Semantic Analysis: Proverbs (Full Book)

Curriculum: Proverbs Language pair: English → French Core passage: Proverbs 3:1–12 Generated: Phase 1, Step 1

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Methodological Note: Hebrew Original, Not Koine Greek

Proverbs is Hebrew Wisdom literature (Masoretic Text), not a Koine Greek document. Unlike the Romans baseline package (a Greek epistle), Proverbs has no Greek original to analyze directly. This analysis therefore proceeds from the Hebrew original as the controlling text, with the Septuagint (LXX) Greek cited secondarily wherever it (a) is the version historically read by early Greek-speaking Christians and the Church Fathers, (b) introduces a translation choice with doctrinal consequences (most famously Proverbs 8:22), or (c) helps a French Bible-tradition reviewer cross-check against Vulgate/Segond/TOB lineage. This dual citation preserves the spirit of the pipeline’s Greek-analysis mandate while remaining textually honest to Proverbs’ actual language of composition.

All French renderings that duplicate a term already fixed in the baseline translation_memory.json (Romans) reuse that rendering exactly, as required. Where Proverbs’ sense of a shared word diverges from the Romans sense (e.g., “righteousness,” “law,” “grace”/“favor”), this is flagged explicitly as a cross-curriculum collision risk rather than silently resolved.

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PART 1 — CORE PASSAGE: Proverbs 3:1–12 (Verse-by-Verse)

Verse 1 — “My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments”

Field	Content
Original	תּוֹרָה (torah); מִצְוָה (mitzvah); לֵב (lev); בֵּן (ben)
Transliteration	torah; mitzvah; lev; ben
Literal meaning	torah = “instruction/teaching” (from y-r-h, “to point/direct”); mitzvah = “thing commanded”; lev = “heart” (seat of will/intellect, not merely emotion); ben = “son”
Semantic range	torah ranges from a parent’s/sage’s personal instruction (its sense here and throughout Proverbs) to the Mosaic Law as a whole (its sense in the Pentateuch and in the baseline Romans package); mitzvah = specific directive; lev = the whole inner person — mind, will, conscience
English variants	teaching / law / instruction (torah); commandments / precepts (mitzvah); heart (lev)
Contextual theological meaning	A father-sage addresses a son-disciple, urging internalization (not mere legal compliance) of wisdom instruction. This is parental/pedagogical torah, not Sinai legislation.
French rendering & risk	torah → “enseignement” (NOT “loi”), High risk: the baseline maps torah/nomos to “loi” for the Mosaic Law in Romans. Reusing “loi” here would wrongly suggest Proverbs 3:1 refers to Mosaic legislation. This curriculum documents an explicit, necessary divergence: “loi” is reserved for actual Torah/Mosaic-Law references; “enseignement”/“instruction” renders the parental-wisdom sense. mitzvah → “commandement” (Medium risk, new term, not previously in TM). lev → “cœur” (Medium risk, new term). ben → “mon fils” (Low risk; must not be capitalized or treated as parallel to “Fils de Dieu,” which is a Critical Christological title in the baseline — flag explicitly to prevent confusion).

Verse 2 — “for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you”

Field	Content
Original	אֹרֶךְ יָמִים (orekh yamim); שָׁלוֹם (shalom)
Transliteration	orekh yamim; shalom
Literal meaning	”length of days”; shalom = wholeness, well-being, right relational order, not merely absence of conflict
Semantic range	shalom spans covenantal flourishing, health, security, and reconciled relationship with God and neighbor
English variants	peace / well-being / prosperity
Contextual theological meaning	Long life and shalom are consequences of embracing wisdom instruction — the sage’s this-worldly reward frame, distinct from (but not contradicting) the New Testament’s “peace with God” through justification.
French rendering & risk	shalom → “paix” — reuse baseline exactly (Low risk per baseline). Cross-curriculum note (Medium risk): the baseline’s “peace” entry is specifically Romans 5:1’s peace-through-justification. Here shalom is the sage’s holistic life-flourishing sense. Both senses are compatible but must not be flattened into each other in teaching notes — clarify context (wisdom-reward peace vs. justification-peace) whenever cross-referenced.

Verse 3 — “Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart”

Field	Content
Original	חֶסֶד (chesed); אֱמֶת (emet); לוּח לֵב (luach lev, “tablet of the heart”)
Transliteration	chesed; emet; luach lev
Literal meaning	chesed = covenant loyalty/lovingkindness that exceeds strict obligation; emet = firmness, reliability, truth
Semantic range	chesed: God’s covenant faithfulness to Israel (Exodus 34:6) and the corresponding human virtue of loyal love; emet: truthfulness, dependability, factual truth
English variants	steadfast love / mercy / lovingkindness / kindness (chesed); faithfulness / truth (emet)
Contextual theological meaning	The disciple is to embody, not merely know, God’s covenant character — internalized so deeply it is “written on the heart,” anticipating the New Covenant heart-writing language (Jeremiah 31:33).
French rendering & risk	chesed → “bonté” or, when paired with emet, “amour fidèle.” Critical risk — explicit rejection of “grâce”: French Bible tradition sometimes glosses chesed as “grâce,” but the baseline reserves “grâce” exclusively and strictly for χάρις/unmerited saving grace in the Critical-tier Salvation doctrine. Rendering chesed as “grâce” here would import Romans’ forensic-grace theology into a proverb about relational covenant loyalty, and risks blurring the very Trent-vs-Reformed line the baseline works hard to protect. Do not use “grâce” for chesed anywhere in this curriculum. emet → “fidélité” (paired with “vérité” where truth-content is primary). Medium risk.

