Core Glossary
Core Glossary: 1 Kings for French
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, across the full book (1 Kings 1-22), with the core passage (8:22-53) most heavily represented. Risk tiers follow the same four-level scale as the baseline doctrine_risk_registry.json (Critical / High / Medium / Low) and route to the same review tiers (Human theologian / Human theologian / Native speaker / Automated).
Governing rule: any term marked “Reuse (baseline)” below is already fixed in the Romans translation_memory.json and must not be altered. Only terms marked “New (1 Kings)” are proposed for the first time in this Language Package extension and require formal addition to translation memory before Phase 2 begins.
Table 1 — Reused Baseline Terms Appearing in 1 Kings
| Term | Hebrew (Translit.) | French (fixed) | Risk | Doctrine(s) | Chapters | Note for 1 Kings usage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| God | אֱלֹהִים (Elohim) | Dieu | Medium | Deity of God | throughout | Plural morphology, singular referent; no change from baseline. |
| Lord (extended to YHWH) | יהוה (YHWH) / אֲדֹנָי (Adonai) | Seigneur / SEIGNEUR | Critical | Lordship, Deity of Christ (NT continuity) | throughout | See Table 3, new entry “LORD (YHWH)” for the extension rationale. |
| covenant | בְּרִית (berith) | alliance | High | Davidic Covenant, Divided Kingdom | 2, 5, 8, 9, 11 | Used for both divine covenants and the human Solomon-Hiram treaty (5:12); context disambiguates. |
| holy | קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh) | saint | Medium | Temple as Dwelling | 6-8 | Architectural “lieu (très) saint”; distinct nuance from corporate-believer “saints” risk. |
| sin | חָטָא (chata) | péché | Medium | Idolatry and Its Consequences | 8, 11-16 | Covenant-curse catalogues (ch.8) reinforce, rather than soften, the weight of “péché.” |
| prophet | נָבִיא (navi) | prophète | Low (baseline) → flag High in ch.18 context | Prophetic Confrontation of Kings | 13, 17-22 | Same French word covers both true and false prophetic claimants; disambiguate by explicit qualifier, not vocabulary. |
| prophecy / prophetic word | (see “word of the LORD,” Table 3) | prophétie | Low | Prophetic Confrontation of Kings | 13, 14, 22 | — |
| glory | כָּבוֹד (kavod) | gloire | Medium | Temple as Dwelling | 8:1-11 | The glory-cloud filling the Temple; reinforce non-triumphalist sense. |
| election | הִבְדִּיל (hivdil, root בדל) | élection (doctrine name); “séparer / mettre à part” (verse-level) | High | Divided Kingdom, Election | 8:53 | Verse itself should use “séparer/mettre à part”; doctrine name may use “élection” per baseline, always with sovereignty-not-competition gloss. |
| David | דָּוִד (David) | David | Low | Davidic Covenant | 1, 2, 8, 9, 11 | — |
| Israël | יִשְׂרָאֵל (Yisraʾel) | Israël | Medium | Divided Kingdom | throughout | Baseline caution against conflating with the modern nation-state applies equally here. |
| descendance de David | (typological link via anointing, throne) | descendance de David | Medium | Davidic Covenant, Messianic Promise | 1-2, 8, 11 | Royal succession narrative is the historical outworking of this covenant. |
| righteousness / justice | צֶדֶק (tsedeq) root | justice | Critical | Prophetic Confrontation of Kings (judicial sense) | 8:32 | Reuse exactly; see Table 3 “justify/condemn” for the forensic pairing. |
| justification | הִצְדִּיק (hitsdik) | justification | Critical | (canonical background to Romans) | 8:32 | Same forensic root as Paul’s doctrine; flag for theologian review at every occurrence. |
| imputed righteousness | (conceptual background) | justice imputée | Critical | (canonical background to Romans) | 8:32 | Cross-reference only; not a verbal citation in 1 Kings, but the same root family. |
| salvation | (thematically present, not the primary term in 8:22-53) | salut | Medium | — | throughout narrative arc | Background doctrine; no direct lexical occurrence flagged in core passage. |
| kingdom of God (contrast term) | — | Royaume de Dieu | Medium | Divided Kingdom (as foil) | 12+ | Contrasted with lowercase “royaume” (mamlakah) for Israel/Judah’s divided, failing political kingdoms. |
| gentiles / nations | (contrast to “l’étranger,” see Table 3) | païens / les nations | Medium | Unity of Jews and Gentiles (background) | 8:41-43 | Prefer “l’étranger” for the specific approving individual case in 8:41-43; reserve “païens” for collective usage elsewhere. |
| peace | שָׁלוֹם (shalom) | paix | Low/Medium | Peace with God (contrast in ch.22) | 22:6,12 | Ironic false-prophet usage in ch.22 is a teaching contrast, not a new sense. |
| intercession | תְּפִלָּה/תְּחִנָּה (as prayer-for-others) | intercession | Medium | Prayer and Intercession | 8:28-53 | Solomon’s prayer functions as royal/national intercession; same caution against saint-intercession conflation applies. |
| providence | (thematic, “all things work together” background) | providence | Medium | — | 8, 17-19 | Elijah narrative (ravens, widow’s oil) exemplifies covenantal providence; no new lexical item. |
| messiah | מָשִׁיחַ (mashiach, root of “anointed”) | Messie | Critical | Messianic Promise | 1 (typological) | See Table 3 “anointed” for the verbal root; doctrine name unchanged. |
| appel / appelé | (prophetic commissioning, e.g., Elijah, Micaiah) | appel / appelé | Medium | Prophetic Confrontation of Kings | 17-22 | Prophetic call is a specific instance of baseline’s “calling” category. |
| Esprit Saint | (contrast only — see Table 3 “esprit,” ch.22) | Esprit Saint | Critical | — | 22 (by contrast) | Must NOT be used for the lying spirit of 22:19-23; capitalization discipline is the safeguard. |
Table 2 — Core Passage (1 Kings 8:22-53) New Terms
| Term | Hebrew (Translit.) | Literal Meaning | French Rendering | Risk | Doctrine | Notes / Rejected Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| assembly/congregation | קָהָל (qahal) | a convened body | assemblée | Medium | Temple as Dwelling | Rejected: “Église” — wrongly imports NT ekklēsia referent onto pre-exilic Israel, despite the LXX lexical link. |
| covenant loyalty / steadfast love | חֶסֶד (chesed) | loyal, bonded love | fidélité (bienveillante) | Medium-High | Temple as Dwelling; Divine Faithfulness | Rejected: “miséricorde” (over-emphasizes pity, under-emphasizes covenant bond); needs first-occurrence gloss. |
| house / temple | בַּיִת / הֵיכָל (bayit / heikal) | house / palace-hall | maison (du SEIGNEUR) / temple | High | Temple as God’s Dwelling | See dedicated Table 3 entry below — deliberate dual-rendering strategy. |
| Name (theology) | שֵׁם (shem) | name = presence & character | nom (le Nom) | High | Temple as God’s Dwelling | Rejected: bare “nom” without gloss — collapses to administrative label in secular French. |
