Core Glossary
Core Glossary: Psalms — English → French
Purpose
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, across the core passage (Psalm 23) and all 150 psalms. Terms already present in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json are reused with their exact recorded French rendering (marked “Reuse — baseline” below) and are not re-litigated here except to note any Psalms-specific contextual extension. New terms required by Psalms’ distinct vocabulary are introduced with a full risk rating for incorporation into an extended translation memory in a later phase.
Risk tiers follow the baseline doctrine_risk_registry.json definitions exactly: Critical (human theologian review, every occurrence), High (human theologian review), Medium (native speaker review), Low (automated review).
A. Reused Baseline Terms (apply exactly as recorded in translation_memory.json)
| Term | French (baseline) | Risk (baseline) | Psalms Occurrence Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| God | Dieu | Medium | Throughout; also Elohim used of human judges at Ps 82 (see §B, High) |
| Holy Spirit | Esprit Saint | Medium | Ps 51:11 — rare explicit OT occurrence; teach with care re: OT/NT pneumatology |
| Father | Père | Medium | Ps 103:13 (simile), corporate Adoption doctrine background |
| Lord (Adonai/kyrios sense) | Seigneur / seigneur | High | Distinguish from YHWH — see §B “YHWH” entry, Critical |
| Messiah / Anointed | Messie | Medium→High in Psalms | Context-sensitive: royal “l’oint” vs. canonical “Messie” — see §B |
| Covenant | alliance | High | Ps 89, 105, 111, 132 |
| Righteousness/righteous (abstract) | justice | Critical | Ps 23:3 “sentiers de justice”; Romans-level forensic sense extended poetically here |
| Sin | péché | High | Ps 32, 51; colloquial trivialization risk especially acute in confession psalms |
| Salvation | salut | Medium | Throughout, esp. Ps 18, 118 (“horn of my salut”) |
| Glory | gloire | Medium | Ps 19, 24, 29, 96, 145, 148 |
| Grace | grâce | High | Distinguish carefully from Hesed — see §B; not interchangeable |
| Faith/trust | foi | Medium | Trust-vocabulary throughout lament/refuge psalms |
| David | David | Low | Throughout; Davidic Covenant psalms (89, 132) |
| Israel | Israël | Medium | Corporate-Shepherd and historical psalms (78, 80, 105, 106) |
| Holy / Holiness | saint | Medium | Ps 99 (“holy is he”), Ps 51:11 |
| Thanksgiving | action de grâce | Low | Ps 95, 100, 107, 136 |
| Kingdom of God (kingship of God) | Royaume de Dieu | Medium | Ps 93, 96-99, 145 (“the LORD reigns”) |
| Amen | Amen | Low | Ps 41:13, 72:19, 89:52, 106:48 |
| Resurrection | résurrection | Critical | Ps 16:10 (Acts 2:27-31 citation) |
| Son of God / Sonship | Fils de Dieu | Critical | Ps 2:7 canonical-messianic reuse (NT layer only — see §B “Fils”) |
B. New Terms Introduced for the Psalms Curriculum
| Term (key) | Hebrew Original | Transliteration | Literal Meaning | French Rendering | Doctrine | Risk | Key Passages | Notes / Alternatives Rejected |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| yhwh | יהוה | YHWH | The covenant tetragrammaton, “I AM” | l’Éternel (alt.: le SEIGNEUR) | Character of God; Kingship | Critical | Ps 23:1; 110:1; throughout | Must remain lexically distinct from Adonai/seigneur. Alternatives rejected: bare “Seigneur” (collapses YHWH/Adonai distinction, destroys Ps 110:1’s messianic argument); “Yahvé” (BJ tradition, viable ecumenical alternative, flagged for reviewer choice) |
| adonai | אֲדֹנָי / אֲדֹנִי | Adonai / Adoni | ”My Lord/Master,” a title of respect for a superior | seigneur (lowercase; reuse baseline Seigneur family) | Kingship; Messianic King | Critical (in combination with YHWH, esp. Ps 110:1) | Ps 110:1; 8:1 (title Adonai); 123:2 | Never render identically to YHWH in the same verse; case (upper/lower) or lexical choice must disambiguate |
| shepherd | רָעָה | ra’ah | To feed, lead, guard, rule a flock | berger | Character of God as Shepherd | Medium | Ps 23:1; 78; 80:1; 95:7; 100:3 | Risk: secular pastoral-idyll flattening; must retain ANE ruler-protector sense |
| refuge | מַחְסֶה / חָסָה | machaseh / chasah | Shelter, hiding place; to take shelter | refuge / se réfugier | Character of God as Refuge | Medium | Ps 2:12; 46:1; 91:1-2; 142:5 | Risk: passive “safe-space” flattening in secular French; must preserve active trust-relationship sense |
| rock | צוּר | tsur | Bedrock, cliff-stronghold | rocher | Character of God as Refuge | Medium | Ps 18:2; 23 (rod/staff link); 61:2; 62:2 | Risk: dead-metaphor flattening (“solide comme un roc”); retain personal, protective force |
| fortress | מְצוּדָה / מָעוֹז | metsudah / ma’oz | Fortified stronghold | forteresse | Character of God as Refuge | Low | Ps 18:2; 46:1 | — |
| hesed | חֶסֶד | chesed | Covenant loyalty-love; steadfast, commitment-keeping love | amour fidèle (primary); “bonté” (Segond alt.) | Covenant Faithfulness | Critical | Ps 23:6; 89:1; 103; 107; 136 (26x); 145 | No exact French equivalent; must not collapse into baseline “grâce” (unmerited favor, no prior relational bond implied) nor into cold “fidélité” (loyalty without warmth). Test rendering against Ps 136’s 26-fold liturgical refrain |
| chasid | חָסִיד | chasid | One characterized by hesed; covenant-loyal, devoted one | bien-aimé / fidèle | Covenant Faithfulness; Messianic Prophecy | Medium | Ps 16:10; 30:4; 31:23 | Do not render as baseline “saint” — would trigger the canonized-intercessor collision already flagged in the baseline for “saints” |
| righteous (person) | צַדִּיק | tsaddiq | One in right covenant standing/conduct | le juste | The Righteous and the Wicked | Medium | Ps 1:5-6; 37; 112 | Distinguish from Romans’ forensic “justice” (imputed status); here a covenant-faithful life-pattern |
| wicked | רָשָׁע | rasha | One in active moral/covenant rebellion | le méchant (supplement: l’impie) | The Righteous and the Wicked | High | Ps 1:1,4-6; 10; 37; 73; 94 | ”Méchant” in ordinary French trivializes (naughty-child register); use “l’impie” in doctrinally weighty contexts |
| way/path (moral) | דֶּרֶךְ | derekh | Road; figuratively life-course/conduct | voie | The Righteous and the Wicked | Medium | Ps 1:1,6; 119 | Must retain moral-destiny sense, not literal roadway |
| meditate | הָגָה | hagah | To murmur, ponder, ruminate aloud | méditer | The Righteous and the Wicked; Torah delight | Medium | Ps 1:2; 119 | Risk: modern French “méditer” evokes secular/Eastern mindfulness meditation; teach as sustained verbal rumination on revealed Scripture |
| torah (Psalms sense) | תּוֹרָה | torah | Instruction, teaching (broader than legal code) | loi (reuse, with gloss “l’instruction de l’Éternel”) | Torah delight; extends baseline Law entry | High | Ps 1:2; 19:7; 119 | Baseline “law” entry narrows to Mosaic legal code (Romans context); Psalms’ torah is the broader object of delight/meditation — extend, do not contradict, baseline note |
| anointed (royal, non-canonical sense) | מָשִׁיחַ | mashiach | One anointed to an office (king/priest) | l’oint (royal sense) / Messie (canonical sense, reuse) | Kingship and the Messianic King | High | Ps 2:2; 18:50; 20:6; 89:20,38,51; 132:10,17 | Context-sensitive dual rendering; collapsing all occurrences to “Messie” anachronizes historical Davidic referents |
