Core Glossary
Core Glossary: Leviticus — English → French
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, covering all 27 chapters of Leviticus. Terms already fixed in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json are marked [BASELINE REUSE] and MUST be rendered exactly as recorded there; they are listed here for completeness and cross-reference only, not for re-decision.
Risk tiers follow the baseline convention: Critical (human theologian review, every occurrence) / High (human theologian review) / Medium (native speaker review) / Low (automated review).
A. Terms Reused Exactly from the Romans Baseline
| English Term | French Rendering | Risk | Chapters | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holy | saint | Medium | 1, 4, 6–10, 16, 19–23 | [BASELINE REUSE] — reused for קָדוֹש (qadosh) throughout. |
| Sin | péché | Medium | 4–5, 16 (guilt-triad) | [BASELINE REUSE] — root of חַטָּאת; do not let compound offering-terms drop this word’s cultic weight. |
| Covenant | alliance | Medium | 2 (salt of the covenant), 24 (showbread context), 26 | [BASELINE REUSE] — for בְּרִית (berit). |
| Glory | gloire | Medium | 9 | [BASELINE REUSE] — for כְּבוֹד (kavod). |
| God | Dieu | Critical | throughout | [BASELINE REUSE]. |
| Israel | Israël | Medium | throughout | [BASELINE REUSE] — flag per baseline’s note on contemporary political sensitivity, especially acute in chs. 23–25 (feasts, Jubilee, land). |
| Law | loi | High | throughout (esp. 16:29, 26–27) | [BASELINE REUSE] — capitalize “la Loi” for Torah-referent occurrences per baseline convention. |
| Messiah / Anointed | Messie | Medium | 16:32, 8 (anointing) | [BASELINE REUSE] — apply typologically to “l’oint”/anointed priest cross-reference; keep typology in commentary, not base text. |
B. New Terms Established for This Curriculum
| # | English Term | Hebrew (translit.) | LXX Greek | French Rendering | Doctrine | Risk | Chapters | Rejected Alternatives | Key Risk Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Burnt offering | עֹלָה (olah) | ὁλοκαύτωμα | sacrifice entièrement consumé | Sacrificial System and Atonement | Critical | 1, 6–9, 16, 22–23 | ”holocauste” (traditional Segond rendering, explicitly rejected) | “Holocauste” is the primary French referent for the Shoah; using it for animal sacrifice risks severe offense/confusion given France’s WWII history and Jewish community. Never use without theologian sign-off. |
| 2 | Sin offering | חַטָּאת (chatta’ah) | περὶ ἁμαρτίας | sacrifice pour le péché | Sacrificial System and Atonement | High | 4–6, 9, 16 | bare “offrande,” bare “péché” | Must retain cultic/substitutionary weight; do not shorten to bare “péché,” which risks colloquial trivialization (cf. “péché mignon”). |
| 3 | Guilt/reparation offering | אָשָׁם (asham) | περὶ πλημμελείας | sacrifice de réparation | Sacrificial System and Atonement | Medium | 5, 7 | conflating with sin offering | Distinct from sin offering: addresses quantifiable debt/violation requiring restitution + sacrifice. |
| 4 | Peace/fellowship offering | שְׁלָמִים (shelamim) | θυσία σωτηρίου | sacrifice de communion | Sacrificial System and Atonement | High | 3, 7, 9, 17, 19, 22–23 | bare “communion” | Risk of Eucharistic/Mass-as-sacrifice conflation (Trent vs. Reformation flashpoint); clarify as OT type, not warrant for a Eucharistic-sacrifice doctrine. |
| 5 | Grain offering | מִנְחָה (minchah) | θυσία / δῶρον | offrande végétale | Sacrificial System and Atonement | Medium | 2, 6–7, 9, 23 | bare “offrande” | Needs qualifier to distinguish from the other four offering types. |
| 6 | Atonement (make atonement) | כִּפֵּר (kipper) | ἐξιλάσκομαι | expiation / expier | Sacrificial System and Atonement; Day of Atonement | Critical | 4–9, 14, 16–17, 19, 23 | ”réparation” (too weak), “pardon” (conflates act with result) | Legal-punitive French connotation risks flattening covering/cleansing sense; distinguish process (expiation) from consequence (pardon/purification). |
| 7 | Mercy seat / atonement cover | כַּפֹּרֶת (kapporet) | ἱλαστήριον | propitiatoire | Day of Atonement | High | 16 | ”le couvercle” (loses NT bridge) | Same Greek word Paul uses of Christ in Romans 3:25 — French rendering must stay consistent with whatever term is used there. |
| 8 | Scapegoat / Azazel | עֲזָאזֵל (azazel) | ἀποπομπαῖος | bouc émissaire (alt.: preserve “Azazel” as proper noun) | Scapegoat and Substitution | High | 16 | none rejected; both options retained with translator’s note | ”Bouc émissaire” is now a fully secular French idiom for any blame-shifted person, risking trivialization of the substitutionary ritual’s theological weight. |
| 9 | Clean / unclean | טָהוֹר / טָמֵא (tahor / tamei) | καθαρός / ἀκάθαρτος | pur / impur | Clean and Unclean | High | 10–15, 16, 20, 22 | none | Secular French “pur/impur” carries chemical/hygienic connotations; must not be moralized as equivalent to “péché.” |
| 10 | Uncleanness (abstract) | טֻמְאָה (tumah) | ἀκαθαρσία | impureté (rituelle) | Clean and Unclean | Medium | 5, 7, 11–16, 18, 20, 22 | none | Qualify as “rituelle” to keep distinct from moral guilt. |
| 11 | Priest | כֹּהֵן (kohen) | ἱερεύς | prêtre | Priesthood and Mediation | High | throughout | ”pasteur” (wrong register) | French Protestants reserve “pasteur” for their own ministers and “prêtre” for Catholic/pagan priests; OT Levitical priesthood must be presented as a distinct historical office pointing to Christ, not projected onto either tradition’s contemporary clergy debate. |
| 12 | High priest | כֹּהֵן הַגָּדוֹל (kohen hagadol) | ὁ ἱερεὺς ὁ μέγας | grand prêtre | Priesthood and Mediation | Medium | 16, 21 | none | Standard, stable rendering. |
