Core Glossary
Core Glossary — Mark → Cantonese
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing term identified in analysis/07_semantic_analysis.md, covering Mark 1–16 in full. Terms already established in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json are marked (baseline reuse) and MUST use the exact recorded Cantonese rendering — no alternatives permitted. Terms new to the Mark curriculum are marked (NEW) and are proposed here for addition to translation memory in Phase 2, pending the theologian-review flags noted.
Risk tiers follow the baseline’s doctrine_risk_registry.json definitions: Critical (human theologian review required every occurrence), High (human theologian review required), Medium (native speaker review recommended), Low (automated review sufficient).
A. Core Passage Terms — Mark 10:35–45
| Term (English) | Greek | Transliteration | Cantonese Rendering | Jyutping | Risk | Status | Key Chapters/Verses | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teacher (vocative) | Διδάσκαλε | Didaskale | 夫子 | fu1 zi2 | Low | NEW | 10:35 | Established CUV vocative form for direct address to Jesus |
| Glory | δόξα | doxa | 榮耀 | wing4 jiu6 | High (context) | Baseline reuse | 10:37; cf. 8:38; 13:26 | Baseline Medium elevated to High in this context — misapplied to worldly status/face by James & John |
| Cup (of suffering) | ποτήριον | potērion | 杯 | bui1 | High | NEW | 10:38-39; 14:23-24, 36 | Risk of Cantonese toast-idiom (飲杯) collision; requires suffering-metaphor gloss |
| Baptism (of suffering) | βάπτισμα / βαπτίζομαι | baptisma / baptizomai | 洗 / 受洗 | sai2 / sau6 sai2 | Critical | NEW | 10:38-39 | Ritual-rite association may crowd out suffering-immersion metaphor; mandatory translator note |
| Prepared (by God) | ἡτοίμασται | hētoimastai | 預備 | jyu6 bei6 | High | NEW | 10:40 | Preserve divine passive; no merit-earned framing |
| Lord over/dominate (worldly) | κατακυριεύουσιν | katakyrieuousin | 轄制 / 欺壓 | hat6 zai3 / hip1 aat3 | Critical | NEW | 10:42 | Must not echo 主 (Lord); condemns worldly abuse, not Christ’s Lordship |
| Domineer (exercise authority abusively) | κατεξουσιάζουσιν | kataexousiazousin | 濫用權柄 | laam6 jung6 kyun4 beng3 | High | NEW | 10:42 | Shares root with Jesus’ legitimate ἐξουσία; must be distinguished |
| Servant/minister | διάκονος | diakonos | 用人 | jung6 jan4 | Medium | NEW | 10:43; 9:35 | Established CUV rendering; not the later technical “deacon” office |
| Slave/bondservant | δοῦλος | doulos | 僕人 | buk6 jan4 | High | NEW | 10:44 | Does not carry full chattel-slavery force; requires historical background teaching |
| Son of Man | υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου | huios tou anthrōpou | 人子 | jan4 zi2 | Critical | NEW | 10:45; 2:10, 28; 8:31, 38; 9:9, 31; 10:33; 13:26; 14:21, 41, 62 | Fuses Daniel 7 glory + Isaiah 53 suffering; risk of being heard as “merely human” |
| Give one’s life | δοῦναι τὴν ψυχὴν | dounai tēn psychēn | 捨命 | se2 meng6 | Critical | NEW | 10:45; cf. 8:35-37 | Never render ψυχή as 靈魂 (soul/spirit) here — avoid detachable-spirit folk framing |
| Ransom | λύτρον | lytron | 贖價 | suk6 gaa3 | Critical | NEW | 10:45 | Central atonement term; guard against karmic-debt (功德/還債) and temple-vow-exchange misreadings |
| Instead of / in place of (substitution) | ἀντί (in ἀντὶ πολλῶν) | anti (anti pollōn) | (implicit in 作…嘅贖價; consider 代替) | doi6 tai3 | Critical | NEW | 10:45 | CUV renders substitution implicitly; flag for theologian decision on explicit 代替 in study notes |
B. Chapter-by-Chapter New and Reused Terms (Mark 1–16)
Chapter 1
| Term | Greek | Transliteration | Cantonese | Jyutping | Risk | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gospel | εὐαγγέλιον | euangelion | 福音 | fuk1 jam1 | Medium | Baseline reuse | Functions as book-title in 1:1 |
| Son of God | υἱὸς θεοῦ | huios theou | 神嘅兒子 | san4 ge3 ji4 zi2 | Critical | Baseline reuse | Programmatic from 1:1 |
| Repentance | μετάνοια / μετανοέω | metanoia / metanoeō | 悔改 | fui3 goi2 | Medium | NEW | Distinguish from secular self-improvement |
| Baptism (water rite) | βάπτισμα / βαπτίζω | baptisma / baptizō | 洗 / 受洗 | sai2 / sau6 sai2 | Medium | NEW | Literal sense; base for 10:38-39 metaphor |
| Kingdom of God (at hand) | ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ (ἤγγικεν) | hē basileia tou theou | 神嘅國 | san4 ge3 gwok3 | Medium | Baseline reuse | Preserve present-arrival nuance of ἤγγικεν |
| Unclean spirit / demon | πνεῦμα ἀκάθαρτον / δαιμόνιον | pneuma akatharton / daimonion | 污鬼 / 邪靈 | wu1 gwai2 / ce4 ling4 | Critical | NEW | Sharp collision with 問米/ancestral-ghost folk vocabulary |
| Authority | ἐξουσία | exousia | 權柄 | kyun4 beng3 | High | NEW | Distinguish from political power and feng shui power |
| Be muzzled/silenced | φιμώθητι / πεφίμωσο | phimōthēti / pephimōso | 住聲 / 靜 | zyu6 seng1 / zing6 | Medium | NEW | Links demon-silencing (1:25) and storm-stilling (4:39) |
| Follow (discipleship) | ἀκολουθέω | akoloutheō | 跟從 | gan1 cung4 | Medium | NEW | Distinguish committed discipleship from crowd-following |
Chapter 2
| Term | Greek | Transliteration | Cantonese | Jyutping | Risk | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Son of Man (first use) | υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου | huios tou anthrōpou | 人子 | jan4 zi2 | Critical | NEW (cf. A) | First tied to forgiving sins — key teaching anchor |
| Forgive | ἀφίημι | aphiēmi | 赦免 | se3 min5 | High | NEW | Distinguish from 原諒 (interpersonal reconciliation) and from 稱義 |
| Sinner | ἁμαρτωλός | hamartōlos | 罪人 | zeoi6 jan4 | Medium | NEW (built on baseline 罪) | Socially despised class in context |
| Tax collector | τελώνης | telōnēs | 稅吏 | seoi3 lei6 | Low | NEW | Cultural-background note recommended |
| Sabbath | σάββατον | sabbaton | 安息日 | on1 sik1 jat6 | Medium | NEW | Not a generic leisure-day concept |
Chapter 3
| Term | Greek | Transliteration | Cantonese | Jyutping | Risk | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beelzebul | Βεελζεβούλ | Beelzeboul | 別西卜 | bit6 sai1 buk1 | Low-Medium | NEW | Proper name; not a HK folk deity |
| Blasphemy | βλασφημία | blasphēmia | 褻瀆 | sit3 duk6 | High | NEW | Sensitive “unforgivable sin” teaching |
| The Twelve / Apostles | οἱ δώδεκα / ἀπόστολοι | hoi dōdeka / apostoloi | 使徒 | si2 tou4 | Low | Baseline reuse | — |
| Doing God’s will (true kinship) | ὁ ποιῶν τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ | ho poiōn to thelēma tou theou | (no fixed glossary term; descriptive) | — | Medium | NEW | Must not read as anti-filial-piety teaching |
Chapter 4
| Term | Greek | Transliteration | Cantonese | Jyutping | Risk | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parable | παραβολή | parabolē | 比喻 | bei2 jyu6 | Medium | NEW | Insider/outsider revelatory function (Messianic Secret) |
| Mystery | μυστήριον | mystērion | 奧秘 | ou3 bei3 | Medium | NEW | Revealed truth, not divinatory secret knowledge |
| Fear | φόβος | phobos | 驚 / 懼怕 | geng1 / geoi6 paa3 | Medium | NEW | Recurring structural term (Faith and Discipleship amid Fear) |
Chapter 5
| Term | Greek | Transliteration | Cantonese | Jyutping | Risk | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Save/heal/make well | σῴζω | sōzō | 醫好 / 救 (context-dependent) | ji1 hou2 / gau3 | High | NEW | Dual healing/salvation sense; do not collapse distinctions |
| Raise/get up | ἐγείρω | egeirō | 起身 (healing) vs 復活 (resurrection, reserved) | hei2 san1 / fuk6 wut6 | High | NEW / cf. baseline 復活 | Strict register separation required |
| ”Legion” (demon name) | Λεγιών | Legiōn | 群 | kwan4 | Low-Medium | NEW | Roman military-unit resonance |
Chapter 6
| Term | Greek | Transliteration | Cantonese | Jyutping | Risk | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Send (apostolic sending) | ἀποστέλλω | apostellō | 差遣 | caai1 hin2 | Medium | NEW | Cf. baseline mission 宣教 |
| ”It is I” / I am | ἐγώ εἰμι | egō eimi | 係我 / 我就係 | hai6 ngo5 / ngo5 zau6 hai6 | High | NEW | Possible divine self-disclosure echo (Exod/Isa); cf. 14:62 |
