Core Glossary
Core Glossary: 2 Samuel
Per-term glossary consolidating every load-bearing theological term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, across the entire book (chapters 1–24). Terms already recorded in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json are marked (baseline reuse) and MUST use the exact recorded French rendering. New terms proposed for this curriculum are marked (new) and should be added to translation memory before Phase 2 begins, per the Load and Enforcement Instructions in 12_ai_translation_requirements.md.
| # | Term (English gloss) | Original (Hebrew) | Transliteration | French rendering | Doctrine risk | Chapters | Baseline status | Alternatives rejected / notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | God | אֱלֹהִים / יהוה | Elohim / YHWH | Dieu / l’Éternel / le Seigneur | Critical | all | (baseline reuse: god→Dieu; lord→Seigneur) | Use “l’Éternel” or “le Seigneur” for YHWH per established French Bible convention (Segond uses “l’Éternel”; TOB/BJ use “le Seigneur” or “le SEIGNEUR”). Curriculum should fix one convention and apply consistently. |
| 2 | David | דָּוִד | David | David | Low | all | (baseline reuse) | Stable proper name. |
| 3 | Israel | יִשְׂרָאֵל | Yisra’el | Israël | Medium | all | (baseline reuse) | Keep historical/covenantal referent distinct from the modern nation-state, per baseline note. |
| 4 | covenant | בְּרִית | berit | alliance | High | 2,3,5,7,9,14,23 | (baseline reuse: covenant→alliance) | This curriculum’s first named doctrine (“The Davidic Covenant”); reuse baseline term exactly, never “contrat.” |
| 5 | sin | חַטָּאָה / חָטָא | chata’ah / chata | péché | High | 11,12,24 | (baseline reuse: sin→péché) | Guard against colloquial trivialization (“péché mignon”) per baseline note; David’s sin is culpable rebellion, not minor indulgence. |
| 6 | holy | קָדוֹשׁ | qadosh | saint | High | 6 | (baseline reuse: holy→saint) | Ch. 6’s Uzzah narrative dramatizes the dangerous, guarding dimension of God’s holiness. |
| 7 | prophet | נָבִיא | navi | prophète | Low | 7,12,24 (Nathan; Gad) | (baseline reuse: prophet→prophète) | Stable term; Nathan and Gad both function in this office. |
| 8 | righteousness / justice | צְדָקָה / מִשְׁפָּט | tzedaqah / mishpat | justice | Critical (soteriological sense) / Medium (royal-governance sense) | 8,22 | (baseline reuse: righteousness→justice, with added royal-governance sense) | MUST disambiguate: baseline sense = forensic saving righteousness (Romans); 2 Samuel 8’s sense = royal social-justice governance. Same French word; context must always clarify which. |
| 9 | peace | שָׁלוֹם | shalom | paix | Low | 20 | (baseline reuse: peace→paix) | Civic/political peace here, narrower than but not contradictory to the baseline’s peace-with-God doctrine. |
| 10 | anointed one (office) | מְשִׁיחַ | mashiach | l’oint (de l’Éternel) | High | 1,2,19,22,23 | New — related to but distinct from baseline messiah→Messie | Never use “Messie” for the historical anointed-king sense in 2 Samuel; reserve “Messie” for the fulfilled eschatological title. Note the etymological/theological link in teaching material without conflating the terms. |
| 11 | steadfast love / covenant love | חֶסֶד | chesed | amour fidèle | High/Critical (central to doctrine 5) | 2,7,9,22 | New — proposed addition to translation memory | Central term for “God’s Steadfast Love despite Human Failure.” Must NOT be rendered “grâce” (reserved for NT charis in baseline) nor flattened to “bonté.” Recommend Critical-tier flag given curriculum centrality. |
| 12 | house / dynasty | בַּיִת | bayit | maison | Medium | 7 (throughout), 3,5 | New | Central wordplay term of the core passage; French “maison” fortunately carries the same dual sense (building/dynasty) as the Hebrew. |
| 13 | seed / offspring | זֶרַע | zera | descendance | Medium | 7 | Aligned with baseline seed_of_david→“descendance de David” | Reuse baseline pattern; reject archaic “semence.” |
| 14 | throne | כִּסֵּא | kisse | trône | High | 7,22 (implicit),23 | New | Must be anchored to both its concrete historical referent and its messianic-eternal fulfillment; neither may be assumed without teaching. |
| 15 | forever / eternal | עוֹלָם | olam | pour toujours / éternel | High | 7,23 | New | Risk of secular flattening to mere “a long time”; anchor to Messianic Hope doctrine and to 23:5’s retrospective “berit olam.” |
| 16 | kingdom (Davidic, dynastic) | מַמְלָכָה | mamlakah | royaume | Medium | 7 | New — distinct from baseline kingdom_of_god→“Royaume de Dieu” | Do not silently conflate the dynastic-political term with the baseline’s NT Kingdom-of-God doctrine; the connection must be taught, not assumed. |
| 17 | rest (from enemies) | נוּחַ | nuach | repos | Medium | 7 | New | Covenant-gift rest, not mere leisure/calm. |
| 18 | name (reputation/legacy) | שֵׁם | shem | nom | Medium | 7 | New | God-given legacy (cf. Abrahamic pattern), not self-made fame. |
| 19 | servant (royal-covenant title) | עֶבֶד | ebed | serviteur | Medium | 7 (throughout),9 | New | Distinguish from Catholic devotional “serviteur de Dieu” canonization title. |
| 20 | prince/designated ruler | נָגִיד | nagid | prince | Medium | 7 | New | Distinguish from hereditary-nobility connotation of French “prince”; this is a divinely designated office. |
| 21 | ark of the covenant | אֲרוֹן הָאֱלֹהִים / אֲרוֹן הַבְּרִית | aron ha’elohim / aron habrit | arche de l’alliance / arche de Dieu | High | 6,7,15 | New | Must be explicitly distinguished from French Catholic Marian typology (“Arche de la Nouvelle Alliance” applied to Mary) to prevent devotional-association collision. |
| 22 | word of the LORD (revelation formula) | דְּבַר־יהוה | devar YHWH | la parole de l’Éternel | Medium | 7,12,24 | New | Formal prophetic-authority formula; relates to baseline’s inspiration_of_scripture doctrine category. |