Verse 4 — “So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man”

Field	Content
Original	חֵן (chen); שֵׂכֶל־טוֹב (sekhel-tov)
Transliteration	chen; sekhel-tov
Literal meaning	chen = grace/charm/favor bestowed in another’s eyes; sekhel-tov = “good insight/good sense,” i.e., a favorable reputation for prudence
Semantic range	chen ranges from physical attractiveness (Proverbs 31:30, “favor is deceitful”) to relational goodwill/social approval; it is never the technical soteriological term for unmerited saving grace
English variants	favor / grace (older translations); good success / good understanding
Contextual theological meaning	Living by covenant loyalty and truth wins one relational goodwill before both God and other people — a wisdom-literature social/relational category, not justification.
French rendering & risk	chen → “faveur” — Critical risk, but resolved by design: this is precisely the word the baseline’s grace entry lists under alternatives_rejected for Romans’ χάρις (“faveur” rejected there because it under-specifies unmerited saving grace). That rejection is exactly what makes “faveur” the correct and safe choice here: it deliberately keeps chen’s social/relational sense separated from “grâce,” preventing a soteriological collision. This decision must be documented and consistently enforced across the Proverbs curriculum. sekhel-tov → “bon sens”/“discernement” (Medium risk, new term).

Verse 5 — “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding”

Field	Content
Original	בָּטַח (batach); יְהוָה (YHWH); לֵב (lev); בִּינָה (binah)
Transliteration	batach; YHWH; lev; binah
Literal meaning	batach = to lie down securely upon, to rely on with confidence; YHWH = the covenant divine name; binah = discernment, the capacity to distinguish rightly
Semantic range	batach: wholehearted reliance (contrasted with self-reliance in this verse); YHWH: Israel’s covenant God, distinct from generic “elohim”; binah: analytical/practical discernment, a wisdom-literature core term
English variants	trust / rely on (batach); the LORD (YHWH); understanding / insight (binah)
Contextual theological meaning	This is the doctrinal center of the core passage and of the “Trust in the LORD’s Providence” doctrine: total reliance on YHWH, explicitly set against self-sufficient human reasoning.
French rendering & risk	YHWH → “l’Éternel.” Critical risk, requiring a deliberate curriculum-extension decision: the baseline fixes lord = “Seigneur” for κύριος/Jesus’ exclusive Lordship (Romans 10:9). Proverbs’ Tetragrammaton appears roughly 90 times and must be visually and theologically distinguishable from the NT “Seigneur” confession, or French readers moving between the Romans and Proverbs curricula will conflate the covenant name YHWH with the NT title applied to Christ — exactly the “one lord among others” flattening risk the baseline already warns against for κύριος. Some French traditions (revised TOB/Bible de Jérusalem) render YHWH as “le Seigneur,” which would recreate this collision; the Segond/NBS convention “l’Éternel” (or “le SEIGNEUR” in small capitals where a publisher’s house style requires it) is adopted here specifically to prevent it. This decision must be applied uniformly across all 31 chapters of Proverbs. batach → “se confier en” (Medium risk; new term, distinct from “la foi” — Proverbs’ relational reliance-trust is conceptually adjacent to but not identical with Romans’ saving faith; do not substitute “foi” for batach). binah → “discernement” (High risk — avoid “intelligence,” whose dominant modern French sense is IQ/cognitive ability or artificial intelligence, secularizing a term meant to denote God-oriented practical wisdom).

Verse 6 — “In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths”

Field	Content
Original	דֶּרֶךְ (derekh); יָשַׁר (yashar, “make straight”)
Transliteration	derekh; yashar
Literal meaning	derekh = way, road, course of life; yashar = straight, level, right
Semantic range	derekh: literal path or figurative life-conduct/moral course (a pervasive Proverbs metaphor, “way of the wise” vs. “way of the fool”)
English variants	ways / paths
Contextual theological meaning	Submitting every area of life to God results in God’s own guidance smoothing the disciple’s course — a providence promise, not a guarantee of ease.
French rendering & risk	derekh → “voie” or “chemin” (Low-Medium risk, new term, consistent throughout the book’s “two ways” motif). Providence sense here → reuse baseline “providence” (French: “providence,” Medium risk per baseline) when annotating the doctrinal category, since this verse is a direct instance of the “Trust in the Lord’s Providence” doctrine.

Verse 7 — “Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil”

Field	Content
Original	חָכָם (chacham); יִרְאַת יְהוָה (yir’at YHWH); סוּר מֵרָע (sur mera)
Transliteration	chacham; yir’at YHWH; sur mera
Literal meaning	chacham = wise (person or trait); yir’at YHWH = “fear of the LORD” — reverential awe, not terror; sur mera = “turn aside from evil”
Semantic range	yir’ah spans a spectrum from craven dread to worshipful reverence; in wisdom literature it is consistently the latter — awe that produces obedience, the foundational and organizing doctrine of the entire book (cf. 1:7; 9:10; 31:30)
English variants	fear the LORD / reverence the LORD; depart from evil / shun evil
Contextual theological meaning	Self-assessed wisdom is explicitly rejected; true wisdom begins with reverent submission to YHWH, which issues in ethical avoidance of evil. This is the doctrinal keystone: The Fear of the Lord as the Beginning of Wisdom.
French rendering & risk	yir’at YHWH → “la crainte de l’Éternel.” Critical risk: French “crainte” carries genuine dread/apprehension in ordinary usage (“la crainte d’un accident”), risking readers hearing servile terror rather than reverential awe. This is the single highest-stakes rendering decision in the entire curriculum, since it names the organizing doctrine of the book (1:7, 9:10, 31:30 inclusio). Teaching material must consistently gloss “crainte” here as reverential awe/adoring submission, not fright, and must NEVER substitute a weaker term like “respect” (loses the awe-dimension) or a stronger one like “peur” (imports servile dread). sur mera → “se détourner du mal” (Low-Medium risk).

