Cross-Reference Analysis
Cross-Reference and Theme Analysis — Acts 1–28
Governing rule: All citation strings in this document use normalized Book Chapter:Verse form (e.g. Acts 2:21, Romans 10:13, Genesis 15:6) so they can be programmatically matched across curricula. This is an analysis artifact in English; the Cantonese book-name citation conventions for translated output (羅馬書, 使徒行傳, 詩篇, etc.) remain governed by 12_ai_translation_requirements.md’s Cross-Reference Preservation Rules and are extended below for Acts-specific book names.
Scope: Every Old Testament quotation and clear allusion in Acts 1–28, every messianic reference, the major typological patterns Acts develops, and every point of contact with the Romans curriculum’s terminology and doctrine — with rendering-consistency rules so that a shared OT quotation, a shared doctrinal formula, or a shared proper noun is never translated two different ways across the two curricula.
Section A — Old Testament Quotation Matrix (Direct Quotations)
| Acts Passage | OT Source | Type | Doctrine Link | Related Character(s) | Romans / NT Cross-Reference | Cantonese Translation Sensitivity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acts 1:20 | Psalm 69:25; Psalm 109:8 | Quotation | Apostolic Authority and Miracles (succession) | Judas, Peter | Romans 11:9-10 quotes Psalm 69:22-23 (different verses, same Psalm) | Low. Keep 詩篇69篇 citation consistent; no shared vocabulary risk. |
| Acts 2:17-21 | Joel 2:28-32 | Quotation | The Holy Spirit and Pentecost | Peter, “all flesh” | Acts 2:21 = Romans 10:13 (identical clause, see Rule 1 below) | Critical. 澹灌/傾倒聖靈 must never carry transactional-merit overtones (see 07_semantic_analysis.md); “call on the name of the Lord” clause must be verbatim-consistent with Romans 10:13. |
| Acts 2:25-28 | Psalm 16:8-11 | Quotation | Resurrection of Christ | David (typological), Christ | Repeated at Acts 13:35 (Psalm 16:10 only) | High. 陰間 (Hades) gloss required each occurrence; keep 復活 register from baseline. |
| Acts 2:34-35 | Psalm 110:1 | Quotation | Lordship of Christ | David, Christ | Romans 8:34 alludes to the same enthronement image without quoting it | High. Render “sit at my right hand” (坐在我右邊) consistently; this is royal enthronement, not a generic honor-seat idiom. |
| Acts 3:13, 3:15 | Exodus 3:6, 3:15 | Quotation/Allusion | Fulfillment of Prophecy; Israel’s covenant identity | Abraham, Isaac, Jacob | Romans 9:5-13 (patriarchal covenant argument) | Low. Standardize patriarch names: 亞伯拉罕 (Abraham), 以撒 (ji5 saat3, Isaac), 雅各 (ngaa5 gok3, Jacob) — align with system prompt’s established transliteration list. |
| Acts 3:22-23 | Deuteronomy 18:15, 18-19 | Quotation | Messianic Promise; Fulfillment of Prophecy | Moses, Christ | Repeated verbatim at Acts 7:37 — keep identical within Acts | High. “Prophet like Moses” typology; must not be flattened to a generic “great teacher” — this is the specific promised Mosaic-succession figure. |
| Acts 3:25 | Genesis 22:18 (cf. 12:3, 18:18, 26:4) | Quotation | Gospel to Jews and Gentiles; Abrahamic covenant | Abraham | Romans 4:13-18 (Abraham’s promise to the world) | Medium. “All the families of the earth” (地上萬族) must retain full universal scope — parallels the “no distinction” universality already flagged Critical in the Romans baseline. |
| Acts 4:11 | Psalm 118:22 | Quotation | Apostolic Authority and Miracles; Messianic Promise | Christ (the rejected stone) | Distinct stone-typology from Romans 9:33 (Isaiah 28:16 + 8:14, “stumbling stone”) — see Rule 9 below | High. Keep 石頭/磐石 vocabulary distinguishing this cornerstone-of-building image from the separate stumbling-stone image in Romans; do not merge the two OT sources into one generic “stone verse.” |