| 13 | Consecration / ordination | מִלֻּאִים (milluim) | τελείωσις | consécration / ordination sacerdotale | Priesthood and Mediation | High | 8, 16:32 | none | ”Ordination” risks importing Catholic/Orthodox Holy-Orders sacramental theology (apostolic succession) onto the hereditary Aaronic office. |
| 14 | Anointing oil | מִשְׁחָה (mishchah) | ἔλαιον χρίσματος | huile d’onction | Priesthood and Mediation | Medium | 8, 16:32 | none | LXX χρίσμα shares the root of χριστός/“Christ” — keep the typological link in commentary, not the base translation. |
| 15 | Tabernacle / Tent of Meeting | מִשְׁכָּן / אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד (mishkan / ohel mo’ed) | σκηνή / σκηνὴ τοῦ μαρτυρίου | tabernacle / tente de la Rencontre | Priesthood and Mediation | High | 1, 3–4, 6–10, 12, 14–17, 19, 23–24 | bare unglossed “tabernacle" | "Le tabernacle” in French Catholic usage denotes the altar-side cabinet housing the reserved Host — a completely different object; prefer “tente de la Rencontre” in narrative contexts, gloss “tabernacle” on first use per unit. |
| 16 | Blood | דָּם (dam) | αἷμα | sang | Sacrificial System and Atonement | Medium | 1, 3–4, 7, 8, 16–17 | none | Must retain the life-for-life substitutionary logic (ch. 17:11), not a merely symbolic ritual-cleansing agent. |
| 17 | Life / soul | נֶפֶש (nephesh) | ψυχή | vie / (personne) elle-même; avoid bare “âme” where context is holistic | Sacrificial System and Atonement | High | 16:29, 17:11 | unqualified “âme” | French “âme” imports Cartesian/Catholic body-soul dualism absent from the Hebrew holistic sense. |
| 18 | Guilt-triad: uncleannesses, transgressions, sins | טֻמְאֹת / פְּשָׁעִים / חַטֹּאת (tumot / pesha’im / chata’im) | ἀκαθαρσίαι / ἀσεβήματα / ἁμαρτίαι | impuretés, transgressions et péchés | Day of Atonement | High | 16:16, 16:21 | collapsing to one generic “péchés” | Deliberate threefold taxonomy of guilt (ritual/covenantal/moral) must not be flattened. |
| 19 | Confession | הִתְוַדָּה (hitvadah) | ἐξαγορεύω | confesser / confession | Scapegoat and Substitution; Day of Atonement | High | 5:5, 16:21 | none | French Catholic sacramental Confession is a specific, different rite (private, individual, with priestly absolution); Lev 16 depicts the high priest’s corporate confession over the goat, with no human absolution pronounced. |
| 20 | Bear (iniquity) | נָשָׂא (nasa) | ἀναφέρω / λαμβάνω | porter | Scapegoat and Substitution | Medium | 16:22 | weaker verbs (“avoir,” “recevoir”) | Same verb as Isaiah 53’s Suffering Servant — must retain load-bearing, substitutionary force. |
| 21 | Outside the camp | מִחוּץ לַמַּחֲנֶה | ἔξω τῆς παρεμβολῆς | hors du camp | Scapegoat and Substitution; Sacrificial System | Medium | 16:27 | none | Direct verbal link to Hebrews 13:11–13 (“Jesus also suffered outside the gate”); flag for cross-referencing. |
| 22 | Sabbath | שַׁבָּת (shabbat) | σάββατον | sabbat | Sabbath and Sacred Time | High | 16:31, 19, 23, 25–26 | ”dimanche” (wrong referent) | France’s secularized Sunday-rest tradition and its Jewish community both create live but different association risks; keep the OT Saturday-Sabbath referent explicit and distinguish from contemporary Jewish practice as a subject of comment. |
| 23 | Sabbath of solemn rest | שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן (shabbat shabbaton) | σάββατα σαββάτων | un sabbat, un jour de repos complet | Sabbath and Sacred Time; Day of Atonement | Medium | 16:31, 23:32 | flat “sabbat” alone | Intensive Hebrew construction has no single French grammatical equivalent; supply “complet/absolu” to convey the superlative. |
| 24 | Appointed feasts / times | מוֹעֲדִים (mo’adim) | ἑορταί | fêtes / solennités / temps fixés | Sabbath and Sacred Time | Medium | 23 | bare “fêtes” alone | Risk of purely festive/secular-holiday connotation; supplement with “fixés par le SEIGNEUR” to retain divinely-instituted character. |
| 25 | Holy convocation | מִקְרָא־קֹדֶש (miqra qodesh) | κλητὴ ἁγία | sainte convocation / sainte assemblée | Sabbath and Sacred Time | Medium | 23 | none | Corporate, not elite-individual, sense of “saint” — consistent with baseline’s “saints” caution. |
| 26 | Day of Atonement / Yom Kippur | יוֹם הַכִּפֻּרִים | ἡ ἡμέρα τοῦ ἐξιλασμοῦ | le Jour des Expiations / Yom Kippour | Day of Atonement | High | 16, 23 | none | Widely recognized term in French society (Jewish community); ensure Christian-fulfillment teaching content is distinguished from, and respectful of, contemporary Jewish observance. |
| 27 | Jubilee | יוֹבֵל (yovel) | ἄφεσις / ἐνιαυτὸς ἀφέσεως | jubilé | Sabbath and Sacred Time | High | 25 | none | French Catholic “Année jubilaire” (Holy Years, indulgences) is a different, well-known institution; clarify the OT land/debt/slave-release referent explicitly. |
| 28 | Redemption / Redeemer | גְּאֻלָּה / גֹּאֵל (ge’ulah / go’el) | λύτρωσις / λυτρωτής | rédemption / rédempteur | Sabbath and Sacred Time; typological background to Salvation | High | 25, 27 | none | NT Christological weight of “Rédempteur” risks over- or under-reading this concrete socio-legal kinsman institution; clarify background before drawing typology. |
| 29 | Neighbor | רֵעַ (rea) | ὁ πλησίον | prochain | Love of Neighbor | Low | 19:18 | none | Extremely stable across all French Bible traditions; directly quoted in Matt 22:39 and Romans 13:9. |
| 30 | Love | אָהַב (ahav) | ἀγαπάω | aimer | Love of Neighbor | Medium | 19:18, 19:34 | none | Secular French “aimer” is romance/emotion-loaded; anchor in the passage’s concrete behavioral commands, not sentiment alone. |
| 31 | Stranger / sojourner | גֵּר (ger) | πάροικος / προσήλυτος | l’étranger (qui réside parmi vous) | Love of Neighbor | Medium | 19:33–34 | none | Live contemporary French immigration-politics resonance; handle without suppressing or overstating it. |