| Bread | ἄρτος | artos | 餅 / 麵包 | beng2 / min6 baau1 | Low | NEW | Anticipates Last Supper (14:22) |
Chapter 7
| Term | Greek | Transliteration | Cantonese | Jyutping | Risk | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tradition of the elders | παράδοσις τῶν πρεσβυτέρων | paradosis tōn presbyterōn | 古人嘅遺傳 | gu2 jan4 ge3 wai4 cyun4 | Medium | NEW | Sensitive re: Cantonese filial-piety/ancestor custom |
| Corban | κορβᾶν | korban | 各耳板 | gok3 ji5 baan2 | Medium | NEW | Requires explanatory gloss |
| Clean/defiled | καθαρός / κοινός | katharos / koinos | 潔淨 / 污穢 | git3 zing6 / wu1 wai3 | Medium | NEW | Distinguish from ritual-purity/dietary-vow concepts |
Chapter 8
| Term | Greek | Transliteration | Cantonese | Jyutping | Risk | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christ/Messiah | Χριστός | Christos | 基督 | gei1 duk1 | Critical | Baseline reuse | Peter’s confession immediately followed by suffering-prediction |
| Suffer | πάσχω | paschō | 受苦 | sau6 fu2 | High | NEW | Pair with δεῖ (“must”) — divine necessity, not karma |
| Cross | σταυρός | stauros | 十字架 | sap6 zi6 gaa3 | Medium | NEW | Retain literal Roman-execution reality, not just “burden” idiom |
| Life/soul | ψυχή | psychē | 生命 (primary) | sang1 ming6 | High | NEW | Cf. 10:45 caution against 靈魂 |
| Rebuke/silence | ἐπιτιμάω | epitimaō | 責備 / 命令唔准講 | zaak3 bei6 / ming6 ling6 m4 zeon2 gong2 | Medium | NEW | Links Messianic Secret to authority-over-nature/demons |
Chapter 9
| Term | Greek | Transliteration | Cantonese | Jyutping | Risk | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transfigured | μεταμορφόω | metamorphoō | 變像 | bin3 zoeng6 | Critical | NEW | Never 化身/顯靈 — one-time unveiling, not repeatable manifestation |
| Unbelief / believe | ἀπιστία / πιστεύω | apistia / pisteuō | 不信 / 信心 | bat1 seon3 / seon3 sam1 | Medium | NEW (built on baseline 信心) | Faith and doubt held together (9:24) |
| Hell | γέεννα | geenna | 地獄 | dei6 juk6 | High | NEW | Sharp collision with Ten-Courts-of-Hell/hell-money folk cosmology |
Chapter 10 (beyond core passage)
| Term | Greek | Transliteration | Cantonese | Jyutping | Risk | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kingdom of God (childlike receipt) | βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ | basileia tou theou | 神嘅國 | san4 ge3 gwok3 | Medium | Baseline reuse | Reinforces grace-not-merit |
| Son of David | υἱὸς Δαυίδ | huios Dauid | 大衛嘅子孫 | daai6 wai6 ge3 zi2 syun1 | High | NEW | Distinct from but related to baseline seed_of_david 大衛嘅後裔 |
| Have mercy | ἐλέησον | eleēson | 憐憫 / 可憐 | lin4 man5 / ho2 lin4 | Low-Medium | NEW | Faith-in-need posture, contrasts 10:35-37 ambition |
Chapter 11
| Term | Greek | Transliteration | Cantonese | Jyutping | Risk | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hosanna | Ὡσαννά | Hōsanna | 和散那 | wo4 saan3 naa5 | Low-Medium | NEW | Transliteration; ironic triumphalist misunderstanding |
| Authority (challenged) | ἐξουσία | exousia | 權柄 | kyun4 beng3 | High | NEW (cf. Ch.1) | Same rendering discipline as Ch.1 |
Chapter 12
| Term | Greek | Transliteration | Cantonese | Jyutping | Risk | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cornerstone | κεφαλὴ γωνίας | kephalē gōnias | 房角石 | fong4 gok3 sek6 | Medium-High | NEW | Rejection-then-vindication pattern; fulfillment of prophecy |
| Render to Caesar | ἀποδίδωμι Καίσαρι | apodidōmi Kaisari | 歸凱撒 / 歸神 | gwai1 hoi2 saat3 / gwai1 san4 | High | NEW | Political-sensitivity flag, cf. Romans 13 precedent |
| Love (Great Commandment) | ἀγαπάω | agapaō | 愛 | oi3 | Low | NEW | Covenantal, not merely sentimental |
| Resurrection (general) | ἀνάστασις | anastasis | 復活 | fuk6 wut6 | Critical | Baseline reuse | Same forbidden substitutions as Christ’s resurrection |
Chapter 13
| Term | Greek | Transliteration | Cantonese | Jyutping | Risk | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Son of Man coming in clouds | υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐρχόμενος ἐν νεφέλαις | huios tou anthrōpou erchomenos en nephelais | 人子喺雲裡降臨 | jan4 zi2 hai2 wan4 leoi5 gong3 lam4 | Critical | NEW (cf. A) | Danielic glory dimension balancing suffering emphasis |
| Gospel to all nations | τὸ εὐαγγέλιον εἰς πάντα τὰ ἔθνη | to euangelion eis panta ta ethnē | 福音傳到萬民 | fuk1 jam1 cyun4 dou3 maan6 man4 | Medium | Baseline reuse framework | Cf. Mission to the Nations |
| Watch/be alert | γρηγορέω | grēgoreō | 警醒 | ging2 sing2 | Low-Medium | NEW | Not calendrical/almanac calculation |
Chapter 14
| Term | Greek | Transliteration | Cantonese | Jyutping | Risk | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| My body | τὸ σῶμά μου | to sōma mou | 我嘅身體 | ngo5 ge3 san1 tai2 | Critical | NEW | Guard against ancestor-offering-food assimilation |
| Blood of the covenant | τὸ αἷμά μου τῆς διαθήκης | to haima mou tēs diathēkēs | 立約嘅血 | lap6 joek3 ge3 hyut3 | Critical | Baseline reuse (約) | Once-for-all sacrifice, not repeated propitiation |
| Not my will but yours | οὐ τί ἐγὼ θέλω ἀλλὰ τί σύ | ou ti egō thelō alla ti sy | 唔係我想要嘅，係你想要嘅 | m4 hai6 ngo5 soeng2 jiu3 ge3, hai6 nei5 soeng2 jiu3 ge3 | High | NEW | Direct echo/reversal of 10:35’s θέλομεν |
| ”I am” (trial) | ἐγώ εἰμι | egō eimi | 係，我就係 | hai6, ngo5 zau6 hai6 | Critical | NEW | Confirmed divine claim by blasphemy charge |
Chapter 15
| Term | Greek | Transliteration | Cantonese | Jyutping | Risk | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| King of the Jews | βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων | basileus tōn Ioudaiōn | 猶太人嘅王 | jau4 taai3 jan4 ge3 wong4 | High | NEW | Ironic royal title amid humiliation |
| Cry of dereliction | Ἐλωΐ, Ἐλωΐ, λεμα σαβαχθανι | Elōi, Elōi, lema sabachthani | 以羅伊，以羅伊，拉馬撒罷厥大尼 | ji5 lo4 ji1, ji5 lo4 ji1, laai1 maa5 saat3 baa2 kyut3 daai6 nei4 | Critical | NEW | Ps 22:1 citation; genuine dereliction in bearing sin’s judgment |
| Temple curtain torn | τὸ καταπέτασμα… ἐσχίσθη | to katapetasma… eschisthē | 幔子裂開 | maan6 zi2 lit6 hoi1 | Medium | NEW | Once-for-all access, not repeatable ritual unveiling |
| ”Truly this man was the Son of God” | ἀληθῶς οὗτος ὁ ἄνθρωπος υἱὸς θεοῦ ἦν | alēthōs houtos ho anthrōpos huios theou ēn | 呢個人真係神嘅兒子 | nei1 go3 jan4 zan1 hai6 san4 ge3 ji4 zi2 | Critical | Baseline reuse (神嘅兒子) | Gospel’s climactic Gentile confession |
Chapter 16
| Term | Greek | Transliteration | Cantonese | Jyutping | Risk | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| He has risen | ἠγέρθη | ēgerthē | 復活 | fuk6 wut6 | Critical | Baseline reuse | Terminus of ch.5’s ἐγείρω register-distinction; never 投胎轉世/問米 |
| Proclaim the gospel (Great Commission) | κηρύξατε τὸ εὐαγγέλιον | kēryxate to euangelion | 傳福音 | cyun4 fuk1 jam1 | Medium | Baseline reuse framework | Textual-critical note on longer ending is editorial, not a rendering risk |
C. Risk Summary
| Risk Tier | Count of Distinct New/Highlighted Terms | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 14 | Human theologian review, every occurrence |
| High | 17 | Human theologian review |
| Medium | 20 | Native speaker review recommended |
| Low | 6 | Automated review sufficient |
Terms requiring mandatory human theologian review (Critical + High), consolidated: Teacher-title consistency (Low, excluded); Cup of suffering; Baptism of suffering; Prepared-by-God passive; Lord over/dominate (worldly); Domineer (abuse of authority); Slave/bondservant; Son of Man (all occurrences); Give one’s life (捨命); Ransom (贖價); Substitutionary ἀντί; Forgive; Blasphemy; Suffer (πάσχω); Life/soul (ψυχή); Transfigured; Hell (Gehenna); Son of David; Authority (ἐξουσία, all occurrences); Cornerstone; Render to Caesar; Son of Man coming in clouds; My body / Blood of the covenant; Not my will but yours; “I am” (trial); King of the Jews; Cry of dereliction; “Truly this man was the Son of God”; He has risen; Unclean spirit/demon; Save/heal/make well (σῴζω); Raise/get up (ἐγείρω register distinction).
