘅恩賜 | ji1 beng6 ge3 jan1 ci3 | Medium | 12 | Must not be confused with folk-healer or spirit-medium ritual healing power. |
| miracles / works of power | 異能 | ji6 nang4 | High | 12 | Same forbidden-substitution caution as baseline’s power_of_god entry: never 法力 or feng-shui-attributed power. |
| tongues | 方言 | fong1 jin4 | High | 12, 14 | Spirit-given, interpretable speech serving the church, not a trance/possession phenomenon; requires clarifying note given active spirit-mediumship (問米) practice in the destination culture. |
| interpretation of tongues | 繙譯方言 | faan1 jik6 fong1 jin4 | Medium | 12, 14 | Standard functional term. |
| discerning of spirits | 辨別諸靈 | bin6 bit6 zyu3 ling4 | Critical | 12 | Must be clearly distinguished from folk spirit-medium “detection” practices (問米); this gift operates by the Holy Spirit’s enabling, not ritual technique. |
| body of Christ | 基督嘅身體 | gei1 duk1 ge3 san1 tai2 | High | 12 | See Unity section above; central positive ecclesiological image. |
| member | 肢體 | zi1 tai2 | Medium | 6, 12 | Each part indispensable to the whole; consistent across chapters. |
9. Love as the Greater Way
| Term | Cantonese | Jyutping | Risk | Chapters | Justification / rejected alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| love (agapē) | 愛 | oi3 | High | 13 (also 8, 16) | Must be distinguished from romantic love (愛情), casual affection (鍾意), and Confucian relational-duty benevolence (仁); agapē is unconditional, self-giving, active goodwill, not primarily emotion or social-duty code. |
| hope | 盼望 | paan3 mong6 | Medium-High | 13 | Must be distinguished from wish-fulfillment fortune/luck hope (好運, 心願) reinforced by temple wish-granting culture (cf. baseline’s grace entry on Wong Tai Sin); biblical hope is confident expectation grounded in God’s character, not a wish offered for possible fulfillment. |
| keeps no record of wrongs | 唔計算人嘅惡 | m4 gai3 syun3 jan4 ge3 ok3 | Medium | 13 | Same “reckoning” verb family (λογίζομαι) as imputed righteousness in Romans 4; worth a teaching-note cross-reference, though everyday rendering need not use 算為義 itself. |
| perfect / complete | 完全 | jyun4 cyun4 | Low-Medium | 13 | Eschatological completeness, not moral perfectionism. |
10. Order in Worship
| Term | Cantonese | Jyutping | Risk | Chapters | Justification / rejected alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| order / decently | 次序 / 得體 | ci3 zeoi6 / dak1 tai2 | Medium | 14 | Governing principle for the whole worship-order discussion: “God is not a God of confusion but of peace.” |
| unbeliever | 唔信嘅人 | m4 seon3 ge3 jan4 | Medium | 14 | Distinct from generic “outsider”; a person without saving faith present in the gathering. |
| head | 頭 | tau4 | High | 11 | Genuinely disputed sense (source vs. authority) among interpreters; preserve semantic range rather than resolving unilaterally; flag for theologian review given contemporary sensitivity around gender-role language. |
| head covering | 蒙頭 | mung4 tau4 | Medium | 11 | Requires cultural/historical framing notes for a Hong Kong audience with no equivalent custom; risk is reader confusion rather than doctrinal collision. |
| let women be silent | 女人應該保持安靜 | neoi5 jan4 jing1 goi1 bou2 ci4 on1 zing6 | High | 14 | A genuinely contested passage across interpretive traditions; render faithfully and literally without unilateral softening or expansion; flag for human theologian review with contextual teaching notes. |
| tradition(s) | 傳統 | cyun4 tung2 | Medium | 11 | Must retain fixed-apostolic-deposit sense (paired with 15:1-3’s 傳/領受 vocabulary), not a generic “customs” sense implying optional cultural preference. |
C. Supporting / Lower-Risk Terms (full-book coverage, automated or native-speaker review sufficient)
| Term | Cantonese | Jyutping | Risk | Chapters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| steward | 管家 | gun2 gaa1 | Medium | 4 |
| judge / judgment | 審判 | sam2 pun3 | High | 4, 6, 15 |
| foundation | 根基 | gan1 gei1 | High | 3 |
| build / building | 建造 / 建立 | gin3 zou6 / gin3 laap6 | Medium | 3, 14 |
| servant | 仆人 | buk6 jan4 | Low | 4 |
| reward | 賞賜 | soeng2 ci3 | Medium | 9 |
| self-control | 節制 | zit3 zai3 | Low | 9 |
| crown | 冠冕 | gun3 min5 | Medium | 9 |
| disqualified | 被棄絕 | bei6 hei3 zyut6 | High | 9 |
| collection | 捐款 | gyun1 fun2 | Low | 16 |
| Maranatha | 馬拉納他 (transliteration) | maa5 laai1 naap6 taa1 | Medium | 16 |
| accursed | 咒詛 | zau3 zou2 | High | 16 |
| one flesh | 一體 | jat1 tai2 | High | 6 |
| knowledge | 知識 | zi1 sik1 | Medium | 8 |
| trumpet | 號筒 | hou6 tung2 | Low | 15 |
| twinkling of an eye | 一霎眼 | jat1 saap3 ngaan5 | Low | 15 |
| victory | 勝利 | sing3 lei6 | Low | 15 |
| sting of death | 死嘅毒鉤 | sei2 ge3 duk6 ngau1 | Medium | 15 |
| labor | 勞苦 | lou4 fu2 | Medium | 15, 16 |
| destroy / abolish | 消滅 | siu1 mit6 | Medium | 15 |
D. Cross-Reference Note
All Scripture references in derivative materials must use the format 哥林多前書 15:1-11 (not “1 Corinthians 15:1-11” and not “1 Cor. 15:1-11”), matching the citation convention established in the Romans baseline (羅馬書 pattern). Book name: 1 Corinthians = 哥林多前書 (go1 lam4 do1 cin4 syu1).
This glossary must be loaded alongside the Romans baseline translation_memory.json before Phase 1 Step 2 (translation memory extension) begins. All “NEW” terms above require full risk-registry entries (definition, transliteration, alternatives_rejected, notes) to be added to an extended translation_memory.json and doctrine_risk_registry.json in the next step, following the exact schema of the Romans baseline files.
Critical Risk Terms
Grace
Approved rendering: 恩典
Transliteration: jan1 din2
Doctrine: Grace and Apostolic Identity
Rejected alternatives: 福氣, 有求必應式嘅恩典, 功德
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] NEVER frame as reciprocal temple-vow favor (Wong Tai Sin’s ‘whatever you ask, you shall receive’). 1 Corinthians 15:10 (‘not I, but the grace of God with me’) is a strong teaching opportunity reinforcing grace as unearned and never transactional; Paul’s labor did not purchase his apostleship.
Salvation
Approved rendering: 救恩
Transliteration: gau3 jan1
Doctrine: The Futility of Faith without the Resurrection
Rejected alternatives: 解脫, 超度, 大慈大悲救苦救難
Original: σωτηρία
Category: Salvation
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] NEVER 解脫 (Buddhist liberation from samsara) or 超度 (posthumous release rite). 1 Corinthians 15:2’s ‘being saved’ is present, ongoing deliverance grounded in the historical gospel.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: 復活
Transliteration: fuk6 wut6
Doctrine: The Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 投胎轉世, 問米式嘅還魂
Original: ἀνάστασις
Category: Eschatology
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] Bodily, historical, once-for-all — the subject of the entirety of 1 Corinthians 15. NEVER 投胎轉世 (rebirth cycle) or a 問米 spirit-medium framing.
Lord
Approved rendering: 主
Transliteration: zyu2
Doctrine: Confession of Christ’s Lordship
Rejected alternatives: 事頭, 老爺
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] Exclusive, supreme authority. 1 Corinthians 12:3’s Spirit-enabled confession ‘Jesus is Lord’ identifies genuine Spirit-inspired speech. Avoid 事頭/老爺.