| 23 | father / son (royal adoption formula) | אָב / בֵּן | av / ben | père / fils (lowercase) | Critical | 7 | New — MUST be distinguished from baseline son_of_god→“Fils de Dieu” | The Davidic “son” (Solomon, and by extension the dynastic line) uses adoptive/royal-formula language; capitalized “Fils de Dieu” is reserved exclusively for Christ’s eternal ontological Sonship per baseline. Every occurrence flagged for theologian review. |
| 24 | iniquity | עָוֹן | avon | faute / iniquité | Medium-High | 7 | New | Retain moral culpability; not mere “erreur.” |
| 25 | discipline (fatherly, covenant-preserving) | יסר (yasar) | yissartihu | corriger / châtier | High | 7,16 | New | Must be distinguished from covenant-ending judgment (contrast with Saul, 7:15); relationship continues through discipline. |
| 26 | evil in the sight of the LORD | רַע בְּעֵינֵי יהוה | ra’ b’ene YHWH | mal aux yeux de l’Éternel | High | 11 | New | Formal divine-evaluation idiom; do not soften to “une erreur.” |
| 27 | adultery | נָאַף | na’aph | adultère | Medium | 11 | New | Full moral seriousness required; no euphemism. |
| 28 | confession of sin | חָטָאתִי לַיהוה | chatati la-YHWH | j’ai péché contre l’Éternel | High | 12 | Reuses baseline sin→péché | Direct, unmediated confession to God; must not be reframed through sacramental-confession lens. |
| 29 | forgiveness / removal of sin | הֶעֱבִיר | he’evir | ôter le péché / pardonner | High | 12 | New | Guard against a merit/works reading of forgiveness (parallel to baseline grace/justification cautions). |
| 30 | sword (ongoing judgment-consequence) | חֶרֶב | chereb | épée | Medium | 12,13-18 (narrative outworking) | New | Temporal covenant-family consequence, not eternal condemnation. |
| 31 | compassion / plead for favor | חָנַן | chanan | compassion / faveur | Medium-High | 12 | New | Avoid unqualified “grâce” to prevent collision with baseline NT grace. |
| 32 | favor (relational acceptance) | חֵן | chen | faveur | Medium | 15 | New | Distinct from both chesed and chanan; same collision caution re: “grâce.” |
| 33 | justice/righteousness (royal governance) | מִשְׁפָּט וּצְדָקָה | mishpat u-tzedaqah | justice et équité | Medium-High | 8 | See #8 | Cross-referenced with baseline soteriological righteousness entry. |
| 34 | consecrate / dedicate | קָדַשׁ (hiqdish) | qadash | consacrer / dédier | Medium | 8 | New | Object-dedication, distinct from personal-holiness sense of baseline holy. |
| 35 | shame | בֹּשֶׁת | bosheth | honte | Low | 10,13 | New | Minor recurring honor/shame term. |
| 36 | folly / disgraceful act | נְבָלָה | nebalah | infamie / chose insensée | Medium | 13 | New | Covenant-community moral-violation language. |
| 37 | wisdom | חָכְמָה | chokmah | sagesse | Low | 14,20 | New | Standard term. |
| 38 | avenger of blood | גֹּאֵל הַדָּם | go’el ha-dam | vengeur du sang | Medium | 3,4,14,21 | New | Bloodguilt-kinship legal term, recurring motif. |
| 39 | conspiracy / treachery | קֶשֶׁר | qesher | conspiration / complot | Low-Medium | 15,17 | New | Threat to the “forever throne” of ch. 7. |
| 40 | curse | קְלָלָה | qelalah | malédiction | Low-Medium | 16 | New | Natural pairing/contrast with “bénédiction.” |
| 41 | blessing | בָּרַךְ | barak | bénédiction / bénir | Low | throughout | New | Stable term; pairs with #40. |
| 42 | mourning / lament | קִינָה / מִסְפֵּד / אָבֵל | qinah / misped / avel | lamentation / deuil | Low-Medium | 1,18 | New | Structural bracket between ch. 1 and ch. 18. |
| 43 | atonement / propitiation | כָּפַר | kaphar | expiation | Critical | 21,24 | New | Must be framed as OT type pointing to Christ’s atonement, and never as human works earning divine favor — parallel caution to baseline’s grace/justification Critical entries. |
| 44 | sacrifice / burnt offering | זֶבַח / עוֹלָה | zevach / olah | sacrifice / holocauste | Medium | 24 | New | Same typological caution as #43. |
| 45 | altar | מִזְבֵּחַ | mizbeach | autel | Low-Medium | 24 | New | Site of ch. 24 fulfills ch. 7:13’s “house for my name” prophetically. |
| 46 | rock (divine metaphor) | צוּר | tsur | rocher | Medium | 22 | New | Divine-refuge metaphor tied to chesed/faithfulness themes. |
| 47 | fortress | מְצוּדָה | metsudah | forteresse | Low | 22 | New | Paired with #46. |
| 48 | deliverance / salvation (historical) | יֶשַׁע / יָשַׁע | yesha’ / yasha | délivrance | Medium-High | 22 | Related to but distinct from baseline salvation→salut | Historical/military rescue; not to be collapsed into the Critical NT eternal-salvation doctrine without qualification. |
| 49 | everlasting covenant | בְּרִית עוֹלָם | berit olam | alliance éternelle | High | 23 | Combines #4 + #15 | David’s own retrospective confirmation of the ch. 7 promise; central Messianic Hope proof-text. |
| 50 | mighty men / warriors | גִּבּוֹרִים | gibborim | les vaillants hommes / héros | Low | 1,21,23 | New | Structural bracket across the book. |
Risk Distribution Summary
| Risk Tier | Count | Review Routing (per baseline doctrine_risk_registry.json methodology) |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 6 (God, sin*, holy*, righteousness [soteriological]*, father/son formula, atonement) — *baseline-Critical terms reused | Human theologian review, every occurrence |
| High | 15 | Human theologian review |
| Medium-High | 6 | Human theologian review recommended |
| Medium | 15 | Native speaker review |
| Low-Medium | 5 | Native speaker review |
| Low | 9 | Automated review |
Note for Phase 2 routing: Terms #10 (l’oint), #11 (amour fidèle), #14 (trône), #15 (pour toujours), #21 (arche de l’alliance), #23 (père/fils formula), and #43 (expiation) require priority theologian review in every occurrence given their direct load-bearing role in this curriculum’s five named doctrines, particularly the Davidic Covenant, the Messianic Hope, and God’s Steadfast Love. These should be added to a curriculum-specific extension of bible_term_registry.json and doctrine_risk_registry.json before Phase 2 begins.