| 32 | Unblemished / without defect | תָּמִים (tamim) | ἄμωμος | sans défaut | Sacrificial System and Atonement; Priesthood and Mediation | Medium | 1, 21–22 | none | Typological anticipation of Christ’s sinless perfection; keep typology in commentary. |
| 33 | Blemish/defect | מוּם (mum) | μῶμος | défaut / tare (physique) | Priesthood and Mediation | Medium | 21–22 | none | Handle with disability-sensitivity note: cultic-symbolic concern, not a statement of personal worth. |
| 34 | Strange/unauthorized fire | אֵש זָרָה (esh zarah) | πῦρ ἀλλότριον | feu étranger / non autorisé | Priesthood and Mediation; Holiness of God | Medium | 10 | none | Clarify “unauthorized,” not merely “foreign-sourced.” |
| 35 | Holy / common; clean / unclean (paired categories) | קֹדֶש/חֹל, טָמֵא/טָהוֹר | ἅγιον/βέβηλον, ἀκάθαρτον/καθαρόν | le saint et le profane, le pur et l’impur | Holiness of God; Clean and Unclean | High | 10:10 (key verse), throughout 11–15 | collapsing both axes into one | Lev 10:10 is the book’s own key-verse; two independent axes (sacred/ordinary; clean/unclean) must not be merged into a single category. |
| 36 | Skin disease (“leprosy”) | צָרַעַת (tsara’at) | λέπρα | maladie de peau (traditionnellement « lèpre ») | Clean and Unclean; Priesthood and Mediation | Medium | 13–14 | bare “lèpre” | Avoid medical inaccuracy and stigmatization of contemporary Hansen’s disease patients. |
| 37 | Confess/profane antonym: consecrate | קִדֵּשׁ (qadash) | ἁγιάζω | consacrer / sanctifier | Holiness of God; Priesthood and Mediation | Medium | 8, 16, 20–22 | none | Shares root with baseline “saint”; distinguish from the specific Catholic Eucharistic “consécration” moment. |
| 38 | Profane (verb) | חִלֵּל (chillel) | βεβηλόω | profaner | Holiness of God | Medium | 18, 19, 20–22 | none | Stable term; ensure specific referent (God’s name/holy things) is clear. |
| 39 | Cut off (covenant exclusion) | כָּרַת (karat) | ἐξολεθρεύω | retrancher (du peuple) | Holiness of God | Medium | 17–20, 22–23 | none | Note ironic etymological echo with covenant-making (“couper une alliance”). |
| 40 | Blood prohibition / life in the blood (Lev 17:11) | נֶפֶש…דָּם…כִּפֵּר | ψυχή…αἷμα…ἐξιλάσκομαι | [compound — see terms 6, 16, 17] | Sacrificial System and Atonement | Critical | 17 | loose paraphrase | Programmatic doctrinal statement; must be flagged and reviewed as a unit, not translated term-by-term in isolation. |
| 41 | Blaspheme (the Name) | קִלֵּל/נָקַב אֶת־הַשֵּׁם | βλασφημέω / καταράομαι | blasphémer / maudire le Nom | Holiness of God | Medium | 24 | none | Ensure referent is the divine Name specifically, not generic insult. |
| 42 | Lampstand | מְנוֹרָה (menorah) | λυχνία | lampadaire / chandelier (à sept branches) | Priesthood and Mediation | Low | 24 | none | Positively recognized public symbol in French society; minimal risk. |
| 43 | Bread of the Presence | לֶחֶם הַפָּנִים | ἄρτοι τῆς προθέσεως | le pain de la Présence | Priesthood and Mediation | Medium | 24 | archaic “pains de proposition” | Comprehension risk (archaism), not doctrinal collision. |
| 44 | Vow | נֵדֶר (neder) | εὐχή | vœu | (General holiness/dedication) | Medium | 27 | none | Distinguish voluntary personal dedication from institutional Catholic religious-life vows. |
| 45 | Devoted thing (irrevocable) | חֵרֶם (cherem) | ἀνάθεμα | chose vouée/consacrée (irrévocablement) | (General holiness/dedication) | Medium-High | 27 | transliterated “anathème” as primary rendering | Modern French “anathème” = ecclesiastical excommunication/condemnation; reserve for etymological notes only. |
| 46 | Blessing / Curse | בְּרָכָה / קְלָלָה | εὐλογία / κατάρα | bénédiction / malédiction | (Covenant sanctions) | Low | 26 | none | Stable, standard terms. |
| 47 | Congregation / assembly | עֵדָה / קָהָל (edah / qahal) | συναγωγή / ἐκκλησία | communauté / assemblée | Priesthood and Mediation; Church background | Medium | 4, 8–10, 16–17 | ”synagogue,” bare “Église” | Avoid anachronistic “synagogue”; avoid “Église” which would wrongly imply NT-institutional continuity. |
| 48 | Firstfruits | רֵאשִׁית/בִּכּוּרִים | πρωτογενήματα | prémices | Sacrificial System | Low | 2, 23 | none | Stable term. |
| 49 | Wave offering / Contribution offering | תְּנוּפָה / תְּרוּמָה | ἐπίθεμα / ἀφαίρεμα | offrande par élévation / prélèvement | Sacrificial System and Atonement | Low | 6–7, 9–10, 14, 22–23 | none | Minor technical distinction; low doctrinal stakes. |
| 50 | Perpetual fire | אֵש תָּמִיד | πῦρ διὰ παντός | feu perpétuel | Sacrificial System and Atonement | Low | 6 | none | Stable, low risk. |
| 51 | Statute forever | חֻקַּת עוֹלָם | νόμιμον αἰώνιον | loi perpétuelle / prescription perpétuelle | Day of Atonement; Sabbath and Sacred Time | Medium | 16:29, 34, 23–24 | none | Overlaps helpfully with [BASELINE REUSE: “loi”]; theological weight in its later Hebrews-argument contrast with Christ’s “once for all” sacrifice. |
| 52 | Once in the year | אַחַת בַּשָּׁנָה | ἅπαξ τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ | une fois par an | Day of Atonement | Medium | 16:34 | none | Contrast point for any future Hebrews curriculum’s rendering of ἅπαξ (“once for all”). |
| 53 | Sanctuary (synonym for Holy Place) | מִקְדָּש (miqdash) | ἁγίασμα | sanctuaire | Priesthood and Mediation | Low | 16:33, 20–21 | none | Shares root with “saint”; stable. |
| 54 | Veil | פָּרֹכֶת (parokhet) | καταπέτασμα | voile (du sanctuaire) | Priesthood and Mediation; Day of Atonement | Low | 16 | none | Minor gloss needed to avoid confusion with a bridal veil. |
C. Priority Flags for Phase 2 Human Review Routing
The following require mandatory human theologian review on every occurrence (Critical tier), consistent with the baseline’s routing convention:
- Burnt offering / “holocauste” collision (Term 1) — highest-priority cultural-sensitivity flag in the entire package.
- Atonement / expiation (Term 6) and its compound occurrence in Leviticus 17:11 (Term 40).