Messiah
Approved rendering: 基督
Transliteration: gei1 duk1
Doctrine: The Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 彌勒, 黃大仙式嘅救世主
Original: Χριστός
Category: Christology
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] Central to every doctrinal argument in 1 Corinthians, especially the resurrection creed of 15:3-5. NEVER conflate with 彌勒 or a wish-granting temple deity.
Jesus
Approved rendering: 耶穌
Transliteration: je4 sou1
Doctrine: Confession of Christ’s Lordship
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] Standard transliteration. Subject of the resurrection creed (1 Cor 15:3-8).
God
Approved rendering: 神
Transliteration: san4
Doctrine: The Church as God’s Temple
Rejected alternatives: 天主, 上帝, 老天爺
Original: θεός
Category: God
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] Standardized on 神 for Protestant curriculum consistency; NEVER 天主 (Catholic term) or 上帝, for the same historical Term Question reasons noted in the baseline. Owner of the church (1 Cor 1:2, 3:16) and giver of grace (15:10).
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: 聖靈
Transliteration: sing3 ling4
Doctrine: Confession of Christ’s Lordship
Rejected alternatives: 問米嘅靈, 祖先靈
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον
Category: God
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] Always the compound 聖靈; NEVER 靈 alone. Indwells the corporate church (1 Cor 3:16) and the individual believer’s body (6:19); source of all spiritual gifts (12:4-11) and the only one who enables the ‘Jesus is Lord’ confession (12:3).
Resurrection Appearance
Approved rendering: 顯現
Transliteration: hin2 jin6
Doctrine: The Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 顯靈, 問米式嘅召魂
Original: ὤφθη
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Passive ὤφθη (‘appeared to,’ 1 Cor 15:5-8) must NEVER render as 顯靈 — the explicit Hong Kong temple-culture phrase for a deity ‘manifesting its power’ at a shrine (Wong Tai Sin, Man Mo Temple), already forbidden in the Romans baseline for the incarnation. Using it here would equate Christ’s bodily resurrection appearances with folk-deity manifestation events rather than unique, historical, multiply-witnessed bodily appearances. Must be used consistently across all of 15:5-8.
Spiritual Body
Approved rendering: 屬靈嘅身體
Transliteration: suk6 ling4 ge3 san1 tai2
Doctrine: The Resurrection of Believers
Rejected alternatives: 靈性嘅身體 (older CUV term, drifts toward vague disembodied ‘spirituality’), 無形嘅魂
Original: σῶμα πνευματικόν
Category: Eschatology
NEW. σῶμα πνευματικόν — the Spirit-empowered resurrection body: real, physical, transformed, incorruptible (1 Cor 15:44,46). Must be taught as a real, physical, transformed body continuous with the present body, NOT a disembodied-spirit afterlife — the dominant Hong Kong folk-afterlife expectation (ancestral spirits, 盂蘭節 ghost-festival culture, 問米 mediumship). Must also resist rebirth-cycle framing (投胎轉世). This is also the specific doctrinal target of Jehovah’s Witness NWT theology, which teaches an invisible-spirit resurrection; this rendering must retain full bodily concreteness against that reading.
Cross
Approved rendering: 十字架
Transliteration: sap6 zi6 gaa3
Doctrine: The Cross as Wisdom and Power
Rejected alternatives: 受苦 (generalized suffering), 犧牲 (generic sacrifice)
Original: σταυρός
Category: Christology
NEW. σταυρός — the specific, scandalous execution instrument of Christ’s death, central to the gospel message (1 Cor 1:17-18, 2:2). Must remain a specific historical execution instrument central to atonement, never generalized ‘suffering’ language absorbable into folk merit-through-hardship narratives.
Temple Of God
Approved rendering: 神嘅殿
Transliteration: san4 ge3 din6
Doctrine: The Church as God’s Temple
Rejected alternatives: 廟, 神殿 (may sound like a literal pagan shrine building)
Original: ναὸς θεοῦ
Category: Church
NEW. ναὸς θεοῦ — the corporate church as God’s Spirit-indwelt dwelling place (1 Cor 3:16-17). Must be sharply distinguished from a literal folk/Daoist/Buddhist temple building (廟, already forbidden for ‘church’ in the Romans baseline); metaphor for the Spirit-indwelt community, not a physical shrine housing an image to be visited or offered to.
Temple Of Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: 聖靈嘅殿
Transliteration: sing3 ling4 ge3 din6
Doctrine: The Church as God’s Temple
Rejected alternatives: 廟
Original: ναὸς τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος
Category: Church
NEW. ναὸς τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος — the individual believer’s body as the Holy Spirit’s dwelling place (1 Cor 6:19). Same forbidden-substitution caution as 神嘅殿: never a folk/Daoist/Buddhist temple building (廟).
Idol
Approved rendering: 偶像
Transliteration: ngau5 zoeng6
Doctrine: Idolatry and Idol Food
Rejected alternatives: 神像 (euphemistic ‘deity image’, strips moral seriousness)
Original: εἴδωλον
Category: Idolatry
NEW. εἴδωλον — theologically ‘nothing’ in itself, yet the practice of idol worship is spiritually dangerous (1 Cor 8:4,7, 10:19). Must not be flattened to mere superstition dismissively, given how present idol veneration (Wong Tai Sin, Guanyin, ancestral tablets) is in the destination culture; both halves of Paul’s argument (idol=nothing; idol-worship=dangerous) must be taught together.
Food Offered To Idols
Approved rendering: 祭偶像之物
Transliteration: zai3 ngau5 zoeng6 zi1 mat6
Doctrine: Idolatry and Idol Food
Original: εἰδωλόθυτον
Category: Idolatry
NEW. εἰδωλόθυτον — the letter’s central pastoral case study (1 Cor 8:1-13, 10:19-30). The closest real-world Hong Kong analogue is food from temple altars (Wong Tai Sin, Tin Hau) and ancestral-rite offerings later distributed and eaten during Ching Ming/Chung Yeung — a live, present-day pastoral situation for many Cantonese believers’ extended families, not merely an ancient illustration. Requires the heaviest pastoral-teaching apparatus in the curriculum.
Idolatry
Approved rendering: 拜偶像
Transliteration: baai3 ngau5 zoeng6
Doctrine: Idolatry and Idol Food
Original: εἰδωλολατρία
Category: Idolatry
NEW. εἰδωλολατρία — ‘flee from idolatry’ (1 Cor 10:14), the letter’s most direct command on the topic. Direct, urgent command with live cultural analogues (temple offerings, ancestral veneration, incense worship); must not be softened into a purely ancient-historical warning.
Demons
Approved rendering: 鬼魔
Transliteration: gwai2 mo4
Doctrine: The Spiritual Reality behind Idolatry (Demons)
Rejected alternatives: 鬼 (plain ‘ghost’, collides with ancestral/festival ghost vocabulary)
Original: δαιμόνιον
Category: Idolatry
NEW. δαιμόνιον — hostile, personal, fallen spiritual beings behind organized idol worship (1 Cor 10:20-21). HARD FENCE (Critical): must be sharply distinguished from Cantonese folk-ghost vocabulary (鬼, tied to the Hungry Ghost Festival 盂蘭節, wandering ancestral spirits, and 問米 spirit-mediumship, all actively practiced in Hong Kong). Never interchange with or explain using plain 鬼; conflating the two imports an appeasement logic wholly foreign to the text.
Lords Supper
Approved rendering: 聖餐
Transliteration: sing3 caan1
Doctrine: The Lord’s Supper
Rejected alternatives: 晚餐 (generic ordinary meal), 感恩祭 / 彌撒 (Catholic sacramental terms)
Original: κυριακὸν δεῖπνον
Category: Sacraments
NEW. κυριακὸν δεῖπνον — the sacramental meal instituted by Christ, being abused through factional, unequal eating at Corinth (1 Cor 11:20). Established Hong Kong church sacramental term; must be kept doctrinally distinct from both the Corinthians’ own abuse (unequal potluck favoring the wealthy) and from folk-ritual communal-offering meals such as temple banquet food or ancestral-rite shared meals (清明/重陽). Must not drift toward Catholic sacramental vocabulary (感恩祭/彌撒), consistent with the baseline’s God-term Protestant-consistency rule.