Critical Risk Terms
Son Of God
Approved rendering: Fils de Dieu
Transliteration: Fils de Dieu
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: envoyé de Dieu, homme divin
Inherited from Romans package. ABSOLUTE PROHIBITION for 2 Samuel: this capitalized Critical term is reserved exclusively for Christ’s eternal, unique, co-equal divine Sonship and MUST NEVER be used to render 2 Samuel 7:14’s lowercase ‘fils’ (Solomon/the Davidic line’s disciplinable, adoptive royal sonship — see new term ‘father_son_formula’). Every occurrence of either term in this curriculum requires theologian review to confirm no cross-contamination.
Justification
Approved rendering: justification
Transliteration: justification
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: sanctification (conflation), salut (too generic)
Inherited from Romans package. No direct Hebrew equivalent occurs in 2 Samuel; retained for teaching cross-references only where David’s forgiveness (12:13) is contrasted with, or connected to, the NT doctrine of forensic justification. Never let 2 Samuel 12’s forgiveness narrative be silently equated with justification-by-faith without an explicit teaching bridge.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: justice imputée
Transliteration: justice imputée
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: justice méritée
Inherited from Romans package. Retained for teaching cross-references only; no direct 2 Samuel occurrence. Relevant as a conceptual guardrail alongside ‘atonement_propitiation’ (kaphar) and ‘forgiveness_removal_of_sin’ (he’evir): none of 2 Samuel’s forgiveness or atonement language may be read as human merit earning divine favor.
Yhwh
Approved rendering: l’Éternel
Transliteration: l’Éternel
Doctrine: Divine Name / Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: le Seigneur (reserved secondary gloss only), Jéhovah (sectarian, TMN-associated — forbidden)
Original: יהוה
Category: God
NEW, CRITICAL: the covenant name YHWH, used over a dozen times in 2 Samuel 7 alone. Fixed as ‘l’Éternel’ (Segond-aligned convention) as the PRIMARY rendering throughout this curriculum; ‘le Seigneur’ may appear only as an explicitly labeled secondary gloss when quoting ecumenical (TOB) sources. Never substitute ‘Jéhovah’, which is a marker of the Témoins de Jéhovah’s Traduction du Monde Nouveau (see 05_translation_landscape.md §3) and must not be echoed under any circumstance. Do not conflate with baseline ‘lord’ → ‘Seigneur’ (reserved for the NT Christological confession).
Father Son Formula
Approved rendering: père / fils
Transliteration: père / fils
Doctrine: Messianic Hope / Sonship of Christ (contrast)
Rejected alternatives: Fils de Dieu (absolutely forbidden for this referent)
Original: אָב / בֵּן
Category: Christology
NEW, HIGHEST-PRIORITY FENCING TERM IN THIS CURRICULUM: the royal-adoption formula (7:14), ‘I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son’, immediately referring to Solomon and the disciplinable Davidic line (subject to correction for iniquity, 7:14b), later quoted messianically of Christ (Hebrews 1:5). Render as lowercase ‘fils’ ONLY. Capitalized ‘Fils de Dieu’ (baseline Critical term for Christ’s eternal, co-equal Sonship) is never permitted for this referent under any circumstance. Every occurrence requires theologian review.
Righteousness Justice
Approved rendering: justice
Transliteration: justice
Doctrine: Royal Justice and Righteous Governance (contrast with soteriological sense)
Original: צְדָקָה
Category: Salvation
NEW: tzedaqah’s word-family in 2 Samuel surfaces both the baseline’s soteriological sense (reused exactly, see inherited ‘righteousness’) and a royal-governance sense (8:15, see ‘justice_royal_governance’). The identical French word is unavoidable; context must always disambiguate. Flagged Critical because confusing the two senses would corrupt both the Romans justification doctrine and this curriculum’s kingship doctrine.
Atonement Propitiation
Approved rendering: expiation
Transliteration: expiation
Doctrine: Bloodguilt, Vengeance, and Justice / Messianic Hope (typological)
Original: כָּפַר
Category: Salvation
NEW, CRITICAL: kaphar, costly reparation resolving covenant-breach bloodguilt (21:3; 24:25). Two dangers must be guarded against: (1) reading this OT reparation act as the final, once-for-all atonement accomplished in Christ, rather than a type pointing forward to it; (2) reading it as a human work earning divine favor, colliding with the baseline’s grace/justification Critical entries. Frame explicitly as covenantal-typological background, never a stand-alone doctrine of works-based propitiation.
Steadfast Love
Approved rendering: amour fidèle
Transliteration: amour fidèle
Doctrine: God’s Steadfast Love despite Human Failure
Rejected alternatives: grâce (absolutely forbidden — NT charis collision), bonté (too weak/generic, secondary Segond-variant only)
Original: חֶסֶד
Category: Covenant
NEW, CRITICAL, CENTRAL TO THIS CURRICULUM’S FIFTH DOCTRINE: chesed, covenant loyalty and unfailing love grounded in relationship, not merit (7:15; also 2:5-6; 9:1-7; 22). The Saul/David contrast (7:15) — Saul’s dynasty ended for unrepentant rebellion, David’s line disciplined but never abandoned — is the doctrine’s narrative proof. Must NEVER be rendered ‘grâce’ (reserved for baseline NT charis); reject ‘bonté’ as too weak for primary use. Fixed compound rendering across the entire book; every occurrence requires theologian review.
High Risk Terms
Lord
Approved rendering: Seigneur
Transliteration: Seigneur
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: maître, patron
Inherited from Romans package. Relevant to 2 Samuel as a FENCING term: ‘Seigneur’ is reserved in this curriculum for its baseline NT Christological sense (Kyrios, Romans 10:9). The covenant name YHWH occurring over a dozen times in 2 Samuel 7 must be rendered ‘l’Éternel’ (see new term ‘yhwh’), never ‘le Seigneur’ as primary rendering, to avoid blurring the OT covenant name with the NT confession of Christ’s exclusive Lordship before that typological connection is taught.
Election
Approved rendering: élection
Transliteration: élection
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: chance, destin
Inherited from Romans package. Relevant to 2 Samuel’s theme of God’s sovereign, gracious choice of David from humble shepherd origins (7:8); in expository prose describing David’s selection prefer ‘le choix souverain de Dieu’ rather than surfacing ‘élection’ itself, per 06_linguistic_gap_analysis.md, to avoid the French political/democratic-election association even in a non-Pauline narrative context.