| Son (royal/messianic) | בֵּן | ben | Son; here, royal coronation-adoption formula | Fils | Kingship; Messianic Prophecy (feeds baseline Sonship of Christ) | Critical | Ps 2:7 | Do not silently equate with baseline’s full “Fils de Dieu” formula in its OT historical setting; teach both the historical (Davidic coronation) and canonical (NT re-application) horizons |
| nations (political-rebellion sense) | גּוֹיִם | goyim | Nations, peoples | les nations (prefer over baseline “païens” here) | Kingship and the Messianic King | Medium | Ps 2:1,8 | Baseline “païens” carries a pejorative connotation inappropriate to this context of political rebellion rather than religious identity |
| decree | חֹק | choq | Inscribed statute, fixed decree | décret | Kingship and the Messianic King | Low | Ps 2:7 | — |
| how long? (lament formula) | עַד־אָנָה | ad-anah | ”Until when?“ | jusqu’à quand | Lament and Honest Prayer | Medium | Ps 13:1-2; 6:3; 74:10; 89:46 | Teach lament as legitimate covenant prayer, not doubt or irreverence |
| Sheol | שְׁאוֹל | Sheol | The realm/abode of the dead | le séjour des morts | Messianic Prophecy (resurrection) | Medium | Ps 16:10; 6:5; 88:3 | Avoid purely metaphorical “death” that blunts the resurrection-prophecy force in Ps 16 |
| corruption/the Pit | שַׁחַת | shachat | Decay, bodily corruption | la corruption | Messianic Prophecy (resurrection); reuse baseline “résurrection” doctrine | Critical | Ps 16:10 | Direct textual warrant (Acts 2:31; 13:35) for Christ’s bodily, non-decaying resurrection |
| forsaken | עָזַב | azav | To abandon, leave, forsake | abandonner | Messianic Prophecy (suffering) | Critical | Ps 22:1 (Matthew 27:46) | Must not be softened; the dereliction cry is theologically essential |
| pierced (textual crux) | כָּארוּ / כָּאֲרִי | karu / ka’ari | ”They pierced” vs. “like a lion” | ils ont percé (adopted reading) | Messianic Prophecy (suffering) | Critical | Ps 22:16 | Known Hebrew textual variant (MT vocalization vs. LXX/DSS); flag explicitly for theologian review, do not present as textually uncontested |
| cornerstone | אֶבֶן פִּנָּה | even pinnah | Foundational corner-stone | la pierre angulaire | Messianic Prophecy | Critical | Ps 118:22 (Matt 21:42; Acts 4:11; Eph 2:20; 1 Pet 2:7) | Verbatim consistency required across all future NT-curriculum documents |
| Hosanna / save now | הוֹשִׁיעָה נָּא | hoshi’ah na | ”Save, please!” (liturgical plea) | Hosanna (retain transliteration in NT quotations); sauve, je t’en prie (Psalm context) | Messianic Prophecy | High | Ps 118:25 (Matt 21:9) | Etymological source of NT “Hosanna”; do not translate the Gospel occurrences |
| throne, O God (crux) | כִּסְאֲךָ אֱלֹהִים | kis’akha Elohim | ”Your throne, God” | ton trône, ô Dieu | Deity of Christ (Kingship/Messianic King) | Critical | Ps 45:6 (Heb 1:8) | Retain the direct address ambiguity; do not translate around it |
| gods (of human judges) | אֱלֹהִים | Elohim | Applied derivatively to human judicial authority | dieux (+ mandatory gloss “les juges”) | Kingship; Deity of Christ (background text) | High | Ps 82:1,6 (John 10:34-36) | Must not be read/taught as implying a plurality of true deities |
| confession (doctrine label) | (no single Hebrew word; cf. הוֹדָה, hodah) | hodah | To acknowledge, confess | confession (glossed: “la confession du péché devant Dieu”) | Confession and Forgiveness | High | Ps 32:5; 51 (title) | “La confession” in French primarily denotes the Catholic sacrament of Penance; must be glossed to clarify direct, personal, non-sacramental confession to God |
| transgression | פֶּשַׁע | pesha | Willful rebellion, covenant-breach | transgression / révolte | Confession and Forgiveness | Medium-High | Ps 32:1; 51:1,3 | ”Révolte” preferred where the willful-rebellion sense is doctrinally load-bearing |
| iniquity/guilt | עָוֹן | avon | Guilt, crookedness, culpability | faute | Confession and Forgiveness | Medium | Ps 32:5; 51:2,9 | Third distinct term in Ps 51’s opening sin-vocabulary triad, alongside pesha and chattah (=baseline péché) |
| blot out | מָחָה | machah | To wipe, erase, obliterate | effacer | Confession and Forgiveness | Low | Ps 51:1,9 | — |
| purify (ritual + moral) | טָהֵר / כִּבֵּס | taher / kibbes | To purify ritually; to wash thoroughly | purifier / laver | Confession and Forgiveness | Medium | Ps 51:2,7 | Must retain ritual-purification resonance (hyssop) while emphasizing the psalm’s move beyond ritual to the heart |
| clean/pure heart | לֵב טָהוֹר | lev tahor | A heart both ritually and morally pure | un cœur pur | Confession and Forgiveness | Low-Medium | Ps 51:10 | Maintain consistency with future Matthew 5:8 Beatitudes rendering |
| broken spirit/heart | רוּחַ נִשְׁבָּרָה, לֵב נִשְׁבָּר | ruach nishbarah, lev nishbar | Crushed, humbled spirit/heart | esprit brisé, cœur brisé | Confession and Forgiveness | Low | Ps 51:17 | — |
| forgive | סָלַח | salach | Sovereign divine pardon | pardonner | Confession and Forgiveness | Low-Medium | Ps 103:3; 130:4 | — |
| compassion (visceral) | רַחוּם / רֶחֶם | rachum / rachamim | Womb-based, visceral tenderness | compatissant / compassion | Character of God; Covenant Faithfulness | Medium | Ps 103:13; 145:8-9 | Distinguish from hesed (covenant loyalty) — frequently paired, not synonymous |
| fear of the LORD | יִרְאַת יְהוָה | yirat YHWH | Reverential awe bound to trust and obedience | la crainte de l’Éternel | Character of God | Medium | Ps 128:1; throughout wisdom psalms | Established fixed idiom; teach as awe-with-trust, not servile dread, without altering the wording |
| Most High | עֶלְיוֹן | Elyon | The Highest, the Exalted One | le Très-Haut | Character of God as Refuge | Low | Ps 91:1; 47:2; 57:2 | — |
| Almighty | שַׁדַּי | Shaddai | Divine title of overwhelming might | le Tout-Puissant | Character of God as Refuge | Low | Ps 91:1 | — |
| Hallelujah | הַלְלוּיָה | Hallelujah | ”Praise Yah [YHWH]!” | Alléluia (retain transliteration) | Praise and Worship | Low | Ps 113-117; 146-150 | Stable, ecumenical, shared with Catholic liturgical usage |
| praise (verb) | הָלַל | halal | To praise, celebrate publicly | louer / louange | Praise and Worship | Low | Ps 150; throughout | Avoid “féliciter/applaudir” — lack worship register |
| worship/bow down | שָׁחָה | shachah | To bow down, prostrate in homage | se prosterner / adorer | Praise and Worship | Low-Medium | Ps 95:6; 96:9 | Distinguish physical-posture “se prosterner” from the broader “adorer” as context requires |
| sing/song (new song) | שִׁיר / זָמַר | shir / zamar | To sing; a song; to make music | chanter / chant | Praise and Worship | Low | Ps 96:1; 98:1; 149:1 | — |
| Selah | סֶלָה | Selah | Untranslated liturgical/musical notation of uncertain precise meaning | Sélah (retain untranslated) | Praise and Worship (structural marker) | Low | 71 occurrences throughout Psalms | Do not attempt to translate; retain as a transliterated marker per standard French Bible convention |