Verse 8 — “It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones”

Field	Content
Original	רִפְאוּת (rif’ut); שִׁקּוּי (shiquy); עֶצֶם (etsem)
Transliteration	rif’ut; shiquy; etsem
Literal meaning	rif’ut = healing, medicine; shiquy = refreshment/drink; etsem = bone(s), idiom for the whole physical person
Semantic range	Physical vitality as a this-worldly, embodied consequence of wisdom-reverence — Hebrew wisdom does not divide “spiritual” reward from bodily well-being
English variants	health / medicine (rif’ut); refreshment / nourishment (shiquy)
Contextual theological meaning	Reverent trust in God has holistic (bodily, not merely internal-spiritual) benefit — an embodied theology of flourishing.
French rendering & risk	rif’ut → “guérison”; shiquy → “rafraîchissement” (both Low risk, new terms). No collision with baseline; note only that this is not a promise of miraculous healing in the charismatic sense but a wisdom-literature holistic-flourishing statement — flag Medium for teaching contexts where a “health and wealth” reading could otherwise be imported.

Verse 9 — “Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce”

Field	Content
Original	כַּבֵּד (kabed); הוֹן (hon); רֵאשִׁית (reshit)
Transliteration	kabed; hon; reshit
Literal meaning	kabed = to give weight/honor to; hon = wealth, material substance; reshit = “first/beginning,” i.e., firstfruits
Semantic range	kabed elsewhere applies to honoring parents (the Decalogue) and to divine glory (kavod); here it is directed worship-through-material-generosity
English variants	honor (kabed); wealth / substance (hon); firstfruits (reshit)
Contextual theological meaning	Material generosity toward God (firstfruits) is an act of worshipful honor, part of Practical Righteousness in Daily Life — not a legalistic tithe transaction but reverence expressed materially.
French rendering & risk	kabed → “honorer” (Medium risk: distinguish carefully from baseline’s “gloire”/glory, which is reserved for God’s own radiant self-disclosure and Christ’s deity; here it is the human act of showing honor, not divine glory itself — do not render kabed as “glorifier” in a way that implies humans confer glory onto God as if adding to his essential being). hon → “richesses/biens” (Low risk). reshit → “prémices” (Low risk, standard French Bible term for firstfruits).

Verse 10 — “then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine”

Field	Content
Original	אָסָם (asam); שָׂבָע (sova); תִּירוֹשׁ (tirosh); יֶקֶב (yeqev)
Transliteration	asam; sova; tirosh; yeqev
Literal meaning	asam = storehouse/barn; sova = abundance/satiety; tirosh = fresh/new wine (grape juice, pre- or early fermentation); yeqev = winepress vat
Semantic range	Agrarian, covenant-blessing imagery consistent with Deuteronomic blessing-for-obedience language
English variants	barns (asam); plenty (sova); (new) wine (tirosh); vats (yeqev)
Contextual theological meaning	Material blessing as a consequence-picture within wisdom’s this-worldly reward frame; not a universal prosperity guarantee (Proverbs elsewhere qualifies this, e.g., 30:8, and Job/Ecclesiastes complicate it canonically).
French rendering & risk	Standard agrarian vocabulary — “greniers,” “abondance,” “vin nouveau,” “cuves” — Low risk. Teaching note (not translation risk, but doctrinal-framing risk, Medium): must not be preached as an unconditional prosperity-gospel promise; frame within wisdom literature’s genre of general, not absolute, patterns.

Verse 11 — “My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline or be weary of his reproof”

Field	Content
Original	מוּסָר (musar); תּוֹכַחַת (tokhachat); קוּץ (quts)
Transliteration	musar; tokhachat; quts
Literal meaning	musar = discipline/correction/formative instruction (root y-s-r, “to chastise/train”); tokhachat = reproof, rebuke; quts = to loathe, be weary of, feel disgust toward
Semantic range	musar spans verbal instruction, corrective discipline, and (in child-rearing texts, e.g., 13:24, 22:15, 23:13–14, 29:15) physical correction; tokhachat is verbal rebuke specifically
English variants	discipline / instruction / chastening (musar); reproof / correction / rebuke (tokhachat)
Contextual theological meaning	God’s fatherly correction of the wisdom-seeker is to be received, not resented — formative, loving discipline, integral to sanctification-adjacent wisdom formation.
French rendering & risk	musar → “discipline” with a required clarifying gloss (“instruction formatrice/correction”) in teaching material. High risk, France-specific: French secular usage of “discipline” carries strong connotations of punishment, military rigor, or institutional control; more acutely, France’s 2019 law prohibiting “violences éducatives ordinaires” (ordinary educational violence/corporal punishment of children) means any child-rearing “discipline” language in Proverbs (this verse’s frame, plus 13:24, 22:15, 23:13–14, 29:15,17) risks being heard as endorsing now-illegal corporal punishment. This is flagged Critical wherever the passage concerns literal child correction (see Chapter 13 below) and High elsewhere as God’s fatherly correction of the reader. Teaching material must foreground the relational/formative sense and avoid literal endorsement of physical punishment language. tokhachat → “réprimande”/“reproche corrigeant” (Medium risk).

Verse 12 — “for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, and chastens the son in whom he delights”

Field	Content
Original	יָכַח (yakach); אָהַב (ahav); רָצָה (ratsah, “delight in”)
Transliteration	yakach; ahav; ratsah
Literal meaning	yakach = to correct/reprove/argue a case straight; ahav = to love; ratsah = to take pleasure in, delight in
Semantic range	This verse is cited in Hebrews 12:5–6 (NT), grounding the doctrine of fatherly discipline as evidence of covenant love, not divine rejection
English variants	reproves / rebukes (yakach); loves (ahav); delights in / is pleased with (ratsah)
Contextual theological meaning	Correction is proof of love, not its absence — directly undergirding both this passage’s doctrine and (canonically) the assurance-of-salvation logic later picked up in Hebrews.
French rendering & risk	yakach → “corriger/reprendre” (Medium risk); ahav → “aimer” (Low risk, standard); ratsah → “prendre plaisir en” (Low risk). No baseline collision; note only the canonical link to Hebrews 12 for cross-referencing teaching material.