Grace
Approved rendering: grâce
Transliteration: grâce
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: faveur, mérite
Inherited from Romans package. ABSOLUTE PROHIBITION for 2 Samuel: never use ‘grâce’ to render chesed (see new term ‘steadfast_love’ → ‘amour fidèle’), chanan (see ‘compassion_favor’), or chen (see ‘favor_relational’). ‘Grâce’ remains reserved exclusively for the baseline’s NT charis concept; conflating it with any Hebrew covenant-loyalty or petitionary-mercy term would import the Trent-vs-Reformation grace controversy into an unrelated Old Testament concept.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: justice
Transliteration: justice (de Dieu)
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: vertu, droiture
Inherited from Romans package. ABSOLUTE DISAMBIGUATION REQUIRED in this curriculum: the identical French word ‘justice’ also renders 2 Samuel’s distinct royal-governance sense (see new term ‘justice_royal_governance’ and ‘righteousness_justice’). Context must always make clear which sense is active; never let 8:15’s royal social-justice governance be read as forensic soteriological standing, or vice versa.
Law
Approved rendering: loi
Transliteration: loi (la Loi)
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Inherited from Romans package. Relevant to the Mosaic legal background of the ark’s holiness (ch. 6) and of bloodguilt/avenger-of-blood categories (chs. 3-4, 14, 21); keep the referent narrowly Mosaic, as in the baseline, distinct from Catholic natural-law theology.
Church
Approved rendering: Église
Transliteration: Église
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: temple (building only)
Inherited from Romans package. ABSOLUTE PROHIBITION for 2 Samuel: when teaching material draws a parallel between Israel as God’s covenant people and the NT church, use ‘peuple de Dieu’, never ‘l’Église’, to avoid anachronism — 2 Samuel’s Israel is not the New Testament ekklesia.
Lord Of Hosts
Approved rendering: le Seigneur des armées
Transliteration: le Seigneur des armées
Doctrine: Divine Sovereignty in Kingship
Rejected alternatives: le Seigneur Tout-Puissant (secondary gloss only)
Original: יהוה צְבָאוֹת
Category: God
NEW: God’s title as commander of heavenly/earthly armies (2 Samuel 7:8). French ‘le Seigneur des armées’ risks a narrowly martial reading in laïque, post-conscription French culture; pair with ‘Tout-Puissant’ in teaching glosses to retain the cosmic-sovereignty sense behind the covenant promise that follows.
Everlasting Covenant
Approved rendering: alliance éternelle
Transliteration: alliance éternelle
Doctrine: Messianic Hope
Original: בְּרִית עוֹלָם
Category: Covenant
NEW: David’s own retrospective naming of God’s covenant with him as ‘berit olam’ (2 Samuel 23:5), the book’s clearest self-witness to the unending scope of the ch. 7 promise. Must be cross-referenced explicitly with 7:13,16 in every teaching occurrence; secular French readers may otherwise hear ‘éternelle’ as poetic hyperbole for dynastic longevity rather than strict theological perpetuity.
Anointed One
Approved rendering: l’oint de l’Éternel
Transliteration: l’oint de l’Éternel
Doctrine: Anointing and Sacred Office
Rejected alternatives: le Messie (forbidden for this referent)
Original: מְשִׁיחַ יהוה
Category: Kingship
NEW, FORBIDDEN-SUBSTITUTION PAIR with baseline ‘messiah’: the historical, ritual office-title applied to Saul (1:14,16) and David (2:4; 22:51). Never render as ‘le Messie’, which the baseline reserves for Christ’s fulfilled eschatological title. Teaching material may note the etymological/typological trajectory without conflating the terms in translated text.
Throne
Approved rendering: trône
Transliteration: trône
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant / Messianic Hope
Original: כִּסֵּא
Category: Kingship
NEW: the seat of covenantal, God-given royal authority (7:13,16; 23:5). French ‘trône’ carries strong historical-monarchical resonance (France’s own abolished monarchy) that risks flattening the term into antiquarian-political curiosity. Must be anchored to both its concrete historical referent (Solomon, then the Davidic line) and its messianic-eternal fulfillment (Luke 1:32-33) in every teaching occurrence — never one without the other.
Forever Eternal
Approved rendering: pour toujours / éternel
Transliteration: pour toujours / éternel
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant / Messianic Hope
Original: עוֹלָם
Category: Eschatology
NEW: the decisive term (olam) for the doctrine of the eternal throne (7:13,16; 23:5). Reserve ‘éternel’ specifically for these covenantal-promise texts to mark the strict theological claim; use looser ‘pour toujours’ only in non-promissory narrative contexts. Secular/literary French can flatten ‘toujours’ into rhetorical hyperbole, undercutting the doctrine of a truly unending reign — cross-reference Luke 1:33 explicitly wherever this term carries doctrinal weight.
Ark Of Covenant
Approved rendering: arche de l’alliance / arche de Dieu
Transliteration: arche de l’alliance / arche de Dieu
Doctrine: Holiness of God’s Presence
Original: אֲרוֹן הָאֱלֹהִים / אֲרוֹן הַבְּרִית
Category: Worship
NEW, MARIAN-TYPOLOGY FENCING TERM: the sacred wooden chest, locus of God’s throne-presence (chs. 6, 7:2, 15:24-29). French Catholic Marian devotion applies the typological title ‘Arche de la Nouvelle Alliance’ to the Virgin Mary. Teaching material MUST clarify at first occurrence that 2 Samuel refers to the literal historical Mosaic-covenant object, not Marian typology, to prevent readers importing an unrelated devotional association.
Iniquity
Approved rendering: faute / iniquité
Transliteration: faute / iniquité
Doctrine: Consequences of Sin within the Covenant Family
Original: עָוֹן
Category: Sin
NEW: avon, culpable moral wrongdoing anticipated for the Davidic line (7:14) and dramatically fulfilled in David’s own sin (ch. 11). Retain full moral culpability; French ‘faute’ alone can trend toward a minor slip in casual usage, so pair with ‘iniquité’ where doctrinal weight is in view.
Discipline
Approved rendering: corriger / châtier
Transliteration: corriger / châtier
Doctrine: Consequences of Sin within the Covenant Family
Rejected alternatives: punir (too final)
Original: יסר (root)
Category: Sin
NEW: yasar, corrective, relationship-preserving punishment (7:14; cf. 16:12), explicitly distinguished from covenant-ending judgment (contrast with Saul, 7:15). Prefer ‘corriger’ as primary verb; reserve ‘châtier’ for contexts of maximal severity. Always state that the covenant relationship continues through the discipline.