| LORD of hosts | יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת | YHWH tseva’ot | YHWH of the [heavenly/military] armies | l’Éternel des armées | Character of God; Kingship | Medium | Ps 24:10; 46:7,11 | Avoid militaristic-nationalist misreading; denotes cosmic sovereignty, not endorsement of any earthly army |
| house of the LORD | בֵּית־יְהוָה | beit YHWH | God’s dwelling/sanctuary; by extension, his presence | la maison de l’Éternel | Character of God; Covenant Faithfulness | Medium | Ps 23:6; 27:4; 84 | Clarify as eternal covenant belonging, not merely a physical church building (Catholic-formed-reader risk) |
| scepter/rod | שֵׁבֶט | shevet | Shepherd’s rod / royal scepter (single word, dual image) | houlette (pastoral) / sceptre (royal) | Character of God as Shepherd and King (intertextual link) | Low-Medium | Ps 23:4; 110:2 | Preserve the Shepherd/King intertextual unity in teaching material |
| Melchizedek | מַלְכִּי־צֶדֶק | Malki-Tsedeq | ”King of righteousness”; priest-king of Salem (Gen 14) | Melchisédek | Kingship and the Messianic King | High | Ps 110:4 (Heb 5-7) | Typological argument requires careful framing if curriculum extends to Hebrews |
| torah-synonym cluster | מִצְוָה, מִשְׁפָּט, חֻקָּה, עֵדוּת, דָּבָר, אִמְרָה | mitzvah, mishpat, chuqqah, edah, davar, imrah | Commandment, judgment, statute, testimony, word, utterance | commandement, jugement/ordonnance, décret, témoignage, parole, promesse | Torah delight (extends The Righteous and the Wicked) | Medium | Ps 119 (all 176 verses) | Render each Hebrew synonym with a distinct, consistent French equivalent; do not flatten to a single repeated “loi” |
| out of the depths | מִמַּעֲמַקִּים | mima’amaqqim | From the deep places of distress | du fond de l’abîme | Lament and Honest Prayer; Confession and Forgiveness | Low-Medium | Ps 130:1 | Retain depth/distress imagery; do not flatten to mild “de loin” |
| searched and known | חָקַרְתָּנִי וַתֵּדָע | chaqartani vateda | Total, penetrating divine knowledge of a person | tu me sondes et tu me connais | Character of God | Low | Ps 139:1 | — |
C. High-Priority Cross-Cutting Risk Notes (for Phase 2 routing)
- YHWH vs. Adonai (l’Éternel vs. Seigneur) — Critical. This single disambiguation decision governs the entire book and is the load-bearing mechanism for Psalm 110:1’s messianic argument (quoted by Jesus, Peter, and the author of Hebrews). Every occurrence of both terms across all 150 psalms must be checked against this convention before Phase 2 translation proceeds.
- Hesed (amour fidèle) — Critical. Occurs ~245 times across the OT and is the anchor term for an entire curriculum doctrine strand (Covenant Faithfulness). No single French word suffices; the chosen phrase must be tested against its densest concentration (Psalm 136’s 26-fold refrain) for naturalness under repetition.
- “Confession” as a doctrine label — High. Direct collision risk with the Catholic sacrament of Penance; every doctrinal (non-narrative) use in lesson titles/headers requires a disambiguating gloss.
- “Le méchant” for rasha — High. Ordinary French register trivializes; supplement with “l’impie” in doctrinally weighty contexts (Psalm 1, 37, 73).
- Mashiach dual-register rendering (l’oint / Messie) — High. Context-sensitive judgment required at every occurrence; do not apply a single mechanical rule across the whole Psalter.
- Psalm 22:16 textual variant (pierced / like a lion) — Critical. Must be flagged for theologian review as a known Hebrew textual-critical question, not silently resolved.
- Psalm 45:6 and Psalm 82 “Elohim” cruxes — Critical / High. Both bear directly on Deity-of-Christ doctrine and require theologian-level framing.
End of Core Glossary. Cross-reference 07_semantic_analysis.md for full contextual discussion of every term listed above.
Critical Risk Terms
Son Of God
Approved rendering: Fils de Dieu
Transliteration: Fils de Dieu
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: envoyé de Dieu, homme divin
Original: υἱὸς θεοῦ (NT reading of Ps 2:7)
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Full phrase required for eternal, unique Sonship. PSALMS EXTENSION: reserved strictly for the canonical/New Testament reading layer of Psalm 2:7 (as quoted Acts 13:33; Hebrews 1:5, 5:5). Do NOT use for the psalm’s own historical Davidic-coronation setting — use the new term ‘son_royal’ (‘Fils’, bare) for that historical horizon, with mandatory two-horizon teaching framing.
Yhwh
Approved rendering: l’Éternel
Transliteration: YHWH
Doctrine: The YHWH / Adonai Distinction (Crosscutting); Character of God as King
Rejected alternatives: Seigneur (bare, collapses the YHWH/Adonai distinction), Yahvé (viable ecumenical alternative, flagged for reviewer choice but not adopted)
Original: יהוה
Category: God
NEW TERM. The tetragrammaton, Israel’s personal covenant name for God. Rendered ‘l’Éternel’ (Segond-tradition convention, chosen for continuity with this project’s Segond-aligned register) and must remain lexically and visually distinct from Adonai/Adoni, rendered lowercase ‘seigneur’ (see term ‘adonai’). This distinction is the load-bearing mechanism for Psalm 110:1’s messianic argument (quoted Matthew 22:41-46; Acts 2:34-35; Hebrews throughout): collapsing YHWH and Adonai into one undifferentiated capitalized ‘Seigneur’ destroys the force of Jesus’s own two-Lords argument. Must be applied with total, zero-exception consistency across all 150 psalms. Human theologian review required for every occurrence.
Adonai
Approved rendering: seigneur
Transliteration: Adonai / Adoni
Doctrine: The YHWH / Adonai Distinction (Crosscutting); Kingship and the Messianic King
Rejected alternatives: Seigneur (capitalized, would be indistinguishable from the YHWH rendering in running text)
Original: אֲדֹנָי / אֲדֹנִי
Category: God
NEW TERM. ‘My Lord/Master’ — a title of respect for a superior (God, or in Ps 110:1 the Davidic king), distinct from YHWH. Render lowercase ‘seigneur,’ reusing the baseline Seigneur word-family but never identically to ‘l’Éternel’ within the same verse. Psalm 110:1 (‘L’Éternel dit à mon seigneur’) depends entirely on this disambiguation. Human theologian review required for every occurrence.
Hesed
Approved rendering: amour fidèle
Transliteration: chesed
Doctrine: Covenant Faithfulness (Hesed)
Rejected alternatives: bonté (Segond 1910, too weak/generic for the doctrine-anchor term), grâce (imports the baseline’s unconditioned/no-prior-relationship sense onto a covenant-conditioned term), fidélité (accurate but cold, loses the affectionate warmth)
Original: חֶסֶד
Category: Covenant
NEW TERM. Covenant loyalty-love, fusing loyalty, love, mercy, and faithfulness; occurs ~245 times in the OT and anchors this curriculum’s Covenant Faithfulness doctrine strand. No single French word captures the full blend. ‘Amour fidèle’ is the adopted standing rendering; must be tested for naturalness against Psalm 136’s 26-fold liturgical refrain — the term’s single densest concentration in the whole Bible. Must be kept distinct from baseline ‘grâce’ and from the new term ‘compassion’ (rachamim) in teaching material, especially where they co-occur (Ps 103, 145). Human theologian review required for every occurrence.