- God and Israel where politically live (per baseline convention, extended here to chs. 23–25).
The following require mandatory human theologian review as High tier: Terms 2, 4, 7–9, 11, 13, 15, 17–19, 22, 26–28, 35.
All remaining Medium-tier terms require native speaker review; Low-tier terms require automated review only, per baseline convention.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: Dieu
Transliteration: Dieu / Elohim, YHWH
Doctrine: The Holiness of God and the Call to Be Holy
Original: אֱלֹהִים / יהוה
Category: God
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE — fields unchanged.] Leviticus repeats ‘the LORD said to Moses’ dozens of times as a structuring formula; ensure ‘le SEIGNEUR’ (for the tetragrammaton YHWH, small-caps convention per French Bible tradition) is distinguished from generic ‘Dieu’ (Elohim) wherever the Hebrew text itself distinguishes the two divine names.
Burnt Offering
Approved rendering: sacrifice entièrement consumé
Transliteration: olah
Doctrine: The Sacrificial System and Atonement
Rejected alternatives: holocauste
Original: עֹלָה
Category: Sacrifice
The traditional Segond/Vulgate-lineage rendering ‘holocauste’ is now the near-exclusive French referent for the Shoah, given France’s Vichy-era history and its large Jewish community. Using it for an animal sacrifice risks severe offense, false equivalence, and total communicative failure. Never render ‘holocauste’ anywhere in destination-language material without explicit theologian sign-off; use ‘sacrifice entièrement consumé’ (the Segond 21 / NBS solution) throughout, in every occurrence across chs. 1, 6-9, 16, 22-23.
Atonement
Approved rendering: expiation / expier
Transliteration: kipper
Doctrine: The Sacrificial System and Atonement
Rejected alternatives: réparation (too weak), pardon (conflates act with result)
Original: כִּפֵּר
Category: Salvation
Central theological action of the entire sacrificial system. Secular French ‘expiation’ carries a strong penal/legalistic connotation (serving a sentence) that risks flattening the richer covering/cleansing/ransoming sense of kipper. Catholic sacramental ‘expiation’ through penance must not be read back into the OT rite as if the goat’s blood were the sinner’s own penitential act rather than a substitute God provides. Keep ‘expiation’ (the act) distinct from ‘pardon’/‘purification’ (its consequences), per Lev 16:30.
Blood Life Principle Compound
Approved rendering: [compound unit — see ‘blood’, ‘life_soul’, ‘atonement’]
Transliteration: nephesh…dam…kipper (Leviticus 17:11)
Doctrine: Blood Atonement and the Life Principle
Rejected alternatives: loose paraphrase of the verse as a whole
Leviticus 17:11 is the book’s own programmatic doctrinal statement combining ‘sang’ (dam), ‘vie/la personne elle-même’ (nephesh) and ‘expiation’ (kipper) into a single verse establishing that blood atones because it represents a forfeited life given in the place of the guilty, not because blood is intrinsically magical. This verse must be flagged and reviewed as an indivisible unit, never translated term-by-term across separated segments — a loose paraphrase severs the direct conceptual foundation for Hebrews 9:22 and for Christ’s blood in Romans 3:25, 5:9 (outside this TM but the essential cross-reference).
High Risk Terms
Law
Approved rendering: loi
Transliteration: loi (la Loi) / Torah
Doctrine: The Sacrificial System and Atonement
Original: תּוֹרָה / חֻקָּה
Category: Covenant
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE — fields unchanged.] Capitalize as ‘la Loi’ for Torah-referent occurrences, including the recurring ‘chuqqat olam’ (‘statute forever’) refrain; do not import Catholic natural-law (‘loi naturelle’) theological freight into this Levitical legal material.
Sin Offering
Approved rendering: sacrifice pour le péché
Transliteration: chatta’ah
Doctrine: The Sacrificial System and Atonement
Rejected alternatives: offrande (bare), péché (bare)
Original: חַטָּאת
Category: Sacrifice
Never shorten to bare ‘offrande’ (too generic, confusable with the other four offering types) or bare ‘péché’ (loses cultic/substitutionary weight, risking colloquial trivialization as in ‘péché mignon’). The sliding-scale provision (ch. 4-5) should be noted in teaching material so readers do not assume a flat, uniform ‘price’ for atonement.
Peace Offering
Approved rendering: sacrifice de communion
Transliteration: shelamim
Doctrine: The Sacrificial System and Atonement
Rejected alternatives: communion (bare)
Original: שְׁלָמִים
Category: Sacrifice
Structurally closer to genuine Eucharistic resonance (a shared sacrificial meal eaten by offerer, priest, and God) than the baseline’s own ‘fellowship’ caution anticipated; Catholic doctrine (Trent, Session 22) explicitly names the Mass itself a sacrifice, a live Reformation-era flashpoint. Frame as an OT type, never as warrant for a particular Eucharist-as-sacrifice doctrine; flag for theologian review wherever this intersects Eucharistic teaching.
Mercy Seat
Approved rendering: propitiatoire
Transliteration: kapporet
Doctrine: The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)
Rejected alternatives: le couvercle (TOB; loses the NT bridge)
Original: כַּפֹּרֶת
Category: Sacrifice
The gold lid of the Ark, where God’s presence meets the blood-borne atonement. LXX renders this hilastērion — the identical Greek word Paul applies to Christ in Romans 3:25. This French rendering MUST be kept consistent with whatever term is fixed for hilastērion in any Romans-curriculum material; flag for theologian review to confirm cross-document consistency before any Romans 3:25 material in this pipeline is finalized.
Azazel Scapegoat
Approved rendering: bouc émissaire
Transliteration: azazel
Doctrine: The Scapegoat and Substitution
Original: עֲזָאזֵל
Category: Sacrifice
‘Bouc émissaire’ (via the Vulgate’s caper emissarius) is now a fully secularized French idiom for any blame-shifted person (office politics, media, sport) with essentially no residual theological weight, reinforced by René Girard’s widely taught ‘scapegoat mechanism’ theory in French intellectual culture. Must be anchored in teaching material to the specific doctrine of substitution (16:21-22) and never left unglossed. Retain the option of transliterating ‘Azazel’ as a proper noun for a de-idiomatized register when needed.
Clean Unclean
Approved rendering: pur / impur
Transliteration: tahor / tamei
Doctrine: Clean and Unclean
Original: טָהוֹר / טָמֵא
Category: Purity
Governs food, bodily conditions, and skin disease throughout chs. 11-15, distinct from moral sin. Secular French ‘pur/impur’ carries chemical/hygienic connotations (produit pur, eau pure) risking a scientific rather than theological-symbolic reading, and risks moralizing the categories as equivalent to guilt/‘péché’ [must be kept conceptually distinct]. Some French Catholic readers may also map this onto the Catholic ‘état de grâce’ purity framework, a different theological category entirely.