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PART 2 — CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER STUDY OF THE WHOLE BOOK

Chapter 1 — Purpose of Proverbs; Wisdom’s Public Cry

Term (Heb./translit.)	Literal meaning	Semantic range	English variants	Theological meaning in context	French rendering & risk
חָכְמָה chokmah	skill, wisdom	Skilled living oriented toward God; not mere cleverness	wisdom	The book’s title-subject; the goal of the entire curriculum’s “Wisdom Personified” doctrine begins here	”sagesse” — Critical risk: French Catholic devotional tradition has a specific title, Notre-Dame, Siège de la Sagesse (“Sedes Sapientiae,” Mary as Seat of Wisdom), and popular/secular French usage treats “sagesse” as generic folk-wisdom or Stoic/Buddhist-inflected life-calm, disconnected from “the LORD” as wisdom’s source and referent. Every occurrence in a doctrinal context must retain explicit connection to “l’Éternel.”
מוּסָר musar	discipline/instruction	See 3:11 above	instruction, discipline	Purpose statement (1:2-3): to know wisdom and musar	See Critical/High risk note under 3:11
בִּינָה binah	understanding	See 3:5 above	understanding	Purpose statement	”discernement”, High risk, as above
יִרְאַת יְהוָה yir’at YHWH	fear of the LORD	See 3:7 above	fear of the LORD	1:7 — the book’s programmatic thesis verse, matching 9:10 and 31:30 as an inclusio	”la crainte de l’Éternel” — Critical, as above; this is the single most important verse in the book for doctrine framing
כְּסִיל kesil	dull/stubborn fool	A fool who is capable of learning but resists correction out of dullness, not malice	fool	1:7, 1:22 — kesilim “hate knowledge"	"sot” — High risk: French lacks Hebrew’s five-way fool taxonomy (kesil/eviyl/letz/peti/naval); consistent, distinct assignment across the book is required or the Wise/Fool Contrast doctrine collapses into a single flattened category
פֶּתִי peti	simple, naive, untrained	Inexperienced, morally unformed but redeemable — Wisdom’s primary target audience (1:4, 1:22)	simple / naive	Wisdom calls out especially to “the simple,” not the hardened fool	”le simple/les gens simples” — Medium risk; must not carry a pejorative “simpleton” connotation in French, since peti is redeemable and is Wisdom’s addressee
לֵץ letz	mocker, scoffer	Actively contemptuous of correction, further along a hardened trajectory than kesil	scoffer / mocker	1:22	”le moqueur” — Medium risk
Wisdom personified (חָכְמָה crying in the streets, 1:20-33)	Wisdom depicted as a public preacher, calling in the streets and gates	First appearance of the “Wisdom Personified” doctrine’s literary device	Wisdom calls / Wisdom cries out	Wisdom is portrayed with divine-messenger-like authority, addressing humanity’s rejection of her call with a prophetic oracle of judgment (1:24-31)	Render as “la Sagesse” (capitalized when personified as a speaking figure), Critical risk — see Chapter 8 below for full Christological-typology discussion, which begins here

Chapter 2 — The Benefits of Wisdom; the Two Ways

Terms	Variants	Theological meaning	French rendering & risk
מְזִמָּה mezimmah discretion, prudent planning	Positive here (2:11); can be negative elsewhere (“scheming”) depending on context discretion	Wisdom’s protective function — guards against the “way of evil"	"discernement/prudence” — Medium risk; context-sensitive polarity must be checked per occurrence
רֶשַׁע resha’ wickedness	Moral evil in the abstract, contrasted with tzedeq wickedness	2:12-15, the “way of the wicked"	"méchanceté/injustice” — see Chapter 10 discussion of “rasha’” for the fuller risk note
נָכְרִיָּה nokriah / אִשָּׁה זָרָה ishah zarah foreign woman / strange woman	The adulteress/seductress figure, developed fully in chs. 5-7 the forbidden woman / adulteress	2:16 — first appearance; deliverance from her is one benefit of wisdom	Do not render as “femme étrangère.” High risk: in contemporary French, “étrangère/étranger” is a live, politically loaded immigration term; a literal rendering risks an unintended xenophobic reading entirely foreign to the text’s meaning (which concerns marital unfaithfulness, not national origin). Prefer “la femme adultère” or, contextually, “la femme dévoyée.”

Chapter 3 — Continuation (vv. 13–35): Wisdom More Precious than Jewels

(vv. 1–12 treated verse-by-verse above as the core passage.)

Terms	Variants	Theological meaning	French rendering & risk
עֵץ חַיִּים etz chayim tree of life	Echoes Eden (Genesis 2-3); Wisdom restores what was lost tree of life	3:18 — Wisdom personified as life-giving, paradise-restoring	”arbre de vie” — Low-Medium risk, standard; note the Genesis echo for teaching cross-reference
אֶשֶׁר asher blessed, happy (state)	A congratulatory beatitude-formula (“happy/fortunate is…”), distinct from divine pronounced blessing (barukh) blessed / happy	3:13	”heureux” — Low-Medium risk; avoid “béni,” which implies an active divine blessing-act rather than a general beatitude
תּוּשִׁיָּה tushiyah sound wisdom, effectual competence	Rare wisdom-term denoting practical efficacy sound wisdom	3:21	”une sagesse efficace/le bon sens” — Low risk, minor term
קָנָה qanah to acquire, get, obtain	Same root reappears critically in 8:22 with disputed sense “acquired” vs. “created” get / acquire	3:13-14 (uncontroversial sense here)	“acquérir” — Low risk here; flagged Critical at 8:22 below