Forsaken
Approved rendering: abandonner
Transliteration: azav
Doctrine: Messianic Suffering; Lament and Honest Prayer
Rejected alternatives: sembler loin (softens the dereliction, unacceptable)
Original: עָזַב
Category: Lament
NEW TERM. To abandon, leave, forsake — total relational abandonment, the deepest lament cry in the Psalter. Ps 22:1, quoted verbatim by Jesus on the cross (Matthew 27:46). Must not be softened; the dereliction cry is theologically essential to the doctrine of the atonement it undergirds. Human theologian review required for every occurrence.
Son Royal
Approved rendering: Fils
Transliteration: ben
Doctrine: Messianic Sonship of the King
Original: בֵּן
Category: Christology
NEW TERM. Son; at Ps 2:7, a royal coronation-adoption formula (‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you,’ cf. 2 Samuel 7:14), quoted in the NT (Acts 13:33; Hebrews 1:5, 5:5) of Christ’s eternal Sonship. Render plainly ‘Fils.’ Must NOT be silently equated with the full baseline ‘Fils de Dieu’ formula in this OT historical setting, which would anachronistically import NT metaphysics into the historical psalm; must be taught alongside the NT’s own re-application. Mandatory two-horizon teaching framing; human theologian review required.
Corruption Pit
Approved rendering: la corruption
Transliteration: shachat
Doctrine: Messianic Resurrection Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: la fosse de la mort (vague, loses the specific no-decay claim)
Original: שַׁחַת
Category: Messianic Prophecy
NEW TERM. Decay, the pit of bodily decomposition; ‘nor let your Holy One see corruption’ (Ps 16:10), read by Peter and Paul (Acts 2:31; 13:35) as prophecy that Christ’s body would not decay. Direct textual warrant for bodily resurrection doctrine. Must not be softened to a vague ‘pit of death.’ Human theologian review required for every occurrence.
Pierced Textual Crux
Approved rendering: ils ont percé mes mains et mes pieds
Transliteration: karu / ka’ari
Doctrine: Messianic Suffering
Rejected alternatives: comme un lion mes mains et mes pieds (Masoretic-only reading; must be flagged as the rejected textual alternative, not silently discarded)
Original: כָּארוּ / כָּאֲרִי
Category: Messianic Prophecy
NEW TERM. Famous Hebrew textual crux at Ps 22:16: Masoretic vocalization ka’ari (‘like a lion’) versus LXX/DSS-supported karu (‘they have pierced’). Adopt ‘ils ont percé mes mains et mes pieds’ per all major French Bible traditions, but this must never be presented as textually uncontested. Human theologian review required for every occurrence.
Cornerstone
Approved rendering: la pierre angulaire
Transliteration: even pinnah
Doctrine: Messianic Entry and the Rejected Cornerstone
Rejected alternatives: la pierre de faîte / la clé de voûte (minority ‘capstone’ reading, not adopted for this curriculum)
Original: אֶבֶן פִּנָּה
Category: Messianic Prophecy
NEW TERM. The foundational corner-stone; ‘the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’ (Ps 118:22), quoted by Jesus of himself and by Peter and Paul. Verbatim consistency required across every future NT-curriculum document quoting this verse (Matthieu 21:42; Actes 4:11; Éphésiens 2:20; 1 Pierre 2:7). Human theologian review required.
Throne O God
Approved rendering: ton trône, ô Dieu
Transliteration: kis’akha Elohim
Doctrine: Deity of the Messianic King; Messianic Sonship of the King
Rejected alternatives: ton trône royal (translates around and erases the doctrinally load-bearing direct-address ambiguity)
Original: כִּסְאֲךָ אֱלֹהִים
Category: Christology
NEW TERM. ‘Your throne, O God’ (Ps 45:6), a genuinely debated Hebrew crux (divine title applied to the human king, or a vocative addressing God himself), quoted in Hebrews 1:8 of the divine Son. Retain the direct address, matching the NT’s own use of the LXX text; do not translate around the ambiguity. Human theologian review required for every occurrence.
High Risk Terms
Grace
Approved rendering: grâce
Transliteration: grâce
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: faveur, mérite
Original: חֵן
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Same word used by Catholic and Protestant traditions, but the theology differs: Catholic catechesis ties grâce to sacramental mediation; Reformed/Segond tradition insists on grâce apart from ecclesial mediation. PSALMS EXTENSION: must be kept lexically and conceptually distinct from this curriculum’s new term ‘hesed’ (amour fidèle) — chen/grâce presupposes no prior relationship and is freely given, whereas hesed presupposes an existing covenant bond. Do not use ‘grâce’ to translate chesed.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: justice
Transliteration: justice (de Dieu)
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: vertu, droiture
Original: צֶדֶק / צְדָקָה
Category: Righteous and Wicked
Inherited from Romans package. Secular French ‘justice’ primarily denotes the legal system, risking a purely juridical reading. PSALMS EXTENSION: at Psalm 23:3 (‘sentiers de justice’) this is God’s own righteous guidance, not a courtroom verdict; must be taught as distinct from, though related to, the tsaddiq life-pattern sense (see new term ‘righteous_person’) without conflating the two.
Saints
Approved rendering: saints
Transliteration: les saints
Doctrine: Sainthood
Inherited from Romans package. In everyday and Catholic French, ‘les saints’ overwhelmingly evokes canonized intercessors, not every believer. PSALMS EXTENSION: this is precisely why the cognate Hebrew term chasid (Ps 16:10, 30:4, 31:23) is deliberately rendered ‘bien-aimé/fidèle,’ NOT ‘saint,’ to avoid triggering this same collision in the Psalter — see new term ‘chasid’.
Lord
Approved rendering: Seigneur
Transliteration: Seigneur
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: maître, patron
Original: κύριος (LXX, translating YHWH/Adonai)
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Used for Greek kyrios/NT quotation contexts. PSALMS EXTENSION: in the Hebrew Psalter this baseline ‘Seigneur’ rendering is reserved EXCLUSIVELY for Adonai/Adoni (lowercase ‘seigneur’ — see new term ‘adonai’) and for Greek kyrios in NT-quotation contexts (e.g., Ps 118:26 as quoted in the Gospels); it must NEVER be used to render YHWH (see new term ‘yhwh’, rendered ‘l’Éternel’). This is the single most consequential disambiguation rule in the entire Psalms package.
Law
Approved rendering: loi
Transliteration: loi (la Loi)
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Inherited from Romans package. Capitalize as ‘la Loi’ for Torah/Mosaic law, narrowly, in Romans’ framing. PSALMS EXTENSION: Psalms’ torah (Ps 1:2, 19:7-11, 119) is broader — God’s whole revealed instruction, the object of delight and meditation, not narrowly the Mosaic legal code. Extend, do not contradict, the baseline: gloss as ‘l’instruction de l’Éternel’ wherever this broader Psalms sense is active. See also new term ‘torah_instruction’.
Election
Approved rendering: élection
Transliteration: élection
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: chance, destin
Inherited from Romans package. ‘Élection’ is the everyday French word for political/democratic elections, risking a competitive-choice misreading. PSALMS EXTENSION: applies identically to covenant-choice language in Ps 78:70, 105:6, 135:4 (‘chosen’); reuse baseline fencing exactly, no new mitigation required.