Cross-reference: This glossary extends but never contradicts translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json from the Romans baseline. All baseline-reused terms above must be entered into the Mark-curriculum translation memory using the exact Cantonese string already recorded in the baseline; no new entry should be created for these terms, only a citation of additional chapter/verse occurrences.
Critical Risk Terms
Grace
Approved rendering: 恩典
Transliteration: jan1 din2
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: 福氣, 有求必應式嘅恩典, 功德
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original CRITICAL forbidden-substitution note retained (never Wong Tai Sin-style transactional 福氣; never Buddhist 功德). Mark-specific: underlies the grace-not-merit logic of 10:14-15 (kingdom received like a child) and 10:27 (‘with man it is impossible, but not with God’).
Righteousness
Approved rendering: 義
Transliteration: ji6
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: 道德, 善行
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original Confucian 義氣 collision note retained. Low direct occurrence in Mark’s narrative vocabulary but retained for cross-curriculum consistency and for any teaching material connecting Mark’s ransom/atonement material back to Romans’ forensic righteousness doctrine.
Justification
Approved rendering: 稱義
Transliteration: cing1 ji6
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: 修成正果, 還神還願
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original forbidden-substitution note retained (never 修成正果, 還神還願). Retained for cross-curriculum consistency; distinct from but adjacent to Mark’s 赦免 (forgive, 2:1-12) — do not conflate the two.
Salvation
Approved rendering: 救恩
Transliteration: gau3 jan1
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: 解脫, 超度, 大慈大悲救苦救難
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original CRITICAL forbidden-substitution note retained in full (never 解脫, 超度, never Guanyin’s stock epithet). Mark-specific: the noun 救恩 underlies the verb 救 used in the σῴζω (save_heal) entry below; keep the two lexically and doctrinally linked.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: 復活
Transliteration: fuk6 wut6
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 投胎轉世, 問米式嘅還魂
Original: ἀνάστασις / ἐγείρω
Category: Eschatology
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original CRITICAL forbidden-substitution note retained (never 投胎轉世, never 問米-style framing). Mark-specific: reserved strictly for resurrection-from-death contexts (8:31; 9:9-10,31; 10:34; 12:18-27; 16:1-8) and must NEVER be used for the ordinary ‘getting up’ register (起身) established for healing/sleep contexts (5:41; 9:27) — see raise_get_up entry below for the mandatory register-discipline rule.
Lord
Approved rendering: 主
Transliteration: zyu2
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 事頭, 老爺
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original 事頭/老爺 forbidden-substitution note retained. Mark-specific CRITICAL fencing rule: the verb chosen for the worldly ‘lording over’ of Mark 10:42 (see lord_over_dominate entry below) must NEVER be built on or echo this root 主, or the passage’s critique of abusive worldly rule will bleed into an implicit relativizing of Christ’s own exclusive Lordship. Also underlies 2:28 (‘the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath’) and 12:35-37 (David calling the Messiah ‘Lord’).
Son Of God
Approved rendering: 神嘅兒子
Transliteration: san4 ge3 ji4 zi2
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 天子, 神人
Original: υἱὸς θεοῦ
Category: Christology
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original CRITICAL forbidden-substitution note retained (never 天子, never abbreviate to 神人). Mark-specific: retain in full at every occurrence (1:1,11; 3:11; 5:7; 9:7; 14:61; 15:39). Mark stages the confession repeatedly at moments (baptism, Transfiguration, trial, cross) where a reader might otherwise default to an honorific-ruler frame; the centurion’s climactic confession (15:39, 呢個人真係神嘅兒子) is the Gospel’s narrative resolution of this title.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: 道成肉身
Transliteration: dou6 sing4 juk6 san1
Doctrine: Incarnation
Rejected alternatives: 化身, 顯靈
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original CRITICAL forbidden-substitution note retained (never 化身, never 顯靈). Mark-specific: this exact forbidden-substitution pair (化身/顯靈) must ALSO be strictly enforced for the Transfiguration (變像, 9:2-8, see transfigured entry below) — the Transfiguration is a one-time unveiling of Christ’s own permanent, pre-existing divine glory, not a second instance of incarnation, but shares the identical collision risk with Guanyin-style repeatable manifestation and shrine ‘power display’ language.
Messiah
Approved rendering: 基督
Transliteration: gei1 duk1
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Rejected alternatives: 彌勒, 黃大仙式嘅救世主
Original: Χριστός
Category: Christology
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original CRITICAL forbidden-substitution note retained (never 彌勒 Maitreya, never Wong Tai Sin-style wish-granting framing). Mark-specific: Peter’s confession (8:29, ‘You are the Christ’) is immediately followed by the first explicit Passion prediction (8:31) — teaching materials must keep messianic confession and suffering-necessity tightly joined, resisting a triumphalist-only reading.
Jesus
Approved rendering: 耶穌
Transliteration: je4 sou1
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: God
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Standard transliteration throughout Mark 1-16.
God
Approved rendering: 神
Transliteration: san4
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 天主, 上帝, 老天爺
Original: θεός
Category: God
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original CRITICAL forbidden-substitution note retained in full (never 天主, 上帝, 老天爺; consistency choice, not a claim those terms are wrong). Applies throughout Mark 1-16 without exception.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: 聖靈
Transliteration: sing3 ling4
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: 問米嘅靈, 祖先靈
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον
Category: God
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original CRITICAL forbidden-substitution note retained (never bare 靈 alone). Mark-specific: this distinction is especially load-bearing at 3:29 (blasphemy against the Holy Spirit as the unforgivable sin) — any drift toward a generic ‘spirit’ reading would blur the specific divine Person in view and risk conflation with the folk spirit-world (see unclean_spirit_demon entry below).
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: 算為義
Transliteration: syun3 wai4 ji6
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: 修成正果嘅義, 自義
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original CRITICAL forbidden-substitution note retained. Not directly used in Mark’s own vocabulary; retained for cross-curriculum consistency.
Son Of Man
Approved rendering: 人子
Transliteration: jan4 zi2
Doctrine: The Son of Man Title’s Full Range
Rejected alternatives: 神人, 天子
Original: ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου
Category: Christology
NEW. Fuses Daniel 7:13-14’s exalted heavenly figure who receives everlasting dominion with Isaiah 53’s Suffering Servant who gives his life for others; Mark’s central self-designation for Jesus. CRITICAL: without Daniel 7 background (assumed low OT literacy among Hong Kong readers), 人子 reads as merely ‘a human being’s son,’ losing the divine-authority dimension entirely, and risks being treated as a simple synonym of 神嘅兒子 rather than a distinct-but-united title. Mandatory theologian review with Daniel 7 teaching note at every occurrence: 2:10,28; 8:31,38; 9:9,31; 10:33,45; 13:26; 14:21,41,62.
Son Of Man Glorious Return
Approved rendering: 人子喺雲裡降臨
Transliteration: jan4 zi2 hai2 wan4 leoi5 gong3 lam4
Doctrine: The Son of Man Title’s Full Range
Original: ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐρχόμενος ἐν νεφέλαις
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Mark 13:26, drawing directly on Daniel 7:13-14’s enthronement-and-dominion imagery — the clearest Markan statement of the Danielic (glorious, not merely suffering) dimension of the Son of Man title. Must be taught alongside 10:45 and 2:10 so learners see the title’s full range.
Ego Eimi Trial Confession
Approved rendering: 係，我就係
Transliteration: hai6, ngo5 zau6 hai6
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: ἐγώ εἰμι
Category: Christology
NEW. Mark 14:62, Jesus’ unambiguous self-identification as Christ, Son of Man, and (implicitly) Son of God before the Sanhedrin, immediately met with the blasphemy charge — textual proof a divine claim was heard. Mandatory theologian review with teaching notes on the combined Daniel 7:13/Psalm 110:1 citation that follows.
Centurions Confession
Approved rendering: 呢個人真係神嘅兒子
Transliteration: nei1 go3 jan4 zan1 hai6 san4 ge3 ji4 zi2
Doctrine: Jesus as the Suffering Servant and Son of God
Original: ἀληθῶς οὗτος ὁ ἄνθρωπος υἱὸς θεοῦ ἦν
Category: Christology
NEW. Uses the baseline son_of_god phrase (神嘅兒子) exactly. Mark 15:39 — a Roman centurion’s Gentile confession at the foot of the cross, the Gospel’s climactic recognition of Christ’s divine Sonship, arriving precisely at the moment of his humiliation and death, not his triumph — the narrative resolution of the Suffering-Servant-and-Son-of-God paradox.
Transfigured
Approved rendering: 變像
Transliteration: bin3 zoeng6
Doctrine: Transfiguration and Christ’s Divine Glory
Rejected alternatives: 化身, 顯靈
Original: μεταμορφόω
Category: Christology
NEW. Mark 9:2-8. Must be sharply distinguished from the baseline’s forbidden incarnation substitutions 化身 (Guanyin-style repeatable manifestation) and 顯靈 (shrine deity power-display). This is a one-time revelatory unveiling of Christ’s own pre-existing, permanent divine glory, confirmed by the Father’s voice — not an avatar-style appearance and not a shrine-deity power display. Mandatory theologian review.
