Core Glossary
Core Glossary — 3 John
This glossary catalogues every load-bearing theological term identified in analysis/07_semantic_analysis.md, across the entire book (3 John 1:1–14, its only chapter). Terms marked [BASELINE] are inherited unchanged from the Romans translation_memory.json and MUST be reused exactly; no alternative rendering is permitted for these regardless of context in 3 John.
Glossary Table
| # | English Term | Greek (Transliteration) | Cantonese Rendering | Jyutping | Doctrine | Risk | Baseline Reuse | Key Justification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | God | θεός (theos) | 神 | san4 | Church Leadership and Pride; Imitating Good rather than Evil | Critical | [BASELINE] | Reuse baseline exactly; 3 John 1:11’s “of God” / “has not seen God” tests are diagnostic-of-relationship statements, not merit-earning claims. |
| 2 | Church | ἐκκλησία (ekklēsia) | 教會 | gaau3 wui2 | Church Leadership and Pride | Medium | [BASELINE] | Reuse baseline exactly; here denotes the local congregation Diotrephes dominates and from which he expels dissenters. |
| 3 | Peace | εἰρήνη (eirēnē) | 平安 | ping4 on1 | Truth and Christian Fellowship | Medium | [BASELINE] | Reuse baseline exactly; standard epistolary closing blessing (v.14). |
| 4 | Gentiles / pagans (unbelievers) | ἐθνικός (ethnikos) | 外邦人 | ngoi6 bong1 jan4 | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | Medium | [BASELINE] (rendering reused; sense-note added) | Same Cantonese term as baseline “gentiles,” but here denotes unbelieving outsiders funding-independence is refused from (v.7), a narrower, negatively-marked sense than Romans’ inclusive redemptive-historical usage — flag the nuance shift in teaching notes. |
| 5 | Elder | πρεσβύτερος (presbyteros) | 長老 | coeng4 lou5 | Church Leadership and Pride | High | New | Collides with Pearl River Delta clan-elder council (父老/太公) authority; must be taught as pastoral/servant office, not lineage-based social rank. |
| 6 | Beloved (address) | ἀγαπητός (agapētos) | 親愛嘅 | can1 oi3 ge3 | Truth and Christian Fellowship | Medium | New | Established Chinese Bible convention; ensure agapē-love is not read as mere secular affection. |
| 7 | Truth | ἀλήθεια (alētheia) | 真理 | zan1 lei5 | Truth and Christian Fellowship | Medium | New | Controlling concept of the whole letter; guard against a generic/philosophical “truth” reading or conflation with Daoist 道. |
| 8 | Soul / inner self | ψυχή (psychē) | 靈魂 | ling4 wan4 | Truth and Christian Fellowship | Medium-High | New | Risk of activating folk-spirit/問米-mediumship associations if used carelessly; always use the full compound, never 靈 alone (cf. baseline’s Holy Spirit caution). |
| 9 | Prosper | εὐοδοῦσθαι (euodousthai) | 凡事順利 | faan4 si6 seon6 lei6 | Truth and Christian Fellowship | High | New | Strong risk of prosperity-gospel/fortune-culture reading (cf. baseline’s 福 caution under “gospel”); must be tied explicitly to, and subordinated to, spiritual well-being. |
| 10 | Health | ὑγιαίνειν (hygiainein) | 身體健康 | san1 tai2 gin6 hong1 | Truth and Christian Fellowship | Low | New | Straightforward physical-health term. |
| 11 | Joy / rejoice | χαρά / χαίρω (chara / chairō) | 喜樂 / 歡喜 | hei2 lok6 / fun1 hei2 | Truth and Christian Fellowship | Medium | New | Distinguish gospel-evoked joy from luck-based happiness (好彩/好運). |
| 12 | Testify / witness | μαρτυρέω / μαρτυρία (martyreō / martyria) | 見證 | gin3 zing3 | Commendation of Faithful Witness | Medium-High | New | Anchor term for Demetrius doctrine (v.12); distinguish from commercial-testimonial usage; escalating triple-witness structure must not be flattened. |