Chapter 4 — A Father’s Instruction; Guard Your Heart

Terms	Variants	Theological meaning	French rendering & risk
נָצַר natsar to guard, keep, watch over	Vigilant protective custody keep / guard	4:23 — “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” — a central verse for Practical Righteousness in Daily Life	”garder” — Medium risk; must convey active vigilance, not passive retention
לֵב lev heart	See 3:1 above heart	Central term of the chapter; reused	”cœur” — reuse, Medium risk as established
דֶּרֶךְ צַדִּיקִים derekh tzaddiqim way of the righteous	The “path of light” metaphor (4:18) path of the righteous	Contrasted with the “way of the wicked” (4:19, path of darkness)	“la voie/le chemin des justes” — Medium risk, reuses “juste” (see Ch.10)

Chapters 5–7 — The Forbidden Woman; the Sluggard; Seven Things the LORD Hates

Terms	Variants	Theological meaning	French rendering & risk
זִמָּה zimmah lewdness, sexual depravity	Negative moral term (distinct from the neutral/positive mezimmah, 2:11) lewdness	5:1-23; the seduction-warning discourse	”débauche/inconduite” — Medium risk, context-sensitive homograph-adjacent root to mezimmah — flag for reviewers to avoid confusion between the two related roots
תּוֹעֵבָה to’evah abomination, that which YHWH detests	Strong covenant-violation term abomination	6:16-19, the “seven things the LORD hates” list; recurs throughout (e.g., 11:1, 12:22, 15:8-9, 16:5)	“une chose abominable/en horreur” — Medium risk; note cross-reference to Levitical usage of the same term for readers with OT-literacy gaps
עָצֵל atzel sluggard, lazy person	First full appearance of this key term (6:6-11); central to “Diligence versus Sloth” doctrine sluggard	6:6, “Go to the ant, O sluggard"	"le paresseux” — Medium risk (standard, but note French “paresseux” is also the everyday name of the sloth animal, a mild but harmless secondary association)
נְמָלָה nemalah ant	Wisdom exemplar from nature ant	6:6-8	”la fourmi” — Low risk
אִשָּׁה זָרָה ishah zarah (developed) see Ch.2	Fully developed narrative in ch. 7 the forbidden woman	Extended seduction narrative	See Ch.2 risk note — High risk, avoid “étrangère”

Chapter 8 — Wisdom’s Self-Description; Wisdom at Creation

Terms	Variants	Theological meaning	French rendering & risk
חָכְמָה chokmah (personified, speaking in first person) see Ch.1	Wisdom claims priority before creation itself (8:22-31) Wisdom	The most doctrinally loaded chapter in the book for “Wisdom Personified"	"la Sagesse” — Critical risk, compounding the Ch.1 note: French Catholic devotional tradition (Sedes Sapientiae) and some patristic/medieval exegetical traditions read this chapter typologically of Mary or of the pre-incarnate Logos/Christ. Teaching material MUST clarify that Proverbs 8 is personified literary wisdom, a poetic device for God’s own wise ordering of creation, and must handle any Christological typology (legitimate in the wider Christian tradition, e.g., 1 Corinthians 1:24, 30) as a distinct, explicitly labeled theological reflection — never presented as if the text itself names Christ or Mary.
קָנָנִי qanani (from qanah, 8:22) “he acquired/possessed me” or, per LXX ἔκτισέν με, “he created me”	Genuinely disputed verb: “acquire/possess” (Hebrew primary sense) vs. “create” (LXX Greek rendering) possessed / created / brought forth	8:22 — this verse was the central proof-text of the 4th-century Arian controversy (Arius cited the LXX “created” to argue the Son/Logos, typologically linked to Wisdom, was a created being, not eternally co-equal with the Father; Nicene theologians countered with the Hebrew “possessed/acquired” and non-literal readings)	Critical risk, requiring explicit translator note whenever this verse is taught Christologically: render the Hebrew primarily as “m’a acquise/m’a engendrée” rather than “m’a créée,” to avoid reintroducing the Arian reading into catechesis; if the LXX’s “créée” is cited for historical purposes, it must be flagged with the controversy’s context so a reader does not conclude Christ (if this passage is applied to him) is a created being — directly parallel to the baseline’s own Critical-tier caution for “Son of God” and “Incarnation.”
אָמוֹן amon (8:30) disputed: “master craftsman/artisan” or “little child, ward”	Genuinely ambiguous Hebrew term (root disputed between “skilled one” and “nursling”) craftsman / master workman / little child	Describes Wisdom’s relationship to God during creation	”artisan” preferred, with a translator’s note flagging the alternate “enfant/nourrisson” reading — Medium risk, ambiguity should be recorded, not silently resolved

Chapter 9 — Wisdom’s House vs. Folly’s House

Terms	Variants	Theological meaning	French rendering & risk
אִשַּׁת כְּסִילוּת ishah kesilut (“Woman Folly”) Folly personified as a rival seductress-hostess, mirroring Wisdom’s banquet (9:1-6)	Direct literary antithesis to personified Wisdom Folly / “the woman Folly”	The two ways (wisdom/folly) are dramatized as two competing feminine hosts issuing parallel invitations	”Folie” (capitalized, personified) — Medium risk; the French pairing “la Sagesse / la Folie” must be kept visually and structurally parallel in translation to preserve the antithesis
יִרְאַת יְהוָה yir’at YHWH (9:10, repeated) see 1:7	Bookends the opening unit of the book (chs. 1-9) with 1:7 fear of the LORD	Structural inclusio confirming this is the book’s organizing thesis	”la crainte de l’Éternel” — Critical, as established

Chapters 10–15 — First Major Collection: Antithetical Proverbs (Wise/Fool, Righteous/Wicked, Diligent/Slothful, Speech)

These chapters are dense collections reusing the vocabulary already established in chs. 1–9, with the following genuinely new or intensified terms:

