Semantic Analysis — Galatians (English → Cantonese)

Method and Scope

This analysis follows the PRD Phase 1 Step 1 mandate: the ENTIRE book of Galatians is analyzed in the original Koine Greek, chapter 1 through chapter 6. The core passage, Galatians 2:15–21, receives full verse-by-verse treatment. Every other chapter receives a chapter-level study of its load-bearing theological terms with the same analytical fields: original word, transliteration, literal meaning, semantic range, English variants, contextual theological meaning, and destination-language (Cantonese) rendering risk.

Any term already fixed in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json is reused exactly as recorded there; this document flags such reuse explicitly rather than re-deriving a rendering. New terms specific to Galatians are analyzed fresh and given a proposed Cantonese rendering, transliteration (Jyutping), and risk tier, for carry-forward into 08_core_glossary.md and eventual translation-memory expansion in Phase 2.

Risk tiers use the same definitions as the baseline doctrine_risk_registry.json:

• Critical — mistranslation destroys essential doctrine; theologian review on every occurrence.
• High — significant theological confusion/syncretism risk; theologian review.
• Medium — reduces clarity but preserves essential meaning; native speaker review.
• Low — minor imprecision; automated review sufficient.

A structural note before beginning: unlike every other Pauline letter, Galatians contains no opening thanksgiving section (contrast Romans 1:8, 1 Corinthians 1:4). Paul moves directly from greeting (1:1–5) to rebuke (1:6). This is not a term-translation risk but a discourse feature translators and teachers should be aware of — the letter’s urgency is structural, not merely lexical.

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PART A — Core Passage Verse-by-Verse: Galatians 2:15–21

Greek text (NA28 versification, on which this analysis’s verse divisions for vv.19–20 are based):

15 Ἡμεῖς φύσει Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ οὐκ ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἁμαρτωλοί· 16 εἰδότες δὲ ὅτι οὐ δικαιοῦται ἄνθρωπος ἐξ ἔργων νόμου ἐὰν μὴ διὰ πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ ἡμεῖς εἰς Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν ἐπιστεύσαμεν, ἵνα δικαιωθῶμεν ἐκ πίστεως Χριστοῦ καὶ οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων νόμου, ὅτι ἐξ ἔργων νόμου οὐ δικαιωθήσεται πᾶσα σάρξ. 17 εἰ δὲ ζητοῦντες δικαιωθῆναι ἐν Χριστῷ εὑρέθημεν καὶ αὐτοὶ ἁμαρτωλοί, ἆρα Χριστὸς ἁμαρτίας διάκονος; μὴ γένοιτο. 18 εἰ γὰρ ἃ κατέλυσα ταῦτα πάλιν οἰκοδομῶ, παραβάτην ἐμαυτὸν συνιστάνω. 19 ἐγὼ γὰρ διὰ νόμου νόμῳ ἀπέθανον, ἵνα θεῷ ζήσω. 20 Χριστῷ συνεσταύρωμαι· ζῶ δὲ οὐκέτι ἐγώ, ζῇ δὲ ἐν ἐμοὶ Χριστός· ὃ δὲ νῦν ζῶ ἐν σαρκί, ἐν πίστει ζῶ τῇ τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀγαπήσαντός με καὶ παραδόντος ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ. 21 Οὐκ ἀθετῶ τὴν χάριν τοῦ θεοῦ· εἰ γὰρ διὰ νόμου δικαιοσύνη, Χριστὸς δωρεὰν ἀπέθανεν.

This is the theological center of Galatians: Paul’s rebuke of Peter at Antioch becomes the doctrinal statement of justification by faith apart from the works of the law, climaxing in union with Christ’s crucifixion.

Verse 15 — “We ourselves are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles”

Original	Transliteration	Literal meaning	Semantic range	English variants	Contextual theological meaning	Cantonese rendering risk
Ἰουδαῖοι	Ioudaioi	Jews, Judeans	Ethnic-religious identity; covenant people by birth	”Jews”	Paul concedes his and Peter’s Jewish identity as the starting point of the argument — even natural covenant insiders need the same gospel.	Low. Standard proper-noun-adjacent term; no HK collision.
φύσει	physei	by nature, by birth	Innate condition vs. acquired status	”by birth,” “by nature,” “naturally”	Contrasts inherited ethnic-covenant status with the faith-status that must be received, not inherited.	Low.
ἐξ ἐθνῶν	ex ethnōn	from the nations	See baseline TM gentiles (外邦人, Medium)	“Gentiles,” “the nations”	Reuse TM term 外邦人 (ngoi6 bong1 jan4) exactly.	Medium (per TM) — retain caution against insider/outsider clan-based framing per baseline universal_scope_of_gospel.
ἁμαρτωλοί	hamartōloi	sinners, ones who miss the mark	Moral offenders before God; also social-religious “outsider” label in Second Temple usage	”sinners”	Built on TM sin (罪). Render as 罪人 (zeoi6 jan4). Paul is being ironic: the “sinner” label Jews attached to Gentiles will shortly be shown to apply to Jews too (v.17).	High. Must not collapse into a face/shame idiom (唔衰得, already flagged under TM “sin”) or into a purely social “outsider” label; this is moral standing before a personal God.

Verse 16 — “A person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ…”

Original	Transliteration	Literal meaning	Semantic range	English variants	Contextual theological meaning	Cantonese rendering risk
δικαιοῦται / δικαιωθῶμεν / δικαιωθήσεται	dikaioutai / dikaiōthōmen / dikaiōthēsetai	is justified / we might be justified / will be justified	Forensic declaration of righteous status; also has a broader sense of “vindicated, shown to be in the right"	"justified,” “declared righteous,” “made right”	Same root as baseline TM justification (稱義, Critical). All three verb forms here must be rendered with the verbal form of 稱義 (“被稱為義” / “得稱為義”), never a process verb implying gradual moral improvement.	Critical — this is the thesis verb of the entire letter; deviation from 稱義’s forensic sense (e.g., toward 修成正果 “attaining enlightenment through practice,” already forbidden in baseline) would destroy the doctrine of Galatians as much as of Romans.
ἔργων νόμου	ergōn nomou	works of the law	Torah-observance generally, but in Paul’s argument specifically the boundary-marking practices (circumcision, food laws, sabbath) that Judaizing teachers demanded of Gentile believers	”works of the law,” “observing the law,” “legal works”	The precise target of Paul’s negation: not “good deeds” in general but reliance on Torah-performance — especially the identity-marking works — as the basis of right standing with God.	Critical — NEW TERM, no exact Romans TM equivalent (Romans TM has 律法 for “law” alone). Propose: 律法嘅行為 (leot6 faat3 ge3 hang4 wai4). Grounding risk: Hong Kong’s active merit-economy vocabulary (功德, already forbidden under TM “grace”) makes it easy for “works of the law” to be heard simply as “good deeds that earn merit” rather than specifically Torah-observance as a badge of covenant membership. Must be taught alongside 恩典’s existing forbidden-substitution note.
πίστεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ / πίστεως Χριστοῦ	pisteōs Iēsou Christou / pisteōs Christou	faith of Jesus Christ / faith of Christ	Genitive construction — historic exegetical debate between “faith in Christ” (objective genitive, Christ as object of believing) and “the faithfulness of Christ” (subjective genitive, Christ’s own faithful obedience)	“faith in Jesus Christ,” “faith in Christ,” “the faithfulness of Christ”	Majority Protestant/Reformation reading (and the reading this Language Package follows, consistent with Romans usage): faith directed toward Christ as its object, received by the believer. Reuse TM faith (信心) plus explicit object marking (信基督 / 對基督嘅信心) so the object is never lost in translation, per the registry’s caution that “the object of faith must always be recoverable from context.”	High. Ambiguity must be flagged per the AI Translation Requirements’ Ambiguity Handling protocol — record “faithfulness of Christ” as an alternative considered, but render as trust placed in Christ, consistent with 信心’s established sense and with how Romans already handles πίστις Χριστοῦ-type constructions.
πᾶσα σάρξ	pasa sarx	all flesh	Hebraic idiom (כל בשׂר) meaning “every human being,” not an ethical statement about the sin nature	”no one,” “no human being,” “no flesh”	Distinct sense from the ethical flesh-vs-Spirit σάρξ of Galatians 5 — here σάρξ is simply “humanity.” Render idiomatically as 冇人 (nobody) or 世人 (all humankind), NOT literally as 肉體, to avoid importing the ethical “sinful nature” sense into a verse that is simply asserting universal human inability to be justified by law-works.	Medium — translators must recognize σάρξ’s dual semantic range within the same letter (idiomatic “humanity” here vs. moral “flesh” in ch. 5) and not force one Cantonese word to carry both senses without a note.