Jesus Is Lord
Approved rendering: 耶穌是主
Transliteration: je4 sou1 si6 zyu2
Doctrine: Confession of Christ’s Lordship
Original: κύριος Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
NEW. κύριος Ἰησοῦς — ‘no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit’ (1 Cor 12:3), the same confession as Romans 10:9’s salvation confession. MUST render verbatim identical to the Romans baseline’s rendering of Romans 10:9, per the cross-document consistency rule, with full confessional force intact — never flattened toward subordinationist Christology (cf. Jehovah’s Witness/True Jesus Church renderings flagged in 05_translation_landscape.md).
Discerning Of Spirits
Approved rendering: 辨別諸靈
Transliteration: bin6 bit6 zyu3 ling4
Doctrine: Tongues, Prophecy, and Discerning of Spirits
Rejected alternatives: 問米 (spirit-medium ‘detection’ technique)
Original: διάκρισις πνευμάτων
Category: Spiritual Gifts
NEW. διάκρισις πνευμάτων — a Spirit-given ability to identify the source (divine, human, or demonic) of a spiritual manifestation (1 Cor 12:10). Must be clearly distinguished from folk spirit-medium ‘detection’ practices (問米) actively sought out in Hong Kong; this gift operates by the Holy Spirit’s enabling within the church, not by ritual technique.
High Risk Terms
Faith
Approved rendering: 信心
Transliteration: seon3 sam1
Doctrine: The Futility of Faith without the Resurrection
Rejected alternatives: 虔誠, 睇相算命式嘅相信
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] Personal trust in the specific, historical gospel content of 15:3-5, not generic religious sentiment or fortune-telling confidence. Also one of ch.13’s abiding triad (faith, hope, love).
Called
Approved rendering: 蒙召嘅
Transliteration: mung4 siu6 ge3
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Stewardship
Rejected alternatives: 天生註定, 命中注定
Original: κλητός
Category: Salvation
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] Personal, relational summons (1 Cor 1:1-2, 7:15-24), not fixed fate read off a birth chart (八字).
Calling
Approved rendering: 呼召
Transliteration: fu1 siu6
Doctrine: Marriage and Singleness
Rejected alternatives: 命運, 緣分
Original: κλῆσις
Category: Salvation
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] 1 Corinthians 1:26, 7:20 use of God’s summons; NEVER 命運 (impersonal fate) or 緣分 (fortuitous romantic/social connection).
Holy
Approved rendering: 聖潔
Transliteration: sing3 git3
Doctrine: Church Discipline and Holiness
Rejected alternatives: 清淨, 戒口修行式嘅潔淨
Original: ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] Set apart for God, morally pure (1 Cor 3:17, 7:14). Avoid Daoist/Buddhist ritual purity (清淨) or dietary-abstinence framing (戒口修行).
Saints
Approved rendering: 聖徒
Transliteration: sing3 tou4
Doctrine: Church Discipline and Holiness
Rejected alternatives: 神仙, 得道高人
Original: ἅγιοι
Category: Church
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] All believers corporately (1 Cor 1:2, 6:1-2); NEVER 神仙 (Daoist immortal) or 得道高人 (accomplished spiritual master).
Sanctification
Approved rendering: 成聖
Transliteration: sing4 sing3
Doctrine: Church Discipline and Holiness
Rejected alternatives: 修煉, 戒除惡習
Original: ἁγιασμός
Category: Sanctification
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] Spirit’s ongoing work of holiness (1 Cor 1:2, 6:11), distinguished from self-directed cultivation (修煉) or habit-reform (戒除惡習).
Sin
Approved rendering: 罪
Transliteration: zeoi6
Doctrine: The Futility of Faith without the Resurrection
Rejected alternatives: 報應, 唔衰得
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] Moral transgression before a personal God (1 Cor 15:3,17); distinguish from karmic retribution (報應) or face-loss idiom (唔衰得).
Power Of God
Approved rendering: 神嘅大能
Transliteration: san4 ge3 daai6 nang4
Doctrine: The Cross as Wisdom and Power
Rejected alternatives: 法力, 風水嘅力量
Original: δύναμις θεοῦ
Category: God
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] God’s saving might, displayed paradoxically through the weakness of the cross (1 Cor 1:18,24, 2:5). NEVER 法力 or feng-shui-attributed power; this forbidden-substitution rule is reprised for ch.12’s miracles/healing gifts.
Covenant
Approved rendering: 約
Transliteration: joek3
Doctrine: The Lord’s Supper
Rejected alternatives: 合約, 還神還願嘅承諾
Original: διαθήκη
Category: Covenant
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] Relational, divinely-sealed bond; ‘this cup is the new covenant in my blood,’ instituted at the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor 11:25). Avoid 合約.
Father
Approved rendering: 父
Transliteration: fu6
Doctrine: The Cross as Wisdom and Power
Rejected alternatives: 祖先, 老竇式嘅父
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] God as personal Father, ‘from whom are all things’ (1 Cor 8:6). Distinguish from ancestor veneration.
Delivered
Approved rendering: 傳
Transliteration: cyun4
Doctrine: The Gospel as a Fixed Apostolic Deposit
Rejected alternatives: 師傳, 口耳相傳
Original: παραδίδωμι
Category: Apostolic Tradition
NEW. παραδίδωμι, to hand down formally as a fixed tradition (1 Cor 11:2,23; 15:3). Must not suggest an evolving oral tradition passed teacher-to-disciple (師傳, a martial-arts/craft-guild lineage register) or a folk-ritual lineage transmission — this is a closed, fixed apostolic deposit. Must pair consistently with 領受 across 11:2 and 15:1-3.
Received
Approved rendering: 領受
Transliteration: ling5 sau6
Doctrine: The Gospel as a Fixed Apostolic Deposit
Rejected alternatives: 輾轉聽聞, 耳聞
Original: παραλαμβάνω
Category: Apostolic Tradition
NEW. παραλαμβάνω, to formally receive a transmitted deposit (1 Cor 11:23; 15:1,3). Must not be softened toward ‘heard about’ (輾轉聽聞) — the Corinthians received fixed content, not a rumor. Pairs with 傳.
Firstfruits
Approved rendering: 初熟嘅果子
Transliteration: co1 suk6 ge3 gwo2 zi2
Doctrine: The Resurrection of Believers
Original: ἀπαρχή
Category: Eschatology
NEW. ἀπαρχή — Christ’s resurrection guarantees believers’ future resurrection, as the first portion of harvest guarantees the whole (1 Cor 15:20,23). Requires mandatory OT agricultural/offering background note for a low-OT-literacy urban Hong Kong audience; the term itself is lexically adequate, the gap is background knowledge.
Last Adam
Approved rendering: 末後嘅亞當
Transliteration: mut6 hau6 ge3 aa3 dong1
Doctrine: The Resurrection of Believers
Original: ὁ ἔσχατος Ἀδάμ
Category: Christology
NEW. Christ as the final, life-giving Adam reversing the first Adam’s death-bringing act (1 Cor 15:22,45). Requires Genesis background explanation; central to representative-headship doctrine.
Vain
Approved rendering: 徒然
Transliteration: tou4 jin4
Doctrine: The Futility of Faith without the Resurrection
Rejected alternatives: 白費, 唔好運
Original: κενός
Category: Faith
NEW. κενός — the logical emptiness of faith, preaching, or labor if Christ is not truly raised (1 Cor 15:2,14,17,58; also 16:13 echo). Must NOT be rendered with a folk ‘bad luck/unlucky outcome’ register, which would shift Paul’s argument from a factual claim about the resurrection’s reality to a superstitious claim about fortune.