Wicked
Approved rendering: le méchant / l’impie
Transliteration: rasha
Doctrine: The Righteous and the Wicked
Rejected alternatives: méchant (alone, unsupplemented, in doctrinally weighty contexts)
Original: רָשָׁע
Category: Righteous and Wicked
NEW TERM. One in active moral/covenant rebellion against God’s order. In everyday modern French, ‘méchant’ is the word for a naughty child or storybook villain (‘le grand méchant loup’), seriously trivializing the psalm’s weighty covenant-rebellion category. Supplement with ‘l’impie’ in doctrinally load-bearing contexts (Ps 1, 37, 73, 94 headers and thesis statements). Human theologian review required for lesson-title and thesis-statement occurrences.
Torah Instruction
Approved rendering: loi (glosé : l’instruction de l’Éternel)
Transliteration: torah
Doctrine: Delight in God’s Instruction (Torah)
NEW TERM extending baseline ‘law.’ God’s whole revealed instruction and teaching (from yarah, ‘to point/direct’), broader than a narrow legal code; the object of delight and meditation in Ps 1, 19, 119. Reuses baseline ‘loi’ but requires the added gloss ‘l’instruction de l’Éternel’ wherever this broader Psalms sense is active, to avoid narrowing to the Mosaic-legal-code sense the baseline established for Romans.
Transgression
Approved rendering: transgression / révolte
Transliteration: pesha
Doctrine: Confession and Forgiveness
Original: פֶּשַׁע
Category: Sin
NEW TERM. Willful rebellion, deliberate covenant-breach — distinct from chattah’s ‘missing the mark.’ Ps 32:1; 51:1,3. French ‘transgression’ alone can sound clinical/legalistic; where the willful-rebellion sense is theologically load-bearing, prefer ‘révolte.’ Must be kept lexically distinct from baseline ‘péché’ (sin) and new term ‘iniquity_guilt’ (faute) so Psalm 51’s escalating sin-triad is not flattened.
Confession
Approved rendering: confession (glosé : la confession du péché devant Dieu)
Transliteration: hodah
Doctrine: Confession and Forgiveness
Rejected alternatives: aveu (acceptable narrative alternative, but insufficiently doctrinal for a lesson-title header)
Original: הוֹדָה (cf. Ps 32:5)
Category: Confession and Forgiveness
NEW TERM. Direct, verbal, personal acknowledgment of sin to God (Ps 32:5; 51 title); no single fixed Hebrew noun exists, this is the doctrine strand’s theological name. French ‘la confession’ overwhelmingly denotes the Catholic sacrament of Penance/Reconciliation for both practicing and lapsed Catholic readers. MANDATORY disambiguating gloss required on every doctrinal/lesson-title (non-narrative) use. Human theologian review required for every such use.
Mashiach Royal
Approved rendering: l’oint
Transliteration: mashiach
Doctrine: Kingship and the Messianic King (Psalm 2)
Rejected alternatives: Messie (mechanically applied to every occurrence, anachronizing the historical Davidic referent)
NEW TERM extending baseline ‘messiah.’ One anointed with oil, consecrated to a royal/priestly office; in the immediate historical setting, the reigning Davidic king (or other anointed figures, e.g. Saul, Cyrus). Use ‘l’oint’ for this historical/royal referent (Ps 18:50; 20:6; 89:20,38,51; 132:10,17); use baseline ‘Messie’ only where the canonical-messianic sense is explicitly in view. Context-sensitive judgment required at every occurrence; human theologian review required.
Hosanna
Approved rendering: Hosanna (NT contexts) / sauve, je t’en prie (Psalm’s own OT context)
Transliteration: hoshi’ah na
Doctrine: Messianic Entry and the Rejected Cornerstone
Rejected alternatives: translating the Gospel occurrences as anything other than the retained transliteration
Original: הוֹשִׁיעָה נָּא
Category: Messianic Prophecy
NEW TERM. An urgent liturgical plea, ‘save, please!’ (Ps 118:25), the direct etymological source of the NT transliterated acclamation ‘Hosanna’ (Matthew 21:9). Split rendering required: retain ‘Hosanna’ unchanged in any Gospel-quotation context; gloss as ‘sauve, je t’en prie’ within the Psalm’s own OT context.
Gods Judges
Approved rendering: dieux (glosé : les juges / les autorités)
Transliteration: Elohim (of human judges)
Doctrine: Deity of the Messianic King
Rejected alternatives: dieux (unglossed) — risks implying a plurality of true deities
Original: אֱלֹהִים (of human judges)
Category: Christology
NEW TERM. ‘Gods,’ applied derivatively at Ps 82:1,6 to human judges/rulers, quoted by Jesus in John 10:34-36. Mandatory contextual gloss required at every occurrence. Must not be taught in a way implying a plurality of true deities, nor flattened so as to lose its relevance to John 10:34’s argument. Human theologian review required.
Melchizedek
Approved rendering: Melchisédek
Transliteration: Malki-Tsedeq
Doctrine: Messianic Kingship and Priesthood (Psalm 110)
Original: מַלְכִּי־צֶדֶק
Category: Messianic Prophecy
NEW TERM. ‘King of righteousness’; priest-king of Salem (Genesis 14), invoked at Ps 110:4 as the type of Christ’s own unique priest-king office (developed in Hebrews 5-7). Render the established proper name ‘Melchisédek’ and ‘selon l’ordre de Melchisédek.’ Escalate to theologian review if the curriculum later covers Hebrews.
Medium Risk Terms
Faith
Approved rendering: foi
Transliteration: foi
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: croyance, religion
Original: בָּטַח / אָמַן
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Must specify personal trust in Christ/God, not adherence to a religious system. PSALMS EXTENSION: covers the trust-vocabulary (batach, aman) of the refuge/trust psalms (e.g., Ps 4, 11, 27, 62).
Salvation
Approved rendering: salut
Transliteration: salut
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: délivrance
Original: יְשׁוּעָה / תְּשׁוּעָה
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Stable shared term; ground salvation in Christ’s work, not institutional membership. PSALMS EXTENSION: yeshu’ah/teshu’ah throughout the deliverance psalms (Ps 18, 118) and compounded in ‘la corne de mon salut’ (see new term ‘horn_of_salvation’).
Holy
Approved rendering: saint
Transliteration: saint
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: pur
Inherited from Romans package. Set apart for God and morally pure. PSALMS EXTENSION: applies to Psalm 99’s holiness acclamations and Psalm 51:11’s ‘Esprit Saint’.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: sanctification
Transliteration: sanctification
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: purification
Inherited from Romans package. The Spirit’s ongoing work of making believers holy.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: résurrection
Transliteration: résurrection
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: renaissance
Original: cf. שְׁאוֹל / שַׁחַת (Ps 16:10)
Category: Eschatology
Inherited from Romans package. Real risk is secular naturalism flattening ‘résurrection’ into metaphor. PSALMS EXTENSION: Psalm 16:8-11 (quoted Acts 2:27-31; 13:35) is direct textual warrant for this doctrine; the compounding risk here is the specific bodily non-decay claim carried by the new term ‘corruption_pit,’ rated Critical in this package precisely because it sharpens the baseline’s generic résurrection risk.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: incarnation
Transliteration: incarnation
Doctrine: Incarnation
Inherited from Romans package. Risk is secular flattening via ‘incarner’ (to embody a role). PSALMS EXTENSION: relevant background text at Psalm 40:6-8, whose Hebrew ‘you have opened my ears’ versus the LXX’s ‘a body you have prepared for me’ (quoted Hebrews 10:5-7) is a known Hebrew/LXX textual divergence directly feeding this doctrine; flag for theologian review if the curriculum extends to Hebrews.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: Royaume de Dieu
Transliteration: Royaume de Dieu
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Original: cf. מַלְכוּת יְהוָה (implied throughout ‘the LORD reigns’ psalms)
Category: Kingdom
Inherited from Romans package. Distinguish from a political kingdom. PSALMS EXTENSION: renders ‘the LORD reigns’ psalms (47, 93, 96-99, 145); France’s republican/laïque political culture gives ‘Royaume’ an archaic, museum-piece resonance requiring teaching emphasis on present-tense sovereignty.