| 13 | Walk (conduct) | περιπατέω (peripateō) | 行在真理中 | hang4 zoi6 zan1 lei5 zung1 | Truth and Christian Fellowship | Medium | New | Hebraic “conduct” idiom; must not be rendered as literal ambulation. |
| 14 | Children (spiritual) | τέκνα (tekna) | 兒女 | ji4 neoi5 | Truth and Christian Fellowship | Medium-High | New | Must not be conflated with the unrelated folk-custom of 認契仔 (child dedicated to a temple deity), per the baseline’s adoption caution. |
| 15 | Faithful (in action) | πιστός (pistos) | 忠心 | zung1 sam1 | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | High | New | Keep visibly distinct from 信心 (faith, baseline); avoid feudal-loyalty/triad-loyalty overtones (cf. baseline’s 老爺/事頭 and 義氣 cautions). |
| 16 | Stranger / traveler | ξένος (xenos) | 客旅 | haak3 leoi5 | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | Medium | New | Avoid Hong Kong insider/outsider clan framing (cf. baseline’s 外江佬/鄉下人 caution); biblical hospitality overturns such hierarchy. |
| 17 | Brothers (fellow believers) | ἀδελφός (adelphos) | 弟兄 | dai6 hing1 | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers; Truth and Christian Fellowship | High | New | Use reversed-order 弟兄 (church term), never colloquial 兄弟, to avoid triad/gangster sworn-brotherhood (結拜兄弟) connotations (cf. baseline’s 結拜 caution under “fellowship”). |
| 18 | Love (noun) | ἀγάπη (agapē) | 愛心 | oi3 sam1 | Truth and Christian Fellowship | Medium | New | Keep distinct from romantic/familial affection vocabulary. |
| 19 | Send on their way / support for journey | προπέμπω (propempō) | 資助送行 | zi1 zo6 sung3 hang4 | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | High | New | Direct collision with Buddhist/Daoist merit-almsgiving (功德, cf. baseline’s Critical grace/justification caution); must be framed as grateful response, not merit-earning transaction. |
| 20 | Worthy of God | ἀξίως τοῦ θεοῦ (axiōs tou theou) | 合乎神心意 | hap6 fu4 san4 sam1 ji3 | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | High | New | Avoid a literal “deserving/worthy” construction that implies earned merit before God. |
| 21 | The Name (Christ) | ὄνομα (onoma), absolute usage | 主嘅名 | zyu2 ge3 ming4 | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | High | New | Must be glossed as Christ’s name; avoid generic “reputation/brand” reading (cf. baseline’s 面子/威水 caution under “glory”). |
| 22 | Ought / obligation | ὀφείλω (opheilō) | 應該 / 有責任 | jing1 goi1 | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | Low | New | Standard moral-obligation term; ensure not read as a vow-debt (cf. 還神還願 caution). |
| 23 | Receive / support (welcome) | ὑπολαμβάνω / ἐπιδέχομαι (hypolambanō / epidechomai) | 接待 | zip3 doi6 | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | High | New | Anchor term for the hospitality doctrine, used positively (implicitly of Gaius) and negatively (twice of Diotrephes, vv. 9–10); contrast must not be flattened. |
| 24 | Fellow worker | συνεργός (synergos) | 同工 | tung4 gung1 | Hospitality to Traveling Ministers | Low | New | Established Christian-vocabulary term; hospitality itself counts as gospel labor. |
| 25 | Love of preeminence | φιλοπρωτεύω (philoprōteuō) | 貪慕虛位 / 好占首位 | taam1 mou6 heoi1 wai2 | Church Leadership and Pride | Critical | New | Sole NT occurrence; core term naming Diotrephes’s sin. Culturally tempting but risky parallel to 大佬 (triad “big brother”) imagery — theologian review required for any illustrative use of that analogy. |
| 26 | Remind | ὑπομνήσω (hypomnēsō) | 提醒 | tai4 sing2 | Church Leadership and Pride | Low | New | Plain verb, no collision. |
| 27 | Evil / wicked (words) | πονηρός (ponēros) | 惡毒 | ok3 duk6 | Church Leadership and Pride | Low-Medium | New | Standard moral-evil term. |