Verse 17 — “If we too were found to be sinners… is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not!”

Original	Transliteration	Literal meaning	Semantic range	English variants	Contextual theological meaning	Cantonese rendering risk
ἐν Χριστῷ	en Christō	in Christ	Paul’s central union formula: incorporation into Christ’s person and work	”in Christ,” “united to Christ”	Reuse the union-with-Christ framing already present in the baseline’s christian_identity_in_christ doctrine (喺基督入面). Seeking justification “in Christ” (not in law-works) is the whole argument.	High — must retain relational/incorporative sense, not reduce to “through Christ’s help.”
διάκονος	diakonos	servant, minister, one who serves at table	A functionary/agent carrying out another’s will; distinct from δοῦλος (slave/bondservant)	“servant,” “minister,” “agent”	The rhetorical question: if believers who trust Christ are shown to still be sinners, does that make Christ himself an agent/promoter of sin? Paul’s answer is an emphatic no.	Medium — NEW TERM. Propose 執事 (zap1 si6, “one who serves/attends to a task”) only in this abstract argumentative sense, distinguished from its later, narrower ecclesial-office sense (“deacon”). Note: do not conflate with TM’s 使徒 (apostle) or with a temple-attendant role.
μὴ γένοιτο	mē genoito	may it not become, let it not happen	Idiomatic strong rejection (“God forbid,” “certainly not,” “absolutely not”)	“certainly not,” “God forbid,” “by no means”	Paul’s characteristic emphatic denial (also Romans 3:4,6,31; 6:1-2, etc. — already implicitly handled in the Romans corpus). Must not be translated woodenly (“may it not happen to be”) but with equivalent Cantonese rhetorical force.	Low — idiom-handling issue, not a doctrinal risk. Render as 絕對唔係! or 斷然唔係!, consistent with idiom-handling instructions in the AI Translation Requirements (natural equivalent, not literal calque).

Verse 18 — “If I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself a transgressor”

Original	Transliteration	Literal meaning	Semantic range	English variants	Contextual theological meaning	Cantonese rendering risk
κατέλυσα	katelysa	I tore down, demolished	Destruction of a structure; here, Paul’s abandonment of law-keeping as the ground of righteousness	”tore down,” “destroyed,” “demolished”	Paul’s decisive break from seeking righteousness through the law.	Low — concrete verb, low doctrinal risk if translated plainly.
οἰκοδομῶ	oikodomō	I build (up)	Same root as “edification” (cf. baseline TM mutual_edification, 彼此造就) but here used negatively — rebuilding a torn-down structure	”rebuild,” “build again”	Ironic: if Paul reverted to seeking justification through law-works (as Peter’s behavior at Antioch implied believers should), he would be rebuilding what the gospel demolished.	Medium — translators must not let the positive church-edification sense of 造就/建立 bleed into this ironic, negative use. A clarifying note is advisable.
παραβάτην	parabatēn	transgressor, one who steps across (a boundary/line)	Legal/moral violation of a fixed standard	”transgressor,” “lawbreaker,” “one who violates”	Paul would prove himself a law-breaker precisely by returning to the law as the ground of righteousness after having died to it (v.19).	High — NEW TERM. Propose 犯法嘅人 (faan6 faat3 ge3 jan4) or, closer to the “step-across-a-line” etymology, 越軌嘅人 (jyut6 gwai2 ge3 jan4, “one who goes off the track/oversteps”). Risk: must be read as violation of God’s revealed law, not a generic “rule-breaker” in the sense of 規矩 (already forbidden as a stand-in for 律法 in baseline TM “law”).

Verse 19 — “For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God”

Original	Transliteration	Literal meaning	Semantic range	English variants	Contextual theological meaning	Cantonese rendering risk
διὰ νόμου νόμῳ ἀπέθανον	dia nomou nomō apethanon	through the law, to the law, I died	The law itself (rightly understood, e.g. Deut/prophetic testimony to faith, or the law’s own curse falling on Christ) brought Paul to the end of law as a means of righteousness	”through the law I died to the law”	A paradox: the law’s own verdict (death for transgression) is what Christ bore, freeing Paul from the law’s claim as a system for achieving righteousness. Anticipates ch. 3’s “curse of the law” (κατάρα) redeemed by Christ.	High — must not be flattened to “I stopped following the law,” which loses the judicial/death imagery; nor read as antinomian license, since v.20 immediately reframes this death as living union with Christ, not lawlessness.
ἵνα θεῷ ζήσω	hina theō zēsō	so that I might live to/for God	Purpose clause; relational, God-directed life	”that I might live to God,” “so that I might live for God”	The goal of dying to the law is not moral vacuum but a new life oriented entirely toward 神, reuse TM god (神).	Low-Medium, contingent on 神 being retained per TM (never 天主/上帝/老天爺 per baseline).