Ransom
Approved rendering: 贖價
Transliteration: suk6 gaa3
Doctrine: The Ransom for Many
Rejected alternatives: 功德, 還債, 還神還願
Original: λύτρον
Category: Atonement
NEW. Mark 10:45 — the theological climax of the core passage. CRITICAL: Hong Kong commercial life gives 贖 a helpful everyday sense (贖金 kidnap-ransom, 贖樓 mortgage-redemption, 當舖 pawnshop redemption) that can aid comprehension, but a Buddhist karmic-debt frame (功德, 還債) or the temple vow-fulfillment exchange pattern (還神還願, already forbidden for grace/salvation/justification) risks recasting the ransom as an impersonal cosmic ledger settlement or something the sinner still owes. Teaching notes must state explicitly: paid TO God, BY Christ himself, voluntarily, liberating FROM sin’s guilt and power — never earned by the sinner, never extracted from God, never an impersonal ledger settlement. Mandatory theologian review at every occurrence.
Substitutionary Anti
Approved rendering: 作多人嘅贖價 (implicit substitution; consider 代替 in commentary)
Transliteration: zok3 do1 jan4 ge3 suk6 gaa3 / doi6 tai3
Doctrine: The Ransom for Many
Original: ἀντὶ πολλῶν
Category: Atonement
NEW. ἀντὶ πολλῶν, Mark 10:45 — ‘in the place of/instead of many,’ distinct from ὑπέρ (‘on behalf of,’ used at 14:24); the strongest single Markan warrant for vicarious/substitutionary atonement, echoing Isaiah 53:11-12. CUV’s established rendering conveys substitution implicitly through 作…嘅贖價 rather than an explicit ‘instead of’ word. Flag for theologian decision: retain CUV’s implicit construction in the Scripture-text rendering for continuity with the wider Cantonese Bible-reading tradition, but supplement with explicit 代替 (doi6 tai3) language in curriculum commentary so learners without Greek access do not miss the vicarious-substitution force.
Give Ones Life
Approved rendering: 捨命
Transliteration: se2 meng6
Doctrine: The Ransom for Many
Rejected alternatives: 交出靈魂, 靈魂
Original: δοῦναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ
Category: Atonement
NEW. δοῦναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ, Mark 10:45. NEVER render ψυχή here as 靈魂 (‘soul/spirit’), which would import a folk-religious detachable-spirit framing (resonant with 問米 mediumship and Buddhist/Daoist soul-transmigration concepts) that destroys the atonement meaning. The voluntary, agentive sense (‘he GIVES,’ not ‘it is taken from him’) must be preserved.
Baptism Metaphorical Suffering
Approved rendering: 洗 / 受洗
Transliteration: sai2 / sau6 sai2
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross
Original: βάπτισμα / βαπτίζομαι
Category: Discipleship
NEW. βάπτισμα/βαπτίζομαι, Mark 10:38-39, metaphorical immersion/overwhelming in suffering — Jesus’ own coming Passion. The established church term’s strong ritual-rite association from ordinary church usage means the suffering-metaphor sense will NOT be recovered by readers without explicit unpacking. Mandatory theologian review; translator note required distinguishing this metaphorical ‘baptism of suffering’ from the water rite proper (see baptism_water_rite below).
My Body
Approved rendering: 我嘅身體
Transliteration: ngo5 ge3 san1 tai2
Doctrine: Institution of the Lord’s Supper
Original: τὸ σῶμά μου
Category: Sacraments
NEW. Mark 14:22. Flag for theologian review to ensure the Lord’s Supper language is not assimilated to Chinese ancestor-offering food-ritual imagery (拜祭, offering food to the deceased) — the Supper proclaims a once-for-all completed sacrifice received by faith, not a repeated propitiatory offering or a meal shared with/for the dead.
Blood Of The Covenant
Approved rendering: 立約嘅血
Transliteration: lap6 joek3 ge3 hyut3
Doctrine: Institution of the Lord’s Supper
Original: τὸ αἷμά μου τῆς διαθήκης
Category: Sacraments
NEW. Mark 14:24, using the baseline covenant term (約) exactly. Note ὑπέρ here (beneficiary sense) alongside the ἀντί of 10:45 (substitutionary sense); both together build the full atonement picture and should be taught jointly.
Cry Of Dereliction
Approved rendering: 以羅伊，以羅伊，拉馬撒罷厥大尼
Transliteration: ji5 lo4 ji1, ji5 lo4 ji1, laai1 maa5 saat3 baa2 kyut3 daai6 nei4
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross
Original: Ἐλωΐ, Ἐλωΐ, λεμα σαβαχθανι
Category: Atonement
NEW. Mark 15:34, quoting Psalm 22:1 in Aramaic, with the translation given immediately in-text per established CUV convention. Mandatory theologian review given the doctrinal weight (the mystery of the Son’s forsakenness in bearing sin’s judgment) and pastoral sensitivity required. Do not drop the transliteration in favor of only the Chinese gloss — it removes the historical/eyewitness texture and the bystanders’ recorded misunderstanding (‘he is calling Elijah’).
Lord Over Dominate
Approved rendering: 轄制 / 欺壓
Transliteration: hat6 zai3 / hip1 aat3
Doctrine: Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness
Rejected alternatives: 主宰, 統治
Original: κατακυριεύω
Category: Discipleship
NEW. κατακυριεύουσιν, Mark 10:42 — an intensive compound of κύριος (‘lord’), ‘to lord it over, exercise total mastery as over a slave.’ CRITICAL: shares the κύριος root with Christ’s own exclusive, saving Lordship (主, baseline Critical); the chosen Cantonese verb must clearly convey oppressive domineering and must NEVER be built on or echo 主, lest readers hear the passage as relativizing Christ’s own Lordship rather than condemning worldly rulers’ abusive imitation of it. Mandatory translator note at every occurrence.
Unclean Spirit Demon
Approved rendering: 污鬼 / 邪靈
Transliteration: wu1 gwai2 / ce4 ling4
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Nature and the Demonic Realm
Original: πνεῦμα ἀκάθαρτον / δαιμόνιον
Category: Authority
NEW. πνεῦμα ἀκάθαρτον/δαιμόνιον, first exorcism 1:23-27, and throughout (5:1-20; 9:14-29). Direct collision risk with Hong Kong’s active folk-religious spirit world — ancestral ghosts, temple spirits, and spirits contacted through 問米 mediumship all fall under everyday Cantonese 鬼 vocabulary. Mandatory translator note at every occurrence: these are evil supernatural beings in active rebellion against God, categorically distinct from ancestral spirits or any spirit consulted through folk-mediumship practice; never frame an exorcism as analogous to a 問米 session or temple exorcism ritual (法師驅鬼).
Suffering Servant Title
Approved rendering: 受苦嘅僕人
Transliteration: sau6 fu2 ge3 jung6 jan4
Doctrine: Jesus as the Suffering Servant and Son of God
NEW COINAGE. No fixed Cantonese phrase exists in either the Romans baseline or elsewhere for this specific Isaiah 42/49/50/53 technical title, though it is structurally essential to this curriculum and to Mark 10:45’s echo of Isaiah 53:11-12. Coined from established vocabulary (受苦 + 僕人); gloss at first use with an explicit Isaiah 53 citation. MUST be fenced clearly from the discipleship-ethic use of 僕人/用人 (servant_minister, slave_bondservant) — the Christological title and the discipleship paradigm share root vocabulary but must not collapse into each other.
High Risk Terms
Faith
Approved rendering: 信心
Transliteration: seon3 sam1
Doctrine: Faith and Discipleship amid Fear
Rejected alternatives: 虔誠, 睇相算命式嘅相信
Original: πίστις / πιστεύω
Category: Faith
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original note retained: personal trust in Christ, distinguished from generic piety and from 睇相算命 fortune-telling confidence. Mark-specific: central to 5:34, 9:23-24 (‘I believe; help my unbelief’), 10:52; must hold genuine faith and residual doubt together without dissolving the tension.
Called
Approved rendering: 蒙召嘅
Transliteration: mung4 siu6 ge3
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: 天生註定, 命中注定
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original 八字/命中注定 forbidden-substitution note retained. Mark-specific: underlies the calling of the first disciples (1:16-20) and the sending of the Twelve (3:13-19; 6:7).
Calling
Approved rendering: 呼召
Transliteration: fu1 siu6
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: 命運, 緣分
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original 命運/緣分 forbidden-substitution note retained.
Holy
Approved rendering: 聖潔
Transliteration: sing3 git3
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: 清淨, 戒口修行式嘅潔淨
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original note retained. Mark-specific: contrasts with the heart-purity teaching of 7:14-23 (see clean_defiled entry below), which redefines defilement as a matter of the heart rather than ritual/dietary status.
Saints
Approved rendering: 聖徒
Transliteration: sing3 tou4
Doctrine: Sainthood
Rejected alternatives: 神仙, 得道高人
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original 神仙/得道高人 forbidden-substitution note retained. Low direct occurrence in Mark; retained for cross-curriculum consistency.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: 成聖
Transliteration: sing4 sing3
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: 修煉, 戒除惡習
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original note retained.
Adoption
Approved rendering: 兒子嘅名分
Transliteration: ji4 zi2 ge3 ming4 fan6
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: 過繼, 認契仔
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original 過繼/認契仔 forbidden-substitution note retained. Mark-specific: illuminates 3:31-35’s redefinition of true kinship (‘whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother’) — teach as priority of belonging to God’s family, never as rejection of filial duty (孝順) as such.