| 28 | Slander / malicious talk | φλυαρέω (phlyareō) | 毀謗 | wai6 pong3 | Church Leadership and Pride | Medium | New | Preserve seriousness of false accusation; do not soften to mere “gossip.” |
| 29 | Content / satisfied | ἀρκέω (arkeō) | 滿足 | mun5 zuk1 | Church Leadership and Pride | Low | New | Plain term, no collision. |
| 30 | Hinder / forbid | κωλύω (kōlyō) | 阻止 | zo2 zi2 | Church Leadership and Pride | Low | New | Plain term, no collision. |
| 31 | Cast out / expel | ἐκβάλλω (ekballō) | 趕出教會 | gon2 ceot1 gaau3 wui2 | Church Leadership and Pride | High | New | Preserve forceful expulsion sense; do not soften to bureaucratic “membership removal”; sensitive given contemporary church-governance disputes. |
| 32 | Imitate | μιμέομαι (mimeomai) | 效法 | haau6 faat3 | Imitating Good rather than Evil | Medium | New | Anchor verb of the doctrine; frame as deliberate modeling on a named example (Demetrius vs. Diotrephes), not abstract willpower. |
| 33 | Evil (do evil) | κακοποιέω (kakopoieō) | 作惡 | zok3 ok3 | Imitating Good rather than Evil | Low-Medium | New | Standard term. |
| 34 | Good (do good) | ἀγαθοποιέω (agathopoieō) | 行善 | hang4 sin6 | Imitating Good rather than Evil | High | New | Major collision with Buddhist/folk merit culture (積善/積德, cf. baseline’s 功德/報應 cautions); this is evidence-of-relationship-with-God, not a merit-earning cause. Theologian review required for every occurrence. |
| 35 | Has seen | ὁράω (heōraken) | 見過 | gin3 gwo3 | Imitating Good rather than Evil | Low-Medium | New | Avoid a “deity manifestation” (顯靈) framing per baseline’s incarnation caution. |
| 36 | Friend | φίλος (philos) | 朋友 | pang4 jau5 | Truth and Christian Fellowship | Low | New | Keep visibly distinct from 弟兄 (church-family term) so theological weight is not diluted or over-extended. |
| 37 | Face to face (idiom) | στόμα πρὸς στόμα (stoma pros stoma) | 面對面 | min6 deoi3 min6 | Truth and Christian Fellowship | Low | New | Idiom-handling: never render literally as “mouth to mouth.” |
| 38 | Gaius (proper name) | Γάϊος (Gaios) | 該猶 | goi1 jau4 | (all doctrines — letter’s recipient) | Low | New (proper name) | Established Chinese Bible transliteration; reuse consistently. |
| 39 | Diotrephes (proper name) | Διοτρέφης (Diotrephēs) | 丟特腓 | diu1 dak6 fei4 | Church Leadership and Pride | Low (name only; associated conduct Critical) | New (proper name) | Established Chinese Bible transliteration; reuse consistently. |
| 40 | Demetrius (proper name) | Δημήτριος (Dēmētrios) | 底米丟 | dai2 mai5 diu1 | Commendation of Faithful Witness | Low (name only) | New (proper name) | Use the same standard transliteration convention as Acts 19’s Demetrius, for cross-NT consistency. |
Risk Summary
| Risk Tier | Count | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 1 | Human theologian (mandatory, every occurrence) |
| High | 12 | Human theologian (mandatory) |
| Medium-High | 3 | Human theologian recommended |
| Medium | 10 | Native speaker review |
| Low-Medium | 3 | Native speaker review |
| Low | 11 | Automated review sufficient |
| Total terms catalogued | 40 |
Notes for Phase 2
- All four [BASELINE] terms (神, 教會, 平安, 外邦人) must be loaded from the existing Romans
translation_memory.jsonand reused verbatim; this glossary adds contextual-nuance notes only, never alternative renderings. - Terms rated Critical or High here should be added to an updated
doctrine_risk_registry.jsonextension for 3 John (Phase 1 Step 2+) using the same risk-definition framework already established in the baseline. - 弟兄 vs 兄弟 (High risk, item 17) is the single most consequential new lexical distinction this book introduces relative to the Romans baseline, given 3 John’s sustained “brothers”/hospitality/fellowship theme — flag this distinction prominently in any Phase 2 AI system prompt extension for this curriculum.