Terms	Variants	Theological meaning	French rendering & risk
צֶדֶק/צְדָקָה tzedeq/tzedaqah rightness, righteousness	Ethical/practical right conduct and its social outworking (justice, honesty, care for the vulnerable) — the Proverbs sense is behavioral/relational, not the forensic legal-declaration sense of Romans righteousness	Pervasive antithesis throughout chs. 10-15 and beyond (tzaddiq/righteous vs. rasha’/wicked)	Reuse baseline “justice” exactly (per TM mandate) — High risk, cross-curriculum collision explicitly flagged: Romans’ “justice/justice de Dieu” is God’s gift-status forensic righteousness received by faith (baseline: High risk, do not read as human moral virtue). Proverbs’ tzedeq is precisely the human practical/ethical conduct Romans’ “justice” must NOT be collapsed into. Teaching material spanning both curricula must state explicitly: “In Proverbs, ‘justice’ names righteous living and social right-order; in Romans, ‘justice’ (de Dieu) names a divine forensic gift received by faith apart from works. These are related but distinct uses of the same French word and must not be conflated.”
רָשָׁע rasha’ wicked (person)	Morally culpable evildoer, God’s covenant-breaker the wicked	Constant antithesis-partner to tzaddiq throughout	”le méchant” (with “l’impie” as a stronger alternative in weightier verses) — High risk: everyday French “méchant” is heavily softened by common usage (a “méchant chien” sign = simply “beware of dog”; a “méchant” child in casual speech = merely naughty), risking trivialization of the moral gravity Hebrew rasha’ carries. Reserve “impie” for contexts emphasizing rebellion against God specifically.
צַדִּיק tzaddiq righteous (person)	The wisdom-tradition’s positive moral exemplar the righteous	Constant antithesis-partner to rasha‘	“le juste” — Medium risk, standard
חָרוּץ charuts diligent, sharp/decisive	The positive pole of the Diligence vs. Sloth doctrine diligent	10:4, 12:24, 13:4, etc.	”diligent/actif” — Low risk
מוֹאזְנֵי מִרְמָה/צֶדֶק mo’znei mirmah/tzedeq deceitful/honest scales	Economic-justice term false/honest scales	11:1, 16:11, 20:10,23	”une balance fausse/juste” — Medium risk
שֵׁבֶט shevet (“rod,” child discipline, first major occurrence 13:24) a rod, staff; used of shepherding and of corporal correction	Both literal disciplinary implement and a figure for parental correction generally rod (of discipline)	13:24, “Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him” — recurs 19:18, 22:15, 23:13-14, 29:15,17	Critical risk, France-specific legal collision: France’s 2019 law banning “violences éducatives ordinaires” (all corporal punishment of children, including spanking) makes a literal rendering (“le bâton,” “les coups”) pastorally and potentially legally fraught in a French teaching context. Render contextually as “la discipline/la correction” with an unambiguous translator’s note distinguishing the text’s ancient Near Eastern figurative-and-literal correction language from any endorsement of physical violence under current French law and pastoral best practice; this passage requires human theologian review in every occurrence, flagged identically to the baseline’s Critical-tier routing standard.
לָשׁוֹן lashon / פֶּה peh tongue / mouth	The organ of speech, metonymy for speech itself tongue / mouth	10:19-21, 12:18-19, 13:3, 15:1-4, etc. — foundational to “Speech and Self-Control"	"la langue” / “la bouche” — Low risk
חַיִּים/מָוֶת chayim/mavet life / death	The wisdom-reward antithesis: wise/righteous living leads to life (flourishing, longevity), foolish/wicked living to death life / death	Pervasive antithesis, e.g., 10:2, 11:19, 12:28, 13:14, 14:27	”vie”/“mort” — Medium risk; must be distinguished in teaching notes from the baseline’s eschatological “résurrection”/eternal-life vocabulary — Proverbs’ “life” is primarily this-worldly covenantal flourishing and longevity, not (directly) eternal life doctrine, though the two are not unrelated canonically

Chapter 16 — Divine Sovereignty over Human Plans

Terms	Variants	Theological meaning	French rendering & risk
Providence theme (16:1-9, “the LORD has made everything for its purpose… man’s heart plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps”) Not a single lexical term but the chapter’s controlling theological claim	Directly parallel to Romans 8:28’s “all things work together” God’s sovereign governance	Core statement of the “Trust in the LORD’s Providence” doctrine	Reuse baseline “providence” exactly (French: “providence,” Medium risk in baseline). Flag identically to baseline’s caution: French Enlightenment deist usage of “la Providence” risks an impersonal-benevolent-order reading; this must be rendered as the personal, purposive governance of the covenant LORD (l’Éternel), not an abstract force.
גֵּאָה/גָּאוֹן ga’avah/ga’on pride, haughtiness	16:18, “Pride goes before destruction” pride	Ethical warning, contrasted with humility	”orgueil” — Medium risk, new term

Chapter 17 — Friendship, Strife, Joy

No major new theological terms beyond reused wise/fool, righteous/wicked, and speech vocabulary from chs. 10–16. One notable minor term:

Terms	Variants	Theological meaning	French rendering & risk
מָדוֹן madon strife, contention	Relational/social discord, often speech-caused strife / contention	17:1,14,19	”la querelle/la dispute” — Low risk

Chapter 18 — The Power of the Tongue; the Name of the LORD

Terms	Variants	Theological meaning	French rendering & risk
18:21, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” Culmination statement of the Speech doctrine	Direct thesis-verse for “Speech and Self-Control” —	The tongue’s power is framed with the same life/death polarity as wisdom/folly generally	Reuse “langue” (Low risk); doctrinal weight is High for teaching purposes though lexical risk is Low
שֵׁם יְהוָה shem YHWH the Name of the LORD	18:10, “The name of the LORD is a strong tower” — the divine Name as a locus of protective, personal presence the name of the LORD	Reinforces YHWH’s personal, covenantal nearness	”le nom de l’Éternel” — Medium risk; reuses the YHWH rendering decision established at 3:5; do not render as “le nom du Seigneur,” which would reintroduce the collision with Christ’s NT title