| Acts 4:25-26 | Psalm 2:1-2 | Quotation | Lordship of Christ; Persecution and Bold Witness | Christ, rulers of the earth | Psalm 2:7 recurs at Acts 13:33 | High. Given Hong Kong’s political sensitivities, keep “kings/rulers gathered against the Lord and his Anointed” framed as first-century historical narration, not contemporary political commentary. |
| Acts 7:6 | Genesis 15:13-14 | Quotation | Fulfillment of Prophecy | Abraham | Background to Romans 4’s Abraham narrative (same patriarch, different verse) | Low. Historical-descriptive; no term-collision risk. |
| Acts 7:27-28, 7:35 | Exodus 2:14 | Quotation | Apostolic Authority (Moses as type) | Moses | — | Low. |
| Acts 7:30-34 | Exodus 3:1-10 | Quotation/Allusion | The Holy Spirit and Pentecost (theophany background) | Moses | — | Low. Burning-bush theophany; avoid conflating with generic “sacred fire” temple imagery already flagged for Acts 2:3. |
| Acts 7:37 | Deuteronomy 18:15 | Quotation (repeat of 3:22) | Messianic Promise | Moses, Christ | See Acts 3:22-23 above | High. Render identically to 3:22-23 within Acts. |
| Acts 7:40 | Exodus 32:1, 23 | Quotation | Universal Human Accountability | Israel, Aaron | — | Medium. “Make us gods” — must be rendered so it clearly names idol-manufacture, not confused with the neutral verb for religious image-making common in Cantonese temple-craft vocabulary (神像雕刻); keep the narrative’s condemnatory framing intact. |
| Acts 7:42-43 | Amos 5:25-27 | Quotation | Universal Human Accountability | Israel | — | Medium. Idolatry-judgment oracle; no direct folk-collision risk beyond standard idol vocabulary already covered under “god” baseline cautions. |
| Acts 7:48-50 | Isaiah 66:1-2 | Quotation | The Church as Community (true worship not bound to a building) | — | Anticipates the Church-as-Community doctrine’s caution against 廟/祠堂 framing (Romans baseline, “church” entry) | High. “Heaven is my throne, the earth my footstool… what house will you build me?” — reinforces that God is not confined to any temple, directly useful for distinguishing 教會 from 廟 in teaching material. |
| Acts 7:51 (allusion) | Exodus 32:9; Isaiah 63:10 | Allusion | Universal Human Accountability | Israel | — | Medium. “Stiff-necked… resisting the Holy Spirit” — see 頸硬/抗拒聖靈 note in 07_semantic_analysis.md. |
| Acts 8:32-33 | Isaiah 53:7-8 | Quotation | Messianic Promise; Conversion narratives generally | Christ (Suffering Servant), Ethiopian eunuch | Romans 10:16 quotes Isaiah 53:1 (different verse, same Servant Song) — see Rule 4 below | Critical. Servant/lamb/silent-suffering register must align with Romans 10:16’s Isaiah 53 vocabulary; do not let Acts and Romans develop two separate translation-memory entries for the same OT figure. |
| Acts 10:34 (allusion, formulaic) | Deuteronomy 10:17; 2 Chronicles 19:7 | Allusion (fixed idiom, not verbatim LXX quotation) | The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | Peter, Cornelius | Romans 2:11 (same doctrine, “God shows no partiality”) — see Rule 6 below | High. 神唔偏待人 must render identically in both curricula; never assimilated to impersonal-karma 報應 framing. |
| Acts 13:22 | 1 Samuel 13:14; Psalm 89:20 | Quotation (composite) | Fulfillment of Prophecy; Davidic Covenant | David | Romans 1:3 (“seed of David”) | Low. |
| Acts 13:33 | Psalm 2:7 | Quotation | Sonship of Christ; Resurrection of Christ | Christ | Romans 1:4 (“declared Son of God… by resurrection”) — see Rule 7 below | Critical. “You are my Son, today I have begotten you” must be tied explicitly to the resurrection-declaration sense already established for Romans 1:4, not read as Christ’s becoming Son at that moment (which would undercut eternal Sonship, Critical in the Romans baseline). |