Verse 20 — “I have been crucified with Christ… the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me”

Original	Transliteration	Literal meaning	Semantic range	English variants	Contextual theological meaning	Cantonese rendering risk
Χριστῷ συνεσταύρωμαι	Christō synestaurōmai	I have been co-crucified with Christ	Perfect passive — a completed past event with continuing present effect; union with Christ specifically in his death	”I have been crucified with Christ,” “I am crucified with Christ”	This is the doctrine “Crucified with Christ” named in the curriculum. Paul’s old identity under the law’s condemnation died in and with Christ’s crucifixion; this is not self-mortification technique but a once-for-all union event accomplished by God, appropriated by faith.	Critical — NEW TERM. Propose 同基督同釘十字架 (tung4 gei1 duk1 tung4 deng1 sap6 zi6 gaa3, “crucified together with Christ”) or the more compact established Chinese-Bible phrase 與基督同釘十字架 read in Cantonese pronunciation. Grounding risk: must not be assimilated to (a) ancestor-merit-transfer concepts, (b) a repeatable ritual self-crucifixion/mortification practice, or (c) reincarnation-adjacent “dying into a new life” imagery already forbidden under TM resurrection (投胎轉世). This is a definite, historical, once-for-all union with Christ’s actual death, not a technique or a cycle.
ζῶ δὲ οὐκέτι ἐγώ, ζῇ δὲ ἐν ἐμοὶ Χριστός	zō de ouketi egō, zē de en emoi Christos	I no longer live, but Christ lives in me	Union/indwelling language — not annihilation of Paul’s personhood but reorientation of its source and center	”it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me”	Christ’s indwelling life as the animating reality of the believer’s existence — closely tied to 聖靈’s indwelling work elsewhere in Galatians (4:6; 5:16-25).	High — must not be read as loss of personal identity/self (a concern that could resonate oddly with some popular meditative-dissolution-of-self ideas); this is personal union, not depersonalization.
ἐν σαρκί	en sarki	in the flesh	Here simply “in the body,” i.e., ordinary physical/mortal existence — the neutral, non-ethical sense of σάρξ (contrast v.16’s idiomatic “all flesh” and ch.5’s ethical “flesh”)	“in the flesh,” “in the body,” “in this life”	Paul’s present bodily existence, lived now by faith rather than by law-works.	Medium — same caution as v.16: do not import the negative ethical sense of σάρξ from Galatians 5 into this neutral usage; render as 肉身 (physical body, distinct from the ethical 肉體 rendering reserved for the flesh/Spirit conflict — see Chapter 5 below) or plainly as “喺呢個世上” (in this present life).
τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ	tou huiou tou theou	of the Son of God	See baseline TM son_of_god	”the Son of God”	Reuse 神嘅兒子 exactly, in full, never abbreviated.	Critical (per TM) — never abbreviate to 神人; never use 天子.
τοῦ ἀγαπήσαντός με καὶ παραδόντος ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ	tou agapēsantos me kai paradontos heauton hyper emou	who loved me and gave himself up for me	ἀγαπάω = self-giving love; παραδίδωμι = “hand over, deliver up” — sacrificial, substitutionary language (used of Christ being “delivered up” for sinners, cf. Romans 8:32)	“who loved me and gave himself for me”	Personal, substitutionary atonement language — Christ’s self-giving is directed at “me” individually, intensifying the personal-faith emphasis of the whole passage.	High — must retain both the personal address (“me,” not only “us”/“the world” generically) and the substitutionary sense of “gave himself up,” not softened to a vague “helped me” or “was there for me.”

Verse 21 — “I do not nullify the grace of God… Christ died for no purpose”

Original	Transliteration	Literal meaning	Semantic range	English variants	Contextual theological meaning	Cantonese rendering risk
ἀθετῶ	athetō	I set aside, nullify, reject, treat as invalid	Legal/commercial term for voiding an agreement or refusing a gift	”nullify,” “set aside,” “reject,” “make void”	Paul’s point: to seek righteousness through law-works, after receiving grace, would be to functionally void/refuse God’s grace, even while claiming to honor God.	High — NEW TERM. Propose 廢棄 / 拒絕 (fai3 hei3 / keoi3 zyut6) or the more theologically resonant 令…落空 (“render void/empty”). Must connect explicitly to TM grace (恩典, Critical) so the sentence reads as “I do not treat God’s unearned favor as void.” Risk: this verb must not be softened to a merely emotional “I don’t disregard grace” — it names an active, culpable act of nullifying, directly relevant to the baseline’s existing grace-merit distinction rule (AI Translation Requirements §Doctrinal Preservation Rule 4).
τὴν χάριν τοῦ θεοῦ	tēn charin tou theou	the grace of God	See baseline TM grace	”the grace of God”	Reuse 恩典 exactly.	Critical (per TM) — never framed as reciprocal temple-vow favor.
διὰ νόμου δικαιοσύνη	dia nomou dikaiosynē	righteousness through the law	Hypothetical condition Paul rejects	”righteousness through the law,” “righteousness by the law”	If law-keeping could produce righteousness, grace and Christ’s death would be unnecessary — reduces ad absurdum. Reuse TM law (律法) and righteousness (義).	Critical — must retain the conditional/rejected sense (“if… [but it is not so]”), not read as an accepted possibility.
Χριστὸς δωρεὰν ἀπέθανεν	Christos dōrean apethanen	Christ died for nothing / in vain / without cause	δωρεάν = “freely, gratuitously, without recompense” — the same root that produces δωρεά (“gift,” conceptually adjacent to χάρις/grace) — here used ironically: “died for free” in the sense of “died pointlessly, achieving nothing"	"died for nothing,” “died in vain,” “died to no purpose”	The devastating logical consequence Paul draws: any system of law-earned righteousness makes the cross an empty, purposeless act. This is the letter’s most forceful grace-defense statement.	Critical — must convey “accomplished nothing/was pointless,” not merely “died sadly” or “died freely” (which would lose the negative logical force and could even be misheard as praising Christ’s death as a free gift, inverting Paul’s point). Translators should add a translator note explaining the δωρεάν wordplay is present in Greek but not recoverable in Cantonese, so the logical force (not the wordplay) must be preserved.

Summary of the core passage’s doctrinal load: Galatians 2:15–21 compresses justification by faith (Critical), works of the law as the rejected alternative (Critical — new term), union with Christ in his crucifixion (Critical — new term), the substitutionary self-giving of the Son of God (Critical, reusing TM), and the grace-versus-works antithesis (Critical, reusing TM) into seven verses. Every verse contains at least one Critical or High risk item. This passage should be treated as requiring mandatory human theologian review for every occurrence in Phase 2, consistent with the baseline’s escalation rules for Incarnation/Deity/Sonship/Resurrection/Lordship/Salvation/Grace/Messianic-Promise content.

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PART B — Whole-Book Chapter-by-Chapter Semantic Study

Galatians 1 (1:1–24)

Establishes Paul’s apostleship, the singularity of the true gospel, and his conversion as a demonstration of grace apart from human agency.