Law
Approved rendering: 律法
Transliteration: leot6 faat3
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: 禮, 規矩, 法律
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original 禮/規矩/法律 forbidden-substitution note retained. Mark-specific: summarized by the Great Commandment (12:28-34) and the subject of the tradition-of-the-elders controversy (7:1-13).
Sin
Approved rendering: 罪
Transliteration: zeoi6
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: 報應, 唔衰得
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original 報應 (karmic retribution) forbidden-substitution note retained — this caution is ESPECIALLY load-bearing in Mark for the δεῖ (‘must suffer’) necessity language of the Passion predictions (8:31; 9:31; 10:33-34), which must never resonate with impersonal karmic inevitability. Underlies 罪人 (sinner, 2:15-17) and 赦免 (forgive, 2:1-12) below.
Glory
Approved rendering: 榮耀
Transliteration: wing4 jiu6
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 面子, 威水
Original: δόξα
Category: God
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original 面子/威水 forbidden-substitution note retained; risk tier ELEVATED from the baseline’s Medium to High for this curriculum given Mark 10:37’s direct dramatization of the error (James and John misreading Christ’s future Danielic enthronement glory, cf. Dan 7:13-14, as an earthly court’s seating hierarchy). Also occurs at 8:38 and 13:26 (Son of Man coming in glory).
Obedience Of Faith
Approved rendering: 因信而生嘅順服
Transliteration: jan1 seon3 ji4 sang1 ge3 seon6 fuk6
Doctrine: Obedience of Faith
Rejected alternatives: 孝順, 還神還願式嘅順服
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original 孝順/還神還願 forbidden-substitution note retained. No direct fixed-phrase occurrence in Mark; retained for cross-curriculum consistency and as conceptual background to Mark’s obedience-through-discipleship teaching (e.g. 8:34, ‘take up his cross and follow me’).
Power Of God
Approved rendering: 神嘅大能
Transliteration: san4 ge3 daai6 nang4
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Rejected alternatives: 法力, 風水嘅力量
Original: δύναμις
Category: Authority
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original 法力/風水嘅力量 forbidden-substitution note retained. Mark-specific: renders δύναμις in the healing-miracle summaries (6:2,5); NEVER attribute Jesus’ miracle-working power to a medium’s ritual power or to feng shui arrangement.
Covenant
Approved rendering: 約
Transliteration: joek3
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: 合約, 還神還願嘅承諾
Original: διαθήκη
Category: Covenant
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original 合約/還神還願 forbidden-substitution note retained. Mark-specific: the Last Supper’s ‘blood of the covenant’ (14:24, see blood_of_the_covenant entry below) is the load-bearing occurrence — must never be assimilated to a commercial contract or a temple vow-fulfillment exchange.
Election
Approved rendering: 揀選
Transliteration: gaan2 syun2
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: 命運, 八字注定
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original 命運/八字注定 forbidden-substitution note retained. Retained for cross-curriculum consistency.
Providence
Approved rendering: 神嘅護理
Transliteration: san4 ge3 wu6 lei5
Doctrine: Providence
Rejected alternatives: 天意, 運程
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original 天意/運程 forbidden-substitution note retained. Mark-specific: underlies 10:40’s divine passive ἡτοίμασται (‘it has been prepared’) — see prepared_by_god entry below — and the eschatological watchfulness teaching (13:24-37), which must not be taught as calendrical fortune-forecasting.
Father
Approved rendering: 父
Transliteration: fu6
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: 祖先, 老竇式嘅父
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original ancestor-veneration forbidden-substitution note retained. Mark-specific: intimately paired with 阿爸 at Gethsemane (14:36) and confirmed by the divine voice at the baptism (1:11) and Transfiguration (9:7).
Abba
Approved rendering: 阿爸
Transliteration: aa3 baa1
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: Ἀββά
Category: God
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original note retained. Mark-specific: Mark 14:36 is the Gospel’s occurrence, directly preceding the total self-surrender ‘not what I will, but what you will’ — the thematic and lexical counterpoint to James and John’s self-willed θέλομεν at 10:35 (see not_my_will_but_yours entry below).
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: 大衛嘅後裔
Transliteration: daai6 wai6 ge3 hau6 jeoi6
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original note retained (Romans 1:3 phrasing). DISTINCT from but must be taught alongside the new Mark-specific son_of_david entry (大衛嘅子孫, υἱὸς Δαυίδ) below — same Davidic covenant thread, different Greek phrase; a translator note should clarify the relationship so the thread is legible across both curricula.
Son Of David
Approved rendering: 大衛嘅子孫
Transliteration: daai6 wai6 ge3 zi2 syun1
Doctrine: Davidic Messianic Lineage
Original: υἱὸς Δαυίδ
Category: Christology
NEW. Distinct Greek phrase (υἱὸς Δαυίδ) from the baseline’s seed_of_david (σπέρμα Δαυίδ, Rom 1:3), though referring to the same lineage promise. Occurs at Bartimaeus’s cry (10:47-48) and the Davidic-messiah debate (12:35-37). Risk: without OT covenant background, may be heard as a generic ancestral-lineage honorific comparable to Pearl River Delta clan-genealogy pride (族譜/祠堂 culture), rather than fulfillment of a specific divine covenant promise.
Ego Eimi Theophany
Approved rendering: 係我
Transliteration: hai6 ngo5
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: ἐγώ εἰμι
Category: Christology
NEW. ‘I am’ spoken by Jesus walking on the water (6:50) amid the disciples’ fear; carries Exodus 3:14 LXX / Isaiah 41:4, 43:10 divine self-disclosure resonance not surfaced by a plain 係我 rendering without a teaching note. Cf. the parallel, doctrinally confirmed occurrence at 14:62 (ego_eimi_trial_confession).
King Of The Jews
Approved rendering: 猶太人嘅王
Transliteration: jau4 taai3 jan4 ge3 wong4
Doctrine: Jesus as the Suffering Servant and Son of God
Original: ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων
Category: Christology
NEW. Ironic royal-messianic title repeatedly applied to Jesus by Pilate, the soldiers, and the mocking inscription (15:2,9,12,18,26). Low lexical risk but High doctrinal-literary significance: the title’s ironic repetition must be rendered identically across every occurrence so the irony (mockery unintentionally proclaiming truth) is not lost.
Cup Of Suffering
Approved rendering: 杯
Transliteration: bui1
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross
Original: ποτήριον
Category: Discipleship
NEW. ποτήριον, Mark 10:38-39; echoed at Gethsemane 14:36. OT metaphor for one’s appointed portion, especially the cup of divine wrath/judgment or suffering (Ps 75:8; Isa 51:17). Risk: Hong Kong Cantonese banquet culture’s celebratory idiom 飲杯 (‘drink up/toast’) sits directly adjacent; without an explicit teaching gloss readers risk hearing a toast rather than a metaphor for appointed suffering. Must be flagged for translator/study-note clarification, not left as a bare literal noun in the base translation text.
Forgive
Approved rendering: 赦免
Transliteration: se3 min5
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sin (Forgiveness)
Rejected alternatives: 原諒
Original: ἀφίημι
Category: Atonement
NEW. ἀφίημι, Mark 2:5,7,9-10 — a divine prerogative, exercised by Jesus and provoking the scribes’ blasphemy charge. Distinguish from social reconciliation/interpersonal ‘letting go’ (原諒); this is removal of guilt before God, a forensic-relational act paralleling but distinct from the baseline’s justification (稱義) entry — do not conflate the two.
Save Heal
Approved rendering: 醫好 / 救 (context-dependent)
Transliteration: ji1 hou2 / gau3
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sickness
Original: σῴζω
Category: Authority
NEW. σῴζω spans both physical healing and spiritual/eschatological salvation in Greek; Cantonese has no single verb spanning both senses. Choose contextually between 醫好/痛好 (physical healing) and the baseline’s reserved 救 root (救恩, salvation) without collapsing the two or losing Mark’s deliberate wordplay (5:23,28,34’s ‘your faith has made you well’). Flag for theologian review at each occurrence (5:23,28,34; 6:56; 10:52) to decide whether a footnote should surface the dual sense.
Slave Bondservant
Approved rendering: 僕人
Transliteration: buk6 jan4
Doctrine: Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness
Original: δοῦλος
Category: Discipleship
NEW. δοῦλος, Mark 10:44. Established CUV rendering does not carry the full chattel-slavery force of δοῦλος, since Hong Kong has no cultural memory of an institution directly comparable to Greco-Roman slavery. Historical background on Greco-Roman slavery must be supplied so the rhetorical escalation from διάκονος (9:35) to δοῦλος (10:44) is not lost. Must NOT be drawn into equivalence with contemporary Hong Kong foreign domestic worker labor dynamics — historically inaccurate and pastorally/politically sensitive.
Domineer Abuse Authority
Approved rendering: 濫用權柄
Transliteration: laam6 jung6 kyun4 beng3
Doctrine: Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness
Original: κατεξουσιάζω
Category: Discipleship
NEW. κατεξουσιάζουσιν, Mark 10:42, intensive compound of ἐξουσία (‘authority’). Shares its root with the ἐξουσία Jesus himself legitimately possesses (1:22,27; 2:10; 11:28-33) and must be sharply distinguished from it — always qualify with ‘abuse of’ (濫用) so it cannot blur into Jesus’ own legitimate authority.