| prayer | תְּפִלָּה (tephillah) | formal address to God | prière | Medium | Prayer and Intercession | Cross-ref baseline “intercession”; keep unmediated, direct-to-God sense. |
| supplication | תְּחִנָּה (techinnah) | plea for favor | supplication | Low-Medium | Prayer and Intercession | — |
| hear (refrain) | שָׁמַע (shamaʿ) | hear favorably, heed | entendre / écouter | Medium | Prayer and Intercession | Must be rendered identically at all 7 refrain occurrences (vv.30,32,34,36,39,43,45,49). |
| forgive | סָלַח (salach) | pardon (God’s exclusive prerogative) | pardonner | Medium | Idolatry and Its Consequences (restoration) | Distinct from “justification” (Critical) — restores fellowship, does not declare forensic status. |
| oath (imprecatory) | אָלָה (alah) | self-curse oath | serment (imprécatoire) | Medium-High | Prophetic Confrontation of Kings (judicial) | Rejected: bare “serment” — loses self-curse dimension present in Hebrew. |
| justify / condemn | הִצְדִּיק / הִרְשִׁיע (hitsdik / hirshiʿa) | declare righteous / declare wicked | justifier / condamner | Critical | (Justification, canonical background) | MUST align with baseline “justice/justification” family; human theologian review required at every occurrence. |
| righteous / wicked | צַדִּיק / רָשָׁע (tsaddiq / rasha) | in the right / guilty | juste / méchant | Critical | (Justification, canonical background) | Same root family as above; reuse consistently. |
| turn/return (repent) | שׁוּב (shuv) | turn back, return | revenir (à Dieu) / se retourner (vers Dieu) | High | Divided Kingdom and Covenant Unfaithfulness | Rejected: “se convertir” — narrows to change-of-religion or single-crisis-conversion sense in ordinary French. |
| the good way | דֶּרֶךְ הַטּוֹבָה (derek ha-tovah) | right conduct | le bon chemin / la bonne voie | Low-Medium | Covenant Unfaithfulness | — |
| plague/affliction | נֶגַע (nega) | stroke, affliction | fléau / plaie | Medium | Idolatry and Its Consequences | Risk of secular metaphorical flattening (“fléaux sociaux”); teach as covenant-curse, not generic ill. |
| fear (reverence) | יָרֵא (yare) | reverential awe | craindre (Dieu) | Medium | Temple as Dwelling; Prophetic Confrontation | Must be qualified (“craindre Dieu”) to avoid bare-dread reading. |
| foreigner | נָכְרִי (nokhri) | one from elsewhere | l’étranger | Medium | Universal Scope (background) | Preferred over “païens” for this specific approving individual reference. |
| inheritance | נַחֲלָה (nachalah) | allotted possession | héritage | Medium | Election; Divided Kingdom | Secular French skews financial/legal; pair with “adoption filiale” teaching link. |
| iron furnace (idiom) | כּוּר הַבַּרְזֶל (kur habarzel) | smelting furnace | fournaise de fer | Medium | Covenant Unfaithfulness (background) | Idiom for affliction/slavery; avoid over-literal metallurgical reading. |
| maintain their cause | מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) | legal cause, verdict | rendre justice / défendre la cause | Medium | Prophetic Confrontation (judicial) | Distinguish judicial-cause sense from soteriological “justice” (Romans 1:17). |
| separated / set apart | הִבְדִּיל (hivdil) | distinguished, separated | séparer / mettre à part | High | Election | See Table 1 “élection” cross-reference. |
Table 3 — Whole-Book New Terms (Chapters 1-22, Outside Core Passage)
| Term | Hebrew (Translit.) | Literal Meaning | French Rendering | Risk | Doctrine | Chapters | Notes / Rejected Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LORD (YHWH, Tetragrammaton) | יהוה (YHWH) | the covenant name of God | SEIGNEUR (small caps) / l’Éternel | Critical | Deity of God; Lordship (NT continuity) | throughout | Extends baseline’s “Seigneur” (kyrios) entry. Recommend typographic small-caps “SEIGNEUR” (per TOB/NBS-style convention) to visually distinguish the Tetragrammaton from generic “seigneur/adonai,” while preserving continuity with the NT’s application of “Kyrios/Seigneur” to Christ. Human theologian review mandatory. |
| ”The LORD, he is God” (confession) | יהוה הוּא הָאֱלֹהִים | YHWH — he is God | ”C’est le SEIGNEUR qui est Dieu!” | Critical | Elijah and the Contest with Baal | 18:39 | Structural parallel to Romans 10:9’s “Jésus est Seigneur”; render with equally unqualified, exclusive force. |
| king | מֶלֶךְ (melek) | king | roi | Low | Divided Kingdom | 1+ | No live doctrinal collision; background teaching on monarchy helpful for French post-republican readers. |
| anointed / anointing | מָשַׁח (mashach) | to smear with oil, consecrate | oindre (v.) / onction (n.) | Medium | Messianic Promise (typology) | 1, 19 (Elisha) | Root of “Messie” (baseline, Critical); flag every royal anointing as a forward-pointing type. |
| throne | כִּסֵּא (kisse) | royal seat | trône | Low | Davidic Covenant | 1, 2, 8 | Doctrinally load-bearing though lexically simple. |
| wisdom | חָכְמָה (chokmah) | skill, discernment (God-given) | sagesse | High | Solomon’s Wisdom and Its Limits | 3, 4, 10, 11 | French Cartesian/Enlightenment heritage risks a self-achieved, humanistic reading; must be taught as a gracious gift with demonstrated limits. |
| discern | בִּין (bin) | to distinguish, understand | discerner | Medium | Solomon’s Wisdom and Its Limits | 3 | — |
| high place(s) | בָּמָה (bamah) | elevated cultic site | haut lieu / hauts lieux | High | Idolatry and Its Consequences | 3, 11, 12, 15, 16 | French “haut lieu” (e.g., “haut lieu de la spiritualité”) carries a positive pilgrimage-shrine connotation in ordinary usage — a direct valence collision with the text’s condemnatory sense. Referent shifts from ambiguous (ch.3, YHWH worship) to explicitly pagan (ch.11+); flag the shift for teaching. |
| house of the LORD / temple | בַּיִת / הֵיכָל (bayit / heikal) | house / palace-hall | maison (du SEIGNEUR) [literal-verse rendering] / temple [doctrine name] | High | The Temple as God’s Dwelling | 5-9 | Dual-rendering strategy: use “maison” for verse-level bayit (matching established French Bible tradition, e.g., Segond’s “la maison de l’Éternel”), while the doctrine/unit title may use “le Temple.” Risk with bare “temple”: (a) pagan-Greco-Roman-temple connotation for secular readers; (b) French Protestants call their own worship building “un temple” (not “une église”), risking an anachronistic modest-meeting-house image for Solomon’s Temple. Requires explicit teaching contrast. |
| Holy Place / Most Holy Place | קֹדֶשׁ / קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים | sacred / most sacred space | lieu saint / lieu très saint (Saint des saints) | Medium | Temple as God’s Dwelling | 6, 8 | Established French idiom, generally safe; teach as graded holiness, not exclusivity for its own sake. |
| cherubim | כְּרוּבִים (keruvim) | composite winged guardian beings | chérubins | High | Temple as God’s Dwelling | 6, 8 | French popular/artistic culture strongly associates “chérubin” with cute cupid-like baby imagery — the opposite of the text’s fearsome, throne-guarding beings. Mandatory iconographic correction in teaching notes. |