Division
Approved rendering: 分黨
Transliteration: fan1 dong2
Doctrine: Christian Unity versus Factionalism
Rejected alternatives: 唔同風格 (different styles), 唔同意見 (different opinions)
Original: σχίσμα
Category: Church
NEW. σχίσμα — the presenting problem of the letter (1 Cor 1:10, 11:18). Must be named as sin against unity, never softened toward acceptable diversity. Cantonese sworn-brotherhood loyalty (結拜) and clan/native-place association loyalty (同鄉會) culture, echoing the Romans-baseline-flagged loyalty idiom 義氣, could make factional loyalty sound admirable rather than destructive — commentary must never borrow that praise register near this term.
Body Of Christ
Approved rendering: 基督嘅身體
Transliteration: gei1 duk1 ge3 san1 tai2
Doctrine: Christian Unity versus Factionalism
Original: σῶμα Χριστοῦ
Category: Church
NEW. σῶμα Χριστοῦ — the church’s unity-in-diversity, each member indispensable (1 Cor 6:15, 12:12-27). Positive theological counter-image to factionalism; must convey mutual indispensability regardless of social status, directly countering Hong Kong’s status-conscious commercial culture.
Baptized Into One Body
Approved rendering: 受洗歸入一個身體
Transliteration: sau6 sin2 gwai1 jap6 jat1 go3 san1 tai2
Doctrine: Baptism and Union with Christ
Original: ἐβαπτίσθημεν εἰς ἓν σῶμα
Category: Church
NEW. Spirit-baptism creating the one church body, transcending social distinctions (1 Cor 12:13). Reinforces the unity-of-Jews-and-Gentiles doctrine already Critical/High in the Romans baseline; must not be read as a merely social membership rite.
Wisdom
Approved rendering: 智慧
Transliteration: zi3 wai6
Doctrine: The Wisdom of God versus Worldly Wisdom
Original: σοφία
Category: Wisdom
NEW. σοφία — God’s redemptive plan centered on the cross, apprehended by faith and revealed by the Spirit (1 Cor 1:17-30, 2:6-16, 3:19). Must be distinguished from Buddhist enlightenment-wisdom (般若智慧, prajñā, attained through cultivation) and Confucian scholarly/practical wisdom; biblical σοφία is apprehended by faith in a crucified Messiah, not intellectual or spiritual attainment.
Natural Man
Approved rendering: 血氣嘅人
Transliteration: hyut3 hei3 ge3 jan4
Doctrine: The Wisdom of God versus Worldly Wisdom
Original: ψυχικὸς ἄνθρωπος
Category: Wisdom
NEW. ψυχικὸς ἄνθρωπος — the person without the Spirit, unable to receive spiritual truth (1 Cor 2:14). Not a statement about intelligence or social class — a Spirit/no-Spirit distinction. Must remain consistent with 15:44’s ‘natural body’ vocabulary.
Spiritual Man
Approved rendering: 屬靈嘅人
Transliteration: suk6 ling4 ge3 jan4
Doctrine: The Wisdom of God versus Worldly Wisdom
Original: πνευματικός
Category: Wisdom
NEW. πνευματικός — the Spirit-indwelt person who discerns spiritual truth (1 Cor 2:15). Contrasted with natural man; must not imply an elite spiritually-advanced class.
Sexual Immorality
Approved rendering: 淫亂
Transliteration: jam4 lyun6
Doctrine: Church Discipline and Holiness
Original: πορνεία
Category: Discipline
NEW. πορνεία — illicit sexual activity; the incest case tolerated by the Corinthian church (1 Cor 5:1) and a recurring concern (6:9,13,18; 7:2). Must retain moral seriousness before a holy God, not reduce to a private lifestyle matter or a matter of lost face (面子).
Hand Over To Satan
Approved rendering: 交給撒但
Transliteration: gaau1 kap6 saat3 daan2
Doctrine: Church Discipline and Holiness
Rejected alternatives: 放符 (folk curse-placement ritual), 詛咒 (casual cursing)
Original: παραδοῦναι τῷ Σατανᷣ
Category: Discipline
NEW. Formal church discipline: temporary exclusion for the offender’s ultimate restoration (1 Cor 5:5). Must always be glossed with its redemptive purpose in the same sentence or adjacent note; must be sharply distinguished from folk exorcism/curse practices (放符, 詛咒) familiar in Hong Kong folk religion — never a bare curse formula.
Bought With A Price
Approved rendering: 用重價買咗
Transliteration: jung6 cung5 gaa3 maai5 zo2
Doctrine: Bodily Holiness and Purity
Original: ἠγοράσθητε τιμῆς
Category: Salvation
NEW. Redemption imagery grounding the call to bodily holiness (1 Cor 6:20, 7:23). Must not sound like a cold commercial transaction devoid of costly self-giving love — a real risk given Hong Kong’s heavily contract-driven commercial vocabulary.
One Flesh
Approved rendering: 一體
Transliteration: jat1 tai2
Doctrine: Bodily Holiness and Purity
Original: μία σάρξ
Category: Marriage
NEW. μία σάρξ — quoting Genesis 2:24; sexual union creates a real, God-designed bodily unity (1 Cor 6:16). Must retain the Genesis marital-union background, not reduce to casual physical contact.
Separate Divorce
Approved rendering: 分開 / 離婚
Transliteration: fan1 hoi1 / lei4 fan1
Doctrine: Marriage and Singleness
Original: χωρίζω
Category: Marriage
NEW. χωρίζω — Paul’s instruction against divorce, with a specific allowance regarding an unbelieving spouse who separates (1 Cor 7:10-15). Must preserve Paul’s careful distinctions (command vs. permission; believer- vs. unbeliever-initiated) rather than flattening into one blanket term; check referent per verse.
Conscience
Approved rendering: 良心
Transliteration: loeng4 sam1
Doctrine: Christian Liberty
Original: συνείδησις
Category: Ethics
NEW. συνείδησις — moral awareness before God; a weaker believer’s conscience can be wounded by another’s exercise of liberty (1 Cor 8:7,10,12, 10:25-29). Must be personal moral awareness answerable to God, not social conformity or ‘face’ (面子).
Liberty
Approved rendering: 自由
Transliteration: zi6 jau4
Doctrine: Christian Liberty
Original: ἐξουσία
Category: Ethics
NEW. ἐξουσία (right/freedom-to-act sense) — voluntarily self-limited for love’s sake (1 Cor 8:9, 9:4-18, 10:23), the opposite of libertine license. Note this is a distinct sense of ἐξουσία from governmental authority, not covered by this entry.
Stumbling Block
Approved rendering: 絆腳石
Transliteration: bun6 goek3 sek6
Doctrine: Christian Liberty
Original: πρόσκομμα / σκάνδαλον
Category: Ethics
NEW. πρόσκομμα/σκάνδαλον — an obstacle causing another believer to fall spiritually (1 Cor 8:9,13). The controlling pastoral concern of the whole liberty discussion; must not be softened to mere social awkwardness.
Table Of The Lord And Demons
Approved rendering: 主嘅筵席 / 鬼魔嘅筵席
Transliteration: zyu2 ge3 jin4 zik6 / gwai2 mo4 ge3 jin4 zik6
Doctrine: The Spiritual Reality behind Idolatry (Demons)
Original: τράπεζα κυρίου / δαιμονίων
Category: Idolatry
NEW. ‘You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons’ — exclusive loyalty required (1 Cor 10:21). Both halves must be rendered together every time to preserve the exclusivity contrast; never let ‘table of demons’ stand alone, which would read as generic folk-superstition warning rather than a direct exclusivity claim paired with the Lord’s Supper.