Terms	Variants	Contextual theological meaning	Cantonese rendering risk
Apostle ἀπόστολος apostolos one sent out	See baseline TM apostle (使徒) “apostle”	1:1 — “not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father” — Galatians uniquely stresses the directness of Paul’s commissioning, defending it against rivals. Reuse 使徒 exactly.	Low per TM baseline, but flag the emphatic “not from men” clause for translator attention — the force of divine-versus-human commissioning must not be flattened.
Gospel / another gospel εὐαγγέλιον / ἕτερον εὐαγγέλιον euangelion / heteron euangelion good news / a different good news	See baseline TM gospel (福音); ἕτερον = “another of a different kind” (as opposed to ἄλλο, “another of the same kind”) “gospel,” “a different gospel,” “another gospel”	1:6-9 — Paul’s shock that the Galatians are turning to “a different gospel” that is, in fact, “not another” true gospel at all — a distortion, not a legitimate alternative. Reuse 福音; render ἕτερον εὐαγγέλιον as 另一個福音 with an explicit note that this “other gospel” is called a perversion in the very next clause.	Medium (per TM base term) rising to High in this specific verse-cluster, since the passage’s entire logic (there is no valid “other” gospel) could be blunted if 另一個福音 is read as a legitimate competing religious option rather than a false substitute.
Accursed / anathema ἀνάθεμα anathema a thing devoted/set apart for destruction; a curse	Cultic term for something handed over to divine judgment ”accursed,” “cursed,” “anathema,” “let him be damned”	1:8-9 — Paul pronounces this on anyone (including himself hypothetically) preaching a false gospel. Extremely strong covenant-lawsuit language.	Critical — NEW TERM. Propose 該受咒詛 (goi1 sau6 zau3 zou2, “deserving of being cursed”) using the same root as ch.3’s κατάρα (curse). Grounding risk: Hong Kong’s well-known folk-magic curse culture — most visibly the “villain hitting” ritual (打小人) performed under the Canal Road flyover, and fear of cast hexes (降頭, 中邪) — makes it urgent to teach that ἀνάθεμα is God’s own righteous judicial verdict pronounced in his covenant lawsuit, not a ritually inflicted or removable curse-spell that a paid practitioner can cast or lift on someone’s behalf.
Servant of Christ δοῦλος Χριστοῦ doulos Christou slave/bondservant of Christ	Full ownership belonging; not a hired employee ”servant,” “slave,” “bondservant”	1:10 — Paul’s self-identification as belonging wholly to Christ, contrasted with seeking to please men.	Medium — should avoid 事頭 framing already forbidden in baseline TM (“lord”) to prevent an employer-employee reading; 僕人/奴僕 preferred, paired with 主 (Lord) elsewhere in the letter.
Revelation ἀποκάλυψις apokalypsis unveiling, disclosure	Divine self-disclosure of previously hidden truth ”revelation”	1:12 — Paul received the gospel “through a revelation of Jesus Christ,” not from human teaching.	Medium — NEW TERM. Propose 啟示 (kai2 si6), the standard Chinese-Bible term. Risk: must be distinguished from divination/fortune-revealing practices (求籤, 睇相算命, already flagged in baseline under “faith”). God’s revelation is his own initiative disclosure of truth, not information extracted through a technique.
Judaism Ἰουδαϊσμός Ioudaismos the Jewish religious-national way of life	Second-Temple Jewish religious practice as a system ”Judaism,” “the Jewish religion”	1:13-14 — Paul’s former zealous advance “in Judaism,” persecuting the church.	Low — NEW TERM. 猶太教 (jau4 taai3 gaau3), a standard, low-risk transliteration/loan term.
Zealous ζηλωτής zēlōtēs zealot, one who is zealous/jealous for a cause	Intense, often violent devotion to a cause ”zealous,” “zealot”	1:14 — Paul’s former zeal for ancestral traditions, ironically now redirected toward the gospel he once persecuted.	Low — NEW TERM. 熱心 (jit6 sam1). Low risk, common word.
Set apart from the womb ἀφορίσας με ἐκ κοιλίας μητρός μου aphorisas me ek koilias mētros mou having set/separated me apart from my mother’s womb	Divine election language, echoing Jeremiah 1:5, Isaiah 49:1 ”set apart from birth,” “separated me from my mother’s womb”	1:15 — grounds Paul’s calling in God’s sovereign, pre-natal choice, not merit or human effort. Ties directly to baseline TM called/calling (蒙召嘅/呼召, High) and election (揀選, High).	High — reuse 揀選/呼召 exactly; must not be rendered with 命中注定 or 八字注定 (birth-chart astrology, already forbidden in baseline), since God’s election here is a personal choice, not a fate calculable from the moment of birth.
Church (persecuted) ἐκκλησία ekklēsia assembly	See baseline TM church (教會) “the church”	1:13, 22-23 — Paul’s former persecution of “the church of God,” later “the churches of Judea… in Christ.”	Medium (per TM) — reuse 教會 exactly.
Glory δόξα doxa glory, radiance, honor	See baseline TM glory (榮耀) “to whom be glory forever”	1:5 — doxology closing the greeting. Reuse 榮耀.	Medium (per TM).

Galatians 2 (2:1–14; vv.15–21 treated above)

Covers the Jerusalem council meeting, the “truth of the gospel” being defended, and the Antioch confrontation with Peter that sets up 2:15-21.

Terms	Variants	Contextual theological meaning	Cantonese rendering risk
Truth of the gospel ἀλήθεια τοῦ εὐαγγελίου alētheia tou euangeliou truth of the good news	The gospel’s integrity and content, not merely sincerity ”the truth of the gospel”	2:5, 14 — what was at stake in refusing to yield to the “false brothers”: preserving the gospel’s essential content (freedom, not law-imposed circumcision) for all future believers.	High — NEW TERM. Propose 福音嘅真理 (fuk1 jam1 ge3 zan1 lei5), combining TM 福音 with 真理. Risk: must not be softened into “being honest about the gospel” — this is about doctrinal fidelity to the gospel’s actual saving content against a real, church-dividing distortion.
False brothers ψευδάδελφοι pseudadelphoi false brothers	Professing believers whose teaching in fact undermines the gospel ”false brothers,” “false brethren”	2:4 — those who infiltrated to spy out the Gentiles’ freedom, seeking to enslave them again to law-observance.	Medium — NEW TERM. 假兄弟 (gaa2 hing1 dai6). Straightforward compound; low ambiguity, but pastorally sensitive term requiring careful framing so it is not weaponized casually within congregations.
Pillars (of the church) οἱ δοκοῦντες στῦλοι εἶναι hoi dokountes styloi einai those reputed to be pillars	Honorific description of James, Peter, John as foundational leaders ”pillars,” “those reputed to be pillars”	2:9 — Jerusalem’s recognized leaders extend “the right hand of fellowship” to Paul and Barnabas, affirming a shared, undivided gospel for Jew and Gentile.	Low — NEW TERM. 教會嘅柱石 (gaau3 wui2 ge3 cyu5 sek6). Low risk; reuse TM 教會.
Fellowship κοινωνία koinōnia shared participation	See baseline TM fellowship (團契) “the right hand of fellowship”	2:9 — public gesture of gospel unity between the Jerusalem apostles and Paul/Barnabas’s Gentile-mission.	Low (per TM) — reuse 團契, though here the phrase is closer to “gave the right hand as a sign of partnership”; render contextually while retaining 團契’s relational sense.
Compel to be circumcised περιτέμνεσθαι ἠναγκάσθη peritemnesthai ēnagkasthē was compelled to be circumcised	Forced imposition of a Jewish covenant sign on a Gentile believer as a condition of full acceptance ”compel/force to be circumcised”	2:3 — Titus was not compelled, in contrast to the pressure Paul resisted; this is the concrete test case for the whole letter’s argument.	High — see “circumcision” full treatment under Chapter 5/6 below; here note specifically the coercive framing (ἠναγκάσθη, “was forced/compelled”) which must be preserved, not softened to “was encouraged.”
Hypocrisy ὑπόκρισις hypokrisis play-acting, hypocrisy	Inconsistency between confessed belief and practiced behavior ”hypocrisy,” “insincerity”	2:13 — Peter’s, Barnabas’s, and other Jews’ withdrawal from table fellowship with Gentiles, “led astray” by fear of the circumcision party.	Medium — standard term (虛偽, heoi1 wai6), low collision risk, but pastorally significant since it names respected leaders’ failure.