| Acts 13:34 | Isaiah 55:3 | Quotation | Davidic Covenant | David, Christ | Background to Romans 9:5, 15:8-12 | Medium. “The holy and sure blessings of David” — keep 約 (covenant) vocabulary consistent with Romans baseline “covenant” entry. |
| Acts 13:35 | Psalm 16:10 | Quotation (repeat of 2:27) | Resurrection of Christ | David, Christ | See Acts 2:25-28 above | Critical. Render identically to 2:27 within Acts. |
| Acts 13:41 | Habakkuk 1:5 | Quotation | Persecution and Bold Witness (warning to scoffers) | — | Romans 1:17 quotes Habakkuk 2:4 (different verse, same prophetic book) — see Rule 5 below | Medium. Keep 哈巴谷書 book-name citation distinct and correctly numbered; do not let the warning-register of 1:5 bleed into the faith-register of 2:4 used in Romans. |
| Acts 13:47 | Isaiah 49:6 | Quotation | The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | Paul, Barnabas | Thematic parallel to Romans 15:9-12’s Gentile-inclusion OT catena (Psalm 18:49; Deuteronomy 32:43; Psalm 117:1; Isaiah 11:10) — see Rule 10 below | Medium. “Light for the Gentiles” (外邦人嘅光) — keep distinct from Buddhist enlightenment imagery per 07_semantic_analysis.md. |
| Acts 15:16-18 | Amos 9:11-12 (LXX form) | Quotation | Gospel to Jews and Gentiles; Justification apart from the Law | James, David (typological — “tent of David”) | Thematic parallel to Romans 11:25-27 (Israel’s future restoration) | High. “Rebuild the tent of David” (重建大衛嘅帳幕) must not be read as a political-restoration slogan; keep the council’s doctrinal point (Gentile inclusion was always the prophetic plan) primary. |
| Acts 17:28 | Not OT — quotations of Greek poets (Epimenides; Aratus, Phaenomena) | Quotation (non-biblical) | Gospel to Jews and Gentiles (cultural bridge-building) | — | No Romans parallel | Medium. Must be marked in teaching notes as Paul quoting pagan literature to build a bridge, not Scripture — should never be footnoted as if it were an inspired OT/NT quotation of equal authority. |
| Acts 23:5 | Exodus 22:28 | Quotation | Persecution and Bold Witness (Paul’s legal conduct) | Paul, high priest | — | Low. |
| Acts 28:26-27 | Isaiah 6:9-10 | Quotation | Universal Human Accountability; Great Commission Fulfilled (closing note on Jewish unbelief) | Paul, Jewish leaders in Rome | Thematically parallel to Romans 11:8’s hardening-quotation (Deuteronomy 29:4 / Isaiah 29:10) — see Rule 12 below | High. “Ears heavy of hearing… eyes closed” — must be rendered as describing a real, historically-specific spiritual hardening, not fatalistic destiny language (命中注定), consistent with the Romans baseline’s “election” cautions. |
Section B — Allusions and Typological Echoes (Non-Direct Quotations)
| Acts Passage | OT Background | Type | Doctrine Link | Translation Sensitivity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acts 1:6 | 2 Samuel 7:12-16; Amos 9:11 | Allusion (kingdom restoration hope) | Great Commission Fulfilled; Kingdom Mission | High. The disciples’ misreading (political/national restoration) is corrected in v.7-8; keep Jesus’ answer doctrinally decisive, redirecting kingdom hope toward Spirit-empowered witness rather than territorial politics — acute given Hong Kong’s sovereignty sensitivities (cf. Romans baseline “kingdom_of_god” note). |
| Acts 1:8 | Isaiah 49:6; Psalm 2:8 | Allusion (ends of the earth) | Great Commission Fulfilled | Medium. Thesis-statement verse; render 地極 identically at every echo (8:1 implicit, 13:47, 28:31 implicit). |
| Acts 2:2-3 | Exodus 19:16-19 (Sinai theophany: wind, fire); Ezekiel 37:9-14 (breath/wind and life) | Typology (new Sinai / new creation) | The Holy Spirit and Pentecost | Medium. Keep wind/fire as theophanic signs pointing to a new covenant-giving moment, echoing Sinai, not generic nature-imagery; avoid incense/joss-stick-fire resonance (see 07_semantic_analysis.md). |