Justice Royal Governance
Approved rendering: justice et équité
Transliteration: justice et équité
Doctrine: Royal Justice and Righteous Governance
Original: מִשְׁפָּט וּצְדָקָה
Category: Kingship
NEW: mishpat u-tzedaqah, David’s righteous social governance (8:15) — not forensic soteriological standing. Always pair ‘justice’ with ‘et équité’ in this royal-governance sense, and add an explicit teaching note distinguishing it from the Romans doctrine of justification whenever both appear in shared curriculum material.
Evil In Sight Of Lord
Approved rendering: mal aux yeux de l’Éternel
Transliteration: mal aux yeux de l’Éternel
Doctrine: David’s Sin and Repentance
Rejected alternatives: une erreur (forbidden), un mauvais choix (forbidden)
Original: רַע בְּעֵינֵי יהוה
Category: Sin
NEW: the formal biblical evaluative idiom (11:27; 12:9) defining sin by God’s own judgment, not social consequence or human opinion. Must never be softened into therapeutic paraphrase common in French pastoral-counseling idiom.
Confession Of Sin
Approved rendering: j’ai péché contre l’Éternel
Transliteration: j’ai péché contre l’Éternel
Doctrine: David’s Sin and Repentance
Original: חָטָאתִי לַיהוה
Category: Repentance
NEW, SACRAMENTAL-CONFESSION FENCING TERM: David’s direct, unmediated confession (12:13), the paradigmatic biblical model of repentance. Must NOT be reframed through the lens of Catholic auricular confession to a priest with priestly absolution — a live risk given the majority Catholic religious formation of French readers. Nathan pronounces, but does not administer, God’s forgiveness.
Forgiveness Removal Of Sin
Approved rendering: ôter le péché / pardonner
Transliteration: ôter le péché / pardonner
Doctrine: David’s Sin and Repentance
Rejected alternatives: mériter le pardon (forbidden, implies merit)
Original: הֶעֱבִיר
Category: Repentance
NEW: he’evir, God’s gracious removal of David’s guilt in response to confession (12:13). Must not imply confession itself earns removal of guilt — a caution parallel to the baseline’s grace/justification entries. Forgiveness is God’s gracious act in response to, not a wage paid for, confession.
Compassion Favor
Approved rendering: compassion / faveur
Transliteration: compassion / faveur
Doctrine: God’s Steadfast Love despite Human Failure (contrast term)
Rejected alternatives: grâce (absolutely forbidden)
Original: חָנַן
Category: Repentance
NEW: chanan, David’s pleading for God’s gracious mercy for his dying child (12:16,22) — a specific, temporal mercy, not the NT soteriological grace concept. Must never be rendered ‘grâce’; prefer ‘compassion’ or ‘faveur’ to avoid collision with the baseline’s Critical NT term.
Deliverance Salvation Historical
Approved rendering: délivrance
Transliteration: délivrance
Doctrine: Divine Deliverance from Enemies
Rejected alternatives: salut (forbidden without explicit typological qualifier)
Original: יֶשַׁע / יָשַׁע
Category: Salvation
NEW: yesha’/yasha, God’s historical, military rescue of David from real enemies (22:2-3). Must not be collapsed into baseline ‘salvation’ → ‘salut’ without qualification. Prefer ‘délivrance’ in the historical-narrative sense; ‘salut’ permitted only with an explicit typological clarifying note.
Medium Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: Dieu
Transliteration: Dieu
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: אֱלֹהִים
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Relevant to 2 Samuel because YHWH (the covenant name, see new term ‘yhwh’) and Elohim both refer to the same personal, active God of David’s narrative; 2 Samuel’s intensely personal, historically engaged portrayal of God should reinforce, not drift from, this baseline entry’s caution against abstract deist readings. Note: the curriculum-specific doctrine_risk_registry.json elevates this concept to Critical in the context of the divine-name convention (see ‘yhwh’); this baseline entry itself remains as originally recorded.
Holy
Approved rendering: saint
Transliteration: saint
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: pur
Original: קָדוֹשׁ
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package. Relevant to 2 Samuel 6 (Uzzah’s death for touching the ark) and to the ark narrative generally, which dramatizes an active, guarding dimension of God’s holiness beyond the baseline’s Romans-only moral-relational treatment; teaching notes should flag this additional facet without altering the rendering.
Covenant
Approved rendering: alliance
Transliteration: alliance
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: contrat
Original: בְּרִית
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Central to this curriculum’s thesis doctrine. 2 Samuel narrates several human-level covenants (5:3 elders of Israel; 3:12-13, 21 Abner; implicit ch. 9 Jonathan-David) distinct from God’s unilateral, unconditional covenant with David in ch. 7 and its retrospective confirmation as ‘berit olam’ at 23:5 (see new term ‘everlasting_covenant’). Never render ‘contrat’; the distinction between human political covenants and God’s covenant must be taught in surrounding material, not assumed from the French word alone.
Sin
Approved rendering: péché
Transliteration: péché
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Original: חַטָּאָה / חָטָא
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package. Central to David’s sin with Bathsheba (ch. 11) and his confession (12:13, ‘j’ai péché contre l’Éternel’). Guard against colloquial trivialization (‘péché mignon’) especially since 2 Samuel’s sin is adultery and murder, the maximal end of culpable rebellion, not a minor indulgence.
Glory
Approved rendering: gloire
Transliteration: gloire
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Inherited from Romans package. Relevant to the ark narrative (ch. 6) and David’s song (ch. 22), where God’s radiant presence and honor are in view; secular ‘gloire’ (military/celebrity) risks a triumphalist misreading of David’s own victories as self-achieved rather than God-given (cf. new term ‘name_reputation’).
Messiah
Approved rendering: Messie
Transliteration: Messie
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Inherited from Romans package. CRITICAL FENCING TERM for 2 Samuel: reserved exclusively for the fulfilled eschatological title of Christ. Never use for Saul or David’s historical anointed-office in 2 Samuel; use ‘l’oint de l’Éternel’ instead (see new term ‘anointed_one’). Teaching material may note the etymological/typological trajectory without conflating the terms in the translated text itself.