Sin
Approved rendering: péché
Transliteration: péché
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Original: חַטָּאָה / חַטָּאת
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package. Colloquial French trivializes (‘péché mignon’). PSALMS EXTENSION: this trivialization risk is especially acute in Psalm 51’s raw confession; must be kept lexically distinct from the new terms ‘transgression’ (pesha) and ‘iniquity_guilt’ (avon) so Psalm 51’s deliberate three-term escalation is not flattened.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: païens
Transliteration: païens
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: étrangers
Inherited from Romans package. Carries a pejorative connotation stronger than the neutral original. PSALMS EXTENSION: do NOT use for Psalm 2:1,8’s goyim in political-rebellion context — use the new term ‘nations_political’ (‘les nations’) there instead, to avoid importing this baseline’s pejorative-flattening risk into a context about armed political rebellion rather than religious identity.
Glory
Approved rendering: gloire
Transliteration: gloire
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: כָּבוֹד
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Avoid triumphalist, self-achieved readings. PSALMS EXTENSION: extends to God’s manifest splendor in creation (Ps 19), worship (Ps 24, 29, 96, 145), and cosmic doxology (Ps 148).
Messiah
Approved rendering: Messie
Transliteration: Messie
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Inherited from Romans package. The Anointed One fulfilling OT promise. PSALMS EXTENSION: reserved for the canonical-messianic sense only, where the New Testament’s own reading is explicitly in view (e.g., Ps 2 as read in Acts 4:25-26). For the immediate historical Davidic/royal referent (Ps 18:50; 20:6; 89:20,38,51; 132:10,17), use the new term ‘mashiach_royal’ (‘l’oint’) instead. Do not collapse all mashiach occurrences to ‘Messie’ mechanically — see doctrine risk registry entry ‘kingship_and_messianic_king_ps2’.
Covenant
Approved rendering: alliance
Transliteration: alliance
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: contrat
Original: בְּרִית
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Relational covenant bond, more than a legal contract. PSALMS EXTENSION: central to Psalm 89 and 132’s Davidic Covenant doctrine; Psalm 89’s pivot from a hesed-saturated hymn to a lament that God has ‘renounced the covenant’ requires careful framing so readers do not conclude the covenant promise itself failed.
Providence
Approved rendering: providence
Transliteration: providence
Doctrine: Providence
Rejected alternatives: destin, hasard
Inherited from Romans package. Must render as personal, purposive care, not deist abstraction. PSALMS EXTENSION: relevant background for Psalm 139’s omniscience/omnipresence doctrine and Psalm 90’s eternity-of-God doctrine, though those are documented under new terms ‘everlasting_to_everlasting’ and ‘searched_and_known’.
Israel
Approved rendering: Israël
Transliteration: Israël
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Original: יִשְׂרָאֵל
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Keep the referent historical/theological. PSALMS EXTENSION: subject of the corporate Shepherd doctrine in Ps 78, 80, 95, 100, 105, 106.
God
Approved rendering: Dieu
Transliteration: Dieu
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: אֱלֹהִים
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Watch for casual-interjection and deist-abstraction risk. PSALMS EXTENSION: renders generic Elohim throughout; watch specifically for the derivative use of Elohim applied to human judges (Ps 82:1,6, see new term ‘gods_judges’) and to the king (Ps 45:6, see new term ‘throne_o_god’), both of which raise the distinct French risk that ‘dieux’ could concede a plurality of true deities.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Esprit Saint
Transliteration: Esprit Saint
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: רוּחַ קָדְשֶׁךָ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Both refer to the same personal third Person of the Trinity. PSALMS EXTENSION: Psalm 51:11 (‘ruach qodshekha’) is one of the OT’s rare explicit ‘Holy Spirit’ phrases; must not collapse OT/NT pneumatology into an identical fully-Trinitarian statement without qualification, nor under-read it as an impersonal influence.
Father
Approved rendering: Père
Transliteration: Père
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: אָב
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. God as personal Father. PSALMS EXTENSION: Psalm 103:13’s ‘as a father shows compassion’ is a simile of tender parental compassion (racham), reinforcing but not identical to the fuller Romans 8 adoption formula; teach as background, not identical doctrine.
Abba
Approved rendering: Abba
Transliteration: Abba
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Inherited from Romans package. No Psalms occurrence, but retained for cross-curriculum consistency with any adoption-doctrine teaching material drawing on Psalms fatherhood language (e.g., Ps 103:13).
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: descendance de David
Transliteration: descendance de David
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: semence de David (archaic)
Inherited from Romans package. Modern translations prefer ‘descendance’ over archaic ‘semence’. PSALMS EXTENSION: conceptually anchors Psalm 89 and 132’s Davidic Covenant doctrine, though the Hebrew wording there differs from Romans 1:3’s specific phrase; apply the same ‘descendance’ preference wherever Davidic lineage is discussed in teaching material.
Calling
Approved rendering: appel
Transliteration: appel
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: vocation (clergy-narrowing risk)
Inherited from Romans package. Never ‘vocation’ for the general believer’s calling. PSALMS EXTENSION: applies to God’s calling/choosing of David and Israel corporately; reuse baseline fencing exactly.
Called
Approved rendering: appelé
Transliteration: appelé
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: invité
Inherited from Romans package. Context-sensitive across multiple senses. PSALMS EXTENSION: relevant to ‘chosen’ language at Ps 78:70, 105:6, 135:4 alongside the new term ‘election’.
Intercession
Approved rendering: intercession
Transliteration: intercession
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Inherited from Romans package. Distinguish the Spirit’s/Christ’s unique intercession from saint or Marian intercession. PSALMS EXTENSION: background concept for the Psalter’s own direct-access prayer model (lament and petition psalms throughout); no Psalter text uses this exact term, but the Catholic devotional-intercession collision risk applies identically whenever Psalms prayer material is taught alongside it.
Shepherd
Approved rendering: berger
Transliteration: ra’ah
Doctrine: The Character of God as Shepherd
Rejected alternatives: pasteur (clergy-narrowing risk in modern usage)
Original: רָעָה
Category: Character of God
NEW TERM. To feed, lead, guard, and rule a flock; in the ANE also describes kings/gods as shepherd-rulers. Secularized urban French usage risks reducing ‘berger’ to bucolic sentimentality, losing the ANE ruler-protector force later claimed by Jesus (John 10:11). Core passage term (Ps 23:1). Native speaker review recommended; supply king-as-shepherd background at first teaching use.
Refuge
Approved rendering: refuge
Transliteration: machaseh / chasah
Doctrine: The Character of God as Refuge
Rejected alternatives: abri (too weak/generic, lacks the personal-trust dimension)
Original: מַחְסֶה / חָסָה
Category: Character of God
NEW TERM. A place of shelter; God himself as the place of safety, not merely a provider of safety. Contemporary secular French ‘un refuge’ (mountain shelter, animal shelter, migrant asylum center) carries a passive, location-based connotation. Ps 2:12; 46:1; 91:1-2; 142:5. Native speaker review recommended; teach as active reliance on God himself.
Rock
Approved rendering: rocher
Transliteration: tsur
Doctrine: The Character of God as Refuge
Original: צוּר
Category: Character of God
NEW TERM. Bedrock/cliff-stronghold; figurative for God’s unshakeable strength, later applied to Christ (1 Cor 10:4). Risk of flattening into the dead French idiom ‘solide comme un roc.’ Ps 18:2; 61:2; 62:2. Retain personal-address framing (‘mon rocher’), not a bare adjective of stability.