Galatians 3 (3:1–29)

Argues justification by faith from Abraham, the law’s curse and Christ’s redemption, the promise/seed, the law’s temporary custodial role, and baptismal unity in Christ.

Terms	Variants	Contextual theological meaning	Cantonese rendering risk
Bewitched ἐβάσκανεν ebaskanen cast an evil eye upon, bewitched	Folk-magical term for malicious hexing through a look/spell ”bewitched,” “who has cast a spell on you”	3:1 — Paul’s rhetorical outrage: the Galatians’ quick abandonment of the true gospel is so irrational it is as if someone had cursed them with black magic. Paul uses the term rhetorically/ironically, not literally endorsing sorcery as a real causal mechanism.	High — NEW TERM. Propose 迷惑 (mai4 waak6, “deceived/confused/led astray”) for the functional rhetorical force, rather than a literal magic-curse term. Grounding risk: Cantonese culture retains active folk fear of curses and black-magic hexing (降頭 “gong tau” sorcery fears, 中邪 “possessed/hexed” idiom); a literal rendering risks legitimizing a folk-sorcery causal framework as the “real” explanation for the Galatians’ error, when Paul’s actual diagnosis (developed through the rest of ch.3) is doctrinal deception, not literal witchcraft.
Curse (of the law) κατάρα katara curse	Covenant-lawsuit judicial curse pronounced for lawbreaking (cf. Deuteronomy 27–28) “curse,” “the curse of the law”	3:10, 13 — “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.” Central atonement statement: Christ bears the law’s judicial curse in the place of those under it.	Critical — NEW TERM. Propose 咒詛 (zau3 zou2). Grounding risk: as with ἀνάθεμα in ch.1, direct collision with Hong Kong’s “villain hitting” ritual (打小人) and folk-curse fear culture. Must be taught as God’s own righteous judgment against covenant-breaking, definitively and substitutionarily borne by Christ once for all — not a hex removable by a counter-ritual, an offering, or a temple visit. This is arguably the single most culturally loaded term-collision in the entire book and should carry the same escalation weight as the baseline’s Critical grace/salvation terms.
Redeem / redemption ἐξαγοράζω exagorazō to buy out of the marketplace, to buy back	Commercial manumission term — buying a slave out of slavery ”redeemed,” “bought us out,” “ransomed”	3:13 (also 4:5) — Christ’s atoning death purchases believers out from under the law’s curse and out of slavery into sonship.	High — NEW TERM. Propose 救贖 (gau3 suk6), the established Chinese-Bible compound (distinguished from a bare 贖, which in everyday Cantonese usage refers to redeeming a pawned item — 贖當 — at one of Hong Kong’s still-operating pawnshops, 大押). Risk: must not be heard as a commercial buy-back transaction with residual value, nor conflated with Buddhist merit-transfer/ancestor-release rites (超度, already forbidden under TM “salvation”). Christ’s redemption is a decisive, once-for-all, costly substitution — his becoming a curse — not an ongoing exchangeable transaction.
Promise ἐπαγγελία epangelia promise, pledge	A divinely-given, unilaterally guaranteed pledge, contrasted with law as a conditional demand ”promise,” “the promise”	3:14-22 — the Abrahamic promise precedes and is not annulled by the later-given law; received by faith, not law-keeping. Closely tied to baseline TM covenant (約, High).	Medium — NEW TERM. Propose 應許 (jing3 heoi2), the standard Chinese-Bible term. Risk: distinguish from a fortune-teller’s forecast or an auspicious prediction (already a concern flagged for “prophecy” in baseline); God’s promise is a guaranteed covenant pledge from a personal God, not a predicted outcome.
Seed / offspring σπέρμα sperma seed, descendant(s)	Singular collective noun that can denote either a multitude of descendants or (as Paul argues in 3:16) a single individual descendant ”seed,” “offspring,” “descendant”	3:16, 29 — Paul’s argument turns on σπέρμα’s grammatical singularity: the promise was to Abraham and his singular “seed,” which is Christ; believers are included “in Christ” as Abraham’s seed/heirs. Note baseline TM already has seed_of_david (大衛嘅後裔) for a related but distinct Davidic-lineage concept.	Medium-High — NEW TERM (Abrahamic sense). Propose 後裔 (hau6 jeoi6), reusing the same root character as TM’s 大衛嘅後裔 for consistency. Risk: Cantonese/Pearl River Delta clan culture has a strong existing “lineage continuity” concept (血脈, 後代) tied to ancestor-worship obligations; translators must make clear Paul’s argument is about a singular, Christ-centered fulfillment of promise, not a biological clan-lineage-preservation concern.
Mediator μεσίτης mesitēs one who stands between two parties	Legal/covenantal go-between who ratifies or administers an agreement between two parties ”mediator,” “go-between”	3:19-20 — the law “was put in place through angels by a mediator” (Moses); Paul contrasts this two-party mediated arrangement with the unmediated, unilateral nature of God’s promise to Abraham.	Medium-High — NEW TERM. Propose 中保 (zung1 bou2), the standard Chinese-Bible term (used elsewhere of Christ’s mediatorial role, e.g. 1 Timothy 2:5). Risk: must be kept clearly distinct from (a) 靈媒/問米 spirit-medium practice (already forbidden under baseline TM “holy_spirit”/“intercession”) and (b) the commercial/real-estate 中介 “broker/agent” sense extremely current in Hong Kong property and insurance transactions (地產中介, 保險中介). 中保 names a covenantal legal role, not a supernatural go-between channeling spirits or a commission-earning commercial intermediary.
Guardian / tutor παιδαγωγός paidagōgos a household slave charged with supervising and disciplining a child until adulthood	Custodial, temporary, restraining authority-figure — NOT a teacher in the modern sense ”guardian,” “tutor,” “schoolmaster,” “disciplinarian”	3:24-25 — “the law was our guardian until Christ came… now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.” The law’s temporary, restraining, custodial function prior to the coming of faith.	High — NEW TERM. Propose 訓蒙嘅師傅 (fan3 mung4 ge3 si1 fu2), echoing the established Chinese Union Version phrase. Grounding risk: Hong Kong’s intensely commercial private-tutoring culture (補習, tutorial schools, bus-advertised “tutor king/queen” 補習天王/后 celebrities) makes it very easy to hear παιδαγωγός as a paid academic tutor optimizing exam performance — nearly the opposite of Paul’s point, which is a lowly custodial slave-role exercising temporary restraint until the child (heir) legally comes of age. Must be explicitly taught with the Greco-Roman household background, since it has no close Cantonese cultural analogue.
Heir κληρονόμος klēronomos heir, inheritor	Legal recipient of an estate/inheritance upon the testator’s death or the heir’s coming of age ”heir,” “inheritor”	3:29 (also 4:1, 7) — “if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.” Full inheritance-rights status in God’s family, received by faith, not ethnicity or law-keeping.	Medium-High — NEW TERM. Propose 承受產業嘅人 (sing4 sau6 caan2 jip6 ge3 jan4), the established Chinese-Bible phrase. Grounding risk: Hong Kong’s prominent, often litigious family-estate/inheritance culture (well-publicized inheritance disputes among prominent local families) risks flattening this into a purely material-property expectation. Must be taught as full relational son-and-heir status in God’s family (consistent with baseline TM “adoption,” 兒子嘅名分), not a legal claim on transferable material assets.
Baptized into Christ εἰς Χριστὸν ἐβαπτίσθητε eis Christon ebaptisthēte you were baptized into Christ	Sacramental incorporation into Christ’s person, symbolically “putting on” Christ ”baptized into Christ,” “clothed with Christ”	3:27 — grounds the “neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female” unity statement (3:28) in baptismal union with Christ.	High — must retain the incorporative, not merely ritual-washing, sense; connects to the baseline’s christian_identity_in_christ and unity_of_jews_and_gentiles doctrines (both High), and must resist any local/clan-outsider hierarchy reading, per the baseline’s existing caution on 外邦人.