Baptism Typological
Approved rendering: 洗禮
Transliteration: sai2 lai5
Doctrine: Baptism and Union with Christ
Original: βαπτίζω
Category: Sacraments
NEW. βαπτίζω — Israel ‘baptized into Moses’ in the sea (1 Cor 10:2), a typological forerunner; also the Spirit-baptism creating the one church body (12:13); also used at 1:13-17 where baptism must not become a badge of factional allegiance. Must convey sacramental union with Christ/his covenant community, distinct from generic ritual water-cleansing found across many folk traditions.
New Covenant
Approved rendering: 新約
Transliteration: san1 joek3
Doctrine: The Lord’s Supper
Rejected alternatives: 新合約 (commercial-contract register)
Original: καινὴ διαθήκη
Category: Sacraments
NEW. καινὴ διαθήκη — ‘this cup is the new covenant in my blood’ (1 Cor 11:25). Builds on the baseline’s 約 entry; must retain the relational, blood-sealed covenant sense, not a commercial contract sense.
Unworthy Manner
Approved rendering: 唔配
Transliteration: m4 pui3
Doctrine: The Lord’s Supper
Original: ἀναξίως
Category: Sacraments
NEW. ἀναξίως — warning against careless, self-examination-less participation in the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor 11:27,29). Must convey moral seriousness of unexamined participation, not a minor etiquette lapse.
Discerning The Body
Approved rendering: 分辨主嘅身體
Transliteration: fan1 bin6 zyu2 ge3 san1 tai2
Doctrine: The Lord’s Supper
Original: διακρίνων τὸ σῶμα
Category: Sacraments
NEW. διακρίνων τὸ σῶμα — failure to rightly recognize Christ’s body — sacramentally and as the gathered church — brings judgment (1 Cor 11:29). Must retain the double reference present in Paul’s argument.
Participation
Approved rendering: 有份於
Transliteration: jau5 fan6 jyu1
Doctrine: The Lord’s Supper
Original: κοινωνία
Category: Sacraments
NEW. κοινωνία (ch.10 participatory sense) — ‘is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?’ — the same Greek word links Lord’s Supper communion (positive) and idol-feast participation (negative) (1 Cor 10:16-20). Rendering must keep the structural parallel between the two ‘participations’ visible while their moral content remains opposite; distinct from, though related to, 團契 (reused for the koinonia-as-fellowship sense elsewhere).
Miracles
Approved rendering: 異能
Transliteration: ji6 nang4
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts and the Unity of the Body
Rejected alternatives: 法力, 風水嘅力量
Original: δυνάμεις
Category: Spiritual Gifts
NEW. δυνάμεις — powerful deeds given by the Spirit (1 Cor 12:10,28-29). Reuses the baseline’s power_of_god forbidden-substitution rule verbatim: never 法力 or feng-shui-attributed power.
Tongues
Approved rendering: 方言
Transliteration: fong1 jin4
Doctrine: Tongues, Prophecy, and Discerning of Spirits
Rejected alternatives: 格洛索拉利亞 (clinical transliteration, foreign-sounding, loses everyday speech sense)
Original: γλῶσσα
Category: Spiritual Gifts
NEW. γλῶσσα — a Spirit-given gift of speech, whether known human languages or Spirit-given utterance requiring interpretation (1 Cor 12:10,28,30; 14:2-19,27-28). Must be clearly Spirit-given, interpretable, self-controlled speech serving the church, not a trance/possession phenomenon associated with folk-spirit-mediumship (問米) or ecstatic folk ritual utterance; requires a clarifying note at every occurrence given active mediumship practice in the destination culture. Also note: True Jesus Church (a real Hong Kong movement) treats tongues as normative evidence of salvation — this curriculum must retain Paul’s own framing of tongues as one gift among many, sovereignly distributed (12:11), not a required salvation-sign.
Love Agape
Approved rendering: 愛
Transliteration: oi3
Doctrine: Love as the Greater Way
Rejected alternatives: 愛情 (romantic love), 鍾意 (casual affection/liking), 仁 (Confucian relational-duty benevolence)
Original: ἀγάπη
Category: Love
NEW. ἀγάπη — self-giving, covenantal love, the ‘greater way’ than any spiritual gift (1 Cor 13:1-13; also 8:1, 16:24). Must be distinguished from romantic love (愛情), casual affection (鍾意), and Confucian relational-duty benevolence (仁, adjacent to the loyalty-and-honor idiom 義氣 already flagged under 義 in the Romans baseline); agapē is unconditional, self-giving, active goodwill, not primarily emotion or a social-duty code. Ch.13 requires functional (behavioral) definition, not reliance on the bare noun alone, given how overloaded 愛 already is in ordinary Cantonese (romance dramas, pop lyrics, family-duty idiom).
Head
Approved rendering: 頭
Transliteration: tau4
Doctrine: Head Covering and Gender Order in Worship
Rejected alternatives: 源頭 (unilaterally resolves toward ‘source’), 權柄 (unilaterally resolves toward ‘authority’)
Original: κεφαλή
Category: Worship
NEW. κεφαλή — ‘the head of Christ is God… the head of the woman is the man’ (1 Cor 11:3). Genuinely disputed source-vs-authority sense among interpreters. Preserve this semantic range rather than resolving the debate unilaterally in translation; flag for mandatory human theologian review given contemporary sensitivity around gender-role language.
Let Women Be Silent
Approved rendering: 女人應該保持安靜
Transliteration: neoi5 jan4 jing1 goi1 bou2 ci4 on1 zing6
Doctrine: Women’s Participation in Worship
Original: γυναῖκες σιγάτωσαν
Category: Worship
NEW. γυναῖκες σιγάτωσαν (1 Cor 14:34-35). A genuinely contested passage across interpretive traditions (scope, referent, application debated among evangelical scholars). Render faithfully and literally without unilateral softening or expansion; flag for mandatory human theologian review with contextual teaching notes rather than resolving the interpretive debate unilaterally within the translation.
Judgment
Approved rendering: 審判
Transliteration: sam2 pun3
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Stewardship
Original: κρίνω / κρίμα
Category: Eschatology
NEW. κρίνω/κρίμα — final divine adjudication; human judgment (including Corinthian ranking of teachers) is provisional, only the Lord’s judgment at his coming is final (1 Cor 4:3-5, 11:31-32). Must convey final divine adjudication, not casual opinion or social-status ranking.
Foundation
Approved rendering: 根基
Transliteration: gan1 gei1
Doctrine: The Church as God’s Temple
Original: θεμέλιος
Category: Church
NEW. θεμέλιος — Christ alone as the one foundation; no other foundation may be laid (1 Cor 3:10-11). Must remain exclusively Christ, not one option among several possible foundations.
Disqualified
Approved rendering: 被棄絕
Transliteration: bei6 hei3 zyut6
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Stewardship
Original: ἀδόκιμος
Category: Ethics
NEW. ἀδόκιμος — failing the test; Paul disciplines himself so as not to be disqualified from the race he preaches (1 Cor 9:27). Must not be read as loss of salvation-security contradicting assurance doctrine, but as forfeiting ministry usefulness/reward through undisciplined living; requires careful theological framing.
Accursed
Approved rendering: 咒詛
Transliteration: zau3 zou2
Doctrine: Final Exhortation and Maranatha Hope
Rejected alternatives: 詛咒 / 放符 (folk-curse practice)
Original: ἀνάθεμα
Category: Ethics
NEW. ἀνάθεμα — given over to divine judgment/curse; ‘if anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed’ (1 Cor 16:22). Must be understood as a solemn formal pronouncement of exclusion from blessing, not casual cursing or folk-curse practice (詛咒/放符).
Vice List Sexual Sin
Approved rendering: 親近男色的
Transliteration: can1 gan6 naam4 sik1 dik1
Doctrine: Bodily Holiness and Purity
Rejected alternatives: modern secular identity-category labels not present in the source register, gratuitously derogatory slang terms
NEW. Part of the 1 Cor 6:9-11 vice list (μαλακοὶ, ἀρσενοκοῖται); follows established CUV/CNV precedent of rendering the terms as a description of conduct within a list of practices (paired in v.11 with ‘such were some of you… but you were washed’), not as a modern identity label. Recommended per 05_translation_landscape.md §2.6 and §7; avoid both dismissive euphemism and gratuitous derogatory force beyond the register of the surrounding vice list.