- 貪慕虛位/好占首位 (φιλοπρωτεύω, Critical, item 25) and 行善 (ἀγαθοποιέω, High, item 34) are the two terms most likely to be mishandled by an automated pass without explicit forbidden-substitution guardrails, given their proximity to, respectively, triad-culture status language and Buddhist/folk merit culture; both require explicit forbidden-substitution entries analogous to the baseline’s CRITICAL FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTIONS list.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: 神
Transliteration: san4
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Rejected alternatives: 天主, 上帝, 老天爺
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package; reuse exactly, never substitute. In 3 John 1:11, ‘has not seen God’ must not be rendered to suggest a temple-deity manifestation (顯靈) framing — this is a metaphor for relational/spiritual knowledge of God, not literal or ritual visual perception.
Love Of Preeminence
Approved rendering: 貪慕虛位
Transliteration: taam1 mou6 heoi1 wai2
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Rejected alternatives: 大佬式霸位, 鍾意做大, 好占首位(secondary acceptable variant)
Original: φιλοπρωτεύω
Category: Leadership
CRITICAL: sole NT occurrence of φιλοπρωτεύω (v.9); no single Cantonese word captures the compound, requiring a descriptive phrase per Chinese Bible tradition. The vivid Hong Kong triad/gangster-film ‘big brother’ (大佬) image is tempting but hazardous — must NEVER be used as a direct rendering; theologian-gated illustrative use only, clearly bracketed off from the translation itself, distinguishing sinful love of preeminence in Christ’s church from both legitimate servant-leadership and secular/criminal power-seeking.
High Risk Terms
Elder
Approved rendering: 長老
Transliteration: coeng4 lou5
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Rejected alternatives: 父老, 太公, 風水師, 大師
Original: πρεσβύτερος
Category: Leadership
The author’s self-designation (v.1). Collides with the Pearl River Delta clan-elder council (父老/太公), whose authority rests on lineage seniority and ancestral-hall custom. Must be taught as pastoral, servant-shaped office grounding the elder’s authority to correct Diotrephes in shepherding responsibility, not clan-based social rank.
Soul
Approved rendering: 靈魂
Transliteration: ling4 wan4
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: 靈, 魂魄
Original: ψυχή
Category: Fellowship
Gaius’s whole inner spiritual person, contrasted with his outward physical condition (v.2). Always use the fixed compound 靈魂; NEVER use 靈 alone, which in Hong Kong folk usage covers wandering ancestral spirits and spirits summoned via 問米 mediumship (cf. baseline’s Holy Spirit caution). Gloss as the believer’s whole inner life before God, not a detachable, summonable spirit-entity.
Prosper
Approved rendering: 凡事順利
Transliteration: faan4 si6 seon6 lei6
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: 凡事興盛, 事事發財, 恭喜發財式祝福, 樣樣都好
Original: εὐοδοῦσθαι
Category: Fellowship
John’s prayer-wish for Gaius’s holistic well-being (v.2), explicitly paralleled with spiritual flourishing. Strong risk of a prosperity-gospel/fortune-culture reading (cf. baseline’s caution on 福 under ‘gospel’; Cantonese New Year greeting culture 恭喜發財). Must always be tightly paired with, and subordinated to, the following soul-clause; never a stand-alone health-and-wealth proof text.