Chapter 19 — Kindness to the Poor; the LORD’s Purpose Stands

Terms	Variants	Theological meaning	French rendering & risk
עָנִי/עֹשֶׁק ani/oshek poor / oppression	Social-justice vocabulary, first major occurrence (19:17, “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD”) poor / oppress	Practical Righteousness in Daily Life extends to economic ethics	”le pauvre” / “l’oppression” — Medium risk; note France’s active contemporary discourse on poverty and social justice (laïcité-framed secular charity vs. faith-motivated generosity) as a live cultural-framing consideration for teaching material, not a lexical risk
עֵצָה/מוֹעֵצָה ‘etsah/mo’atsah plan, purpose, counsel	19:21, “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but the LORD’s purpose will stand” plan / purpose / counsel	Providence doctrine restated	Reuse “providence” framing as at ch. 16; the noun itself → “le dessein/le projet” — Low-Medium risk

Chapter 20 — Honest Weights; Warnings on Wine

No new doctrinal categories; reuses honest-scales (mo’znei tzedek, see chs. 10-15), mocker/letz (wine as a mocker, 20:1), and king-vocabulary (see ch. 21 below) terms. Noted as reviewed; no new theological vocabulary requiring separate entries.

Chapter 21 — The LORD Directs the King’s Heart; Righteousness over Sacrifice

Terms	Variants	Theological meaning	French rendering & risk
21:1, “The LORD directs the heart of the king like channels of water” Providence extended explicitly to political rulers	Direct parallel to Romans 13’s authority-under-God theme (not in this curriculum’s doctrine list, but relevant cross-reference) —	Providence doctrine applied to governance	Reuse “providence” framing; melekh (king) → “roi,” Low risk
זֶבַח zevach sacrifice	21:3, “To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice” sacrifice	Ritual sacrifice contrasted with ethical obedience — a recurring prophetic theme (cf. 1 Samuel 15:22, Hosea 6:6)	“le sacrifice” — Medium risk: must be clearly anchored as Old Testament ritual/temple sacrifice, not the Catholic Mass’s “sacrifice eucharistique,” to avoid an unintended sacramental-theology collision when this verse is taught alongside NT material.

Chapter 22 — Boundary Stones; a Good Name; Discipline of Children

Terms	Variants	Theological meaning	French rendering & risk
שֵׁם טוֹב shem tov good name	22:1, “A good name is better than great riches” good name / reputation	Practical righteousness and social honor	”une bonne réputation” — Low risk
שֵׁבֶט shevet (22:15, “the rod of discipline”) see Ch. 13	Recurs rod of discipline	Child-rearing correction	Same Critical risk flag as established at Chapter 13; consistent handling required

Chapter 23 — Warnings on Envy, Drunkenness, and the Heart

No major new theological terms; reuses lev (heart, 23:26 “give me your heart”), musar/shevet (discipline, 23:13-14, same Critical flag as ch.13), and wine-warning vocabulary (extends ch. 20). Noted as reviewed.

Chapter 24 — Wisdom to Build a House; the Sluggard’s Field

No new theological categories; reuses “house” (bayit) as a wisdom-metaphor, atzel/sluggard imagery (24:30-34, extending ch. 6), and life/death antithesis. Noted as reviewed; no new terms requiring separate glossary entries.

Chapter 25 — Proverbs of Solomon Collected by Hezekiah’s Men; Honor and Moderation

Terms	Variants	Theological meaning	French rendering & risk
Historical note: “these also are proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied” (25:1) Not a lexical term but a canonical-formation note	Relevant to the Inspiration-of-Scripture doctrine analog (cf. baseline’s inspiration_of_scripture doctrine, Romans) —	Establishes a documented process of inspired collection/transmission across generations, relevant if this curriculum addresses Scripture’s inspiration	No translation risk per se; flag for teaching material as a useful cross-reference to the doctrine of Scripture’s providential transmission, paralleling baseline’s inspiration_of_scripture (Medium risk, French: “l’inspiration de l’Écriture”)

Chapter 26 — Fools and Sluggards Elaborated; the Talebearer

Terms	Variants	Theological meaning	French rendering & risk
כְּסִיל kesil (extended treatment, 26:1-12) see Ch. 1	Most extensive single-chapter treatment of the fool in the book fool	Culminating Wise/Fool contrast material	Reuse “sot” — High risk as established
נִרְגָּן nirgan talebearer, whisperer, gossip	26:20,22 — speech that inflames strife talebearer / gossip	Speech and Self-Control doctrine, negative case	”le médisant/le rapporteur” — Medium risk, new term

Chapter 27 — Friendship (“Iron Sharpens Iron”); Do Not Boast of Tomorrow

Terms	Variants	Theological meaning	French rendering & risk
Iron-sharpens-iron image (27:17) Figurative, not a single lexical term	Mutual moral formation between friends ”iron sharpens iron”	Distinct from but adjacent to the baseline’s christian_fellowship/koinonia doctrine (French: “communion fraternelle”) — this is natural, general friendship (ἑταιρεία-type relationship), not the covenant-community koinonia of the church	Render idiomatically: “le fer aiguise le fer” — Low risk. Note (Medium risk): do not translate the general friendship term here as “communion fraternelle,” which the baseline reserves specifically for ecclesial koinonia; use plain “ami/amitié.”
27:1, “Do not boast about tomorrow” Humility before an unknown future	Connects to Providence doctrine boasting of tomorrow	Warns against presumption regarding God’s providential timeline	Reuse “providence” framing; term itself → “se vanter” — Low risk