Medium Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: 福音
Transliteration: fuk1 jam1
Doctrine: The Gospel as a Fixed Apostolic Deposit
Rejected alternatives: 好消息, 喜訊
Original: εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Salvation
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] Shared written form with Mandarin 福音, heard through Hong Kong/Guangdong commercial-luck culture (福 as fortune). In 1 Corinthians 15:1-3, pair with 領受/傳 to convey this is a closed, transmitted deposit, not one teaching among the rival ‘wisdom’ schools contested in ch.1-4.
Church
Approved rendering: 教會
Transliteration: gaau3 wui2
Doctrine: Christian Unity versus Factionalism
Rejected alternatives: 廟, 祠堂
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] The assembly of believers, God’s own possession (1 Cor 1:2, ‘the church of God that is in Corinth’), not any faction’s property. NEVER 廟 or 祠堂.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: 神嘅國
Transliteration: san4 ge3 gwok3
Doctrine: Eschatological Transformation
Rejected alternatives: 天下, 王朝
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Kingdom
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] ‘Not in talk but in power’ (1 Cor 4:20); inherited by the transformed (6:9-10); destination of the imperishable resurrection body (15:50).
Gentiles
Approved rendering: 外邦人
Transliteration: ngoi6 bong1 jan4
Doctrine: The Cross as Wisdom and Power
Rejected alternatives: 外江佬, 鄉下人
Original: ἔθνη
Category: Church
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] Contrasted with ‘Jews’ as both groups are addressed by the cross’s wisdom-and-power paradox (1 Cor 1:23-24).
Glory
Approved rendering: 榮耀
Transliteration: wing4 jiu6
Doctrine: Christian Unity versus Factionalism
Rejected alternatives: 面子, 威水
Original: δόξα
Category: God
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] God’s radiant honor, contrasted with human status-seeking fueling factionalism (1 Cor 1:29, 10:31, 11:7). Avoid 面子/威水.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: 預言
Transliteration: jyu6 jin4
Doctrine: Tongues, Prophecy, and Discerning of Spirits
Rejected alternatives: 求籤, 睇風水擇日
Original: προφητεία
Category: Covenant
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] Spirit-given gift for intelligible edification (1 Cor 12-14), preferred by Paul over uninterpreted tongues. Distinguish from 求籤/睇風水擇日.
Spiritual Gifts
Approved rendering: 屬靈恩賜
Transliteration: suk6 ling4 jan1 ci3
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts and the Unity of the Body
Rejected alternatives: 法力, 神通
Original: χαρίσματα
Category: Spiritual Gifts
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] Always the compound 屬靈恩賜, never 恩賜 alone. Spirit-given enablements distributed for the church’s common good (1 Cor 12:4,9,28-31); also applied in ch.7 to the distinct life-station capacities of marriage and celibacy — footnote the broader sense there.
Fallen Asleep
Approved rendering: 睡了
Transliteration: seoi6 liu5
Doctrine: The Resurrection of Believers
Rejected alternatives: 過身, 拜祖先式嘅安息
Original: κοιμάομαι
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Euphemism for death carrying resurrection hope — a temporary state awaiting future bodily waking (1 Cor 11:30, 15:6,18,20,51). Must avoid ancestral-rest imagery from grave-sweeping festival vocabulary (清明/重陽) implying ongoing ancestral existence tended by descendants rather than future bodily resurrection.
Untimely Born
Approved rendering: 未到產期而生嘅人
Transliteration: mei6 dou3 caan2 kei4 ji4 sang1 ge3 jan4
Doctrine: The Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 早產嘅人 (clinical register), 怪胎 (crude register)
Original: ἔκτρωμα
Category: Christology
NEW. ἔκτρωμα — Paul’s self-deprecating image for his abnormal entry into apostleship (1 Cor 15:8), sourced directly from CUV’s own 「未到產期而生的人」. Preserves self-abasement force without clinical bluntness or crude slang. Footnote strongly recommended to recover Paul’s shock value.
Natural Body
Approved rendering: 血氣嘅身體
Transliteration: hyut3 hei3 ge3 san1 tai2
Doctrine: The Resurrection of Believers
Original: σῶμα ψυχικόν
Category: Eschatology
NEW. σῶμα ψυχικόν — the present mortal body, sown in weakness (1 Cor 15:44,46). Must pair consistently with ch.2’s 血氣嘅人 (‘natural man’).
Imperishable
Approved rendering: 不朽壞
Transliteration: bat1 nau5 waai6
Doctrine: Eschatological Transformation
Original: ἄφθαρτος
Category: Eschatology
NEW. ἄφθαρτος — the resurrection body’s permanent freedom from decay (1 Cor 15:42,52-54). Pair consistently with 復活 to keep historical, bodily particularity clear against any cyclical or purely-spiritual reading.
Immortality
Approved rendering: 不死
Transliteration: bat1 sei2
Doctrine: Eschatological Transformation
Original: ἀθανασία
Category: Eschatology
NEW. ἀθανασία — ‘this mortal must put on immortality’ (1 Cor 15:53-54). Standard descriptive term requiring pairing consistency with resurrection vocabulary.
Sting Of Death
Approved rendering: 死嘅毒鉤
Transliteration: sei2 ge3 duk6 ngau1
Doctrine: Eschatological Transformation
Original: κέντρον τοῦ θανάτου
Category: Eschatology
NEW. κέντρον τοῦ θανάτου — death’s power to harm decisively removed by Christ’s resurrection (1 Cor 15:55-56). Ensure the image reads as death’s disarmed weapon, not a superstitious curse motif.
Destroy Abolish
Approved rendering: 消滅
Transliteration: siu1 mit6
Doctrine: Eschatological Transformation
Original: καταργέω
Category: Eschatology
NEW. καταργέω — Christ’s reign progressively abolishing every hostile power, culminating in death’s destruction (1 Cor 15:24,26). Ensure finality is not softened.
Labor
Approved rendering: 勞苦
Transliteration: lou4 fu2
Doctrine: Grace and Apostolic Identity
Original: κόπος / κοπιάω
Category: Ethics
NEW. κόπος/κοπιάω — Paul’s ministry labor (1 Cor 15:10) and the closing exhortation that ‘your labor is not in vain in the Lord’ (15:58). Must remain clearly subordinate to and dependent on 恩典, never a ground of self-merit.
Quarrels
Approved rendering: 紛爭
Transliteration: fan1 zaang1
Doctrine: Christian Unity versus Factionalism
Original: ἔρις
Category: Church
NEW. ἔρις — reported factional strife within Corinthian house-groups (1 Cor 1:11, 3:3).
Boast
Approved rendering: 誇口
Transliteration: kwaa1 hau2
Doctrine: Christian Unity versus Factionalism
Original: καυχάομαι
Category: Ethics
NEW. καυχάομαι — ‘so that no human being might boast in the presence of God’ (1 Cor 1:29,31); negatively defined against love (13:4). Connect explicitly to grace-versus-merit doctrine and to the baseline’s caution on status-conscious ‘face’ (面子) and ‘flashy success’ (威水).
Member
Approved rendering: 肢體
Transliteration: zi1 tai2
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts and the Unity of the Body
Original: μέλος
Category: Church
NEW. μέλος — a body part/limb; individual believers as indispensable parts of Christ’s body (1 Cor 6:15, 12:12-27). Consistent across ch.6 and ch.12.
Foolishness
Approved rendering: 愚拙
Transliteration: jyu4 zyut3
Doctrine: The Cross as Wisdom and Power
Original: μωρία
Category: Wisdom
NEW. μωρία — ‘the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing’ (1 Cor 1:18-25), yet is in fact God’s wisdom and power. Established CUV-tradition rendering; must be read as Paul’s deliberate paradox, not simple stupidity.