Israel
Approved rendering: Israël
Transliteration: Israël
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Original: יִשְׂרָאֵל
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Relevant throughout 2 Samuel as the covenant people over whom David reigns (7:10). Keep the historical/covenantal referent distinct from the modern nation-state, per baseline note, given France’s significant Jewish community and contemporary Middle East political sensitivity.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Esprit Saint
Transliteration: Esprit Saint
Doctrine: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package. No direct occurrence in 2 Samuel’s Hebrew narrative vocabulary; retained for teaching cross-references only (e.g., typological notes on David’s anointing and the Spirit’s later NT ministry).
Father
Approved rendering: Père
Transliteration: Père
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Inherited from Romans package. CRITICAL FENCING CONTEXT: 2 Samuel 7:14’s ‘I will be to him a father’ uses this same French word but in the specific royal-adoption formula sense (see new term ‘father_son_formula’); when rendering God’s address to Solomon, use lowercase ‘un père’ as part of that formula, not as an invocation of the baseline’s NT Fatherhood-of-God doctrine without qualification.
Salvation
Approved rendering: salut
Transliteration: salut
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: délivrance
Inherited from Romans package. ABSOLUTE PROHIBITION for 2 Samuel 22: David’s historical, military rescue from enemies (yesha’/yasha) must be rendered ‘délivrance’ (see new term ‘deliverance_salvation_historical’), not unqualified ‘salut’, to prevent collapsing a this-worldly type into the baseline’s Critical eternal-salvation doctrine.
Adoption
Approved rendering: adoption filiale
Transliteration: adoption filiale
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: adoption (bare, legal-procedural)
Inherited from Romans package. Relevant as a CONTRAST term to 2 Samuel 7:14’s royal-adoption ‘father/son’ formula (see new term ‘father_son_formula’): the NT believer’s ‘adoption filiale’ (full son-status, full inheritance) is a different, later-revealed reality from Solomon’s disciplinable royal sonship. Use only in explicit teaching contrast, not as a rendering of 7:14 itself.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: descendance de David
Transliteration: descendance de David
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: semence de David (archaic)
Inherited from Romans package. Reuse exactly when the full phrase ‘seed of David’ is in view (e.g., NT cross-references to 2 Samuel 7). For 2 Samuel 7:12’s bare ‘your offspring/seed’ referring immediately to Solomon, see the new term ‘seed_offspring’ → bare ‘descendance’.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: incarnation
Transliteration: incarnation
Doctrine: Incarnation
Inherited from Romans package. Used only in teaching cross-references connecting 2 Samuel 7:12’s promised offspring to the NT incarnation of the eternal Son; not a term occurring in the 2 Samuel narrative text itself.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: Royaume de Dieu
Transliteration: Royaume de Dieu
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Inherited from Romans package. Must NOT be silently conflated with the new term ‘kingdom_davidic’ → bare ‘royaume’ (David’s dynastic-political kingdom, 2 Samuel 7:12). The typological connection between David’s kingdom and God’s eternal Kingdom must be taught explicitly, never assumed from shared French vocabulary.
Providence
Approved rendering: providence
Transliteration: providence
Doctrine: Providence
Rejected alternatives: destin, hasard
Inherited from Romans package. Thematically resonant with 2 Samuel’s portrayal of God’s personal, purposive governance behind David’s rise (chs. 1-5), the Davidic Covenant (ch. 7), and the resolution of Absalom’s and Sheba’s revolts (chs. 15-20); must not be rendered through a deist or fatalistic (‘destin’) lens, a live risk given French classical-tragedy literary conventions (see doctrine ‘Consequences of Sin within the Covenant Family’).
Gentiles
Approved rendering: païens
Transliteration: païens
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: étrangers
Inherited from Romans package. Relevant to 2 Samuel’s narratives of David’s wars with surrounding nations (Ammon, ch. 10; Philistines, ch. 21); used only in teaching cross-references drawing forward to the NT doctrine of Jew-Gentile unity, not as a running-text rendering of the neutral Hebrew terms for these nations in the historical narrative itself.
House Dynasty
Approved rendering: maison
Transliteration: maison
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: בַּיִת
Category: Covenant
NEW: the double sense (physical dwelling / dynasty) central to 2 Samuel 7’s core wordplay. French ‘maison’ fortuitously carries both senses (cf. ‘la maison de Bourbon’). MUST use the identical word in both directions of the pivot — David offers to build God a ‘maison’ (v.5); God promises to build David a ‘maison’ (v.11) — or the chapter’s central theological reversal is lost.
Seed Offspring
Approved rendering: descendance
Transliteration: descendance
Doctrine: Messianic Hope
Rejected alternatives: semence (archaic/clinical)
Original: זֶרַע
Category: Covenant
NEW: bare ‘your offspring’ of 2 Samuel 7:12, immediately referring to Solomon, canonically extending to the whole Davidic line. Distinct from the baseline’s fixed phrase ‘descendance de David’ (used for the full title ‘seed of David’); gloss ‘(Salomon)’ at first occurrence to keep the immediate historical referent visible before teaching the canonical extension.
Kingdom Davidic
Approved rendering: royaume
Transliteration: royaume
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: מַמְלָכָה
Category: Kingship
NEW: David’s dynastic political reign (mamlakah, 7:12). Must not be silently conflated with baseline ‘kingdom_of_god’ → ‘Royaume de Dieu’; the typological connection to Christ’s eternal reign must be taught explicitly, not assumed from shared vocabulary.
Rest
Approved rendering: repos
Transliteration: repos
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: נוּחַ
Category: Covenant
NEW: God-given security from enemies (nuach), the covenantal condition preceding the ch. 7 promise (7:1,11). Secular French ‘repos’ reads first as leisure/relaxation; the covenantal gift-of-security sense must be made explicit in teaching notes.
Name Reputation
Approved rendering: un grand nom
Transliteration: un grand nom
Doctrine: Divine Sovereignty in Kingship
Original: שֵׁם
Category: Kingship
NEW: the God-given legacy promised to David (shem gadol, 7:9), echoing the Abrahamic pattern (Genesis 12:2). Secular French readers may hear ‘un grand nom’ as mere celebrity status; must be tied explicitly to divinely conferred legacy, not self-made fame, to avoid a triumphalist misreading.
Servant
Approved rendering: serviteur
Transliteration: serviteur
Doctrine: Divine Sovereignty in Kingship
Original: עֶבֶד
Category: Kingship
NEW: the dominant covenant-office title for David throughout ch. 7 (‘mon serviteur David’, vv.5,8,19-20,25-27,29) and elsewhere (ch. 9). French ‘serviteur de Dieu’ carries a live Catholic devotional/canonization-process connotation (an official beatification-track title); gloss at first occurrence per lesson as a covenant-office title of submission, not an ecclesiastical honorific.