Galatians 4 (4:1–31)

Sonship and adoption, the fullness of time, the “elements of the world,” Paul’s pastoral appeal, and the Hagar-Sarah allegory.

Terms	Variants	Contextual theological meaning	Cantonese rendering risk
Fullness of time τὸ πλήρωμα τοῦ χρόνου to plērōma tou chronou the fullness/completion of the time	The divinely appointed, sovereignly determined moment ”the fullness of time,” “when the time had fully come”	4:4 — “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son” — God’s sovereign, purposive timing of the incarnation, tied to baseline TM providence (神嘅護理, High).	Medium — NEW TERM. Propose 日期滿咗嗰陣 (jat6 kei4 mun5 zo2 go2 zan6, “when the appointed time had come”) or 時候一到. Risk: must be distinguished from date-selection by feng shui almanac/auspicious-day consultation (擇日, already flagged under baseline “providence” and “prophecy”). This is God’s sovereign salvation-historical timing, not a calculable lucky date.
Elements of the world τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου ta stoicheia tou kosmou the elemental things/basic components of the world	Debated range: (a) elementary/basic teachings, (b) the fundamental physical elements, (c) elemental spirits/astral-cosmic powers associated with pagan religious systems ”elemental spirits,” “elemental spiritual forces,” “basic principles of the world,” “elementary teachings”	4:3, 9 — the condition of enslavement to religious systems prior to Christ, and the danger of the Galatians “turning back” to such enslavement through law-observance. Paul treats returning to law-works as functionally equivalent to reverting to pagan elemental bondage.	Critical — NEW TERM. No safe direct rendering exists. Grounding risk: the closest structural analogue in Cantonese religious-cultural vocabulary is 五行 (ng5 hang4, the Five Elements — metal, wood, water, fire, earth), foundational to Chinese astrology, feng shui, and traditional medicine, and extremely active in present-day Hong Kong almanac and fortune-telling culture. Rendering στοιχεῖα as or near 五行 would either (a) invite readers to map Paul’s warning directly onto — and thereby seem to validate the reality of — Chinese elemental cosmology, or (b) fail to convey the danger Paul actually names. The classic Chinese Union Version rendering, 世上的小學 (“the elementary teaching of the world”), carries its own risk in modern Cantonese: 小學 today primarily means “primary school,” inviting confused or trivializing readings (“the world’s kindergarten lessons”). Recommend: 世界嘅基本原理/勢力 (sai3 gaai3 ge3 gei1 bun2 jyun4 lei5 / sai3 lik6) with a mandatory theologian’s explanatory footnote covering both the classical-CUV-phrase confusion and the Five-Elements collision risk. This term requires escalation on every occurrence.
Sons / sonship υἱοί huioi sons	Full legal-familial status with inheritance rights (as opposed to a slave’s status) “sons,” “children” (inclusive)	4:5-7 — “so that we might receive adoption as sons… God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying ‘Abba! Father!’” Directly ties baseline TM adoption (兒子嘅名分), abba (阿爸), and father (父) together as the chapter’s climax.	High (per TM baseline for each component term) — reuse 兒子嘅名分, 阿爸, 父 exactly; do not substitute 過繼 (clan-succession adoption) or 認契仔 (temple-godson dedication), per the existing baseline forbidden-substitution notes.
Slavery / bondage δουλεία douleia slavery, bondage	Condition of servitude, contrasted with sonship/freedom ”slavery,” “bondage”	4:1-9, 24-25 — describes both the pre-Christ condition under the law’s custodial guardianship and, allegorically, Hagar’s slave status representing the Sinai covenant.	Medium — NEW TERM. 奴役 (nou4 jik6). Standard term, low ambiguity, but should be paired consistently with “freedom” (below) as its doctrinal antonym throughout chs. 4-5.
Hagar / Sarah allegory ἀλληγορούμενα allēgoroumena things spoken allegorically	Paul’s typological reading of Genesis 16, 21 as representing two covenants (slavery/Sinai vs. promise/freedom) “this may be interpreted allegorically,” “these women represent”	4:21-31 — requires OT narrative background the target audience is assumed (per the AI Translation Requirements) to have low familiarity with; needs supplementary explanation, not merely translation.	Medium — primarily a pedagogical/background-knowledge risk rather than a lexical-collision risk; flag for native-speaker/teaching-materials review to ensure adequate OT context is supplied.
Jerusalem above ἡ ἄνω Ἰερουσαλήμ hē anō Ierousalēm the Jerusalem above	The heavenly, eschatological Jerusalem, “our mother” — contrasted with earthly Jerusalem in bondage ”the Jerusalem above,” “the heavenly Jerusalem”	4:26 — believers’ true origin and citizenship, tied to baseline TM kingdom_of_god caution about avoiding earthly-political framing, especially given Hong Kong’s political sensitivities.	Medium — should be kept clearly eschatological/spiritual, consistent with the baseline’s existing caution against politicized “kingdom” language.

Galatians 5 (5:1–26)

Freedom in Christ, the burden of the law reasserted (circumcision), faith working through love, flesh versus Spirit, works of the flesh, fruit of the Spirit.