| ark (of the covenant) | אֲרוֹן (הַבְּרִית) (aron [habberith]) | chest, box | arche (de l’alliance) | Medium | Temple as God’s Dwelling | 6, 8 | Homonym risk with “l’arche de Noé” (Noah’s ark); disambiguate on first occurrence. |
| idol / other gods / abomination | פֶּסֶל / אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים / תּוֹעֵבָה (pesel / elohim acherim / toʿevah) | carved image / other gods / detestable thing | idole / dieux étrangers / abomination | High | Idolatry and Its Consequences | 11, 12, 14-16 | Live French intra-Christian sensitivity: Catholic use of statues/images of Mary and the saints has historically been the flashpoint of Huguenot-Catholic “idolâtrie” polemics since the Wars of Religion. Must present OT idolatry as exclusive-worship violation (a false rival object of ultimate devotion), not as a veiled commentary on any contemporary French devotional practice. |
| calf (idol) | עֵגֶל (ʿegel) | calf | veau (d’or) | High | Idolatry and Its Consequences | 12 | Deliberate echo of Exodus 32; well-known image in French biblical/cultural literacy (“le veau d’or” is a known French idiom for money-worship), which is a helpful anchor but must be redirected to the specific covenant-violation sense, not merely “greed.” |
| kingdom (political, lowercase) | מַמְלָכָה (mamlakah) | kingdom, dominion | royaume | Medium | Divided Kingdom | 12+ | Deliberate lowercase contrast with baseline’s capitalized “Royaume de Dieu.” |
| Baal | בַּעַל (Baʿal) | master, lord (deity name) | Baal (transliterated) | Medium | Elijah and the Contest with Baal | 16, 18 | Risk of flattening into a generic “demon name” via later grimoire/pop-culture tradition (Beelzebub conflation); teach as a specific historical rival-lordship claim. |
| Asherah | אֲשֵׁרָה (Asherah) | goddess / cultic wooden pole | Ashéra (transliterated) | Medium | Idolatry and Its Consequences | 16 | Primarily an information gap (unfamiliarity), not a doctrinal collision; needs explanatory gloss. |
| man of God | אִישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים (ish ha-Elohim) | a God-authenticated messenger | homme de Dieu | Medium | Prophetic Confrontation of Kings | 13, 17, 20 | Distinguish from French Catholic hagiographic honorific usage (“un saint homme”) implying general sanctity rather than a specific prophetic office. |
| sign | אוֹת (ot) | authenticating token/event | signe | Low-Medium | Prophetic Confrontation of Kings | 13 | — |
| did evil/right in the eyes of the LORD (formula) | עָשָׂה הָרַע/הַיָּשָׁר בְּעֵינֵי יהוה | did evil/right in YHWH’s eyes | fit ce qui est mal / droit aux yeux du SEIGNEUR | Medium | Divided Kingdom and Covenant Unfaithfulness | 11-22 (recurring) | Structural refrain for every king; render identically at every occurrence — Theological Consistency Rule for this curriculum. |
| word of the LORD (came to) | דְּבַר־יהוה (devar-YHWH) | authoritative prophetic word | la parole du SEIGNEUR (vint à) | High | Prophetic Confrontation of Kings; Inspiration of Scripture | 12-22 (recurring) | Authoritative divine announcement, parallel in force to baseline’s “Évangile” as authoritative proclamation, not generic message. |
| limping between two opinions (idiom) | פָּסַח עַל־שְׁתֵּי הַסְּעִפִּים (pasach ʿal-shetei ha-seʿippim) | wavering, divided allegiance | hésiter entre deux partis | Medium | Elijah and the Contest with Baal | 18 | Idiom-handling rule: preserve divided-allegiance meaning, not literal “limping” image. |
| still small voice | קוֹל דְּמָמָה קַלָּה (qol demamah qallah) | a sound of thin stillness | une voix douce et calme | Medium | Elijah and the Contest with Baal (aftermath) | 19 | Preserve deliberate understatement; do not dramatize. |
| zeal (not jealousy) | קַנֹּא קִנֵּאתִי (qanno qinneti) | ardent, exclusive devotion | zèle | High | Elijah and the Contest with Baal | 19 | Rejected: “jalousie” — carries possessive/romantic-jealousy connotation in French unsuited to covenant zeal. |
| covet | חָמַד (chamad) | to desire strongly | convoiter | Low | Prophetic Confrontation of Kings | 21 | Direct Decalogue link (10th commandment). |
| innocent blood | דָּם נָקִי (dam naqi) | unjustly shed blood | sang innocent | Low | Prophetic Confrontation of Kings | 21 | — |
| humbled himself | נִכְנַע (nikhnaʿ) | subdued, brought low | s’humilier | Medium | Prophetic Confrontation of Kings (mercy) | 21 | Teaching nuance re: partial/external repentance, not a lexical risk. |
| spirit (non-Holy-Spirit) | רוּח (ruach) | wind, breath, spirit-being | un esprit (esprit menteur) | High | (contrast to Sanctification/Holy Spirit doctrine) | 22 | MUST NOT be capitalized or identified with “Esprit Saint” (baseline Critical entry). Mandatory theologian review; strict capitalization discipline required. |
| servant | עֶבֶד (eved) | covenant office-bearer | serviteur | Low | Davidic Covenant; Prophetic Confrontation | throughout | Office-title (David/Moses “your servant”), not menial-labor register. |
| altar | מִזְבֵּח (mizbeach) | sacrificial installation | autel | Medium | Temple as God’s Dwelling | 6, 8, 18 | French Catholic Eucharistic-sacrifice resonance of “autel” should not be imported onto the Levitical/OT sacrificial system without distinction. |
| sacrifice / burnt offering / peace offering | זֶבַח / עוֹלָה / שְׁלָמִים (zevach / ʿolah / shelamim) | offering types | sacrifice / holocauste / sacrifice de paix (ou d’action de grâces) | Medium | Temple as God’s Dwelling | 8 | Distinguish from Catholic Mass sacrificial categories; shelamim shares a root with baseline’s “paix.” |
| tribe | שֵׁבֶט (shevet) | tribal division | tribu | Low | Divided Kingdom | 12 | — |
Risk Summary for This Language Package Extension
| Risk Tier | Count (new + extended terms) | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 5 (LORD/YHWH; “LORD he is God” confession; justify/condemn; righteous/wicked; Esprit Saint contrast-safeguard) | Human theologian — mandatory, every occurrence |
| High | 13 (Name theology; house/temple; high places; cherubim; idol/abomination; calf; word of the LORD; separated/set apart; turn/return; zeal; wisdom; spirit [non-Holy-Spirit]; oath) | Human theologian |
| Medium | ~26 (assembly, chesed, prayer, forgive, mishpat, foreigner, inheritance, iron furnace, plague, fear, altar, sacrifice types, ark, Holy/Most Holy Place, man of God, Baal, Asherah, kingdom [lowercase], anointed, did evil/right formula, limping idiom, still small voice, humbled himself, discern, sign, servant) | Native speaker |
| Low | ~9 (king, throne, tribe, covet, innocent blood, the good way, stood, spread hands, hand/agency) | Automated |
Terms already fixed in baseline translation_memory.json retain their original baseline risk tier and are listed in Table 1 for cross-reference only; they are not recounted in this summary.