Testify
Approved rendering: 見證
Transliteration: gin3 zing3
Doctrine: Commendation of Faithful Witness
Rejected alternatives: 用戶見證式證言, 見證人(法庭用法)
Original: μαρτυρέω / μαρτυρία
Category: Witness
Formal, weighty testimony to gospel-faithful character (vv.3, 6, 12) — the anchor term for the Demetrius commendation. Hong Kong commercial culture also uses 見證 for product/service testimonials (‘用戶見證’); teaching must frame this as truthful, communal moral testimony, not marketing endorsement. The escalating triple-witness structure at v.12 (everyone / the truth itself / the elder) must not be flattened into a single generic commendation.
Children
Approved rendering: 兒女
Transliteration: ji4 neoi5
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: 過繼嘅仔女, 認契仔
Original: τέκνα
Category: Fellowship
Spiritual children whom the elder discipled (v.4), expressing pastoral care and instruction, not literal biological family. Must not be conflated with the unrelated Hong Kong folk-religious custom of dedicating a child as a temple deity’s ‘godson’ (認契仔), a protective ritual dedication with no discipleship content (cf. baseline’s adoption caution).
Faithful Conduct
Approved rendering: 忠心
Transliteration: zung1 sam1
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: 義氣, 效忠老爺式忠心
Original: πιστός (ποιεῖς)
Category: Hospitality
Faithful, reliable conduct commending Gaius’s hospitality as covenantal action toward the gospel mission (v.5) — distinct from the inner disposition of trust (πίστις). Keep visibly distinct from 信心 (faith, per baseline); guard against feudal-loyalty or triad-loyalty overtones (cf. baseline’s caution on 老爺/事頭 for ‘lord’ and 義氣 for ‘righteousness’). This faithfulness is service to the gospel mission, not personal loyalty to a human patron or boss.
Brothers
Approved rendering: 弟兄
Transliteration: dai6 hing1
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: 兄弟, 結拜兄弟
Original: ἀδελφός
Category: Hospitality
MANDATORY: fellow believers, specifically the traveling gospel workers whose reception (or rejection) is the letter’s central concern (vv.3, 5, 10). NEVER use colloquial 兄弟, and especially never 結拜兄弟 (sworn brotherhood), which carry strong triad/gangster-film connotations of oath-bound loyalty among criminal associates (cf. baseline’s caution on 結拜 under ‘fellowship’). Always use reversed-order 弟兄, the established church term, taught explicitly as family-in-Christ.
Send On Journey
Approved rendering: 資助送行
Transliteration: zi1 zo6 sung3 hang4
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: 布施, 功德, 還神還願式資助
Original: προπέμπω
Category: Hospitality
CRITICAL CULTURAL NOTE: to materially equip traveling gospel workers with provisions/funds for their onward journey (v.6). Direct collision with Hong Kong’s living Buddhist/Daoist tradition of alms-giving to monks or temple causes as 功德 (merit-generating almsgiving), already flagged Critical in the baseline under grace/justification. Must always be framed as a grateful, love-motivated response flowing from the gospel already received, never a merit-earning transaction improving the giver’s spiritual standing or fortune.
Worthy Of God
Approved rendering: 合乎神心意
Transliteration: hap6 fu4 san4 sam1 ji3
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: 配得起神, 值得神嘅賞賜
Original: ἀξίως τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Hospitality
A standard of conduct honoring God’s own character, not a measure of personal merit accumulated by the giver (v.6). Avoid a literal ‘worthy/deserving’ construction (配得起), which would imply earned merit — echoes the baseline’s merit-vs-grace distinction under justification and grace.
The Name
Approved rendering: 主嘅名
Transliteration: zyu2 ge3 ming4
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: 個名(bare, ungloссed), 耶和華嘅名(新世界譯本式)
Original: ὄνομα (absolute usage)
Category: Hospitality
Early Christian reverent shorthand for Christ’s name/gospel cause, for whose sake traveling workers went out accepting nothing from unbelievers (v.7). Must be glossed explicitly as Christ’s name; a bare unglossed 個名 would be meaningless or misleading. NEVER follow the New World Translation’s (Jehovah’s Witnesses) practice of privileging this absolute ‘the Name’ usage toward the divine personal name Jehovah rather than Christ — flag any such drift for immediate theologian review.