Chapter 28 — Courage of the Righteous; Trusting One’s Own Heart Is Folly

Terms	Variants	Theological meaning	French rendering & risk
28:1, “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion” Reuses rasha’/tzaddiq	Courage as a fruit of righteousness bold as a lion	Extends Wise/Fool and Righteous/Wicked contrast into the register of moral courage	Reuse established renderings; no new risk
28:26, “Whoever trusts in his own heart is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered” Reuses batach (trust) and lev (heart)	Direct echo of 3:5, reinforcing the Trust doctrine by negative example trusts in his own heart	Self-reliance explicitly named foolish	Reuse “se confier” / “cœur” — no new risk; strong cross-reference to core passage 3:5 for teaching material

Chapter 29 — Righteous Rule; Fear of the LORD vs. Fear of Man

Terms	Variants	Theological meaning	French rendering & risk
29:25, “The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe” Direct antithetical pairing of “fear of man” against “trust in the LORD”	Climactic restatement of both the Fear-of-the-Lord doctrine and the Trust-in-Providence doctrine together fear of man vs. trust in the LORD	One of the clearest doctrinal statements pairing the curriculum’s two central doctrines	”fear of man” → “la crainte de l’homme” (Low risk, contrastive use of “crainte,” here rightly carrying its ordinary dread-sense, in deliberate contrast to the reverential “crainte de l’Éternel” — the contrast itself is the point and should be preserved, not smoothed over)
שֵׁבֶט shevet (29:15,17, discipline of children) see Ch.13	Recurs rod / discipline	Child-rearing correction, final occurrence in the book	Same Critical risk flag as Chapter 13

Chapter 30 — The Words of Agur; Divine Transcendence; Numeric Proverbs

Terms	Variants	Theological meaning	French rendering & risk
מַשָּׂא massa oracle, burden (of an inspired utterance)	Prophetic/wisdom-oracle superscription term oracle / utterance	30:1, “The words of Agur… the oracle"	"l’oracle” / “la parole (prophétique)” — Low-Medium risk, minor new term
30:2-4, rhetorical questions on divine transcendence (“Who has ascended to heaven and come down?…”) Not a single term; a theological rhetorical unit	Emphasizes human epistemic limitation before God’s incomprehensibility —	Reinforces the Fear-of-the-Lord doctrine’s humility dimension; NT readers may recall Romans 10:6-7’s citation of similar Deuteronomic language — a useful, carefully bounded cross-reference, not an equation of texts	No new lexical risk; flag Medium for teaching material to avoid over-reading a direct NT-fulfillment claim onto this wisdom text

Chapter 31 — The Oracle of King Lemuel; the Woman of Valor (Eshet Chayil)

Terms	Variants	Theological meaning	French rendering & risk
מֶלֶךְ melekh (Lemuel) king	Royal-wisdom instruction genre, addressed to a king by his mother king	31:1-9 — warns against wine and injustice, commands defense of the poor	”roi” — Low risk
אֵשֶׁת חַיִל eshet chayil ”woman of chayil” — chayil = strength, capability, valor (the same root used of mighty warriors and armies elsewhere in the OT)	NOT primarily a moral-virtue term; denotes competence, strength of character, and effective capability ”excellent wife” / “wife of noble character” / “woman of valor”	The capstone acrostic poem (31:10-31), praising a capable, economically active, wise woman — culminating the whole book’s Wisdom theme in a concrete human exemplar	High risk: avoid the traditional but misleading “femme vertueuse” (a moralistic, 19th-century-devotional-tract register disconnected from chayil’s actual “strength/capability” sense, and one that risks reducing this dynamic, economically active figure to passive domestic piety). Prefer “femme de valeur” or “femme accomplie/femme forte,” which better carry the strength-and-competence sense. This decision should be documented for reviewers, since it deliberately departs from the most common older French rendering.
יִרְאַת יְהוָה yir’at YHWH (31:30) see 1:7, 9:10	Final occurrence, closing the book’s inclusio: “charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised” fear of the LORD	Confirms that the entire book’s organizing doctrine frames even its concluding human exemplar	”la crainte de l’Éternel” — Critical, consistent with 1:7 and 9:10; teaching material should explicitly note the three-fold inclusio (1:7 / 9:10 / 31:30) structuring the whole book
חֵן chen (31:30, “favor/charm is deceptive”) see 3:4	Reappears in explicit contrast with yir’at YHWH favor / charm	Confirms chen’s social/relational-charm sense (not soteriological grace) one final time	”le charme” here specifically (context-sensitive variant of the general “faveur” rendering established at 3:4) — Critical risk as established; must not be rendered “grâce”

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Summary: Cross-Curriculum Collision Risks Introduced by This Extension

Baseline term	Baseline sense (Romans)	Proverbs sense	Resolution
grâce	Unmerited saving grace (Critical)	N/A — chen (“favor/charm”) must NOT be rendered “grâce”	Use “faveur” (baseline’s own rejected-for-Romans alternative) for chen
justice	Forensic righteousness by faith (High)	Practical/ethical righteous conduct (tzedeq)	Reuse “justice” per TM mandate; document the sense-divergence explicitly in all teaching material
loi	Mosaic Law (High)	Parental/wisdom instruction (torah)	Do NOT reuse “loi” for Proverbs’ torah; use “enseignement/instruction”; reserve “loi” only for genuine Mosaic-Law references
Seigneur	Christ’s exclusive Lordship, κύριος (Critical)	YHWH, the covenant divine Name	New term “l’Éternel” adopted for YHWH throughout Proverbs to prevent conflation
gloire	God’s/Christ’s radiant divine glory (Medium)	kavod as ordinary human honor/reputation	Render human-honor kavod as “honneur,” reserving “gloire” for divine glory contexts
providence	God’s personal governance (Medium)	Same doctrine, reinforced repeatedly (3:5-6; 16:1-9; 19:21; 21:1)	Direct reuse, no divergence — strong positive continuity between curricula
foi	Saving trust in Christ (Medium)	batach, relational reliance-trust in daily providence	Keep distinct: “se confier en” for batach, reserve “la foi” for the New Testament faith-doctrine register