| Acts 3:21 | General prophetic hope (cf. Isaiah 65:17; Malachi 4:5-6) | Allusion | Great Commission Fulfilled (eschatology) | Medium. See 萬物復興 note in 07_semantic_analysis.md; keep cosmic-eschatological, not political-restoration, framing. |
| Acts 5:30; 10:39; 13:29 | Deuteronomy 21:22-23 | Allusion (“hanging on a tree”) | Resurrection of Christ (via the crucifixion it presupposes) | Medium. Standard crucifixion-curse background; keep consistent 掛在木頭上/釘在木頭上 vocabulary across all three occurrences within Acts for internal consistency; flag for future cross-curriculum alignment with Galatians 3:13 if that curriculum is later produced in this language pair. |
| Acts 7:2-8 | Genesis 12, 15, 17 (Abrahamic covenant narrative) | Typology/Allusion | Fulfillment of Prophecy; Davidic Covenant (covenant pattern) | Low. Historical narration; no new term risk beyond established Abraham vocabulary. |
| Acts 7:9-16 | Genesis 37-50 (Joseph narrative) | Typology (rejected-then-exalted deliverer) | Messianic Promise (typological pattern, not direct prophecy) | Medium. Joseph-as-type-of-Christ (rejected by his own, becomes their deliverer) is a well-established typological reading; if used in teaching material, must be clearly marked as typological application, not a direct messianic prophecy text. |
| Acts 7:44 | Exodus 25:9, 40 (tabernacle pattern) | Allusion | The Church as Community (true worship not bound to a fixed structure) | Medium. Supports distinguishing 教會 from a fixed cultic site; useful bridge away from 廟/祠堂 framing. |
| Acts 8:9-24 (Simon Magus narrative) | General OT prohibition of sorcery (Deuteronomy 18:10-12; Leviticus 19:31) | Allusion (implicit) | Apostolic Authority and Miracles | Critical. Reinforces the 巫術 Critical-tier caution already flagged in 07_semantic_analysis.md; no direct citation but the underlying OT prohibition of divination/sorcery is the moral-legal backdrop Peter’s rebuke assumes. |
| Acts 9:3-9 | Exodus 3:1-6 (theophanic light and voice); Isaiah 6:1-8; Ezekiel 1:1-28 | Typology (theophany/call-narrative pattern) | Conversion of Paul | Low. Keep the Damascus-road light-and-voice event tied to this biblical call-narrative pattern rather than to Daoist revelation-light hagiography (see 07_semantic_analysis.md ch.9 note). |
| Acts 10:9-16 | Leviticus 11; Deuteronomy 14 (dietary purity laws) | Allusion (background being reinterpreted) | The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | High. The vision presupposes and then reinterprets the Levitical purity code; keep this reinterpretation doctrinally clear (fulfillment/completion, not abolition-without-explanation) — parallel to how Romans treats the Law’s fulfillment in Christ. |
| Acts 13:17-22 | Exodus (deliverance); Judges (period of judges); 1 Samuel (Saul, David) — composite historical summary | Allusion (salvation-history recital) | Fulfillment of Prophecy | Low. Standard historical-recital sermon form (cf. Stephen’s speech, ch.7; Psalm 78, 105, 106 in the OT itself use the same genre) — no new term risk. |
| Acts 15:1, 5 | Genesis 17:9-14 (circumcision as covenant sign) | Allusion (background to the controversy) | Justification apart from the Law | Medium. See 受割禮 note in 08_core_glossary.md; requires OT-background gloss for readers with low OT literacy. |
| Acts 17:24-25 | Isaiah 42:5; Psalm 50:9-12 | Allusion | The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles (Areopagus address) | Medium. “God who made the world… does not live in temples made by hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything” — directly useful for distinguishing the living God from Hong Kong’s plural temple culture without requiring an invented new term. |