Chasid
Approved rendering: bien-aimé / fidèle
Transliteration: chasid
Doctrine: Covenant Faithfulness (Hesed); Messianic Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: saint (would trigger the baseline’s canonized-intercessor collision already flagged for ‘saints’)
Original: חָסִיד
Category: Covenant
NEW TERM. One characterized by hesed — a covenant-loyal, devoted person; cognate of hesed itself. Ps 16:10 (quoted Acts 2:27); 30:4; 31:23. Do not render as ‘saint.’ A footnote-level etymological note connecting to ‘hesed’ is recommended wherever chasid appears near hesed itself (e.g., Ps 145:17,20).
Righteous Person
Approved rendering: le juste
Transliteration: tsaddiq
Doctrine: The Righteous and the Wicked
Original: צַדִּיק
Category: Righteous and Wicked
NEW TERM. One in right covenant standing/conduct; the structural foil to rasha throughout the Psalter (Ps 1, 37, 112). Distinguish carefully from baseline ‘justice’ (Romans’ forensic, imputed status) — Psalm 1’s tsaddiq denotes a covenant-faithful life-pattern, not yet a legal verdict; teach both senses without conflating them.
Way Path
Approved rendering: voie
Transliteration: derekh
Doctrine: The Righteous and the Wicked
Rejected alternatives: chemin (acceptable but ‘voie’ better retains the moral-destiny register)
Original: דֶּרֶךְ
Category: Righteous and Wicked
NEW TERM. Road, way; figuratively a life-course leading to blessing or ruin (the ‘two ways’ motif). Ps 1:1,6; 119. Must retain moral-destiny sense, not a literal roadway.
Meditate
Approved rendering: méditer
Transliteration: hagah
Doctrine: Delight in God’s Instruction (Torah)
Original: הָגָה
Category: Righteous and Wicked
NEW TERM. To murmur, mutter, ponder — often audibly; sustained, vocalized rumination on a text. Post-1970s French ‘méditer/la méditation’ strongly associates with secular mindfulness or Eastern contemplative practice. Ps 1:2; 119. Gloss on first use per lesson (‘ruminer, redire à voix basse’) to block the mindfulness-drift reading.
Torah Synonym Cluster
Approved rendering: commandement / jugement (ordonnance) / décret / témoignage / parole / promesse
Transliteration: mitzvah, mishpat, chuqqah, edah, davar, imrah
Doctrine: Delight in God’s Instruction (Torah)
Rejected alternatives: loi (used repeatedly for all synonyms, flattening the acrostic’s deliberate lexical variety)
Original: מִצְוָה, מִשְׁפָּט, חֻקָּה, עֵדוּת, דָּבָר, אִמְרָה
Category: Righteous and Wicked
NEW TERM. Six (plus torah and mishpat) near-synonyms for God’s instruction used throughout Psalm 119’s 22-stanza acrostic. Render each Hebrew synonym with a distinct, consistent French equivalent so readers perceive the psalm’s deliberate variety rather than a flattened repetition of ‘loi.’ Native speaker review recommended for consistency across all 176 verses.
Iniquity Guilt
Approved rendering: faute
Transliteration: avon
Doctrine: Confession and Forgiveness
Original: עָוֹן
Category: Sin
NEW TERM. Guilt, moral crookedness, and the culpability it incurs — the third distinct term in Psalm 51’s opening sin-vocabulary triad alongside pesha and chattah. Must be kept distinct from ‘péché’ and ‘transgression/révolte’ in teaching material.
Purify
Approved rendering: purifier / laver
Transliteration: taher / kibbes
Doctrine: Confession and Forgiveness
Rejected alternatives: nettoyer (too hygienic, loses ritual-purification resonance)
Original: טָהֵר / כִּבֵּס
Category: Confession and Forgiveness
NEW TERM. To purify ritually; to wash thoroughly — fuses Levitical ritual-purification imagery (hyssop) with a request for inward moral transformation. Ps 51:2,7. Retain the ritual resonance while emphasizing the psalm’s move beyond ritual to the heart.
Clean Heart
Approved rendering: un cœur pur
Transliteration: lev tahor
Doctrine: Confession and Forgiveness
Original: לֵב טָהוֹר
Category: Confession and Forgiveness
NEW TERM. A heart both ritually and morally pure; complete inner renewal. Ps 51:10. Maintain consistency with any future Matthew 5:8 Beatitudes rendering (‘heureux les cœurs purs’).
Forgive
Approved rendering: pardonner
Transliteration: salach
Doctrine: Confession and Forgiveness
Original: סָלַח
Category: Confession and Forgiveness
NEW TERM. Sovereign divine pardon. Ps 103:3; 130:4. Distinguish from the ‘couvrir/effacer’ forgiveness-image cluster of Ps 32; native speaker review recommended for consistency across the two clusters.
Soul
Approved rendering: âme
Transliteration: nephesh
Doctrine: Confession and Forgiveness; Character of God as Shepherd
Original: נֶפֶשׁ
Category: Confession and Forgiveness
NEW TERM. The whole living self — breath, life-force, person — not a disembodied soul. Ps 23:3. French ‘âme,’ like English ‘soul,’ imports a Platonic body-soul dualism foreign to nephesh’s holistic sense; teaching notes must clarify nephesh as the whole living self.
How Long
Approved rendering: jusqu’à quand
Transliteration: ad-anah
Doctrine: Lament and Honest Prayer
Original: עַד־אָנָה
Category: Lament
NEW TERM. An anguished, repeated protest-question addressed directly to God, characteristic of the lament genre. Ps 13; 6:3; 74:10; 89:46. Modern French devotional culture may hear open complaint as spiritually inappropriate; teaching notes must affirm lament as legitimate covenant prayer.
Out Of The Depths
Approved rendering: du fond de l’abîme
Transliteration: mima’amaqqim
Doctrine: Lament and Honest Prayer; Confession and Forgiveness
Rejected alternatives: de loin (too mild, loses the extremity of distress)
Original: מִמַּעֲמַקִּים
Category: Lament
NEW TERM. From the deep places of distress, near-despair, watery-drowning imagery elsewhere in Psalms. Ps 130:1. Retain the depth/distress imagery.
Valley Of Shadow Of Death
Approved rendering: la vallée de l’ombre de la mort
Transliteration: gey tsalmavet
Doctrine: Lament and Honest Prayer; Character of God as Shepherd
Rejected alternatives: vallée sombre (loses the mortal-danger/death component)
Original: גֵּיא צַלְמָוֶת
Category: Lament
NEW TERM. Deathly gloom, mortal danger — any place of grave peril. Ps 23:4. Core passage term. Must retain the death component.
Pursue
Approved rendering: me poursuivront
Transliteration: radaph
Doctrine: Covenant Faithfulness (Hesed); Character of God as Shepherd
Rejected alternatives: me suivront (too weak, loses the ironic relentless-pursuit force)
Original: רָדַף
Category: Lament
NEW TERM. To pursue, chase — normally hostile pursuit, strikingly inverted at Ps 23:6 to describe God’s benevolent pursuit. Core passage term. Note secondary legal-prosecution connotation of French ‘poursuivre’ (‘être poursuivi’) for reviewer awareness.
Worship Bow
Approved rendering: se prosterner / adorer
Transliteration: shachah
Doctrine: Praise and Worship
Original: שָׁחָה
Category: Praise and Worship
NEW TERM. To bow down, prostrate in homage. Ps 95:6; 96:9. Distinguish physical-posture ‘se prosterner’ from broader devotional ‘adorer’ as context requires.