Prince Designated Ruler
Approved rendering: prince
Transliteration: prince
Doctrine: Divine Sovereignty in Kingship
Original: נָגִיד
Category: Kingship
NEW: nagid, a deliberately humbler term than ‘king’, denoting a divinely designated leader taken from shepherding sheep (7:8). French ‘prince’ ordinarily connotes hereditary nobility by birth; gloss at first occurrence: ‘un chef désigné par Dieu, non par hérédité’, to preserve the humility-and-grace logic of the passage.
Tent Tabernacle
Approved rendering: tente / demeure
Transliteration: tente / demeure
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: אֹהֶל / מִשְׁכָּן
Category: Worship
NEW: the temporary, mobile sanctuary (ohel/mishkan) housing the ark, contrasted with David’s permanent cedar palace (7:2,6). Avoid rendering as ordinary ‘maison’; keep the sanctuary sense distinct so the chapter’s contrast remains visible.
Shepherd Metaphor
Approved rendering: berger / faire paître
Transliteration: berger / faire paître
Doctrine: Messianic Hope
Rejected alternatives: gouverner (too generic)
Original: רָעָה
Category: Kingship
NEW: ra’ah, the royal-shepherd metaphor for godly leadership (5:2; 7:7-8), applied to David’s own rise from literal shepherd to king and later developed messianically (Ezekiel 34; Jean 10). Preserve the literal metaphor; never flatten to generic ‘gouverner/diriger’, since it anchors later messianic shepherd imagery.
Word Of The Lord
Approved rendering: la parole de l’Éternel
Transliteration: la parole de l’Éternel
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Original: דְּבַר־יהוה
Category: God
NEW: devar YHWH, the technical prophetic-revelation formula overturning human plans (7:4; 12:1; 24:11-13; note Nathan’s own answer in 7:3 is corrected by God’s word in 7:4-5). Must retain formal, authoritative-revelation register, resisting secular-academic reduction to literary device or human commentary.
Adultery
Approved rendering: adultère
Transliteration: adultère
Doctrine: David’s Sin and Repentance
Rejected alternatives: liaison (forbidden euphemism), une affaire (forbidden euphemism)
Original: נָאַף
Category: Sin
NEW: na’aph, David’s defining sin (11:4). Retain full moral seriousness; reject journalistic/euphemistic softenings common in French media narration of extramarital affairs.
Sword Judgment
Approved rendering: épée
Transliteration: épée
Doctrine: Consequences of Sin within the Covenant Family
Original: חֶרֶב
Category: Sin
NEW: chereb, the temporal covenant-family consequence pronounced on David’s household (12:10), fulfilled narratively in chs. 13-18. A footnote clarifying this is a durable historical consequence, not an eternal curse, is advisable to prevent an overly fatalistic reading.
Favor Relational
Approved rendering: faveur
Transliteration: faveur
Doctrine: God’s Steadfast Love despite Human Failure (contrast term)
Rejected alternatives: grâce (forbidden)
Original: חֵן
Category: Kingship
NEW: chen, relational favor/acceptance (15:25-26), distinct from both chesed (see ‘steadfast_love’) and chanan (see ‘compassion_favor’). ‘Faveur’ alone, undecorated; never ‘grâce’.
Consecrate Dedicate
Approved rendering: consacrer / dédier
Transliteration: consacrer / dédier
Doctrine: Royal Justice and Righteous Governance
Original: קָדַשׁ (hiqdish)
Category: Worship
NEW: hiqdish, David’s dedication of the spoils of war to the LORD (8:11), an act of object-dedication distinct from the baseline’s holy/sanctification personal-holiness sense.
Folly Disgraceful Act
Approved rendering: infamie / chose insensée
Transliteration: infamie / chose insensée
Doctrine: Shame, Honor, and Family Conflict
Original: נְבָלָה
Category: Family
NEW: nebalah, Tamar’s protest against covenant-community violation (13:12, ‘such a thing is not done in Israel’). Prefer ‘infamie’ where moral gravity is central; reserve ‘chose insensée’ only for lighter contexts, since it risks reading as mere foolishness rather than grave violation.
Avenger Of Blood
Approved rendering: vengeur du sang
Transliteration: vengeur du sang
Doctrine: Bloodguilt, Vengeance, and Justice
Rejected alternatives: vengeur (bare, forbidden — vigilante connotation)
Original: גֹּאֵל הַדָּם
Category: Warfare
NEW: go’el ha-dam, the legal-covenantal kinship duty to avenge a slain relative (14:11; recurring chs. 3-4, 21). Always use the full phrase; bare ‘vengeur’ connotes personal vendetta/vigilantism in French, losing the legal-institutional sense.
Blood Bloodguilt
Approved rendering: sang
Transliteration: sang
Doctrine: Bloodguilt, Vengeance, and Justice
Original: דָּם
Category: Warfare
NEW: dam, bloodshed and its legal-covenantal weight (e.g., 3:28-29, Joab’s bloodguilt). Bare ‘sang’ is only physical; use clarifying periphrasis (‘le sang de X retombe sur la maison de Y’) wherever bloodguilt, not mere bloodshed, is meant.
Vengeance
Approved rendering: vengeance
Transliteration: vengeance
Doctrine: Bloodguilt, Vengeance, and Justice
Original: נָקָם
Category: Warfare
NEW: naqam, David’s execution of Ish-bosheth’s murderers rather than reward (4:9-12), affirming God, not treachery, establishes kings. Distinguish divinely-administered justice from personal vendetta.
Conspiracy
Approved rendering: conspiration / complot
Transliteration: conspiration / complot
Doctrine: Conspiracy and Threats to the Promised Throne
Original: קֶשֶׁר
Category: Kingship
NEW: qesher, Absalom’s coup (15:12) and Sheba’s revolt (ch. 20) — the most severe narrative threats to the ‘forever throne’ of ch. 7. Preserve narrative tension without implying the unconditional covenant promise is ever genuinely in doubt.
Sacrifice Burnt Offering
Approved rendering: sacrifice / holocauste
Transliteration: sacrifice / holocauste
Doctrine: Bloodguilt, Vengeance, and Justice
Original: זֶבַח / עוֹלָה
Category: Worship
NEW: zevach/olah, David’s offerings staying the plague (24:25). Same typological caution as ‘atonement_propitiation’ — must not stand as a self-sufficient doctrine of atonement apart from its NT fulfillment. Note: ‘holocauste’ carries a distinct and very live secondary association in French with the Shoah; always pair with ‘sacrifice’ and sufficient context to avoid unintended resonance.