Terms	Variants	Contextual theological meaning	Cantonese rendering risk
Freedom / liberty ἐλευθερία eleutheria freedom, liberty	Legal-social status of a free person (as opposed to a slave); theologically, freedom from the law’s condemnation and from sin’s dominion ”freedom,” “liberty”	5:1, 13 — “For freedom Christ has set us free… do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” The letter’s central positive term, doctrine “Freedom in Christ” named explicitly in this curriculum.	Medium — NEW TERM. Propose 自由 (zi6 jau4), the standard modern Cantonese word. Grounding risk: given Hong Kong’s contemporary political climate, “freedom” (自由) carries live political resonance that could cause 5:1, 13 to be read (or deliberately mis-taught) as a political-liberty statement rather than freedom from the law’s condemnation and sin’s bondage. Consistent with the baseline’s existing caution on kingdom_of_god and Romans 13/14, teaching materials must keep this doctrinal and pastoral, not political, in framing.
Yoke of slavery ζυγὸς δουλείας zygos douleias yoke of slavery	Agricultural yoke-image for servitude/burden ”yoke of slavery,” “yoke of bondage”	5:1 — the image of returning to law-observance as re-shouldering a slave’s yoke.	Medium — 奴役嘅軛 (nou4 jik6 ge3 aat3); low-ambiguity compound, but should be visually/conceptually distinguished from a beast-of-burden’s literal yoke to retain the servitude metaphor rather than a merely “burden” reading.
Circumcision περιτομή peritomē circumcision	The Abrahamic covenant sign (Genesis 17); in Galatians, the specific boundary-marker the Judaizing teachers demanded of Gentile converts ”circumcision”	5:2-6, 11; 6:12-15 — Paul’s most forceful statements: “if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you”; “neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only… new creation.”	Medium — NEW TERM. 割禮 (got3 lai5), standard term. Risk: low cultural collision (not an HK folk-religious practice), but requires OT covenant-background explanation given the audience’s assumed low OT narrative literacy; the real risk is doctrinal (treating any physical/ritual marker as salvific) rather than lexical.
Faith working through love πίστις διʼ ἀγάπης ἐνεργουμένη pistis di’ agapēs energoumenē faith being worked out through love	Faith as the root, love as its active, energizing expression — not two separate means of justification ”faith working through love,” “faith expressing itself through love,” “faith energized by love”	5:6 — the positive alternative to circumcision-based religion; explicitly named as a curriculum doctrine (“Faith Working through Love”).	High — NEW TERM. Propose 藉住愛心運作嘅信心 (zik3 zyu6 oi3 sam1 wan6 zok3 ge3 seon3 sam1), reusing TM 信心 and adding a new term 愛心 (oi3 sam1, “love”). Risk: must not be taught so as to reintroduce works-righteousness by the back door (love as a supplementary meritorious “work” alongside faith rather than faith’s own outworking) — this would collapse the whole letter’s argument. Also flag a secondary risk: 愛 as a virtue-category has some resonance with the Confucian cardinal virtue 仁 (ren, benevolence/humaneness), which — like 義 (righteousness) flagged Critical in the Romans baseline — carries a self-cultivated-virtue connotation; teaching should clarify this love is Spirit-produced fruit (see below), not self-cultivated benevolence.
Flesh (ethical sense) σάρξ sarx flesh	Distinct ethical/theological sense (contrast v.16’s idiomatic “all flesh” = humanity): the sinful, self-oriented disposition of unredeemed human nature, in conflict with the Spirit ”the flesh,” “sinful nature,” “the flesh’s desires”	5:13, 16-17, 19-21, 24 — “the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit… walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” Names the curriculum doctrine “Flesh versus Spirit.”	High — NEW TERM (distinct sense from v.16’s σάρξ). Propose 肉體 (juk6 tai2), the established Chinese-Bible term for this ethical sense, kept distinct from 肉身 (used for the neutral “physical body” sense in 2:20 and for baseline TM’s 道成肉身 “incarnation” compound). Grounding risk: Daoist internal-cultivation traditions (內丹, neidan) active in Cantonese popular religious culture frame moral transformation as refining base bodily energy into higher spiritual essence through self-directed practice (echoed in the common idiom 脫胎換骨, “shed the mortal frame and remake the bones” — used for total transformation). Galatians’ flesh/Spirit conflict must not be assimilated to this self-cultivation framework: victory over the flesh is Spirit-empowered (5:16, 18, 25), not achieved through disciplined technique, and “flesh” names a moral-relational orientation against God, not a base bodily substance to be alchemically refined.
Works of the flesh τὰ ἔργα τῆς σαρκός ta erga tēs sarkos the works/deeds of the flesh	The catalogued vice-list (5:19-21): sexual immorality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, etc. ”the acts of the flesh,” “works of the flesh,” “deeds of the sinful nature”	5:19-21 — those who “do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”	Medium — 肉體嘅行為 (juk6 tai2 ge3 hang4 wai4), reusing the ethical 肉體 established above; note the list includes φαρμακεία (“sorcery/witchcraft” — Greek pharmakeia), which should be rendered 邪術 (ce4 seot6) and explicitly distinguished from folk-medicine or feng shui practice broadly, naming specifically occult/magical practice as morally condemned.
Fruit of the Spirit ὁ καρπὸς τοῦ Πνεύματος ho karpos tou Pneumatos the fruit of the Spirit	Singular “fruit” (not “fruits”) — a unified, organic outworking of the Spirit’s presence, contrasted with the plural “works” of the flesh ”the fruit of the Spirit”	5:22-23 — love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Names the curriculum doctrine “Fruit of the Spirit.”	Low-Medium — NEW TERM. 聖靈嘅果子 (sing3 ling4 ge3 gwo2 zi2), reusing TM 聖靈 exactly (never 靈 alone, per baseline). Risk is low if 聖靈 is retained correctly; flag only to preserve the deliberate singular/plural contrast with “works of the flesh” in teaching materials — this is an organic, unified Spirit-produced character, not a checklist of separate achievements.
Walk by/led by the Spirit περιπατεῖτε / ἄγεσθε πνεύματι peripateite / agesthe pneumati walk / are led by the Spirit	Ongoing, moment-by-moment conduct empowered and directed by the Holy Spirit ”walk by the Spirit,” “be led by the Spirit”	5:16, 18, 25 — the practical means by which believers overcome the flesh: not law-keeping, but Spirit-dependence.	Low — 順住聖靈行 (seon6 zyu6 sing3 ling4 hang4); reuses TM 聖靈 correctly; low collision risk given correct base-term use.

Galatians 6 (6:1–18)

Bearing one another’s burdens, sowing and reaping, new creation, boasting only in the cross, and the closing benediction.