Receive Welcome
Approved rendering: 接待
Transliteration: zip3 doi6
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: 好客式接待, 酒店接待
Original: ὑπολαμβάνω / ἐπιδέχομαι
Category: Hospitality
The letter’s primary technical term for hospitably receiving traveling gospel workers, used positively (implicitly of Gaius, v.8) and negatively, twice, of Diotrephes’s refusal (vv.9-10). Because ‘Hospitality to Traveling Ministers’ is a named curriculum doctrine and this is its anchor term, flag for theologian review whenever a segment contrasts positive and negative reception, so the contrast is never flattened or softened.
Cast Out
Approved rendering: 趕出教會
Transliteration: gon2 ceot1 gaau3 wui2
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Rejected alternatives: 取消會籍(bureaucratic softening), 攆走
Original: ἐκβάλλω
Category: Leadership
Forceful expulsion — Diotrephes drives faithful believers out of the church (v.10); ἐκβάλλω is elsewhere used of driving out demons, a strong, violent-force term, not a gentle ‘ask to leave’. Must not be softened into bureaucratic ‘membership removal’. Flag for theologian review given the doctrine’s weight and Hong Kong congregations’ contemporary sensitivity to pastoral-authority-abuse disputes.
Do Good
Approved rendering: 行善
Transliteration: hang4 sin6
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Rejected alternatives: 積善, 積德, 功德
Original: ἀγαθοποιέω (ἀγαθός)
Category: Ethics
MAJOR CULTURAL COLLISION: ‘Whoever does good is of God’ (v.11) — doing good functions as a diagnostic test of already belonging to God, not a cause of becoming right with him. 行善/積善/積德/功德 are central vocabulary in Hong Kong’s living Buddhist/folk-religious merit culture, directly related to the baseline’s flagged 功德/報應 concepts under grace, justification, and sin. This verse’s logic runs opposite to merit-culture causal logic. Theologian review required for every occurrence.
Medium Risk Terms
Church
Approved rendering: 教會
Transliteration: gaau3 wui2
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Rejected alternatives: 廟, 祠堂, 召會
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package; reuse exactly. In 3 John denotes both the local congregation before which the brothers testified to Gaius’s love (v.6) and Diotrephes’s own congregation, from which he forcibly expels dissenters (vv.9-10). NEVER use 召會 (the Recovery Version / Local Church movement’s distinctive ecclesiological term) — 3 John’s Diotrephes narrative is specifically about local-church authority and division, making this sectarian collision especially acute for this curriculum.
Peace
Approved rendering: 平安
Transliteration: ping4 on1
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: 平安符式嘅平安, 老黃曆話嘅好日子
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Fellowship
Inherited from Romans package; reuse exactly. Standard epistolary closing blessing (3 John 1:14); avoid any reading tied to protective-charm (平安符) or lucky-almanac (老黃曆) culture.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: 外邦人
Transliteration: ngoi6 bong1 jan4
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: 外江佬, 鄉下人
Original: ἐθνικός
Category: Hospitality
Inherited from Romans package; Cantonese rendering reused exactly, but sense shifts in 3 John 1:7 (ἐθνικός): here it denotes unbelieving non-Christian outsiders from whom traveling gospel workers refused financial support — a narrower, negatively-marked sense distinct from Romans 9-11’s inclusive redemptive-historical ‘nations’ theme of Jew-Gentile unity. Do not import Romans’ inclusive framing into this verse, nor vice versa.
Beloved
Approved rendering: 親愛嘅
Transliteration: can1 oi3 ge3
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: 老友, 心肝寶貝
Original: ἀγαπητός
Category: Fellowship
Vocative address to Gaius (vv.1, 2, 5, 11), established Chinese Bible convention. Ensure this is understood as agapē-love modeled on God’s own love, not merely secular affectionate goodwill.