End of Core Glossary. This glossary must be merged into an updated translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json for 1 Kings before Phase 2 segment translation begins, per the Pre-flight Checklist in 12_ai_translation_requirements.md.
Critical Risk Terms
Justification
Approved rendering: justification
Transliteration: justification
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: sanctification (conflation), salut (too generic)
CRITICAL: the historic Reformation/Trent flashpoint; render as a declared, not gradually achieved, status. Inherited from Romans package. 1 Kings 8:31-32 supplies the OT judicial-forensic background (tsedeq root); mandatory theologian review at every occurrence in both books.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: justice imputée
Transliteration: justice imputée
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: justice méritée
Credited/attributed righteousness, not earned righteousness. Inherited from Romans package. Conceptual, not verbal, background link to 1 Kings 8:32’s justify/condemn vocabulary; cross-reference only.
Yhwh Lord
Approved rendering: SEIGNEUR / l’Éternel
Transliteration: YHWH
Doctrine: Deity and Exclusive Lordship of YHWH
Rejected alternatives: Yahvé (breaks NT-continuity strategy), Adonaï (bare, insufficiently distinct)
Original: יהוה
Category: God
Extends baseline’s ‘lord’ (kyrios/Seigneur) entry to the Hebrew covenant name. Recommend typographic small caps ‘SEIGNEUR’ (TOB/NBS convention) to visually distinguish the Tetragrammaton while preserving lexical continuity with the NT’s application of ‘Seigneur’ to Christ (Romans 10:9). Mandatory human theologian review at every occurrence.
Lord He Is God Confession
Approved rendering: C’est le SEIGNEUR qui est Dieu !
Transliteration: YHWH hu ha-Elohim
Doctrine: Elijah and the Contest with Baal
Rejected alternatives: le Seigneur est un grand Dieu (softens exclusivity)
Original: יהוה הוּא הָאֱלֹהִים
Category: God
The climactic exclusive-deity confession (18:39), the OT structural counterpart to Romans 10:9’s ‘Jésus est Seigneur’. Must be rendered with identical unqualified, exclusive force. No softening permissible. Mandatory theologian review.
Justify Condemn
Approved rendering: justifier / condamner
Transliteration: hitsdik / hirshiʿa
Doctrine: Judicial Righteousness (Forensic Background to Justification)
Original: הִצְדִּיק / הִרְשִׁיע
Category: Salvation
Judicial vindication or condemnation, from the same forensic tsedeq root underlying the entire NT doctrine of justification (8:32). MUST reuse baseline’s fixed justice/justification family exactly. Mandatory theologian review at every occurrence.
Righteous Wicked
Approved rendering: juste / méchant
Transliteration: tsaddiq / rasha
Doctrine: Judicial Righteousness (Forensic Background to Justification)
Original: צַדִּיק / רָשָׁע
Category: Salvation
The ‘in the right/innocent’ and ‘guilty’ parties in Solomon’s judicial-oath scenario (8:32), same root family as baseline’s righteousness/justification. Reuse consistently with ‘justify_condemn’.
High Risk Terms
Lord
Approved rendering: Seigneur
Transliteration: Seigneur
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: maître, patron
Romans 10:9 ‘Jésus est Seigneur.’ ‘Seigneur’ carries feudal-historical resonance in French, risking a distant, archaic-title reading. Inherited from Romans package. In 1 Kings this entry underlies the extended ‘yhwh_lord’ entry (Tetragrammaton, small-caps SEIGNEUR), a deliberate canon-wide continuity device linking 1 Kings 18:39 to Romans 10:9; do not decouple the two.
Covenant
Approved rendering: alliance
Transliteration: alliance
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: contrat
Original: בְּרִית
Category: Covenant
Relational covenant bond, more than a legal contract. Inherited from Romans package. In 1 Kings, the same French word also serves the secular Solomon-Hiram treaty (5:12, Low risk in that instance); context disambiguates the human-treaty sense from God’s covenant with David/Israel.
Election
Approved rendering: élection
Transliteration: élection
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: chance, destin
‘Élection’ is the everyday French word for political/democratic elections, risking a competitive/merit-based reading of God’s sovereign choice. Inherited from Romans package. In 1 Kings 8:53, the verse-level Hebrew verb (hivdil, ‘separated’) must be rendered ‘séparer / mettre à part’ rather than ‘élection’; reserve ‘élection’ for the doctrine-name register only, always glossed as sovereign, not competitive.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: justice
Transliteration: justice (de Dieu)
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: vertu, droiture
Must be read as God’s saving, gift-status righteousness, not human moral virtue; secular French ‘justice’ primarily denotes the legal system. Inherited from Romans package. 1 Kings 8:32’s judicial ‘justify/condemn’ language (see new entry ‘justify_condemn’) is the direct OT root of this Romans doctrine; keep both within the same forensic ‘justice’ family.
Law
Approved rendering: loi (la Loi)
Transliteration: loi (la Loi)
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Original: תּוֹרָה / מִצְוָה
Category: Covenant
Capitalize as ‘la Loi’ for Torah/Mosaic law, distinct from civil ‘loi’. Inherited from Romans package. David’s charge to Solomon (2:3) and every subsequent regnal evaluation formula (see new entry ‘did_evil_right_formula’) measure kings against this Mosaic standard; keep the referent narrowly Mosaic throughout 1 Kings.
Church
Approved rendering: Église
Transliteration: Église
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: temple (building only)
Must clarify the body-of-Christ sense distinct from the institution or building. Inherited from Romans package. SAFEGUARD FOR 1 KINGS: do NOT use ‘Église’ for the Hebrew qahal (8:22, Israel’s national assembly) — see new entry ‘assembly_congregation’. Qahal is the LXX’s regular ekklēsia referent but must not import the NT body-of-Christ sense onto pre-exilic Israel.
Name Theology
Approved rendering: nom (le Nom)
Transliteration: shem
Doctrine: The Theology of God’s Name
Rejected alternatives: nom (bare, unglossed)
Original: שֵׁם
Category: Temple
God’s Name as the effective bearer of his presence and character, resolving 8:27’s transcendence/immanence paradox. Secular French readers default to ‘nom’ as a mere administrative label. Requires explicit teaching gloss: ‘le Nom, c’est la présence et le caractère de Dieu lui-même.’ Mandatory theologian review.
House Of The Lord Temple
Approved rendering: maison (du SEIGNEUR) / temple
Transliteration: bayit / heikal
Doctrine: The Temple as God’s Dwelling among His People
Rejected alternatives: temple (bare, verse-level default)
Original: בַּיִת / הֵיכָל
Category: Temple
Dual-rendering strategy: use ‘maison (du SEIGNEUR)’ at verse level (matches Segond’s ‘la maison de l’Éternel’); reserve ‘le Temple’ for doctrine/unit titles only. Bare ‘temple’ risks (a) a Greco-Roman pagan-temple association, and (b) the French Protestant convention of calling their own worship building ‘un temple’, an anachronistically modest image. Mandatory theologian review.
Cherubim
Approved rendering: chérubins
Transliteration: keruvim
Doctrine: Temple Worship and Sacrifice
Original: כְּרוּבִים
Category: Temple
Composite winged guardian beings flanking the ark. French popular/artistic culture strongly associates ‘chérubin’ with a cute winged baby/cupid figure, the opposite of the fearsome, throne-guarding beings of the Hebrew text. Mandatory iconographic correction in teaching notes; theologian review.