Holy Common Pair
Approved rendering: le saint et le profane, le pur et l’impur
Transliteration: qodesh/chol, tamei/tahor
Doctrine: The Holiness of God and the Call to Be Holy
Rejected alternatives: collapsing both independent axes into a single category
Original: קֹדֶשׁ / חֹל וְטָמֵא / טָהוֹר
Category: Purity
Leviticus’s own explicit statement (10:10) of its two independent organizing axes — sacred/ordinary (relation to God) and clean/unclean (ritual fitness) — which intersect but are not identical. The single most important verse for calibrating the ‘Holiness of God’ and ‘Clean and Unclean’ doctrines together; flag for mandatory theologian review.
Priest
Approved rendering: prêtre
Transliteration: kohen
Doctrine: The Priesthood and Mediation
Rejected alternatives: pasteur
Original: כֹּהֵן
Category: Priesthood
French Protestants reserve ‘pasteur’ for their own ministers and ‘prêtre’ for Catholic (and pagan) priests. The OT Levitical priesthood must be presented as a distinct historical office pointing typologically to Christ, not projected onto either tradition’s contemporary clergy debate.
Consecration Ordination
Approved rendering: consécration sacerdotale
Transliteration: milluim
Doctrine: Priestly Ordination and Consecration
Rejected alternatives: ordination (bare)
Original: מִלֻּאִים
Category: Priesthood
The seven-day ritual (lit. ‘the filling of the hands’) installing Aaron and his sons into priestly office. Bare ‘ordination’ in French is closely tied to the Catholic/Orthodox sacrament of Holy Orders (apostolic succession); readers will likely map Aaron’s ordination onto that frame. Distinguish the hereditary, non-successional Aaronic office — later argued in Hebrews to be superseded by Christ’s unique priesthood — from any Christian ordained-ministry office.
Tabernacle Tent Of Meeting
Approved rendering: tente de la Rencontre
Transliteration: mishkan / ohel mo’ed
Doctrine: The Tabernacle and the Presence of God
Rejected alternatives: tabernacle (bare, unglossed)
Original: מִשְׁכָּן / אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד
Category: Priesthood
The single greatest referent-scale collision in this glossary: ‘le tabernacle’ in ordinary and especially Catholic French usage denotes the small altar-side cabinet housing the reserved consecrated Host, not a tent-shrine complex the size of a courtyard. Prefer ‘tente de la Rencontre’ as the primary working term in narrative contexts; when ‘tabernacle’ must be used (e.g. discussing the structure by its traditional name), gloss it on first use per unit. Flag every occurrence for native speaker review at minimum, theologian review where God’s presence/dwelling is the direct doctrinal point.
Life Soul
Approved rendering: vie / la personne elle-même
Transliteration: nephesh
Doctrine: Blood Atonement and the Life Principle
Rejected alternatives: âme (unqualified)
Original: נֶפֶשׁ
Category: Sacrifice
The whole living being/self/life, not a disembodied ‘soul’ in the Greek/Platonic sense. French ‘âme’ imports strong Cartesian and Catholic body-soul dualist connotations absent from the Hebrew, especially acute at Lev 16:29 (‘afflict your nephesh’, i.e. fasting) and 17:11 (the atonement-logic verse). Avoid unqualified ‘âme’ wherever the holistic sense is intended.
Guilt Triad
Approved rendering: impuretés, transgressions et péchés
Transliteration: tumot / pesha’im / chata’im
Doctrine: The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)
Rejected alternatives: collapsing to one generic ‘péchés’
Original: טֻמְאֹת / פְּשָׁעִים / חַטֹּאת
Category: Sin
The Day of Atonement’s deliberate threefold taxonomy of guilt — ritual defilement, willful covenantal rebellion, moral wrongdoing (Lev 16:16, 16:21) — all requiring atonement. Collapsing this into a single generic word flattens a theologically significant comprehensiveness claim.
Confession
Approved rendering: confesser / confession
Transliteration: hitvadah
Doctrine: Guilt, Confession, and Restitution
Original: הִתְוַדָּה
Category: Sacrifice
Verbal acknowledgment of specific guilt (Lev 5:5; 16:21). Major collision risk: the French Catholic sacrament of Confession/Reconciliation (private, individual, priest-mediated, with sacramental absolution) is the dominant lived association of ‘confession’ for French readers of every background. Must clarify Lev 16:21 depicts the high priest’s own corporate confession spoken over the goat, on the people’s behalf, with no human absolution pronounced — the goat itself bears the guilt away.
Sabbath
Approved rendering: sabbat
Transliteration: shabbat
Doctrine: Sabbath and Sacred Time
Rejected alternatives: dimanche
Original: שַׁבָּת
Category: Sacred Time
France’s secularized, historically Catholic-shaped Sunday-rest tradition can cause readers to default to ‘dimanche’ associations rather than the specifically Saturday, Israel-specific referent. France’s significant, actively Sabbath-observant Jewish community makes ‘sabbat’ simultaneously a currently-practiced term, requiring careful, respectful distinction between the ancient institution under study and present-day Jewish observance — avoid appropriation or an implied supersessionist judgment.
Day Of Atonement
Approved rendering: le Jour des Expiations
Transliteration: Yom HaKippurim
Doctrine: The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)
Original: יוֹם הַכִּפֻּרִים
Category: Sacred Time
The theological anchor of this curriculum (Lev 16, 23:26-32). Widely and positively recognized in French society given its Jewish community (‘Yom Kippour’ is independently known), reducing the risk of total unfamiliarity relative to many target languages. Use ‘le Jour des Expiations’ in Christian theological-argument register and ‘Yom Kippour’ where interfaith sensitivity or contemporary-practice comparison is in view; present the Christian fulfillment reading without a supersessionist framing of ongoing Jewish observance.
Jubilee
Approved rendering: jubilé
Transliteration: yovel
Doctrine: Jubilee, Redemption, and Economic Justice
Original: יוֹבֵל
Category: Sacred Time
A fifty-year cycle of land restoration, debt cancellation, and slave release (ch. 25). French Catholic tradition’s well-established ‘Année jubilaire’/‘Jubilé’ (Holy Years, pilgrimage, plenary indulgences, most recently 2025) is a specific and different institution readers may default to. Clarify the OT land/debt/slave-release referent explicitly before any Christological typology is drawn.