| Acts 17:26 | Deuteronomy 32:8 | Allusion | The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | Medium. “Fixed the boundaries of their dwelling place” — avoid framing that could be read as endorsing feng shui geomantic boundary-concepts; this is providential sovereignty over the nations’ history, not geomantic site-selection. |
| Acts 24:14-15 | Daniel 12:2 (resurrection hope, background) | Allusion | Resurrection of Christ (general resurrection hope) | Medium. Keep 復活 register consistent with the Critical caution already established; Paul’s claim of continuity with “the Law and the Prophets” reinforces “Justification apart from the Law” as fulfillment, not rupture. |
| Acts 26:22-23 | General (“what the prophets and Moses said would happen”) — composite (cf. Isaiah 53; Isaiah 49:6; Psalm 16) | Allusion (summary) | Messianic Promise; Conversion of Paul | High. Summary restatement of the whole book’s messianic-fulfillment argument; render consistently with the specific quotations it summarizes (8:32-33, 13:47, 2:25-28). |
Section C — Messianic Reference Summary
| Messianic Theme | Key Acts Passages | Key OT Source(s) | Cantonese Term(s) Involved | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Davidic enthronement (Christ seated at God’s right hand) | Acts 2:29-35; 13:22-23,33-36 | Psalm 16; Psalm 110:1; Psalm 2:7; 2 Samuel 7 | 主, 基督, 大衛嘅後裔, 被高舉 | Critical |
| Prophet like Moses | Acts 3:22-23; 7:37 | Deuteronomy 18:15,18-19 | 先知, 基督 | High |
| Suffering Servant | Acts 3:13,26; 8:32-35; 26:23 (implicit) | Isaiah 52:13-53:12 | 神嘅僕人, 聖者 | High |
| Rejected/cornerstone | Acts 4:11 | Psalm 118:22 | (new term, 石頭/磐石) | High |
| Anointed One opposed by rulers | Acts 4:25-27 | Psalm 2:1-2 | 基督 (Anointed), 主 | High |
| Light to the Gentiles | Acts 13:47; 26:23 | Isaiah 49:6 | 外邦人嘅光 | Medium |
| Righteous One | Acts 3:14; 7:52; 22:14 | (title echoing Isaiah 53:11 “the righteous one, my servant”) | 義者/聖者 | High — must be distinguished from the Confucian 義氣 loyalty-honor collision already flagged Critical for 義 in the Romans baseline whenever used as a Christological title. |
| Fulfillment of the Davidic covenant (tent of David restored) | Acts 15:16-18 | Amos 9:11-12 | 大衛, 約 | High |
Section D — Typological Patterns Across Acts
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Sinai → Pentecost typology. The wind and fire of Acts 2:2-3 deliberately echo the Sinai theophany (Exodus 19) and the giving of the Law; Pentecost is presented as a new covenant-giving event, the Spirit “written on hearts” (cf. Jeremiah 31:33, not directly quoted but structurally assumed) rather than on stone. Translators must keep this typological weight — Pentecost is not merely a dramatic special-effects narrative but the inauguration of a new covenant reality, tightly bound to the Romans baseline’s “law” (律法) vs. Spirit-empowered “obedience of faith” (因信而生嘅順服) contrast.
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Moses typology. Deuteronomy 18:15,18 (quoted twice, Acts 3:22 and 7:37) establishes Christ as the definitive prophetic successor to Moses. Stephen’s speech (Acts 7) develops Moses himself as a rejected-deliverer type, paralleling Christ’s own rejection-then-exaltation pattern (cf. Joseph typology below). This typology must never be flattened into “a great moral teacher among several” — it is a specific, exclusive fulfillment claim.
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Davidic typology. David functions in Acts (2:25-36; 13:22-37; 15:16) simultaneously as (a) a prophetic voice foreseeing the resurrection (Psalm 16), (b) the recipient of the covenant Christ fulfills as heir (Psalm 89, Isaiah 55:3, 2 Samuel 7), and (c) a forward-pointing “tent” whose restoration includes the Gentiles (Amos 9:11-12). This is the single most doctrinally load-bearing typological thread connecting Acts to Romans’ own Davidic-covenant material (Romans 1:3, “大衛嘅後裔”; Romans 15:8-12).