Covenant Loyalty Chesed
Approved rendering: fidélité (bienveillante)
Transliteration: chesed
Doctrine: The Temple as God’s Dwelling among His People
Rejected alternatives: miséricorde (over-emphasizes pity), bonté (under-emphasizes covenant obligation)
Original: חֶסֶד
Category: Covenant
God’s loyal, covenant-bonded love, combining mercy, faithfulness, and sustained kindness (8:23). No single-word French equivalent exists; recommend the compound with a footnote gloss on first occurrence. Not to be confused with baseline’s ‘grâce’ (a distinct term/doctrine).
Separated Set Apart
Approved rendering: séparer / mettre à part
Transliteration: hivdil
Doctrine: Election and Separation of Israel
Rejected alternatives: élection (verse-level; carries political-vote connotation)
Original: הִבְדִּיל
Category: Covenant
God’s sovereign, unilateral act of distinguishing Israel from among all peoples (8:53). Use this verb phrase at verse level rather than ‘élection’; reserve baseline’s ‘élection’ for the doctrine-name register only, always glossed as sovereign, not competitive.
Turn Return Repent
Approved rendering: revenir (à toi) / se retourner (vers toi)
Transliteration: shuv
Doctrine: Repentance as Covenant Turning
Rejected alternatives: se convertir (narrows to change-of-religion or single born-again crisis)
Original: שׁוּב
Category: Repentance
Covenant repentance: a repeatable, communal reorientation of loyalty back to YHWH (8:33-35,46-48; 9:6). Avoid ‘se convertir’ categorically for shuv; use ‘revenir/se retourner’ throughout, glossed on first occurrence.
Oath Imprecatory
Approved rendering: serment (imprécatoire)
Transliteration: alah
Doctrine: Judicial Righteousness (Forensic Background to Justification)
Rejected alternatives: serment (bare, loses self-curse dimension)
Original: אָלָה
Category: Justice
A self-curse oath invoked to guarantee truthful testimony, brought before God’s altar for adjudication (8:31). Ordinary French ‘serment’ lacks the self-curse dimension; needs the qualifying gloss.
Wisdom
Approved rendering: sagesse
Transliteration: chokmah
Doctrine: Solomon’s Wisdom and Its Limits
Rejected alternatives: talents naturels (natural talents, rejected)
Original: חָכְמָה
Category: Wisdom
A God-given capacity for righteous governance and discernment, later shown insufficient to prevent Solomon’s own moral failure. French Cartesian/Enlightenment heritage treats ‘sagesse’ as a self-cultivated humanistic virtue; must be taught explicitly against this secular drift and distanced from the folk-magic ‘Clavicules de Salomon’ tradition. Mandatory theologian review.
High Place
Approved rendering: haut lieu / hauts lieux
Transliteration: bamah
Doctrine: Idolatry and Its Consequences
Original: בָּמָה
Category: Idolatry
An elevated cultic worship site, tolerated ambiguously before the Temple’s construction (3:4) but condemned once used for rival deities (11:7; 12:31-32). French ‘haut lieu’ carries a POSITIVE pilgrimage-shrine connotation in ordinary usage, a direct valence collision with the text’s condemnatory sense from 11:7 onward. Flag the referent shift for teaching.
Other Gods
Approved rendering: dieux étrangers / d’autres dieux
Transliteration: elohim acherim
Doctrine: Idolatry and Its Consequences
Original: אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים
Category: Idolatry
Rival deities (Chemosh, Molech, Astarte) drawing Solomon’s heart away from exclusive YHWH worship (11:4-8). Present as a false rival object of ultimate devotion, not veiled commentary on any contemporary devotional practice.
Abomination
Approved rendering: abomination
Transliteration: toʿevah
Doctrine: Idolatry and Its Consequences
Original: תּוֹעֵבָה
Category: Idolatry
Cultic and moral repugnance to God, used for Molech/Chemosh worship (11:5-7). Ordinary spoken French trivializes ‘abomination’ (‘quelle abomination, ce plat!’); restore full covenantal weight through context (‘devant le SEIGNEUR’).
Idol Carved Image
Approved rendering: idole
Transliteration: pesel
Doctrine: Idolatry and Its Consequences
Original: פֶּסֶל
Category: Idolatry
A carved cultic image representing a rival deity. Live French intra-Christian sensitivity: Catholic use of statues/images of Mary and the saints has historically been the flashpoint of Huguenot-Catholic ‘idolâtrie’ polemics since the Wars of Religion. Must present OT idolatry strictly as exclusive-worship violation, never as veiled commentary on contemporary devotional practice.
Calf Golden Calf
Approved rendering: veau (d’or)
Transliteration: ʿegel
Doctrine: Idolatry and Its Consequences
Original: עֵגֶל
Category: Idolatry
Jeroboam’s golden calves at Bethel and Dan (12:28-30), echoing Exodus 32. The French idiom ‘le veau d’or’ (money-worship) is a helpful cultural anchor but must be redirected to the specific covenant-violation sense, not merely ‘greed’.
Word Of The Lord
Approved rendering: la parole du SEIGNEUR (vint à)
Transliteration: devar-YHWH
Doctrine: Prophetic Confrontation of Kings
Original: דְּבַר־יהוה
Category: Prophecy
The authoritative prophetic word that ‘comes to’ God’s spokesmen, a fixed commissioning formula recurring throughout 12-22. Parallel in force to baseline’s ‘Évangile’ as authoritative proclamation, not a generic message a secular reader might dismiss as opinion.
Zeal
Approved rendering: zèle
Transliteration: qanno qinneti
Doctrine: Zeal for Exclusive Worship
Rejected alternatives: jalousie (possessive/romantic connotation, unsuited to covenant zeal)
Original: קַנֹּא קִנֵּאתִי
Category: Faith
Ardent, exclusive devotion for YHWH’s honor, the same root behind God’s own self-description as a ‘jealous God’ (19:10,14). ‘Zèle’ preserves the positive, ardent-devotion sense; pair with a footnote connecting it to God’s own jealousy language elsewhere in the canon.
Spirit Non Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: un esprit (esprit menteur)
Transliteration: ruach
Doctrine: Prophetic Authority: True versus False Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: Esprit (capitalized — FORBIDDEN, would imply the Holy Spirit)
Original: רוּח
Category: God
A created spirit-being who volunteers to be a ‘lying spirit’ sent, with God’s permission, to entice Ahab to his doom (22:19-23). MUST NOT be capitalized or identified with baseline’s Critical ‘Esprit Saint’. Strict lowercase discipline; mandatory theologian review at every occurrence.
Medium Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: Dieu
Transliteration: Dieu
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: אֱלֹהִים
Category: God
Secularization risk: ‘Dieu’ is used as a casual interjection (‘Mon Dieu!’) and, in academic/philosophical French, can be treated as an abstract deist concept rather than the personal, triune God of Scripture. Inherited from Romans package. In 1 Kings, Solomon’s incomparability confession (8:23) and Elijah’s Carmel contest (18:21,37-39) both reinforce the exclusivist sense against secular deist-abstraction drift; must not be softened.