Truth
Approved rendering: 真理
Transliteration: zan1 lei5
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: 真相, 事實, 道
Original: ἀλήθεια
Category: Fellowship
The controlling concept of the whole letter (vv.1, 3, 4, 8, 12). Guard against a generic philosophical/scientific ‘truth’ reading (真相) or conflation with the impersonal Daoist 道; always anchor to the revealed truth of the gospel embodied in Christ and to relational integrity/sincerity.
Joy
Approved rendering: 喜樂
Transliteration: hei2 lok6
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: 好彩, 好運
Original: χαρά / χαίρω
Category: Fellowship
Gladness evoked by news of gospel-faithfulness (vv.3-4), described as the elder’s greatest joy. Distinguish from generic worldly happiness or good-fortune elation (好彩/好運), a common Cantonese idiom register.
Walk
Approved rendering: 行在真理中
Transliteration: hang4 zoi6 zan1 lei5 zung1
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: 行真理嘅路(literal ambulation phrasing)
Original: περιπατέω
Category: Fellowship
A Hebraic idiom for habitual conduct/lifestyle (vv.3-4): truth must be lived, not merely believed. Do not translate as literal ambulation; 行 already carries a ‘behave/conduct oneself’ sense in common Cantonese usage (cf. 品行).
Stranger
Approved rendering: 客旅
Transliteration: haak3 leoi5
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: 外江佬, 鄉下人
Original: ξένος
Category: Hospitality
A traveling outsider with no prior social claim on the host, deserving hospitality precisely because of that lack of claim (v.5). Avoid any term carrying Hong Kong’s insider/outsider clan-village connotations; biblical hospitality deliberately increases, not decreases, the host’s obligation, reversing the folk-village default.
Love
Approved rendering: 愛心
Transliteration: oi3 sam1
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: 情愛, 友誼
Original: ἀγάπη
Category: Fellowship
Covenantal, self-giving love — Gaius’s love testified to before the church (v.6). Keep distinct from romantic/familial affection vocabulary.
Slander
Approved rendering: 毀謗
Transliteration: wai6 pong3
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Rejected alternatives: 講是非, 八卦
Original: φλυαρέω
Category: Leadership
Baseless, malicious accusation intended to discredit someone (v.10) — Diotrephes’s opposition to the elder is slanderous misrepresentation, not principled disagreement. Preserve seriousness of false accusation; do not soften to a mere ‘gossip’ term.
Imitate
Approved rendering: 效法
Transliteration: haau6 faat3
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Rejected alternatives: 學人, 抄襲式模仿
Original: μιμέομαι
Category: Ethics
The anchor verb for the imitation doctrine (v.11): Gaius is exhorted to model his conduct on positive examples rather than Diotrephes’s negative one. Standard Chinese Christian term for positive moral imitation, distinct from shallow 學人 (trend-following copying). Frame as deliberate modeling on a named, concrete example (Demetrius vs. Diotrephes), not abstract willpower.
Low Risk Terms
Health
Approved rendering: 身體健康
Transliteration: san1 tai2 gin6 hong1
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: ὑγιαίνειν
Category: Fellowship
Physical health/soundness, prayed for alongside spiritual prosperity (v.2). Straightforward term, no significant collision.
Ought
Approved rendering: 應該
Transliteration: jing1 goi1
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Rejected alternatives: 還神還願式責任
Original: ὀφείλω
Category: Hospitality
Moral obligation: believers ought to support gospel workers (v.8). Standard term; ensure not read as a vow-debt owed in a transactional exchange sense (cf. baseline’s caution on 還神還願).
Fellow Worker
Approved rendering: 同工
Transliteration: tung4 gung1
Doctrine: Hospitality to Traveling Ministers
Original: συνεργός
Category: Hospitality
A partner sharing in the gospel mission; Gaius’s hospitality makes him an active participant, not merely a passive supporter (v.8). Established Christian-vocabulary term.