Prepared By God
Approved rendering: 預備
Transliteration: jyu6 bei6
Doctrine: Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness
Original: ἡτοίμασται
Category: Discipleship
NEW. ἡτοίμασται, Mark 10:40 — a divine passive; the implied agent is God the Father, who has already sovereignly fixed the seats of glory. Preserve the passive construction so divine sovereign appointment — not human merit or successful petition — is retained, echoing the baseline’s insistence that standing before God is never transactionally earned.
Life Soul Disciple
Approved rendering: 生命
Transliteration: sang1 ming6
Doctrine: Self-Denial and Cross-Bearing
Rejected alternatives: 靈魂
Original: ψυχή
Category: Discipleship
NEW. ψυχή, Mark 8:35-37 (‘whoever would save his life will lose it… forfeit his soul’). Render as 生命 (whole-self) in the save/lose-one’s-life clauses, reserving any use of 靈魂 only where the rhetorical point specifically concerns eternal destiny of the whole person — and even then with a clarifying note against detachable-spirit folk-religious readings, consistent with the caution at 10:45 (give_ones_life).
Not My Will But Yours
Approved rendering: 唔係我想要嘅，係你想要嘅
Transliteration: m4 hai6 ngo5 soeng2 jiu3 ge3, hai6 nei5 soeng2 jiu3 ge3
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross
Original: οὐ τί ἐγὼ θέλω ἀλλὰ τί σύ
Category: Discipleship
NEW. Mark 14:36, Gethsemane. Direct thematic and lexical counterpoint to James and John’s self-willed θέλομεν at 10:35. Translator note required to preserve the intratextual echo/reversal — use the same verb root (想/願意) at both passages so the deliberate contrast between self-assertive and self-surrendering will is not lost.
Authority
Approved rendering: 權柄
Transliteration: kyun4 beng3
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature
Original: ἐξουσία
Category: Authority
NEW. ἐξουσία, threads through the whole Gospel (1:22,27 teaching/exorcism; 2:10 forgiving sins; 11:28-33 temple challenge), contrasted with the abusive worldly ἐξουσία of 10:42 (see domineer_abuse_authority). Must be distinguished from state/political authority framing and from feng-shui-attributed power; Jesus’ 權柄 is personal, divine, and salvific.
Raise Get Up
Approved rendering: 起身 (healing) / 復活 (resurrection, reserved)
Transliteration: hei2 san1 / fuk6 wut6
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Original: ἐγείρω
Category: Authority
NEW. ἐγείρω spans ordinary ‘getting up’ from sickness/sleep and, in a different register, resurrection from death. MANDATORY REGISTER DISCIPLINE: use 起身 for ordinary/healing contexts (5:41 Talitha cumi; 9:27) and reserve 復活 strictly for resurrection-from-death contexts (12:18-27; 16:6). NEVER use 復活 for a merely physical ‘getting up,’ and NEVER let 起身 be used where the text intends resurrection, to avoid diluting the baseline’s Critical resurrection safeguard.
Hell Gehenna
Approved rendering: 地獄
Transliteration: dei6 juk6
Doctrine: Judgment and Hell
Original: γέεννα
Category: Eschatology
NEW. γέεννα, Mark 9:43-48. Significant collision risk: Hong Kong Cantonese folk-religious culture maintains an active, vivid Yama-court/hell-judgment imaginary (十殿閻羅, the Ten Courts of Hell; burning ‘hell money’/paper offerings 陰司紙 for deceased relatives) that biblical Gehenna does not share — no ongoing ancestor-provisioning transaction, no purgatorial courts, no ritual remedy through paper-money offerings. Teaching materials must explicitly distinguish biblical final judgment from this folk cosmology.
Blasphemy
Approved rendering: 褻瀆
Transliteration: sit3 duk6
Doctrine: Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit
Original: βλασφημία
Category: Sin
NEW. βλασφημία, Mark 3:29 — attributing the Spirit’s saving work to Satan, declared the unforgivable sin. Doctrinally sensitive teaching point requiring careful, pastorally responsible framing; must not be misapplied as a blanket unforgivability threat detached from its specific referent, nor softened (e.g. ‘very hard to forgive’ instead of ‘never’).
Render To Caesar
Approved rendering: 歸凱撒 / 歸神
Transliteration: gwai1 hoi2 saat3 / gwai1 san4
Doctrine: Civil Authority and God’s Ultimate Claim
Original: ἀποδίδωμι Καίσαρι
Category: Ethics
NEW. ἀποδίδωμι Καίσαρι, Mark 12:13-17. Directly analogous to the baseline’s Romans-13 political-sensitivity caution: given Hong Kong’s political climate around sovereignty and loyalty language, keep this doctrinally framed (God’s total claim, civil obligation as a subordinate, limited good) without contemporary political application in either direction. Native speaker and, where public-facing, theologian review recommended.
Cornerstone
Approved rendering: 房角石
Transliteration: fong4 gok3 sek6
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross
Original: κεφαλὴ γωνίας
Category: Covenant
NEW. κεφαλὴ γωνίας, Mark 12:10-11, quoting Ps 118:22-23 within the Parable of the Tenants. Directly prefigures the crucifixion-then-vindication pattern; ties Necessity of the Cross to OT fulfillment-of-prophecy patterns.
Divine Necessity Dei
Approved rendering: 必須
Transliteration: bit1 seoi1
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross
Rejected alternatives: 將會, 命中注定, 八字注定
NEW COINAGE (fixed rendering). δεῖ governing the Passion predictions (8:31; 9:31; 10:33-34; 14:21). Must convey purposive, personal divine necessity grounded in God’s redemptive plan foretold in Scripture, NEVER karmic inevitability (報應) or the baseline’s already-forbidden fatalistic register (命中注定, 八字注定) used for called/election. Do not weaken to mere futurity (將會).
Messianic Secret Label
Approved rendering: 彌賽亞身份嘅奧秘
Transliteration: mei4 coi3 aa3 san4 fan6 ge3 ou3 bei3
Doctrine: The Messianic Secret
Rejected alternatives: 彌賽亞嘅秘密
NEW COINAGE. No fixed Cantonese doctrine-name exists for this scholarly-construct label; a literal ‘秘密’ (secret) risks an occult/concealment connotation resonating with divinatory ‘hidden knowledge’ practice. Adopt this phrase, reusing the already-established 奧秘 (mystery) rather than 秘密, anchoring the doctrine label to ‘revealed-yet-veiled divine truth.‘
Talitha Cumi
Approved rendering: 大利大，古米
Transliteration: daai6 lei6 daai6, gu2 mai5
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sickness
NEW. Ταλιθὰ κοὺμ, Mark 5:41 — an Aramaic phrase Mark leaves untranslated, structurally parallel to Abba (14:36) and Eloi Eloi (15:34). Transliterate with an immediate in-text gloss (‘小女孩，我對你講，起來！’). The gloss must explicitly state this is an intimacy-marker in a healing context, not a magical formula, to avoid a 問米-incantation reading.
Temple Jerusalem
Approved rendering: 聖殿
Transliteration: sing3 din6
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross
Rejected alternatives: 廟
NEW. ναός/ἱερόν, the Jerusalem Temple (11:15-17; 13:2; 14:58; 15:38). Must be fenced from 廟 (generic folk/Daoist/Buddhist temple, already forbidden for church) in BOTH directions: (a) do not collapse 聖殿 into ordinary 廟 vocabulary, losing its covenant significance; (b) do not let Jesus’ Temple-critique be taught as generic anti-religious-building sentiment flattering contemporary secular skepticism toward temple religion generally. 聖殿 is a legitimate OT/NT covenant institution being critiqued and superseded, not a false institution comparable to a pagan shrine.
Suffer
Approved rendering: 受苦
Transliteration: sau6 fu2
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross
NEW. πάσχω, Mark 8:31 and the Passion-prediction cluster. The accompanying δεῖ (‘must’) must be rendered with divine_necessity_dei (必須) to preserve divine necessity/purpose, never mere unfortunate happenstance or karmic inevitability.
Medium Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: 福音
Transliteration: fuk1 jam1
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: 好消息, 喜訊
Original: εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Kingdom
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original note retained: shared written form with Mandarin, but heard through Hong Kong/Guangdong commercial-luck culture (福 as in 恭喜發財); teaching must be explicit the gospel announces salvation, not prosperity. Mark-specific: functions as the literary title of the whole book at 1:1, and appears in the Great Commission material at 13:10 and 16:15.
Peace
Approved rendering: 平安
Transliteration: ping4 on1
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: 平安符式嘅平安, 老黃曆話嘅好日子
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original note retained. Low direct occurrence in Mark; retained for cross-curriculum consistency.
Spiritual Gifts
Approved rendering: 屬靈恩賜
Transliteration: suk6 ling4 jan1 ci3
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts
Rejected alternatives: 法力, 神通
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original 法力/神通 forbidden-substitution note retained. Not directly used in Mark’s narrative vocabulary; retained for cross-curriculum consistency, especially adjacent to the Twelve’s delegated exorcism/healing authority (6:7-13).