Holy
Approved rendering: saint
Transliteration: saint
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: pur
Set apart for God and morally pure. Inherited from Romans package. In 1 Kings the architectural sense (qodesh, ‘lieu saint’) is a distinct nuance from the corporate-believer risk documented in Romans; see the new ‘holy_place_most_holy_place’ entry for the compound architectural term.
Sin
Approved rendering: péché
Transliteration: péché
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Secularization risk: colloquial French trivializes ‘péché’ (‘péché mignon’). Inherited from Romans package. 1 Kings 8’s covenant-curse catalogue and the idolatry chapters (11, 12, 16) reinforce, rather than soften, the weight of this term.
Glory
Approved rendering: gloire
Transliteration: gloire
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: כָּבוֹד
Category: God
God’s radiant honor and presence; secular ‘gloire’ risks a triumphalist reading. Inherited from Romans package. In 1 Kings 8:1-11 the kavod-cloud fills the Temple exactly as it filled the wilderness tabernacle; reinforced by the concrete, non-metaphorical ‘nuée’ (see new entry ‘cloud_of_presence’) so the passive, God-given sense is not eclipsed.
Israel
Approved rendering: Israël
Transliteration: Israël
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Original: יִשְׂרָאֵל
Category: Covenant
Contemporary Middle East politics and France’s significant Jewish community make it easy for readers to conflate biblical Israel with the modern nation-state. Inherited from Romans package. Applies throughout 1 Kings’ divided-kingdom narrative (Israel/north vs. Judah/south); keep the referent historical/theological.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: descendance de David
Transliteration: descendance de David
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: semence de David (archaic)
Modern translations prefer ‘descendance’ over the archaic/clinical ‘semence’. Inherited from Romans package. The 1 Kings royal-succession narrative (1-2, 8:25, 9:5, 11:12-13) is the concrete historical outworking of this covenant promise.
Salvation
Approved rendering: salut
Transliteration: salut
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: délivrance
Original: יְשׁוּעָה (thematic background)
Category: Salvation
Chief risk is Catholic sacramental-economy framing versus Protestant faith-alone framing. Inherited from Romans package. Background theme of 1 Kings’ judgment-and-restoration narrative arc; no direct lexical occurrence in the core passage, but anticipated by the exile/return theology of 8:46-50.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: Royaume de Dieu
Transliteration: Royaume de Dieu
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
God’s sovereign reign, distinguished from any political kingdom. Inherited from Romans package. In 1 Kings, used ONLY as the capitalized doctrinal foil against the lowercase political ‘royaume’ (mamlakah) of divided Israel/Judah (see new entry ‘kingdom_political’); never conflate the two typographically or theologically.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: païens
Transliteration: païens
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: étrangers
Carries a pejorative connotation stronger than the neutral original sense. Inherited from Romans package. In 1 Kings 8:41-43, prefer the new entry ‘foreigner’ (‘l’étranger’) for the specific, approvingly-depicted individual seeking YHWH; reserve ‘païens’ for collective ethnē-type usage elsewhere.
Intercession
Approved rendering: intercession
Transliteration: intercession
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Original: תְּפִלָּה / תְּחִנָּה (royal/national prayer sense)
Category: Prayer
Must be distinguished from Catholic devotional intercession of the saints/Mary. Inherited from Romans package. Solomon’s dedicatory prayer (8:22-53) functions as royal and national intercession; the same caution against saint/Marian-intercession conflation applies.
Providence
Approved rendering: providence
Transliteration: providence
Doctrine: Providence
Rejected alternatives: destin, hasard
Original: (thematic background; cf. ravens, widow’s oil, 17:1-16)
Category: God
Must render as personal, purposive divine care, not a deist abstraction. Inherited from Romans package. Elijah’s sustenance narratives (ravens, 17:1-16; angel at Horeb, 19:1-8) exemplify this personal covenantal care with concrete, named specificity.
Messiah
Approved rendering: Messie
Transliteration: Messie
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Original: מָשִׁיחַ (typological background via mashach)
Category: Christology
The Anointed One fulfilling OT promise. Inherited from Romans package. 1 Kings’ royal anointings (see new entry ‘anointed_anointing’) typologically anticipate this figure; flag every royal anointing scene as a forward-pointing type without letting the mundane repetition dull the term’s resonance.
Called
Approved rendering: appelé
Transliteration: appelé
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: invité
Context-sensitive divine summons. Inherited from Romans package. In 1 Kings, applies to prophetic commissioning (Elijah, 17:2-9; Micaiah, 22:14) as a specific sub-instance of the broader biblical calling category.
Calling
Approved rendering: appel
Transliteration: appel
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: vocation (clergy-narrowing risk)
Reserve ‘vocation’ with caution; use ‘appel’ for the general summons. Inherited from Romans package. Do not use ‘vocation’ for prophetic commissioning in 1 Kings either, to keep consistent with the Romans convention.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Esprit Saint
Transliteration: Esprit Saint
Doctrine: Sanctification
The personal, divine third Person of the Trinity. Inherited from Romans package. CAPITALIZATION SAFEGUARD FOR 1 KINGS: this term must NEVER be used for the created, deceiving ruach (‘lying spirit’) of 22:19-23 (see new entry ‘spirit_non_holy_spirit’). Strict lowercase discipline applies to that passage; mandatory theologian review.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: puissance de Dieu
Transliteration: puissance de Dieu
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Rejected alternatives: force
‘Puissance’ conveys sovereign capability; ‘force’ is too generic. Inherited from Romans package. Relevant background for 1 Kings 20:23,28, where the Syrians’ territorial-deity taunt is refuted by YHWH’s universal (not merely local) sovereignty.
Mission
Approved rendering: mission
Transliteration: mission
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
Frame as gospel proclamation, not cultural conquest, given France’s colonial missionary history. Inherited from Romans package. Background doctrine for 1 Kings 8:41-43,60’s vision of all peoples of the earth knowing God’s Name; see new entries ‘foreigner’ and ‘name_theology’.
Cloud Of Presence
Approved rendering: nuée
Transliteration: ʿanan
Doctrine: The Temple as God’s Dwelling among His People
Rejected alternatives: nuage (too generic/meteorological)
Original: עָנָן
Category: God
The visible cloud accompanying God’s glory at the Temple’s dedication (8:10-11), echoing the wilderness tabernacle (Exodus 40). ‘Nuée’ preserves the established French biblical register and theophanic weight that generic ‘nuage’ would lose.
Holy Place Most Holy Place
Approved rendering: lieu saint / lieu très saint (Saint des saints)
Transliteration: qodesh / qodesh haqqodashim
Doctrine: Temple Worship and Sacrifice
Original: קֹדֶשׁ / קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים
Category: Temple
Graded degrees of sacred space culminating in the innermost chamber housing the ark. Established French idiom (‘le Saint des saints’) is generally safe even in secular usage, but must be taught as graded access reflecting God’s holiness, not merely an exclusive VIP space.
Ark Of The Covenant
Approved rendering: arche (de l’alliance)
Transliteration: aron (habberith)
Doctrine: Temple Worship and Sacrifice
Original: אֲרוֹן (הַבְּרִית)
Category: Temple
‘Arche’ is homonymous with ‘l’arche de Noé’ (Noah’s ark) in French; a first-occurrence disambiguating gloss is advisable.