Redemption Redeemer
Approved rendering: rédemption / rédempteur
Transliteration: ge’ulah / go’el
Doctrine: Jubilee, Redemption, and Economic Justice
Original: גְּאֻלָּה / גֹּאֵל
Category: Sacred Time
The legal-economic institution of a near relative buying back family land or a family member from debt-slavery (chs. 25, 27). The rich NT-derived Christological weight of ‘Rédempteur’ risks over- or under-reading this concrete socio-legal kinsman institution; clarify the background before drawing the Christological typology explicitly.
Devoted Thing Cherem
Approved rendering: chose vouée / consacrée (de manière irrévocable)
Transliteration: cherem
Doctrine: Vows and Dedication to God
Rejected alternatives: anathème (as a primary base-text rendering)
Original: חֵרֶם
Category: Ethics
Something irrevocably set apart/devoted to the LORD without possibility of redemption or buy-back (27:28-29); LXX anathema, the direct ancestor of the NT term. Modern French ‘anathème’ functions almost entirely as formal ecclesiastical excommunication/condemnation (‘jeter l’anathème sur quelqu’un’), importing a strongly negative-judicial connotation absent from this property-dedication context. Reserve ‘anathème’ for etymological/glossary notes only.
Medium Risk Terms
Holy
Approved rendering: saint
Transliteration: saint / qadosh
Doctrine: The Holiness of God and the Call to Be Holy
Rejected alternatives: pur (ritual-purity axis, a separate category)
Original: קָדוֹשׁ
Category: Sanctification
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE — fields unchanged: translation ‘saint’, doctrine_risk Medium.] In Leviticus this is the book’s own organizing category (10:10, 11:44-45, 19:2, 20:7, 20:26), not an occasional descriptor. Must be kept distinct from the separate clean/unclean (‘pur/impur’) axis established at 10:10; French readers with either a Catholic ritual-purity background or no purity-code intuition at all easily collapse the two. Lev 19:2’s plural imperative (‘soyez saints, vous tous’) addresses the whole covenant community, consistent with the baseline’s own corporate-inclusion caution on ‘saints’.
Sin
Approved rendering: péché
Transliteration: péché / chata
Doctrine: The Sacrificial System and Atonement
Original: חַטָּאת / חטא
Category: Sin
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE — fields unchanged.] The root underlying the technical sacrificial term ‘sacrifice pour le péché’ (chatta’ah). Never let the compound offering-name collapse to bare ‘péché’, which colloquial French can trivialize (cf. baseline’s own note on ‘péché mignon’).
Covenant
Approved rendering: alliance
Transliteration: alliance / berit
Doctrine: Covenant Blessings and Curses
Rejected alternatives: contrat
Original: בְּרִית
Category: Covenant
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE — fields unchanged.] Applies in Leviticus to ‘the salt of the covenant’ (2:13) and the Sinai covenant’s blessing/curse sanctions (ch. 26); reinforces the baseline’s own rationale for ‘alliance’ over ‘contrat’ as a relational, not merely legal, bond.
Glory
Approved rendering: gloire
Transliteration: gloire / kevod YHWH
Doctrine: The Tabernacle and the Presence of God
Original: כְּבוֹד יְהוָה
Category: God
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE — fields unchanged.] The theophany at Lev 9:23-24, confirming divine ratification of the newly instituted sacrificial and mediatorial system, reuses this term; confirm consistent capitalization with the baseline entry.
Israel
Approved rendering: Israël
Transliteration: Israël / Yisra’el
Doctrine: Jubilee, Redemption, and Economic Justice
Original: יִשְׂרָאֵל / בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
Category: Covenant
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE — fields unchanged.] Especially live in chs. 23-25 (feasts, land, Jubilee) given contemporary Middle East political sensitivity and France’s significant Jewish community; keep the referent historical/theological, never a comment on the modern state.
Messiah
Approved rendering: Messie
Transliteration: Messie / mashuach
Doctrine: Priestly Ordination and Consecration
Original: מָשׁוּחַ / מָשִׁיחַ
Category: Christology
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE — fields unchanged.] Applies typologically to ‘l’oint’/the anointed high priest (16:32, ch. 8): the LXX renders the anointing root with christos, the same word later applied to Jesus. Keep this typological link in commentary/teaching notes only; never insert it into the base translation of the priestly-anointing text itself.
Guilt Offering
Approved rendering: sacrifice de réparation
Transliteration: asham
Doctrine: Guilt, Confession, and Restitution
Rejected alternatives: conflating with ‘sacrifice pour le péché’
Original: אָשָׁם
Category: Sacrifice
Distinct from the sin offering in requiring restitution plus sacrifice for quantifiable debt/violation of another’s rights. Without the ‘réparation’ qualifier, readers will lose Leviticus’s own careful distinction between the two offering types.
Grain Offering
Approved rendering: offrande végétale
Transliteration: minchah
Doctrine: The Sacrificial System and Atonement
Rejected alternatives: offrande (bare)
Original: מִנְחָה
Category: Sacrifice
Bloodless offering of homage/dependence, distinct from the atoning blood sacrifices. Bare ‘offrande’ is too generic and could be confused with any of the five sacrifice types; the qualifier is required.
Congregation
Approved rendering: assemblée / communauté
Transliteration: edah / qahal
Doctrine: Congregation and Corporate Covenant Identity
Rejected alternatives: synagogue (anachronistic), Église (bare, implies NT institutional continuity)
Original: עֵדָה / קָהָל
Category: Church
The whole covenant community, represented corporately by the high priest’s mediating actions. Avoid ‘synagogue’ (denotes the Jewish house of worship specifically in French, anachronistic here) and avoid bare ‘Église’, which would wrongly imply institutional continuity with the Christian church rather than the covenant nation gathered at Sinai/the sanctuary. Note the etymological (not doctrinal) continuity: qahal’s LXX rendering ekklēsia is the ancestor of the baseline’s ‘Église’.
Uncleanness
Approved rendering: impureté rituelle
Transliteration: tumah
Doctrine: Clean and Unclean
Rejected alternatives: impureté (bare, drifts toward general dirtiness/shame)
Original: טֻמְאָה
Category: Purity
The abstract state of ritual defilement (bodily discharges, disease, contact) addressed by purification rites, not moral repentance. The ‘rituelle’ qualifier is structural, not optional, especially in chs. 12 and 15 (childbirth, bodily emissions) where the content could otherwise be read as implying shame or sin.
High Priest
Approved rendering: grand prêtre
Transliteration: kohen hagadol
Doctrine: The Priesthood and Mediation
Original: כֹּהֵן הַגָּדוֹל
Category: Priesthood
Uniquely authorized to enter the Most Holy Place once a year (Lev 16). Standard, stable rendering across French Bible traditions.