Mystery
Approved rendering: 奧秘
Transliteration: ou3 bei3
Doctrine: The Wisdom of God versus Worldly Wisdom
Rejected alternatives: 天機 (fortune-telling’s hidden fate), 秘術 (occult secret technique)
Original: μυστήριον
Category: Wisdom
NEW. μυστήριον — a hidden thing now revealed; God’s redemptive plan disclosed in Christ (1 Cor 2:1,7). Distinguish from folk-occult ‘secret knowledge’ or fortune-telling’s hidden fate — this is revealed truth open to all believers.
Leaven
Approved rendering: 酵
Transliteration: haau1
Doctrine: Church Discipline and Holiness
Original: ζύμη
Category: Covenant
NEW. ζύμη — figure for corrupting sin spreading through the whole community (1 Cor 5:6-8). Requires OT Passover background explanation for a low-OT-literacy Cantonese audience.
Unleavened
Approved rendering: 無酵
Transliteration: mou4 haau1
Doctrine: Church Discipline and Holiness
Original: ἄζυμος
Category: Covenant
NEW. ἄζυμος — the church called to be ‘unleavened,’ i.e. sincere and true (1 Cor 5:7-8). Pairs with 酵; same OT background note required.
Passover
Approved rendering: 逾越節
Transliteration: jyu4 jyut6 zit3
Doctrine: Church Discipline and Holiness
Original: πάσχα
Category: Covenant
NEW. πάσχα — ‘Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed’ (1 Cor 5:7), fulfilling OT typology. Requires OT narrative background.
Lawsuit
Approved rendering: 訴訟
Transliteration: sou3 zung6
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Stewardship
Original: κριτήριον
Category: Ethics
NEW. κριτήριον — believers taking each other before secular courts (1 Cor 6:1-6). Standard legal term; context carries the doctrinal weight.
Marriage
Approved rendering: 婚姻
Transliteration: fan1 jan1
Doctrine: Marriage and Singleness
Original: γάμος
Category: Marriage
NEW. γάμος — the marriage relationship, its goodness and mutual obligations (1 Cor 7:1-9).
Virgin
Approved rendering: 處女
Transliteration: cyu3 neoi5
Doctrine: Marriage and Singleness
Original: παρθένος
Category: Marriage
NEW. παρθένος — an unmarried woman; Paul’s specific counsel to the unmarried/betrothed (1 Cor 7:25-38). Some occurrences (e.g. 7:36-38) may refer to a betrothed woman rather than strictly virginity status; check referent per verse.
Spiritual Food And Drink
Approved rendering: 屬靈嘅食物 / 飲品
Transliteration: suk6 ling4 ge3 sik6 mat6 / jam2 ban2
Doctrine: Baptism and Union with Christ
Original: πνευματικὸν βρῶμα / πόμα
Category: Covenant
NEW. πνευματικὸν βρῶμα/πόμα — manna and water-from-the-rock as OT types pointing to Christ (1 Cor 10:3-4). Requires OT wilderness-narrative background explanation.
The Rock
Approved rendering: 磐石
Transliteration: pun4 sek6
Doctrine: Baptism and Union with Christ
Original: πέτρα
Category: Christology
NEW. πέτρα — ‘the Rock was Christ’ (1 Cor 10:4), a christological reading of Israel’s wilderness water provision. Must be understood as typological identification with Christ, not a literal claim that a stone itself was divine.
Knowledge
Approved rendering: 知識
Transliteration: zi1 sik1
Doctrine: Christian Liberty
Original: γνῶσις
Category: Wisdom
NEW. γνῶσις — ‘knowledge puffs up, but love builds up’ (1 Cor 8:1). Risk is primarily pastoral (theological correctness without love), not lexical collision; must retain 8:1’s specifically theological-correctness sense, not academic learning in general.
Remembrance
Approved rendering: 記念
Transliteration: gei3 nim6
Doctrine: The Lord’s Supper
Original: ἀνάμνησις
Category: Sacraments
NEW. ἀνάμνησις — ‘do this in remembrance of me’ (1 Cor 11:24-25).
Spiritual Matters
Approved rendering: 屬靈嘅事
Transliteration: suk6 ling4 ge3 si6
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts and the Unity of the Body
Original: πνευματικά
Category: Spiritual Gifts
NEW. πνευματικά — the topic heading for the whole spiritual-gifts discussion (1 Cor 12:1). Broader than 屬靈恩賜 (charismata); a topic-level, not gift-level, term.
Gifts Of Healing
Approved rendering: 醫病嘅恩賜
Transliteration: ji1 beng6 ge3 jan1 ci3
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts and the Unity of the Body
Rejected alternatives: 法力
Original: ἰάματα
Category: Spiritual Gifts
NEW. ἰάματα — Spirit-given gifts of healing (1 Cor 12:9,28,30). Must not be confused with folk-healer or spirit-medium ritual healing power (法力) or a paid folk-healing/talisman-based cure.
Interpretation Of Tongues
Approved rendering: 繙譯方言
Transliteration: faan1 jik6 fong1 jin4
Doctrine: Tongues, Prophecy, and Discerning of Spirits
Original: ἑρμηνεία γλωσσῶν
Category: Spiritual Gifts
NEW. ἑρμηνεία γλωσσῶν — the Spirit-given gift of translating tongues for the church’s understanding (1 Cor 12:10,30, 14:5,13,27).
Hope
Approved rendering: 盼望
Transliteration: paan3 mong6
Doctrine: Love as the Greater Way
Rejected alternatives: 好運, 心願
Original: ἐλπίς
Category: Faith
NEW. ἐλπίς — confident expectation grounded in God’s character and promises; one of the abiding triad with faith and love (1 Cor 13:13). Must be distinguished from wish-fulfillment fortune/luck hope (好運, 心願) reinforced by Wong Tai Sin-style wish-granting temple culture.
Keeps No Record Of Wrongs
Approved rendering: 唔計算人嘅惡
Transliteration: m4 gai3 syun3 jan4 ge3 ok3
Doctrine: Love as the Greater Way
Original: οὐ λογίζεται τὸ κακόν
Category: Love
NEW. οὐ λογίζεται τὸ κακόν — love does not reckon or credit wrongs against another (1 Cor 13:5). Uses the same ‘reckoning’ verb family (λογίζομαι) as imputed righteousness in Romans 4; worth a teaching-note cross-reference, though the everyday rendering need not use 算為義 itself.
Perfect Complete
Approved rendering: 完全
Transliteration: jyun4 cyun4
Doctrine: Eschatological Transformation
Original: τέλειος
Category: Eschatology
NEW. τέλειος — eschatological completeness; ‘when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away’ (1 Cor 13:10). Must be read as eschatological completeness, not moral perfectionism.
Order And Decency
Approved rendering: 次序 / 得體
Transliteration: ci3 zeoi6 / dak1 tai2
Doctrine: Order in Worship
Original: τάξις / εὐσχημόνως
Category: Worship
NEW. τάξις/εὐσχημόνως — ‘God is not a God of confusion but of peace… let all things be done decently and in order’ (1 Cor 14:33,40). The governing pastoral principle must be linked explicitly to God’s own character, not merely social propriety, avoiding collapse into generic ‘good manners’ teaching or ritual-correctness superstition (cf. temple/fortune-stick protocol logic).
Unbeliever
Approved rendering: 唔信嘅人
Transliteration: m4 seon3 ge3 jan4
Doctrine: Order in Worship
Original: ἄπιστος
Category: Worship
NEW. ἄπιστος — one without saving faith, potentially present in the gathered church (1 Cor 14:22-25). Distinct from generic ‘outsider.‘
Head Covering
Approved rendering: 蒙頭
Transliteration: mung4 tau4
Doctrine: Head Covering and Gender Order in Worship
Original: κατακαλύπτω
Category: Worship
NEW. κατακαλύπτω — a first-century cultural practice with a theological rationale (1 Cor 11:5-6,13). Requires cultural/historical framing notes for a Hong Kong audience with no equivalent custom; risk is reader confusion rather than doctrinal collision.