Altar
Approved rendering: autel
Transliteration: mizbeach
Doctrine: Temple Worship and Sacrifice
Original: מִזְבֵּח
Category: Temple
The sacrificial installation at the Temple and elsewhere (e.g., Mount Carmel, 18:30-35). French Catholic Eucharistic-sacrifice resonance of ‘autel’ should not be imported onto the Levitical/OT sacrificial system without explicit distinction.
Sacrifice Offerings
Approved rendering: sacrifice / holocauste / sacrifice de paix (ou d’action de grâces)
Transliteration: zevach / ʿolah / shelamim
Doctrine: Temple Worship and Sacrifice
Original: זֶבַח / עוֹלָה / שְׁלָמִים
Category: Temple
Offering categories at the Temple’s dedication (8:62-66). Shelamim shares its root with baseline’s ‘paix’; must not import Catholic Eucharistic sacrificial categories onto the Levitical offering system.
Assembly Congregation
Approved rendering: assemblée
Transliteration: qahal
Doctrine: The Temple as God’s Dwelling among His People
Rejected alternatives: Église (wrongly imports NT ekklēsia referent onto pre-exilic Israel)
Original: קָהָל
Category: Church
Israel gathered as a covenant nation witnessing Solomon’s prayer (8:22). Qahal is the Hebrew term the LXX regularly renders ekklēsia, the root of baseline’s ‘Église’; do NOT use ‘Église’ here. Use ‘assemblée’ and reserve ‘Église’ per baseline usage.
Anointed Anointing
Approved rendering: oindre (v.) / onction (n.)
Transliteration: mashach
Doctrine: Messianic Typology of Royal Anointing
Original: מָשַׁח
Category: Covenant
Ritual consecration by oil, the root of mashiach (‘Anointed One’). Every royal anointing (1:39, 19:15-16) should be flagged as a forward-pointing type relative to baseline’s Critical ‘Messie’ entry; do not let the mundane, repeated royal usage dull its messianic resonance.
Inheritance
Approved rendering: héritage
Transliteration: nachalah
Doctrine: Election and Separation of Israel
Original: נַחֲלָה
Category: Covenant
Israel’s identity as God’s possessed, allotted people (8:51). Secular French ‘héritage’ defaults to financial/property inheritance; must be taught with the covenantal-belonging sense, paired with baseline’s ‘adoption filiale’ (Romans 8 inheritance-rights language) as a cross-testamental teaching link.
Prayer
Approved rendering: prière
Transliteration: tephillah
Doctrine: Prayer and Royal Intercession
Original: תְּפִלָּה
Category: Prayer
Formal, direct address to God, as in Solomon’s dedication prayer. French Catholic devotional culture includes highly structured intercessory prayer through saints and Mary; must keep this prayer as direct, unmediated address to God.
Supplication
Approved rendering: supplication
Transliteration: techinnah
Doctrine: Prayer and Royal Intercession
Original: תְּחִנָּה
Category: Prayer
A plea for favor/grace, from the root chanan, ‘to be gracious’. Paired with ‘prière’ throughout 8:28-54; no independent doctrinal risk beyond the prayer entry.
Hear Refrain
Approved rendering: entendre / écouter
Transliteration: shamaʿ
Doctrine: Prayer and Royal Intercession
Original: שָׁמַע
Category: Prayer
God’s responsive, favorable attentiveness to prayer, not mere auditory reception; a structural refrain recurring seven times (8:30,32,34,36,39,43,45,49). Must be rendered IDENTICALLY at every occurrence — a Theological Consistency Rule parallel to baseline’s Romans 8:28/10:9 mandate.
Forgive
Approved rendering: pardonner
Transliteration: salach
Doctrine: Forgiveness and Covenant Restoration
Original: סָלַח
Category: Prayer
God’s exclusive prerogative to pardon covenant sin, restoring fellowship (8:30,34,36,39,50). Distinct from baseline’s Critical ‘justification’: forgiveness restores covenant fellowship after repentance (repeatable), while justification is a one-time forensic declaration. Keep the two doctrinally distinct.
Humbled Himself
Approved rendering: s’humilier
Transliteration: nikhnaʿ
Doctrine: Divine Mercy toward Partial Repentance
Original: נִכְנַע
Category: Repentance
Ahab’s partial, externally-visible repentance (sackcloth, fasting, 21:27-29), graciously honored by God though incomplete. Teaching nuance rather than lexical risk: distinguish from the fuller ‘revenir/se retourner’ (shuv) vocabulary reserved for complete covenant reorientation.
Maintain Their Cause
Approved rendering: rendre justice / défendre la cause
Transliteration: mishpat
Doctrine: Judicial Righteousness (Forensic Background to Justification)
Original: מִשְׁפָּט
Category: Justice
God as advocate/judge securing a just verdict for his covenant people (8:45,49,59). Must not collapse into baseline’s soteriological ‘justice’ (Critical, Romans 1:17) without distinguishing the legal-judicial sense in a specific dispute, same root family, different referent.
Fear Reverence
Approved rendering: craindre (Dieu)
Transliteration: yare
Doctrine: Prayer and Royal Intercession
Rejected alternatives: avoir peur (bare dread)
Original: יָרֵא
Category: Faith
Reverential awe and submission toward God, the intended fruit of answered prayer (8:40,43). Modern French ‘craindre’ defaults to simple dread; requires the qualifying frame ‘craindre Dieu’.
Foreigner
Approved rendering: l’étranger
Transliteration: nokhri
Doctrine: Universal Recognition of God’s Name among the Nations
Rejected alternatives: païens (pejorative, inappropriate for this approving reference)
Original: נָכְרִי
Category: Mission
A non-Israelite approvingly depicted seeking YHWH ‘for your name’s sake’ (8:41-43). Prefer ‘l’étranger’ over baseline’s ‘païens’; reserve ‘païens/les nations’ for collective ethnē-type usage elsewhere.
Plague Affliction
Approved rendering: fléau / plaie
Transliteration: nega
Doctrine: Covenant Blessings and Curses
Original: נֶגַע
Category: Covenant
Covenant-curse calamities (famine, blight, siege, plague) matching Deuteronomy 28’s list (8:37-38). Risk of secular flattening into a loose metaphor (‘les fléaux sociaux’), losing the specifically covenantal, divinely-administered sense.
Iron Furnace Idiom
Approved rendering: fournaise de fer
Transliteration: kur habarzel
Doctrine: Covenant Blessings and Curses
Original: כּוּר הַבַּרְזֶל
Category: Covenant
Idiom recalling the Egyptian bondage, a smelting furnace as metaphor for harsh affliction (8:51). Risk of an overly literal metallurgical reading if not glossed as an idiom for slavery/affliction.
Discern
Approved rendering: discerner
Transliteration: bin
Doctrine: Solomon’s Wisdom and Its Limits
Original: בִּין
Category: Wisdom
To discern, understand, distinguish, as in Solomon’s request for a heart to discern good and evil (3:9).
Baal
Approved rendering: Baal
Transliteration: Baʿal
Doctrine: Elijah and the Contest with Baal
Rejected alternatives: maître / seigneur (would collide with SEIGNEUR convention reserved for YHWH)
Original: בַּעַל
Category: Idolatry
The Canaanite storm-and-fertility deity, whose name also means ‘master, lord’ — a direct rival claim to YHWH’s exclusive Lordship. Transliterate, never translate. Contemporary French occult/pop-culture tradition (grimoire literature conflating Baal with Beelzebub) risks flattening this into a generic demon-name rather than a historically specific rival-lordship cult.