Anointing Oil
Approved rendering: huile d’onction
Transliteration: shemen hamishchah
Doctrine: Priestly Ordination and Consecration
Original: שֶׁמֶן הַמִּשְׁחָה
Category: Priesthood
LXX renders the oil’s root with chrisma, sharing the root of christos/‘Christ’. Keep this typological connection in commentary/teaching notes only; never insert it into the base translation.
Blood
Approved rendering: sang
Transliteration: dam
Doctrine: Blood Atonement and the Life Principle
Original: דָּם
Category: Sacrifice
Stable, non-controversial French term, but must not be treated as a merely symbolic ritual-cleansing agent divorced from the life-for-life substitutionary logic Lev 17:11 makes explicit — the direct conceptual foundation for Christ’s blood as the basis of atonement (Romans 3:25, 5:9, outside this TM but an essential cross-reference).
Bear Iniquity
Approved rendering: porter
Transliteration: nasa
Doctrine: The Scapegoat and Substitution
Rejected alternatives: avoir, recevoir
Original: נָשָׂא
Category: Sacrifice
The verb describing the scapegoat’s bearing away of iniquity (16:22) — the same verb used of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53:4, 12. Weaker verbs understate the load-bearing, substitutionary force; ‘porter’ correctly retains the physical/legal weight-bearing sense and the typological link.
Outside The Camp
Approved rendering: hors du camp
Transliteration: michutz lamachaneh
Doctrine: The Scapegoat and Substitution
Original: מִחוּץ לַמַּחֲנֶה
Category: Sacrifice
The spatial boundary where sin-offering remains are disposed of, having borne the defilement of sin (16:27). Direct verbal link to Hebrews 13:11-13 (‘Jesus also suffered outside the gate’); flag for cross-referencing wherever teaching material connects Leviticus 16 to the crucifixion narrative.
Sabbath Of Solemn Rest
Approved rendering: un sabbat, un jour de repos complet
Transliteration: shabbat shabbaton
Doctrine: Sabbath and Sacred Time
Rejected alternatives: sabbat (flat, loses the intensive/superlative force)
Original: שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן
Category: Sacred Time
The intensive Hebrew reduplication has no single French grammatical equivalent; ‘complet/absolu’ is required to convey the superlative force that elevates the Day of Atonement to the same absolute-rest category as the weekly Sabbath itself.
Statute Forever
Approved rendering: loi perpétuelle / prescription perpétuelle
Transliteration: chuqqat olam
Doctrine: The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)
Original: חֻקַּת עוֹלָם
Category: Covenant
Establishes the Day of Atonement (and other rites) as a fixed, repeated annual observance. The repetition itself becomes theologically significant later (Heb 9:25-26; 10:1-4 argue Christ’s sacrifice is superior precisely because it is not repeated); overlaps helpfully with the baseline’s ‘loi’ entry.
Once In The Year
Approved rendering: une fois par an
Transliteration: achat bashanah
Doctrine: The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)
Original: אַחַת בַּשָּׁנָה
Category: Sacred Time
The annual, once-a-year character of the Day of Atonement (16:34), the OT counterpart against which Hebrews 9:25-28; 10:1-4, 10 contrasts Christ’s ‘once for all’ (hapax) sacrifice. Flag for future cross-curriculum consistency with any Hebrews-curriculum French rendering of hapax.
Unblemished
Approved rendering: sans défaut
Transliteration: tamim
Doctrine: Unblemished Offerings and Typological Perfection
Original: תָּמִים
Category: Sacrifice
The required standard of physical completeness for sacrificial animals (ch. 1) and, later, priestly qualification (chs. 21-22) — a standard of costly, perfect substitution typologically fulfilled by Christ’s sinless perfection (cf. 1 Peter 1:19, outside this TM). Keep the typology in commentary, not the base text.
Blemish
Approved rendering: défaut physique
Transliteration: mum
Doctrine: Unblemished Offerings and Typological Perfection
Original: מוּם
Category: Priesthood
A physical defect disqualifying a priest from service or an animal from sacrifice (chs. 21-22). Modern French disability-rights sensitivity requires framing this as a cultic-symbolic concern (wholeness as a sign of God’s own perfection), not a statement about the inherent worth of persons with disabilities; add an explanatory note wherever these chapters are taught directly.
Strange Fire
Approved rendering: feu non autorisé
Transliteration: esh zarah
Doctrine: The Priesthood and Mediation
Rejected alternatives: feu étranger (risks a merely geographic reading)
Original: אֵשׁ זָרָה
Category: Priesthood
Unauthorized fire offered by Nadab and Abihu on their own initiative rather than as divinely prescribed (10:1-2). ‘Non autorisé’ correctly conveys illegitimacy of source/procedure, not merely a foreign geographic origin.
Skin Disease
Approved rendering: maladie de peau (traditionnellement traduite « lèpre »)
Transliteration: tsara’at
Doctrine: Disease Diagnosis and Priestly Authority
Rejected alternatives: lèpre (bare)
Original: צָרַעַת
Category: Purity
A general category of visible, potentially spreading skin (and later fabric/stone) conditions, not equivalent to modern clinical Hansen’s disease. Bare traditional ‘lèpre’ risks medical inaccuracy and unintended stigmatization of contemporary Hansen’s disease patients (an active public-health concern in parts of Francophone Africa) if read as implying divine judgment on sufferers.
Consecrate Verb
Approved rendering: consacrer / sanctifier
Transliteration: qadash
Doctrine: The Holiness of God and the Call to Be Holy
Original: קִדֵּשׁ
Category: Sanctification
To make holy, to set apart for sacred use — applied to priests, the altar, and sacred space, re-consecrated by atoning blood. Shares its root with ‘saint’. French ‘consécration’ carries a strong Catholic Eucharistic meaning (‘les paroles de la consécration’); add brief context distinguishing the OT rite from that NT sacramental usage wherever this verb is used of altar/priestly consecration.
Profane Verb
Approved rendering: profaner
Transliteration: chillel
Doctrine: The Holiness of God and the Call to Be Holy
Original: חִלֵּל
Category: Sanctification
To treat as ordinary/violate what God has set apart as holy — the direct antonym-action of ‘consacrer’. Stable, well-established French theological term; ensure the specific referent (God’s name/holy things) stays clear rather than reading as generic disrespect.
Cut Off
Approved rendering: retrancher (du peuple)
Transliteration: karat
Doctrine: The Holiness of God and the Call to Be Holy
Original: כָּרַת
Category: Covenant
A punishment formula denoting exclusion from the covenant community (and/or capital punishment), the negative counterpart to covenant inclusion. Note the ironic etymological echo with covenant-making itself (karat berit, ‘to cut a covenant’); worth a brief explanatory note, not a rendering change.