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Suffering Servant typology. Isaiah’s Servant Songs (esp. Isaiah 53) underlie the παῖς (“servant”) title used for Christ at Acts 3:13,26 and are quoted directly at Acts 8:32-33. This is the same Servant figure Romans 10:16 quotes (Isaiah 53:1). The two curricula must share one consistent Servant-vocabulary register (see Rule 4 below).
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Joseph typology (implicit, Acts 7:9-16). Joseph, rejected by his brothers yet becoming their appointed deliverer and provider, is a classic typological foreshadowing of Christ’s own rejection-and-exaltation pattern; this is typological application, not direct prophecy, and should be labeled as such in any teaching material built on this analysis.
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Temple/Tabernacle typology. Stephen’s speech (Acts 7:44-50, quoting Isaiah 66:1-2) and Paul’s Areopagus address (Acts 17:24-25) both insist God is not confined to a building made by human hands. This typological point directly serves the “Church as Community” doctrine’s distinction between 教會 and 廟/祠堂 already established in the Romans baseline, and gives Acts its own independent scriptural warrant (rather than relying only on the baseline’s cultural-collision note) for that distinction.
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New Exodus typology. The whole book’s geographic structure (Jerusalem → Judea/Samaria → the nations, per Acts 1:8) echoes the Exodus pattern of a people brought out and sent, and “the Way” (ἡ ὁδός, Acts 9:2 et al.) as the movement’s own self-designation likely echoes this “way/path out of bondage” resonance in addition to its more immediate sense of “way of life/teaching.” This reinforces, but does not reduce, the mandatory Critical-tier handling of 道 already established in
07_semantic_analysis.mdand08_core_glossary.md.
Section E — Cross-Curriculum Parallels to Romans: Rendering-Consistency Rules
The following quotations, formulas, and doctrinal statements occur in both Acts and the Romans baseline curriculum (identically, by direct citation of the same OT verse, or by close doctrinal/verbal parallel). Each rule below is binding for Phase 2 translation memory and must be enforced identically across both curricula’s translation memory files.
Rule 1 — Joel 2:32 / Acts 2:21 / Romans 10:13 (IDENTICAL QUOTATION). Greek: πᾶς ὃς ἂν ἐπικαλέσηται τὸ ὄνομα Κυρίου σωθήσεται. This exact clause is quoted verbatim in both Acts 2:21 and Romans 10:13. The Cantonese rendering must be word-for-word identical in both curricula: 凡求告主嘅名嘅，都必得救 (faan4 kau4 gou3 zyu2 ge3 ming4 ge3, dou1 bit1 dak1 gau3). Never permit two different phrasings to exist in translation memory for this clause. This is the highest-priority cross-curriculum consistency rule in this analysis.
Rule 2 — Psalm 16:10 / Acts 2:27 and Acts 13:35 (INTERNAL Acts consistency, no Romans parallel). Both Acts occurrences must render identically within the Acts translation memory: 你唔會令你嘅聖者見到朽壞 (or equivalent fixed rendering established at first occurrence, 2:27, and locked for reuse at 13:35).
Rule 3 — Deuteronomy 18:15,18 / Acts 3:22 and Acts 7:37 (INTERNAL Acts consistency, no Romans parallel). Both occurrences of the “prophet like Moses” quotation must render identically within Acts translation memory.
Rule 4 — Isaiah 53 / Acts 8:32-33 (v.7-8) and Romans 10:16 (v.1). Different verses of the same Servant Song. The Servant/lamb/silent-suffering register (神嘅僕人; 羊仔/羔羊; 靜默) must be drawn from one shared Isaiah-53 vocabulary set used consistently in both curricula’s translation memory, even though the specific verses quoted differ. When either curriculum is translated, the Isaiah 53 register from the other must be checked and reused, not independently re-derived.