Asherah
Approved rendering: Ashéra
Transliteration: Asherah
Doctrine: Idolatry and Its Consequences
Original: אֲשֵׁרָה
Category: Idolatry
A Canaanite goddess and/or her cultic wooden pole symbol, erected by Ahab (16:33). Largely unfamiliar to French readers; primarily an information gap requiring an explanatory gloss.
Kingdom Political
Approved rendering: royaume
Transliteration: mamlakah
Doctrine: The Divided Kingdom and Covenant Unfaithfulness
Original: מַמְלָכָה
Category: Kingship
The this-worldly, divided, ultimately failing dynastic kingdom of Israel/Judah. Deliberate LOWERCASE throughout the political narrative, kept distinct from baseline’s capitalized ‘Royaume de Dieu’ to maintain the narrative contrast.
Man Of God
Approved rendering: homme de Dieu
Transliteration: ish ha-Elohim
Doctrine: Prophetic Confrontation of Kings
Original: אִישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים
Category: Prophecy
A prophetic office-designation for a figure authenticated by a specific miraculous sign (13:1-10; 17:18,24; 20:28). French Catholic hagiographic tradition uses similar honorific language (‘un saint homme’) implying general track-record sanctity; must be taught as a specific prophetic office, not a general piety honorific.
Did Evil Right Formula
Approved rendering: fit ce qui est mal / droit aux yeux du SEIGNEUR
Transliteration: ʿasah ha-raʿ / ha-yashar be-ʿeinei YHWH
Doctrine: The Divided Kingdom and Covenant Unfaithfulness
Original: עָשָׂה הָרַע / הַיָּשָׁר בְּעֵינֵי יהוה
Category: Kingship
A fixed Deuteronomistic evaluative refrain repeated for nearly every king. Must be rendered IDENTICALLY at every recurrence throughout the book (11-22) — a Theological Consistency Rule parallel to baseline’s Romans 1:16-17/8:28/10:9 mandates.
Limping Between Two Opinions Idiom
Approved rendering: hésiter entre deux partis
Transliteration: pasach ʿal-shetei ha-seʿippim
Doctrine: Elijah and the Contest with Baal
Rejected alternatives: boiter entre deux branches (literal, baffling to French readers)
Original: פָּסַח עַל־שְׁתֵּי הַסְּעִפִּים
Category: Idolatry
Elijah’s idiom for wavering, divided religious allegiance (18:21). Idiom-handling rule applies: preserve the divided-allegiance meaning, not the literal ‘limping’ image.
Still Small Voice
Approved rendering: une voix douce et calme
Transliteration: qol demamah qallah
Doctrine: Elijah and the Contest with Baal
Rejected alternatives: un murmure mystique (over-dramatizes)
Original: קוֹל דְּמָמָה קַלָּה
Category: God
A deliberately quiet, intimate divine address to Elijah, contrasted with preceding wind, earthquake, and fire (19:12). Translator must resist dramatizing this inherently quiet, paradoxical phrase.
Low Risk Terms
Prophet
Approved rendering: prophète
Transliteration: prophète
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: voyant
Original: נָבִיא
Category: Prophecy
God’s spokesperson; avoid ‘voyant’. Inherited from Romans package. FLAG: in 1 Kings 18 and 22, French ‘prophète’ covers both true YHWH prophets and Baal’s/the royal court’s false prophets identically; the narrative’s own verdict (e.g., explicit qualifiers ‘prophète de Baal’) must carry the true/false distinction, not a lexical substitution.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: prophétie
Transliteration: prophétie
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
God-inspired declaration, not prediction by fortune-telling. Inherited from Romans package. Background term for the recurring ‘word of the LORD’ commissioning formula in 1 Kings 12-22 (see new entry ‘word_of_the_lord’).
David
Approved rendering: David
Transliteration: David
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: דָּוִד
Category: Covenant
Standard proper name form across all French Bible traditions. Inherited from Romans package. Central figure of 1 Kings 1-2, 8, 9, 11 as covenant recipient.
Peace
Approved rendering: paix
Transliteration: paix
Doctrine: Peace with God
Relational peace with God, not merely psychological calm. Inherited from Romans package. 1 Kings 22:6,12 uses shalom ironically in the mouths of false court prophets promising success; this is a teaching contrast with the true ‘paix’ of the baseline doctrine, not a new sense requiring a different rendering.
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: action de grâce
Transliteration: action de grâce
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
The phrase also names the Eucharistic rite in Catholic liturgy. Inherited from Romans package. Relevant as an optional gloss for the shelamim (‘peace/fellowship offering’) at the Temple dedication feast (8:62-66); see new entry ‘sacrifice_offerings’.
Davidic Throne
Approved rendering: trône
Transliteration: kisse
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: כִּסֵּא
Category: Covenant
The royal seat symbolizing dynastic rule (8:25). Lexically simple but doctrinally load-bearing; flag for cross-reference to the Messianic Promise doctrine whenever this term recurs (1:1-2, 8:25).
Servant
Approved rendering: serviteur
Transliteration: eved
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: domestique (menial-labor register)
Original: עֶבֶד
Category: Covenant
A covenant office-title (‘mon serviteur David’, ‘Moïse, ton serviteur’), not menial labor. Register note: must be read as an honorific covenant office throughout 1 Kings.
The Good Way
Approved rendering: le bon chemin / la bonne voie
Transliteration: ha-derek ha-tovah
Doctrine: Covenant Blessings and Curses
Original: הַדֶּרֶךְ הַטּוֹבָה
Category: Faith
Right covenant conduct that God himself teaches through prophetic instruction and discipline (8:36). Render plainly.
King
Approved rendering: roi
Transliteration: melek
Doctrine: Kingship and Human Authority under God
Original: מֶלֶךְ
Category: Kingship
The office of monarch over Israel or Judah. No live doctrinal collision; France’s post-monarchical culture makes background teaching on the institution helpful, but this is a presentation issue, not a translation risk.
Tribe
Approved rendering: tribu
Transliteration: shevet
Doctrine: The Divided Kingdom and Covenant Unfaithfulness
Original: שֵׁבֶט
Category: Kingship
One of the twelve tribal divisions of Israel, relevant to the kingdom’s division (11:31-35).
Sign
Approved rendering: signe
Transliteration: ot
Doctrine: Prophetic Confrontation of Kings
Original: אוֹת
Category: Prophecy
A predicted, verifiable event authenticating a prophetic word (13:3,5). Foundational to the evidentiary logic of the doctrine.
Covet
Approved rendering: convoiter
Transliteration: chamad
Doctrine: Prophetic Confrontation of Kings
Original: חָמַד
Category: Justice
To desire strongly, a direct violation of the Decalogue’s tenth commandment, driving Ahab’s judicial murder of Naboth (21:1-16).
Innocent Blood
Approved rendering: sang innocent
Transliteration: dam naqi
Doctrine: Prophetic Confrontation of Kings
Original: דָּם נָקִי
Category: Justice
Unjust judicial killing, a grave covenant violation demanding prophetic confrontation (21:17-24).
Referenced passages