Love
Approved rendering: aimer
Transliteration: ahav
Doctrine: Love of Neighbor (Leviticus 19:18)
Original: אָהַב
Category: Ethics
Covenantal, volitional, action-oriented love (Lev 19:18, 33-34); LXX agapaō, the exact wording later quoted verbatim by Jesus (Matt 22:39) and Paul (Rom 13:9). Contemporary secular French ‘aimer’ is heavily romance/emotion-loaded (amour-passion); anchor teaching in the passage’s concrete behavioral commands (gleaning, wages, slander), not sentiment alone.
Stranger Sojourner
Approved rendering: l’étranger (qui réside parmi vous)
Transliteration: ger
Doctrine: Care for the Stranger and Sojourner
Original: גֵּר
Category: Ethics
Lev 19:33-34 extends the neighbor-love command explicitly to the resident foreigner, grounded in Israel’s own sojourn in Egypt. In contemporary France, ‘étranger’ carries live, contested political connotations around immigration; render faithfully without suppressing or overstating the resonance with current debate.
Appointed Feasts
Approved rendering: fêtes fixées par le SEIGNEUR
Transliteration: mo’adim
Doctrine: The Appointed Feasts and Sacred Calendar
Rejected alternatives: fêtes (bare)
Original: מוֹעֲדִים
Category: Sacred Time
God-appointed, not human-invented, festival times fixed on Israel’s sacred calendar (ch. 23), sharing the root of ‘tent of meeting’ (mo’ed). Bare ‘fêtes’ risks a purely festive/cultural-holiday connotation (as in ‘les fêtes de fin d’année’); the qualifier retains the divinely-instituted, non-optional character.
Holy Convocation
Approved rendering: sainte convocation
Transliteration: miqra qodesh
Doctrine: The Appointed Feasts and Sacred Calendar
Original: מִקְרָא־קֹדֶשׁ
Category: Sacred Time
A sacred, corporate assembly gathered for a festival day, sharing the root of ‘saint’. Consistent with the baseline’s general caution: this is a corporate, not elite-individual, category.
Vow
Approved rendering: vœu
Transliteration: neder
Doctrine: Vows and Dedication to God
Original: נֵדֶר
Category: Ethics
A voluntary binding promise dedicating property, persons, or animals to the LORD (ch. 27). French Catholic religious-life vows (poverty, chastity, obedience) are the dominant contemporary association of ‘vœu(x)’ in a religious register; also risks the purely secular ‘meilleurs vœux’ (New Year’s greetings) homonym. Clarify this is a voluntary personal dedication, structurally distinct from either association.
Bread Of Presence
Approved rendering: le pain de la Présence
Transliteration: lechem hapanim
Doctrine: The Priesthood and Mediation
Rejected alternatives: pains de proposition (archaic Segond, opaque to modern readers)
Original: לֶחֶם הַפָּנִים
Category: Priesthood
Twelve loaves set continually before the LORD in the sanctuary, representing the twelve tribes. Primarily a comprehension risk (archaism), not a doctrinal collision.
Blaspheme Name
Approved rendering: blasphémer / maudire le Nom
Transliteration: qillel / naqav et-hashem
Doctrine: Blasphemy and Reverence for God’s Name
Original: קִלֵּל / נָקַב אֶת־הַשֵּׁם
Category: Sanctification
To curse or treat lightly the divine Name, a capital offense in Lev 24:10-16. Ensure the referent (‘the Name’, a reverential circumlocution for the divine name) is understood specifically, not as merely generic insulting speech. Given recent, live French public debates over blasphemy and free speech, frame the ancient covenantal case law without importing contemporary political controversy.
Low Risk Terms
Veil
Approved rendering: voile (du sanctuaire)
Transliteration: parokhet
Doctrine: The Tabernacle and the Presence of God
Original: פָּרֹכֶת
Category: Priesthood
The curtain separating the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place, signifying restricted access to God’s presence, later torn at Christ’s death (Matt 27:51; Heb 10:19-20). Minor risk of confusion with a bridal veil; a brief gloss on first use is sufficient.
Sanctuary
Approved rendering: sanctuaire
Transliteration: miqdash
Doctrine: The Tabernacle and the Presence of God
Original: מִקְדָּשׁ
Category: Priesthood
A synonym context for the Holy Place/tabernacle complex (16:33). Shares its root with ‘saint’; stable, low-risk term.
Neighbor
Approved rendering: prochain
Transliteration: rea
Doctrine: Love of Neighbor (Leviticus 19:18)
Original: רֵעַ
Category: Ethics
Exceptionally stable across every French Bible tradition and its NT citations (Matt 22:39; Rom 13:9). No risk flag required beyond ensuring consistency with any future Romans/Gospel curricula’s rendering of the same verse.
Blessing Curse
Approved rendering: bénédiction / malédiction
Transliteration: berakhah / qelalah
Doctrine: Covenant Blessings and Curses
Original: בְּרָכָה / קְלָלָה
Category: Covenant
The covenant sanctions structuring ch. 26. Stable, standard French theological terms; ensure they read as covenantal consequence, not superstitious fortune/luck.
Lampstand
Approved rendering: chandelier à sept branches
Transliteration: menorah
Doctrine: The Priesthood and Mediation
Original: מְנוֹרָה
Category: Priesthood
The seven-branched gold lampstand maintained continually in the sanctuary (24:2-4). Positively recognized public symbol in French society (Jewish community, public Hanukkah displays); minimal collision risk, and can be a helpful visual anchor in teaching.
Firstfruits
Approved rendering: prémices
Transliteration: reshit / bikkurim
Doctrine: Firstfruits and Offering Procedure
Original: רֵאשִׁית / בִּכּוּרִים
Category: Sacrifice
The first and best portion of a harvest offered to God (chs. 2, 23). Stable, low-risk French Bible term.
Wave Contribution Offering
Approved rendering: offrande par élévation / prélèvement
Transliteration: tenufah / terumah
Doctrine: Firstfruits and Offering Procedure
Original: תְּנוּפָה / תְּרוּמָה
Category: Sacrifice
Two closely related ritual-gesture terms, frequently confused even by specialists: a portion waved/presented before the altar (tenufah) versus a portion set aside as a priestly due (terumah). A brief glossary note distinguishing the two is worthwhile; doctrinal stakes are minor.
Perpetual Fire
Approved rendering: feu perpétuel
Transliteration: esh tamid
Doctrine: The Sacrificial System and Atonement
Original: אֵשׁ תָּמִיד
Category: Sacrifice
The altar fire that must never be extinguished (6:12-13), symbolizing unceasing access to atonement/worship for the covenant community. Stable, low-risk term.
Referenced passages