Church
Approved rendering: 教會
Transliteration: gaau3 wui2
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: 廟, 祠堂
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original 廟/祠堂 forbidden-substitution note retained. Mark-specific note: this 廟-avoidance rule is DISTINCT from and must NOT be confused with the temple_jerusalem (聖殿) entry below — the Jerusalem Temple is a legitimate OT/NT covenant institution Jesus critiques and supersedes, not a pagan shrine comparable to 廟.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: 神嘅國
Transliteration: san4 ge3 gwok3
Doctrine: The Kingdom of God Breaking In
Rejected alternatives: 天下, 王朝
Original: ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Kingdom
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original 天下/王朝 forbidden-substitution note retained. Mark-specific: at 1:15 the perfect-tense ἤγγικεν (‘has drawn near’) must be rendered to preserve present in-breaking arrival (e.g. 臨近咗/到咗), not a merely future prediction; reinforced by the growth parables (4:26-32) and the childlike-receptivity teaching (10:14-15). Given Hong Kong’s political sensitivities around sovereignty and loyalty language, keep strictly framed as God’s spiritual reign, never a political program.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: 外邦人
Transliteration: ngoi6 bong1 jan4
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: 外江佬, 鄉下人
Original: τὰ ἔθνη
Category: Church
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original 外江佬/鄉下人 forbidden-substitution note retained. Mark-specific: at 10:42 ἔθνη refers to worldly/pagan political rulers as an illustrative foil for abusive lordship, NOT the Romans doctrine of Jew/Gentile ecclesial unity — a translator/study note is required at 10:42 to prevent learners importing the wrong theological category. The ordinary missionary sense recurs at 13:10.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: 預言
Transliteration: jyu6 jin4
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: 求籤, 睇風水擇日
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original 求籤/睇風水擇日 forbidden-substitution note retained. Mark-specific: underlies the cornerstone/rejected-stone motif (12:10-11, Ps 118:22-23) and the Daniel 7 background for the Son of Man title (13:26).
Intercession
Approved rendering: 代求
Transliteration: doi6 kau4
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Rejected alternatives: 求籤代辦, 問米
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original 求籤代辦/問米 forbidden-substitution note retained. Mark-specific: relevant background to Jesus’ Gethsemane prayer (14:32-42) and to prayer teaching at 11:24-25.
Mission
Approved rendering: 宣教
Transliteration: syun1 gaau3
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
Rejected alternatives: 洋教傳播
Original: ἀποστέλλω / ἀποστολή
Category: Church
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original note retained. Mark-specific: underlies the sending of the Twelve (6:7, see send_apostolic entry below) and the Great Commission material (13:10; 16:15).
David
Approved rendering: 大衛
Transliteration: daai6 wai6
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: Δαυίδ
Category: Covenant
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Standard proper name form. Mark-specific: underlies the Son of David title (10:47-48; 12:35-37, see son_of_david entry below) and the cornerstone/Ps 118 motif (12:10-11).
Israel
Approved rendering: 以色列
Transliteration: ji5 sik1 lit6
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Standard proper name form; retained for cross-curriculum consistency.
Baptism Water Rite
Approved rendering: 洗 / 受洗
Transliteration: sai2 / sau6 sai2
Doctrine: Repentance and the Kingdom
Original: βάπτισμα / βαπτίζω
Category: Sacraments
NEW. John’s baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (1:4), and Jesus’ own baptism (1:9-11), at which the Father’s voice and the Spirit’s descent occur. This literal water-rite sense is the base from which the metaphorical extension at 10:38-39 deliberately departs; keep the two senses distinguished across teaching notes despite sharing one lexeme.
Temple Curtain Torn
Approved rendering: 幔子裂開
Transliteration: maan6 zi2 lit6 hoi1
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross
Original: τὸ καταπέτασμα τοῦ ναοῦ ἐσχίσθη
Category: Atonement
NEW. Mark 15:38. Must be distinguished from any ritual curtain-drawing practice at a shrine (e.g. revealing a deity’s image) — the torn curtain signifies completed, once-for-all access to God, not a repeatable ritual unveiling.
Follow Discipleship
Approved rendering: 跟從
Transliteration: gan1 cung4
Doctrine: Faith and Discipleship amid Fear
Original: ἀκολουθέω
Category: Discipleship
NEW. ἀκολουθέω, established. Must be distinguished from mere admiration or opportunistic crowd-following (cf. the ‘great crowds’ elsewhere, e.g. ch.6); true committed discipleship is developed fully at 8:34 (‘take up his cross and follow me’).
Servant Minister
Approved rendering: 用人
Transliteration: jung6 jan4
Doctrine: Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness
Rejected alternatives: 執事
Original: διάκονος
Category: Discipleship
NEW. διάκονος, 9:35; 10:43. Established CUV rendering. Contemporary Hong Kong usage can evoke domestic-helper/household-staff employment relationships; present strictly as a discipleship paradigm-word, never a commentary on today’s foreign domestic worker employment dynamics. Do NOT render as 執事 (the later technical ‘deacon’ office term); reserve that for a future Acts/Epistles package.
Cross
Approved rendering: 十字架
Transliteration: sap6 zi6 gaa3
Doctrine: Self-Denial and Cross-Bearing
Original: σταυρός
Category: Discipleship
NEW. σταυρός, Mark 8:34. Established Christian rendering. Cantonese colloquial idiom already uses ‘揹十字架’ loosely for ‘a heavy burden’ in secular speech; teaching materials must retain the concrete, literal reality of Roman crucifixion — a specific, shameful, agonizing death — behind the metaphorical discipleship-call, not let it dissolve into a generic ‘hardship’ idiom.
Repentance
Approved rendering: 悔改
Transliteration: fui3 goi2
Doctrine: Repentance and the Kingdom
Original: μετάνοια / μετανοέω
Category: Kingdom
NEW. μετάνοια/μετανοέω, Mark 1:4,15; 6:12. Distinguish from secular New Year resolution-style self-improvement and from ritual purification; this is a Spirit-enabled reorientation of allegiance toward a personal God.
Parable
Approved rendering: 比喻
Transliteration: bei2 jyu6
Doctrine: The Kingdom of God Breaking In
Original: παραβολή
Category: Kingdom
NEW. παραβολή, Mark 4. Low lexical risk, but the insider/outsider revelatory function (4:11-12) should be flagged for teaching notes connecting to the Messianic Secret doctrine.
Mystery
Approved rendering: 奧秘
Transliteration: ou3 bei3
Doctrine: The Messianic Secret
Rejected alternatives: 秘密
Original: μυστήριον
Category: Kingdom
NEW. μυστήριον, Mark 4:11 (‘the mystery of the kingdom of God’). Distinguish from occult/esoteric ‘secret knowledge’ associations that could resonate with fortune-telling or divinatory ‘hidden knowledge’ framing; this is revealed, not divined, truth. NEVER use 秘密, which imports an occult-concealment connotation.
Silencing Command
Approved rendering: 住聲 / 靜
Transliteration: zyu6 seng1 / zing6
Doctrine: The Messianic Secret
Original: φιμώθητι
Category: Authority
NEW. φιμώθητι, spoken to an unclean spirit (1:25) and, in the identical verb form, to the storm (4:39) — a deliberate Markan lexical link. Use the same or a closely related Cantonese verb at both occurrences so the echo tying the Messianic Secret to the Authority doctrine is not lost.
Rebuke Silence
Approved rendering: 責備 / 命令唔准講
Transliteration: zaak3 bei6 / ming6 ling6 m4 zeon2 gong2
Doctrine: The Messianic Secret
Original: ἐπιτιμάω
Category: Authority
NEW. ἐπιτιμάω — silencing demons/storm, silencing those proclaiming Jesus (1:25,34,44; 3:12; 8:30,32-33). Teach explicitly as deliberate pedagogical restraint until the necessity of the cross is understood (cf. 9:9), never as evasive concealment or embarrassment.
Legion
Approved rendering: 群
Transliteration: kwan4
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Nature and the Demonic Realm
Rejected alternatives: 利琴 (proper-name transliteration, rejected)
Original: Λεγιών
Category: Authority
NEW. Λεγιών, Mark 5:9. Deliberate PARAPHRASE rather than transliteration: a Cantonese transliteration of ‘Legion’ would carry zero meaning without Roman-military background, whereas 群 (‘many/a mass’) preserves the overwhelming-multiplicity sense that is the verse’s actual point, per established CUV convention.
Fear
Approved rendering: 驚 / 懼怕
Transliteration: geng1 / geoi6 paa3
Doctrine: Faith and Discipleship amid Fear
Original: φόβος
Category: Faith
NEW. φόβος, a recurring structural motif (4:41; 5:33-36; 6:50; 9:6,32; 10:32; 16:8). No folk-collision risk per se, but must be rendered consistently across all occurrences to preserve the cumulative fear-versus-faith motif Mark builds across the whole book.
Unbelief Believe
Approved rendering: 不信 / 信心
Transliteration: bat1 seon3 / seon3 sam1
Doctrine: Faith and Discipleship amid Fear
Original: ἀπιστία / πιστεύω
Category: Faith
NEW. ἀπιστία/πιστεύω, Mark 9:23-24 (‘I believe; help my unbelief!’). Preserve the juxtaposition of both clauses in one sentence without softening either term — a key pastoral verse for faith and doubt held together.
Have Mercy
Approved rendering: 憐憫 / 可憐
Transliteration: lin4 man5 / ho2 lin4
Doctrine: Faith and Discipleship amid Fear
Original: ἐλέησον
Category: Faith
NEW. ἐλέησον, Bartimaeus’s repeated cry (10:47-48). Paradigmatic posture of faith amid affliction and marginalization, deliberately contrasted with the disciples’ fear/status-ambition earlier in the same chapter (10:35-37).
Sinner
Approved rendering: 罪人
Transliteration: zeoi6 jan4
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sin (Forgiveness)
Original: ἁμαρτωλός
Category: Sin
NEW. ἁμαρτωλός, built on the baseline 罪. Mark 2:15-17, Jesus dines with ‘tax collectors and sinners.’ Reinforces the Universal Human Accountability and grace-without-merit themes already established in the Romans baseline.