Terms	Variants	Contextual theological meaning	Cantonese rendering risk
Bear one another’s burdens ἀλλήλων τὰ βάρη βαστάζετε allēlōn ta barē bastazete carry the burdens of one another	Mutual practical/spiritual support within the church body ”bear one another’s burdens,” “carry each other’s burdens”	6:2 — names the curriculum doctrine “Bearing One Another’s Burdens.” Fulfills “the law of Christ” (love), tying back to 5:6’s “faith working through love.”	Low — NEW TERM. 彼此擔當重擔 (bei2 ci5 daam1 dong3 cung5 daam3). Low risk; consistent with baseline’s mutual_edification doctrine (彼此造就).
Restore gently καταρτίζετε … ἐν πνεύματι πραΰτητος katartizete … en pneumati prautētos restore/set right … in a spirit of gentleness	Corrective, restorative discipline exercised with humility, not harsh judgment ”restore gently,” “correct with gentleness”	6:1 — how to handle a believer caught in sin: gentle restoration, watching one’s own vulnerability.	Low-Medium — 溫柔咁挽回 (wan1 jau4 gam2 waan2 wui4); low lexical risk, pastorally significant emphasis.
Sow and reap ὃ γὰρ ἐὰν σπείρῃ ἄνθρωπος, τοῦτο καὶ θερίσει ho gar ean speirē anthrōpos, touto kai therisei for whatever a person sows, that he will also reap	Agricultural cause-effect metaphor applied to moral choice: sowing to the flesh yields corruption/death; sowing to the Spirit yields eternal life ”you reap what you sow,” “whatever a man sows, that he will also reap”	6:7-8 — a direct, personal moral principle grounded in one’s relationship to the Spirit, not an impersonal cosmic law.	High — NEW TERM. 種同收 (zung3 tung4 sau1) / “種嘅係乜,收嘅就係乜”. Grounding risk: this maps very closely onto the extremely common Cantonese/Chinese folk-Buddhist proverb 種善因,得善果 (“sow a good cause, reap a good fruit” — a popular karma idiom used even by entirely secular speakers). Must be taught as a principle of moral consequence flowing from one’s present relationship to the Spirit or the flesh (within a framework already secured by grace, cf. ch.2-3), NOT as an impersonal karmic law of retribution operating independently of, or prior to, grace and the Spirit’s work.
New creation καινὴ κτίσις kainē ktisis new creation	A divine, re-creative act producing a genuinely new order of existence — not self-improvement or ritual status change ”new creation,” “new creature”	6:15 — “neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but new creation.” Names the curriculum doctrine “Circumcision and the New Creation.”	Medium-High — NEW TERM. Propose 新造嘅人 (san1 zou6 ge3 jan4), the established Chinese-Bible phrase (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:17). Grounding risk: avoid the common Cantonese idiom 脫胎換骨 (“shed the embryo/mortal frame and change the bones,” used for radical transformation) as a “natural-sounding” substitute — this phrase carries Daoist internal-alchemy roots implying self-achieved transformation through practice, which would relocate the agency of new creation from God to the individual. Also distinguish from rebirth/reincarnation framing (投胎轉世, already forbidden under baseline TM “resurrection”) — this is a once-for-all divine re-creation, not entry into a new life-cycle.
Boast καυχάομαι / καύχημα kauchaomai / kauchēma to boast, glory in	Taking pride in, finding one’s identity/status in something ”boast,” “glory in,” “take pride in”	6:13-14 — the false teachers “boast in your flesh” (i.e., in circumcision-compliance numbers); Paul instead: “far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”	Medium — NEW TERM. 誇口 (kwaa1 hau2). Grounding risk: connects directly to the baseline’s existing caution under “glory” (榮耀) against collapsing into 面子 (face/reputation) or 威水 (flashy, impressive success) — both live categories in Hong Kong’s status-conscious commercial culture. Paul’s contrast (boasting in visible religious-performance statistics vs. boasting only in the cross) maps unusually well onto a face-culture critique and should be taught with that cultural resonance made explicit, while keeping the theological center on the cross, not a general anti-pride moralism.
Marks (of Jesus) στίγματα stigmata brand-marks, tattoos	Marks branded on a slave to show ownership, or scars from suffering/persecution borne in service to a master ”the marks of Jesus,” “brand-marks,” “scars”	6:17 — Paul’s physical scars from persecution, worn as evidence of belonging to and suffering for Christ.	Medium — NEW TERM. 耶穌嘅印記 (je4 sou1 ge3 jan3 gei3). Risk: should be distinguished from protective talisman markings/blessed amulets or ritual tattoos found in some Chinese folk-religious practice (符, protective charms; occasional temple-blessed tattoo practice) — Paul’s marks are scars of suffering demonstrating costly discipleship and ownership by Christ, not a protective or luck-conferring charm.
Israel of God ὁ Ἰσραὴλ τοῦ θεοῦ ho Israēl tou theou the Israel of God	Debated referent: ethnic Israel, or the whole believing community (Jew and Gentile) as the true covenant people ”the Israel of God”	6:16 — closing benediction, “peace and mercy… upon the Israel of God.” Reuse baseline TM israel (以色列, Medium) and peace (平安, Medium).	Medium (per TM) — flag the referent ambiguity (ethnic Israel vs. all believers) as a genuine exegetical question for native-speaker/theologian review, consistent with baseline’s note on contemporary political sensitivity around the proper name “Israel.”
Grace be with your spirit ἡ χάρις τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ μετὰ τοῦ πνεύματος ὑμῶν hē charis tou kyriou hēmōn Iēsou Christou meta tou pneumatos hymōn the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit	Closing benediction ”grace be with your spirit”	6:18 — final verse of the letter, bracketing the whole argument with grace, reuse baseline TM grace (恩典) and lord (主).	Critical (per TM, both component terms) — reuse 恩典 and 主 exactly.

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Cross-Chapter Notes for Phase 2

1. σάρξ (flesh) requires a two-term disambiguation strategy across the book: idiomatic “all flesh”/“humanity” (2:16) and neutral “in the flesh”/physical body (2:20) should use 肉身; the ethical, flesh-vs-Spirit sense (5:13-24; also 3:3; 4:23,29; 6:8,12-13) must use 肉體. Both are distinct from 道成肉身 (incarnation, TM Critical), which uses 肉身 in yet another, Christologically unique sense. Translators must not let these three usages bleed into one another.
2. κατάρα/ἀνάθεμα (curse/accursed) and στοιχεῖα (elements of the world) are the two highest-novel-risk terms in the book, each colliding with a specific, currently active Hong Kong folk-religious practice (villain-hitting curse ritual; Five Elements cosmology respectively). Both should be flagged for mandatory theologian review on every occurrence, on par with the baseline’s existing Critical terms.
3. παιδαγωγός (guardian/tutor) and κληρονόμος (heir) both risk collision with prominent, secular Hong Kong social institutions (the private-tutoring industry; family-estate inheritance disputes) that could unintentionally reframe the law’s temporary custodial role and the believer’s inheritance status in purely worldly categories.
4. Consistent with the AI Translation Requirements’ cross-document consistency rules, every reused Romans TM term in this analysis (福音, 恩典, 信心, 義, 稱義, 使徒, 蒙召嘅, 呼召, 律法, 罪, 外邦人, 約, 父, 阿爸, 神嘅兒子, 神, 耶穌, 基督, 主, 聖靈, 兒子嘅名分, 以色列, 復活, 平安, 榮耀, 團契, 教會, 揀選) must be rendered identically to its baseline translation_memory.json entry in every Galatians occurrence.