Remind
Approved rendering: 提醒
Transliteration: tai4 sing2
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Original: ὑπομνήσω (ὑπομιμνήσκω)
Category: Leadership
The elder’s intention to bring Diotrephes’s conduct to remembrance/account if he visits (v.10). Plain verb, no collision.
Content
Approved rendering: 滿足
Transliteration: mun5 zuk1
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Original: ἀρκέω (ἀρκούμενος)
Category: Leadership
Diotrephes is not even satisfied with slander alone, escalating further (v.10). Plain term, no collision.
Hinder
Approved rendering: 阻止
Transliteration: zo2 zi2
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Original: κωλύω
Category: Leadership
To prevent/forbid others from receiving the traveling brothers (v.10). Plain term, no collision.
Friend
Approved rendering: 朋友
Transliteration: pang4 jau5
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Original: φίλος
Category: Fellowship
Personal friendship-affection, a broader circle of relationships beyond the specifically ecclesial ‘brothers’ (v.14). Keep visibly distinct from 弟兄 so the theological weight of church-family language is not diluted, and ordinary friendship is not over-theologized.
Face To Face
Approved rendering: 面對面
Transliteration: min6 deoi3 min6
Doctrine: Truth and Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: 口對口(literal calque)
Original: στόμα πρὸς στόμα
Category: Fellowship
A Hebraic idiom for direct, personal communication (v.14), literally ‘mouth to mouth’. Never render literally, which would read oddly or comically in Cantonese; use the natural Cantonese equivalent 面對面.
Gaius
Approved rendering: 該猶
Transliteration: goi1 jau4
Doctrine: (letter’s recipient; all doctrines)
Original: Γάϊος
Category: Proper Name
The letter’s recipient, a beloved member of a house church commended for his hospitality. Established Chinese Bible transliteration (cf. Acts 19:29, Rom 16:23); reuse consistently.
Diotrephes
Approved rendering: 丟特腓
Transliteration: diu1 dak6 fei4
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Original: Διοτρέφης
Category: Proper Name
A church member who loves preeminence, slanders the elder, refuses hospitality, and expels dissenters (vv.9-10). The proper name itself carries no doctrinal content — the associated conduct (love_of_preeminence) is Critical risk. Established Chinese Bible transliteration; reuse consistently.
Demetrius
Approved rendering: 底米丟
Transliteration: dai2 mai5 diu1
Doctrine: Commendation of Faithful Witness
Original: Δημήτριος
Category: Proper Name
A believer commended by everyone, by the truth itself, and by the elder — the positive counter-example to Diotrephes (v.12). Use the same standard transliteration convention as Acts 19’s Demetrius the silversmith (a different person), for cross-NT consistency; a footnote should note these are distinct individuals sharing a transliterated name.
Low-Medium Risk Terms
Wicked Words
Approved rendering: 惡毒
Transliteration: ok3 duk6
Doctrine: Church Leadership and Pride
Original: λόγοις πονηροῖς (πονηρός)
Category: Leadership
Malicious, evil words Diotrephes uses against the elder (v.10). Standard moral-evil term connoting active malice, not mere error.
Do Evil
Approved rendering: 作惡
Transliteration: zok3 ok3
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Original: κακοποιέω (κακός)
Category: Ethics
To do evil, contrasted with doing good as a diagnostic test of spiritual origin (v.11). Standard term, no significant collision.
Has Seen
Approved rendering: 見過
Transliteration: gin3 gwo3
Doctrine: Imitating Good rather than Evil
Rejected alternatives: 顯靈式見到
Original: ὁράω (ἑώρακεν)
Category: Ethics
‘Has not seen God’ denotes lack of true spiritual knowledge of/relationship with God, evidenced by persistent evildoing (v.11) — not a claim about literal visual perception. Avoid any framing suggesting God could be ‘seen’ the way a temple deity is popularly said to 顯靈 (‘manifest’), already flagged Critical under the baseline’s incarnation entry.