Rock Divine Metaphor
Approved rendering: rocher
Transliteration: rocher
Doctrine: Divine Deliverance from Enemies
Original: צוּר
Category: God
NEW: tsur, a recurring divine-metaphor title for God’s unshakeable, protective faithfulness (22:2-3), thematically reinforcing chesed and the ‘established forever’ language of ch. 7. Keep the metaphorical divine-refuge sense visible, not merely a geological image.
Vision Prophetic
Approved rendering: vision
Transliteration: vision
Doctrine: The Authority of the Prophetic Word
Original: חִזָּיוֹן
Category: God
NEW: chizzayon, confirming Nathan’s entire oracle (7:17) as authoritative prophetic revelation, not private counsel (contrast with 7:3). Retain the formal prophetic-revelation sense, distinct from a private impression or ordinary dream in loose colloquial French usage.
Low Risk Terms
Prophet
Approved rendering: prophète
Transliteration: prophète
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: voyant
Original: נָבִיא
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Applies to Nathan (2 Samuel 7, 12) and Gad (24:11-13); stable term, no live alternative-title controversy in French.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: prophétie
Transliteration: prophétie
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Inherited from Romans package. Relevant to Nathan’s oracle (7:4-17) being confirmed as authoritative ‘vision’ (see new term ‘vision_prophetic’) rather than private counsel.
David
Approved rendering: David
Transliteration: David
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: דָּוִד
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Stable proper name across all French Bible traditions; the central human figure of this entire curriculum.
Jesus
Approved rendering: Jésus
Transliteration: Jésus
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Inherited from Romans package. Used only in teaching/cross-reference material connecting 2 Samuel 7’s promise to its NT fulfillment (Luke 1:32-33, Hebrews 1:5); never inserted into the translated 2 Samuel narrative text itself.
Peace
Approved rendering: paix
Transliteration: paix
Doctrine: Peace with God
Original: שָׁלוֹם
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Relevant to 2 Samuel 20:19, where the wise woman of Abel negotiates for her city’s civic ‘shalom’/paix; this narrower civic-political sense is distinct from, though not contradictory to, the baseline’s peace-with-God doctrinal entry — note the distinction in teaching material rather than assuming equivalence.
Cedar
Approved rendering: cèdre
Transliteration: cèdre
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: אֶרֶז
Category: Worship
NEW: the luxury building material of David’s palace (7:2), marking it as permanent and prestigious. Low ambiguity risk; standard vocabulary.
Judges
Approved rendering: juges
Transliteration: juges
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: שֹׁפְטִים
Category: Kingship
NEW: shophetim, the pre-monarchic tribal leadership referenced in 7:7 as the prior leadership structure God used before kingship. Established term, consistent with the book of Juges.
Shame
Approved rendering: honte
Transliteration: honte
Doctrine: Shame, Honor, and Family Conflict
Original: בֹּשֶׁת
Category: Family
NEW: bosheth, the humiliation of David’s envoys (10:4-5), introducing the honor/shame axis sharpened in ch. 13. Minor recurring social-honor term.
Wisdom
Approved rendering: sagesse
Transliteration: sagesse
Doctrine: Wisdom in the Service of Reconciliation
Original: חָכְמָה
Category: Wisdom
NEW: chokmah, embodied by the wise women of Tekoa (ch. 14) and Abel (20:16-22). Standard term; must retain moral-theological register, not flatten to mere cleverness.
Curse
Approved rendering: malédiction
Transliteration: malédiction
Doctrine: Conspiracy and Threats to the Promised Throne
Original: קְלָלָה
Category: Family
NEW: qelalah, Shimei’s cursing of David (16:5-13), received by David as possibly under God’s sovereign discipline. Natural pairing/contrast with ‘bénédiction’.
Blessing
Approved rendering: bénédiction / bénir
Transliteration: bénédiction / bénir
Doctrine: Mourning and Lament as Faithful Response to Loss
Original: בָּרַךְ
Category: Family
NEW: barak, God’s favor pronounced or bestowed throughout the book, in contrast to ‘malédiction’. Stable term.
Mourning Lament
Approved rendering: lamentation / deuil
Transliteration: lamentation / deuil
Doctrine: Mourning and Lament as Faithful Response to Loss
Original: קִינָה / מִסְפֵּד / אָבֵל
Category: Family
NEW: qinah/misped/avel, formal mourning poetry from David’s dirge over Saul and Jonathan (1:17-27) to his grief over Absalom (18:33), a structural bracket across the book. Standard French mourning vocabulary suffices.
Altar
Approved rendering: autel
Transliteration: autel
Doctrine: Bloodguilt, Vengeance, and Justice
Original: מִזְבֵּחַ
Category: Worship
NEW: mizbeach, the altar David builds at Araunah’s threshing floor (24:25), the future site of Solomon’s temple, fulfilling 7:13’s ‘house for my name’. Worth cross-referencing to 7:13 as prophetic-narrative fulfillment.
Fortress
Approved rendering: forteresse
Transliteration: forteresse
Doctrine: Divine Deliverance from Enemies
Original: מְצוּדָה
Category: God
NEW: metsudah, a defense metaphor for God paired with ‘rocher’ (22:2). Low ambiguity risk.
Mighty Men
Approved rendering: les vaillants hommes / héros
Transliteration: les vaillants hommes / héros
Doctrine: Mourning and Lament as Faithful Response to Loss
Original: גִּבּוֹרִים
Category: Kingship
NEW: gibborim, David’s elite warriors, honored in the lament of ch. 1 and the roll-call of 23:8-39, forming a structural bracket across the book.
Ephod
Approved rendering: éphod
Transliteration: éphod
Doctrine: Holiness of God’s Presence
Original: אֵפוֹד
Category: Worship
NEW: the linen priestly garment David wears dancing before the ark (6:14). Transliterate and gloss (‘vêtement de lin sacerdotal’), following the baseline’s precedent pattern for minor cultic-vocabulary transliteration (cf. Abba).
Zion
Approved rendering: Sion
Transliteration: Sion
Doctrine: Divine Sovereignty in Kingship
Original: צִיּוֹן
Category: Kingship
NEW: Tsiyon, the fortress-city David captures as his royal capital (5:6-9), later synonymous with Jerusalem and God’s eschatological reign in the Psalms/prophets. Standard, established French Bible form.
Referenced passages