Rule 5 — Habakkuk 1:5 / Acts 13:41 and Habakkuk 2:4 / Romans 1:17. Different verses of the same short prophetic book, serving different rhetorical functions (a warning to scoffers in Acts; the thesis statement of justification by faith in Romans). Keep the book-name citation (哈巴谷書) consistent, but do NOT import Romans 1:17’s “the righteous shall live by faith” register into the Acts 13:41 warning passage, and vice versa — these are two distinct verses making two distinct points, and merging their vocabulary would blur both.
Rule 6 — Deuteronomy 10:17 (background) / Acts 10:34 and Romans 2:11.
Both state, in different words, that God shows no partiality. Render both with the same fixed Cantonese formula already established in 07_semantic_analysis.md and 08_core_glossary.md: 神唔偏待人 (san4 m4 pin1 doi6 jan4). This formula must be entered once in a shared cross-curriculum translation memory key and reused, never re-derived independently for either book.
Rule 7 — Psalm 2:7 / Acts 13:33 and Romans 1:4. Both passages tie the declaration “You are my Son” (or “declared Son of God”) to the resurrection. Acts 13:33’s quotation of Psalm 2:7 must be translated so that it reinforces, rather than appears to contradict, Romans 1:4’s Critical-tier doctrine that Christ’s Sonship is eternal and this is a resurrection-declaration, not a resurrection-origination, of Sonship. Recommend an explanatory clause at Acts 13:33 clarifying this is the Father’s public vindication of the Son who was always Son, paralleling the Romans baseline’s own note under “son_of_god.”
Rule 8 — Genesis 15:6 (background) / Romans 4:3 and Acts 13:38-39 (narrative-doctrinal parallel, no direct citation of Genesis 15:6 in Acts).
Acts 13:38-39 (“by him everyone who believes is justified… you could not be justified by the law of Moses”) is the Acts curriculum’s own thesis statement for “Justification apart from the Law,” functioning as Acts’ narrative-sermon counterpart to Romans 3:21-4:25’s doctrinal argument, both ultimately resting on the Genesis 15:6 pattern (righteousness credited to faith apart from law-works) even though Acts does not quote Genesis 15:6 verbatim. The Cantonese rendering of Acts 13:38-39 must reuse the baseline justification (稱義) and imputed_righteousness (算為義) translation-memory entries exactly, with no independent re-derivation, and must be flagged for human theologian review per the baseline’s Critical-tier justification rule.
Rule 9 — Psalm 118:22 / Acts 4:11 and Isaiah 28:16 + 8:14 / Romans 9:33. Two distinct “stone” Christological images from two distinct OT sources: Acts 4:11’s rejected-cornerstone (a stone builders rejected that became the chief stone) and Romans 9:33’s stumbling-stone (a stone that causes some to fall). These must be kept as two separate translation-memory entries with distinct Cantonese vocabulary (e.g., （被棄嘅）牆角石 for the Acts image; 絆腳石 for the Romans image), never merged into one generic “stone verse” gloss, since the two images make complementary but different theological points (exaltation vs. judgment).
Rule 10 — Isaiah 49:6 / Acts 13:47, 26:23 and the Gentile-inclusion OT catena of Romans 15:9-12 (Psalm 18:49; Deuteronomy 32:43; Psalm 117:1; Isaiah 11:10). No verse-for-verse overlap, but both curricula assemble OT texts to make the identical doctrinal point: Gentile inclusion in salvation was always the prophetic plan, not a late improvisation. Keep 外邦人 (Baseline TM, Medium risk) rendered identically in both, and ensure any teaching material cross-referencing these passages presents them as a unified biblical-theological argument rather than isolated proof-texts.
Rule 11 — Amos 9:11-12 / Acts 15:16-18 and Romans 11:25-27 (Israel’s future restoration, no shared verse but shared doctrine). Both passages address the relationship between Gentile inclusion and God’s ongoing purposes for Israel/David’s line. Keep 以色列 and 大衛 renderings (Baseline TM) identical, and ensure the “tent of David” restoration language at Acts 15:16 is not translated in a way that pre-empts or contradicts however Romans 11 material is eventually taught — both must be held as compatible expressions of one unified redemptive plan.