Clean Defiled
Approved rendering: 潔淨 / 污穢
Transliteration: git3 zing6 / wu1 wai3
Doctrine: Heart Purity versus Ritual Defilement
Original: καθαρός / κοινός
Category: Sin
NEW. καθαρός/κοινός, Mark 7:14-23. Must be distinguished from Daoist/Buddhist ritual-purity concepts already flagged in the baseline holy entry, and from Hong Kong dietary-restriction religious practice (e.g. vegetarian vow days, 戒口修行) — the point is moral/heart purity, not dietary ritual status.
Tradition Of Elders
Approved rendering: 古人嘅遺傳
Transliteration: gu2 jan4 ge3 wai4 cyun4
Doctrine: Tradition of Men versus God’s Commandment
Original: παράδοσις τῶν πρεσβυτέρων
Category: Sin
NEW. παράδοσις τῶν πρεσβυτέρων, Mark 7:1-13. The accompanying Corban critique runs directly against strongly held Cantonese/Pearl River Delta filial-piety expectations (孝順) and ancestor-honoring custom; must be taught as critique of a vow-technicality misused to evade the higher command to honor parents, never as a general devaluing of filial duty.
Corban
Approved rendering: 各耳板
Transliteration: gok3 ji5 baan2
Doctrine: Tradition of Men versus God’s Commandment
Original: κορβᾶν
Category: Sin
NEW. κορβᾶν, Mark 7:11 — a Hebrew/Aramaic loanword, ‘an offering dedicated to God,’ cited as a legalistic vow-technicality evading the Fifth Commandment. Transliterate per established CUV convention with an explanatory gloss.
Divorce Adultery
Approved rendering: 離婚 / 淫亂
Transliteration: lei4 fan1 / jam4 lyun6
Doctrine: Marriage and Divorce
Original: ἀπολύω / μοιχεία
Category: Ethics
NEW. ἀπολύω/μοιχεία, Mark 10:2-12. Standard pastoral-sensitivity item rather than a folk-religious collision risk; ensure the creation-order grounding (‘what God has joined together’) is not diluted into a generic social-custom statement.
Sabbath
Approved rendering: 安息日
Transliteration: on1 sik1 jat6
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature
Original: σάββατον
Category: Covenant
NEW. σάββατον, site of controversies culminating in ‘the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath’ (2:23-28). Distinguish from a generic day-of-rest/leisure concept; the point is Christ’s authority over a divinely instituted covenant sign.
Beelzebul
Approved rendering: 別西卜
Transliteration: bit6 sai1 buk1
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Nature and the Demonic Realm
Original: Βεελζεβούλ
Category: Authority
NEW. Βεελζεβούλ, Mark 3:22, a proper name for the prince of demons. Transliterate as a proper name; brief note that this refers to Satan, not any Hong Kong folk-religious deity, king of hell (閻羅王), or ghost king figure — avoid any equivalence-suggesting gloss.
Watch Be Alert
Approved rendering: 警醒
Transliteration: ging2 sing2
Doctrine: Eschatological Watchfulness
Original: γρηγορέω
Category: Eschatology
NEW. γρηγορέω, Mark 13:33-37. Distinguish from anxious fortune-forecasting/date-setting (老黃曆 almanac culture, 運程 annual fortune-forecasting); biblical ‘watching’ is expectant faithfulness, not calendrical calculation.
Doing Gods Will
Approved rendering: 做神心意嘅人
Transliteration: zou6 san4 sam1 ji3 ge3 jan4
Doctrine: The Kingdom of God Breaking In
Original: ὁ ποιῶν τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Church
NEW. Descriptive rendering of ὁ ποιῶν τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ, Mark 3:31-35. No single fixed glossary term; in a Cantonese cultural context where clan/family loyalty (孝順; 祠堂 ancestral hall loyalty) carries deep weight, must not be taught as rejection of family duty as such, but as the priority of belonging to God’s family when it conflicts with biological family.
Send Apostolic
Approved rendering: 差遣
Transliteration: caai1 hin2
Doctrine: Mission to All Nations
Original: ἀποστέλλω
Category: Church
NEW. ἀποστέλλω, Mark 6:7, Jesus sends out the Twelve two by two, giving them authority over unclean spirits. Extends the authority theme to the disciples themselves; cf. baseline mission (宣教) framework.
Great Commission Proclaim Gospel
Approved rendering: 傳福音
Transliteration: cyun4 fuk1 jam1
Doctrine: Mission to All Nations
Original: κηρύξατε τὸ εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Church
NEW. κηρύξατε τὸ εὐαγγέλιον, Mark 16:15 (traditional longer ending). Reuses baseline gospel/mission framework. Note for editorial awareness only: Mark 16:9-20 is a well-known text-critical longer-ending passage — an editorial matter per RCUV double-bracketing convention, not a rendering-risk item.
Hosanna
Approved rendering: 和散那
Transliteration: wo4 saan3 naa5
Doctrine: Davidic Messianic Lineage
Original: Ὡσαννά
Category: Covenant
NEW. Ὡσαννά, Mark 11:9-10, the crowd’s Triumphal Entry acclamation (Ps 118:25). Transliterate with a brief gloss (‘save now/hail’); flag the dramatic irony that the crowd’s shallow triumphalist expectation collapses into demands for crucifixion within days.
Golgotha
Approved rendering: 各各他（意思係髑髏地）
Transliteration: gok3 gok3 taa1 (juk6 lou4 dei6)
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross
NEW. Γολγοθᾶ, Mark 15:22. Transliterate proper name with meaning-gloss (‘Place of a Skull’), per established CUV pattern.
Sanhedrin
Approved rendering: 公會
Transliteration: gung1 wui2
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross
NEW. συνέδριον, the trial body (14:55; 15:1). Paraphrase (functional-equivalent noun), established Chinese-Bible-tradition rendering; distinguish from a generic ‘meeting’ or a folk temple-management committee.
Synagogue
Approved rendering: 會堂
Transliteration: wui6 tong4
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature
NEW. συναγωγή, distinct institution from 聖殿; site of teaching/exorcism/Sabbath controversy (1:21-29; 3:1-6; 6:2).
Passover
Approved rendering: 逾越節
Transliteration: jyu4 jyut6 zit3
Doctrine: Institution of the Lord’s Supper
NEW. πάσχα, the Last Supper’s setting (14:1,12,14,16). Meaning-bearing compound already standard across Chinese Bible tradition; requires OT Exodus background note.
Low Risk Terms
Apostle
Approved rendering: 使徒
Transliteration: si2 tou4
Doctrine: Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: 風水師, 大師
Original: οἱ δώδεκα / ἀπόστολοι
Category: Church
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original note retained. Mark-specific: the formal appointment of the Twelve (3:14-19), also called ἀπόστολοι at 6:30.
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: 感恩
Transliteration: gam2 jan1
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Standard term; no significant risk.
Fellowship
Approved rendering: 團契
Transliteration: tyun4 kai3
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: 同鄉會, 結拜
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original 同鄉會/結拜 forbidden-substitution note retained.
Prophet
Approved rendering: 先知
Transliteration: sin1 zi1
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: 風水師, 算命佬
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Original note retained.
Exhort
Approved rendering: 勸勉
Transliteration: hyun3 min5
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE. Standard term; retained for cross-curriculum consistency.
Teacher Vocative
Approved rendering: 夫子
Transliteration: fu1 zi2
Doctrine: Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness
Rejected alternatives: 老師
Original: Διδάσκαλε
Category: Discipleship
NEW. Διδάσκαλε, Mark 10:35. Established CUV vocative form for direct address to Jesus. James and John’s use here exposes shallow, self-interested discipleship. Retain the formal-register established form over contemporary 老師 for consistency with the wider Cantonese Bible-reading tradition.
Love Great Commandment
Approved rendering: 愛
Transliteration: oi3
Doctrine: The Great Commandment
Original: ἀγαπάω
Category: Ethics
NEW. ἀγαπάω, Mark 12:28-34. Standard term; minor pastoral clarification that this is covenantal/volitional devotion, not primarily romantic sentiment — a clarification needed in most cultures, not a Cantonese-specific hazard.
Tax Collector
Approved rendering: 稅吏
Transliteration: seoi3 lei6
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sin (Forgiveness)
Original: τελώνης
Category: Covenant
NEW. τελώνης, a socially despised collaborator-class figure with whom Jesus dines (2:15-17). Brief cultural-background note recommended; low doctrinal risk beyond reinforcing existing sin/grace baseline cautions.
Bread
Approved rendering: 餅 / 麵包
Transliteration: beng2 / min6 baau1
Doctrine: Institution of the Lord’s Supper
Original: ἄρτος
Category: Sacraments
NEW. ἄρτος; the feeding of the five thousand (6:35-44) anticipates the Last Supper’s bread-word (14:22) and echoes Exodus manna typology. No significant folk-collision risk; note the intertextual link to 14:22 for consistency.
Gethsemane
Approved rendering: 客西馬尼
Transliteration: haak3 sai1 maa5 nei4
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross
NEW. Γεθσημανῆ, Mark 14:32. Established toponym; no meaningful paraphrase available.
Barabbas
Approved rendering: 巴拉巴
Transliteration: baa1 laai1 baa1
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross
NEW. Βαραββᾶς, Mark 15:6-15. Proper name; the ironic release-in-place-of-Jesus contrast thematically echoes 10:45’s ἀντί substitution in reverse.
Referenced passages