Tradition
Approved rendering: 傳統
Transliteration: cyun4 tung2
Doctrine: The Gospel as a Fixed Apostolic Deposit
Rejected alternatives: 風俗 (implies optional cultural custom)
Original: παράδοσις
Category: Apostolic Tradition
NEW. παράδοσις — ‘the traditions… just as I delivered them to you’ (1 Cor 11:2), echoing the 15:3 delivered/received technical vocabulary. Must retain the fixed-apostolic-deposit sense, not a generic ‘customs’ sense implying optional cultural preference.
Steward
Approved rendering: 管家
Transliteration: gun2 gaa1
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Stewardship
Original: οἰκονόμος
Category: Church
NEW. οἰκονόμος — a household manager entrusted with another’s property; apostles as stewards of God’s mysteries, accountable to their master (1 Cor 4:1-2). Must not be conflated with a temple caretaker role; this is fiduciary accountability to God, not popularity ranking among rival teachers — precisely the Corinthian error being corrected.
Build Up
Approved rendering: 建造 / 建立
Transliteration: gin3 zou6 / gin3 laap6
Doctrine: Order in Worship
Original: οἰκοδομή / οἰκοδομέω
Category: Church
NEW. οἰκοδομή/οἰκοδομέω — ministers as fellow workers building on Christ (1 Cor 3:9-14); the controlling criterion for public worship activity (14:4-5,12,26). Must retain constructive spiritual edification sense, not mere activity.
Reward
Approved rendering: 賞賜
Transliteration: soeng2 ci3
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Stewardship
Original: μισθός
Category: Ethics
NEW. μισθός — ministry reward, distinct from earning salvation; Paul’s reward is preaching free of charge (1 Cor 9:17-18). Must not be confused with merit earning salvation.
Crown
Approved rendering: 冠冕
Transliteration: gun3 min5
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Stewardship
Original: στέφανος
Category: Ethics
NEW. στέφανος — an imperishable crown contrasted with the perishable athletic prize (1 Cor 9:24-25). Ensure the imperishable/perishable contrast is preserved.
Maranatha
Approved rendering: 馬拉納他
Transliteration: maa5 laai1 naap6 taa1
Doctrine: Final Exhortation and Maranatha Hope
Rejected alternatives: 主啊求你來 alone without transliteration (loses primitive-church liturgical texture)
Original: Μαρανα θα
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Μαρανα θα — Aramaic liturgical prayer/watchword, ‘Our Lord, come!’ preserved untranslated (1 Cor 16:22). Treat exactly like 阿爸 (Abba) in the Romans baseline: transliterate (馬拉納他) and gloss (‘主啊，願你來’) rather than translate outright.
Low Risk Terms
Apostle
Approved rendering: 使徒
Transliteration: si2 tou4
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Stewardship
Rejected alternatives: 風水師, 大師
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Church
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] Established term; no significant collision. In 1 Corinthians 15:9, Paul calls himself ‘the least of the apostles.‘
Fellowship
Approved rendering: 團契
Transliteration: tyun4 kai3
Doctrine: Christian Unity versus Factionalism
Rejected alternatives: 同鄉會, 結拜
Original: κοινωνία
Category: Church
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] Shared participation in Christ (1 Cor 1:9); ch.10 additionally uses the same underlying Greek word (κοινωνία) structurally for idol-feast ‘participation,’ rendered there as 有份於 to keep the moral contrast visible.
David
Approved rendering: 大衛
Transliteration: daai6 wai6
Doctrine: Baptism and Union with Christ
Original: Δαυίδ
Category: Covenant
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] Proper name; background figure for OT covenant-promise typology relevant to messianic-fulfillment argument, though not directly named within 1 Corinthians itself.
Exhort
Approved rendering: 勸勉
Transliteration: hyun3 min5
Doctrine: Christian Unity versus Factionalism
Original: παρακαλέω
Category: Faith
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] To encourage or urge (1 Cor 1:10, 4:16, 16:15-16).
Victory
Approved rendering: 勝利
Transliteration: sing3 lei6
Doctrine: Eschatological Transformation
Original: νῖκος
Category: Eschatology
NEW. νῖκος — ‘death is swallowed up in victory’ (1 Cor 15:54-57).
Trumpet
Approved rendering: 號筒
Transliteration: hou6 tung2
Doctrine: Eschatological Transformation
Original: σάλπιγξ
Category: Eschatology
NEW. σάλπιγξ — the last trumpet signaling the final resurrection/transformation event (1 Cor 15:52).
Unmarried
Approved rendering: 未婚嘅人
Transliteration: mei6 fan1 ge3 jan4
Doctrine: Marriage and Singleness
Original: ἄγαμος
Category: Marriage
NEW. ἄγαμος — singleness as a legitimate, even advantageous, calling for undivided devotion to the Lord (1 Cor 7:8,32-34). Frame as legitimate calling, not deficiency, sensitive to strong Cantonese family-continuity/marriage-pressure dynamics.
Servant
Approved rendering: 仆人
Transliteration: buk6 jan4
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Stewardship
Original: ὑπηρέτης
Category: Church
NEW. ὑπηρέτης — attendant/servant; apostles as Christ’s servants, not independent celebrities to be ranked (1 Cor 4:1).
Self Control
Approved rendering: 節制
Transliteration: zit3 zai3
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Stewardship
Original: ἐγκράτεια
Category: Ethics
NEW. ἐγκράτεια — athletic self-discipline as a picture of disciplined Christian living (1 Cor 9:25).
Collection
Approved rendering: 捐款
Transliteration: gyun1 fun2
Doctrine: Generosity and the Collection
Original: λογία
Category: Church
NEW. λογία — a collection of money for the Jerusalem relief offering, expressing cross-congregational unity (1 Cor 16:1-2).
Paul
Approved rendering: 保羅
Transliteration: bou2 lo4
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Stewardship
NEW. Proper name; the letter’s author, self-described as ‘least of the apostles’ by grace (1 Cor 15:9-10). Established Traditional-character CUV form.
Apollos
Approved rendering: 亞波羅
Transliteration: aa3 bo1 lo4
Doctrine: Christian Unity versus Factionalism
NEW. Proper name; one of the rival-camp figureheads named in the factionalism dispute (1 Cor 1:12, 3:4-6). Established CUV form.
Cephas
Approved rendering: 磯法
Transliteration: gei1 faat3
Doctrine: Christian Unity versus Factionalism
Rejected alternatives: 彼得 (reserve for Greek Πέτρος-form occurrences elsewhere in the canon)
NEW. Proper name (Aramaic ‘rock’), = Peter. Transliterate distinctly as 磯法 wherever the underlying Greek text itself uses Κηφᶐς (1 Cor 1:12, 3:22, 9:5, 15:5), per established CUV practice distinguishing the two name-forms; do not silently collapse into 彼得.
Corinth
Approved rendering: 哥林多
Transliteration: go1 lam4 do1
Doctrine: Idolatry and Idol Food
NEW. Proper name; the letter’s destination city, a cosmopolitan port city of idol temples and rhetorical wisdom-schools directly shaping the letter’s pastoral concerns. Established CUV form.
Ephesus
Approved rendering: 以弗所
Transliteration: ji5 fat1 so2
Doctrine: Generosity and the Collection
NEW. Proper name; Paul’s location while writing (1 Cor 16:8). Established CUV form.
Macedonia
Approved rendering: 馬其頓
Transliteration: maa5 kei4 deon6
Doctrine: Generosity and the Collection
NEW. Proper name; region relevant to Paul’s travel plans and the collection (1 Cor 16:5). Established CUV form.
Achaia
Approved rendering: 亞該亞
Transliteration: aa3 goi1 aa3
Doctrine: Generosity and the Collection
NEW. Proper name; the Roman province in which Corinth is located (1 Cor 16:15). Established CUV form.
Referenced passages