Rule 12 — Isaiah 6:9-10 / Acts 28:26-27 and Deuteronomy 29:4 / Isaiah 29:10 (via Romans 11:8). Two different hardening-of-Israel quotations serving the same “partial, purposeful hardening” doctrine. Both must be rendered with care to avoid the fatalistic-destiny register (命中注定, 八字注定) already forbidden under the Romans baseline’s “election” and “called” entries — this is describable divine judgment on a specific historical unbelief, held together with ongoing hope (explicit in Romans 11, implicit in Acts’ continued proclamation “without hindrance” at 28:31), not an absolute or arbitrary fate.
Rule 13 — Proper names shared across both curricula. David (大衛), Israel (以色列), Abraham (亞伯拉罕, established in the system prompt’s transliteration table though not yet used in a Romans baseline quotation), Isaac (以撒), Jacob (雅各), Moses (摩西, established), Isaiah (以賽亞, established) — all must carry forward from the Romans baseline / system-prompt transliteration list without variation. Acts additionally introduces Amos (阿摩司, aa3 mo1 si1), Habakkuk (哈巴谷, haa1 baa1 guk1), and Joel (約珥, joek3 ji5) as prophetic-book proper nouns not previously required by the Romans baseline; these should be added to the shared cross-curriculum translation memory using the Traditional-character CUV standard forms given here.
Section F — Citation Normalization Conventions
- All citations in this and related Phase 1 analysis documents use the normalized form
Book Chapter:Verse(e.g.,Acts 2:21,Joel 2:32,Genesis 15:6) to support automated cross-referencing between curricula. - For Phase 2 translated output, citations follow
12_ai_translation_requirements.md’s established Cantonese book-name convention (e.g., 羅馬書3:23). This document adds the following Acts-curriculum and OT book names to that convention for consistency:
| English | Cantonese | Jyutping |
|---|---|---|
| Acts | 使徒行傳 | si2 tou4 hang4 zyun6 |
| Exodus | 出埃及記 | ceot1 oi3 kap6 gei3 |
| Leviticus | 利未記 | lei6 mei6 gei3 |
| Numbers | 數字記 (standard: 民數記) | man4 sou3 gei3 |
| Deuteronomy | 申命記 | san1 ming6 gei3 |
| 1 Samuel | 撒母耳記上 | saat3 mou5 ji5 gei3 soeng6 |
| 2 Samuel | 撒母耳記下 | saat3 mou5 ji5 gei3 haa6 |
| Amos | 阿摩司書 | aa3 mo1 si1 syu1 |
| Habakkuk | 哈巴谷書 | haa1 baa1 guk1 syu1 |
| Joel | 約珥書 | joek3 ji5 syu1 |
| Daniel | 但以理書 | daan6 ji5 lei5 syu1 |
| Malachi | 瑪拉基書 | maa5 laai1 gei1 syu1 |
| Jeremiah | 耶利米書 | je4 lei6 mai5 syu1 |
| Ezekiel | 以西結書 | ji5 sai1 git3 syu1 |
| 1 Kings | 列王紀上 | lit6 wong4 gei2 soeng6 |
| 2 Chronicles | 歷代志下 | lik6 doi6 zi3 haa6 |
- Verse numbers remain Arabic numerals throughout, matching the YouVersion reference system already mandated in
12_ai_translation_requirements.md.
Section G — Explicit Confirmation of Chapters Reviewed with No Direct OT Quotation
The following chapters contain no direct OT quotation (though several contain allusions catalogued in Section B above, or are covered fully elsewhere in this document): Acts 6, 9, 11, 12, 14, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 27. Each has been reviewed in full for this analysis; none introduces an OT-quotation cross-reference risk beyond what is already catalogued above or in 07_semantic_analysis.md / 08_core_glossary.md.
This document extends, and in every instance defers to, the baseline Romans translation_memory.json / bible_term_registry.json, and to 07_semantic_analysis.md and 08_core_glossary.md of this Acts curriculum. See 10_biblical_theme_map.md for the thematic architecture these cross-references support.