Nations Political
Approved rendering: les nations
Transliteration: goyim
Doctrine: Kingship and the Messianic King (Psalm 2)
Rejected alternatives: païens (baseline’s rendering, rejected here as importing a pejorative-flattening risk into a context of political rebellion rather than religious identity)
Original: גּוֹיִם
Category: Kingship
NEW TERM. Nations in armed political rebellion against God’s king (Ps 2:1,8), distinct from the baseline’s missiological gentiles/nations sense. Prefer bare ‘les nations’ over baseline ‘païens’ in this specific context.
Sheol
Approved rendering: le séjour des morts
Transliteration: Sheol
Doctrine: Messianic Resurrection Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: Shéol (transliteration, no established French convention; rejected in favor of the established descriptive phrase)
Original: שְׁאוֹל
Category: Messianic Prophecy
NEW TERM. The realm/abode of the dead; not annihilation but the shadowy underworld all the dead enter. Ps 16:10, quoted Acts 2:27,31. Avoid conflating with a purely metaphorical ‘death’ that would blunt the resurrection-prophecy force.
Scepter Rod
Approved rendering: houlette (pastoral) / sceptre (royal)
Transliteration: shevet
Doctrine: Character of God as Shepherd; Messianic Kingship and Priesthood (Psalm 110)
Original: שֵׁבֶט
Category: Kingship
NEW TERM. A single Hebrew word spanning the shepherd’s defensive club (Ps 23:4, core passage) and the king’s royal scepter (Ps 110:2), binding the Shepherd and King doctrine strands together. French has no single word spanning both images; render ‘houlette’ pastorally (established Segond rendering, benefits from a brief gloss as a literary/rare word) and ‘sceptre’ royally. Preserve the intertextual unity in teaching material.
Anoint Hospitality
Approved rendering: tu oins ma tête d’huile
Transliteration: dashen
Doctrine: Character of God as Shepherd
Original: דָּשֵׁן
Category: Character of God
NEW TERM. To anoint/make rich; at Ps 23:5 a guest-honor anointing distinct from the technical royal/priestly mashiach root. Core passage term. Teaching notes should distinguish this hospitality-anointing verb from mashiach, to avoid implying Ps 23:5 is itself a messianic-anointing text.
Horn Of Salvation
Approved rendering: la corne de mon salut
Transliteration: qeren yish’i
Doctrine: Character of God as King
Original: קֶרֶן יִשְׁעִי
Category: Salvation
NEW TERM. ‘The horn of my salvation’ — an animal’s horn as a symbol of might, figuratively for royal/military strength. Ps 18:2, echoed Luke 1:69. Retain the established rendering despite its unusual literalism in French, for its Magnificat/Benedictus intertextual value; a brief explanatory gloss is recommended.
Lord Of Hosts
Approved rendering: l’Éternel des armées
Transliteration: YHWH tseva’ot
Doctrine: Character of God as King
Original: יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת
Category: God
NEW TERM. YHWH of the heavenly/military armies; a title of absolute sovereign command. Ps 24:10; 46:7,11. Avoid militaristic-nationalist misreading given contemporary French political discourse; denotes cosmic sovereignty, not endorsement of any earthly army.
House Of The Lord
Approved rendering: la maison de l’Éternel
Transliteration: beit YHWH
Doctrine: Covenant Faithfulness (Hesed); Character of God as King
Original: בֵּית־יְהוָה
Category: God
NEW TERM. God’s dwelling/sanctuary; by extension, abiding in God’s presence. Ps 23:6 (core passage); 27:4; 84. French readers formed by Catholic parish culture risk mapping this onto a physical church building; must be taught as eternal covenant belonging, echoed in John 14:2.
Fear Of The Lord
Approved rendering: la crainte de l’Éternel
Transliteration: yirat YHWH
Doctrine: The Fear of the LORD as Wisdom Piety
Original: יִרְאַת יְהוָה
Category: God
NEW TERM. Reverential awe combined with submissive trust, foundational biblical wisdom piety. Ps 33:8; 34:9; 111:10; 128:1. Fixed idiom, do not re-translate; French ‘crainte’ leans toward dread in ordinary usage, requiring a teaching correction (awe-with-trust), not a lexical substitution.
Compassion
Approved rendering: compatissant / compassion
Transliteration: rachum / rachamim
Doctrine: God’s Compassionate, Covenant-Faithful Character
Original: רַחוּם / רֶחֶם
Category: God
NEW TERM. Visceral, womb-based tenderness; frequently paired with hesed but not synonymous. Ps 103:13; 145:8-9. Distinguish carefully from ‘hesed’ (amour fidèle, covenant loyalty) in teaching notes; French devotional vocabulary risks collapsing both into an undifferentiated ‘miséricorde.‘
Low Risk Terms
Peace
Approved rendering: paix
Transliteration: paix
Doctrine: Peace with God
Inherited from Romans package. Relational peace with God, not merely psychological calm. PSALMS EXTENSION: Psalm 122’s prayer for ‘the peace of Jerusalem’ reuses this term in a related but distinct communal/civic register; do not conflate with the forensic peace-through-justification sense without a clarifying note.
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: action de grâce
Transliteration: action de grâce
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Original: תּוֹדָה
Category: Praise and Worship
Inherited from Romans package. Minor overlap with the Eucharistic rite. PSALMS EXTENSION: renders Hebrew todah throughout Ps 95, 100, 107, 136.
Prophet
Approved rendering: prophète
Transliteration: prophète
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: voyant
Inherited from Romans package. Avoid ‘voyant’ (fortune-teller connotation).
Prophecy
Approved rendering: prophétie
Transliteration: prophétie
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Inherited from Romans package. God-inspired declaration, not astrological prediction. PSALMS EXTENSION: anchors the ‘Messianic Prophecy in the Psalms’ doctrine strand across Psalms 2, 16, 22, 45, 110, 118.
David
Approved rendering: David
Transliteration: David
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: דָּוִד
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Standard proper name form.
Jesus
Approved rendering: Jésus
Transliteration: Jésus
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Inherited from Romans package. Stable across all French traditions. PSALMS EXTENSION: not itself a Psalter word, but retained here because numerous Psalms are directly quoted BY Jesus (Ps 22:1 on the cross; Ps 110:1 in Matthew 22:41-46; Ps 118:22 of himself) — the name must remain in its established French form across all such teaching cross-references.
Fortress
Approved rendering: forteresse
Transliteration: metsudah / ma’oz
Doctrine: The Character of God as Refuge
Original: מְצוּדָה / מָעוֹז
Category: Character of God
NEW TERM. Fortified stronghold, figuratively applied to God’s protective strength. Ps 18:2; 46:1. Low collision risk.
Blot Out
Approved rendering: effacer
Transliteration: machah
Doctrine: Confession and Forgiveness
Original: מָחָה
Category: Confession and Forgiveness
NEW TERM. To wipe, erase, obliterate — a vivid image of total forgiveness. Ps 51:1,9. Low collision risk.
Broken Spirit
Approved rendering: esprit brisé, cœur brisé
Transliteration: ruach nishbarah, lev nishbar
Doctrine: Confession and Forgiveness
Original: רוּחַ נִשְׁבָּרָה, לֵב נִשְׁבָּר
Category: Confession and Forgiveness
NEW TERM. A crushed, humbled spirit and heart — the sacrifice God desires, above ritual offering. Ps 51:17. Low collision risk.
Restore
Approved rendering: restaurer
Transliteration: yeshovev (hiphil of shuv)
Doctrine: Character of God as Shepherd
Original: יְשׁוֹבֵב (hiphil of שׁוּב)
Category: Confession and Forgiveness
NEW TERM. To cause to turn back, revive; active divine intervention reversing depletion. Ps 23:3. Low collision risk.
Hallelujah
Approved rendering: Alléluia
Transliteration: Hallelujah
Doctrine: Praise and Worship
Rejected alternatives: Louez l’Éternel (paraphrase, would sever the recognizable worship cue)
Original: הַלְלוּיָה
Category: Praise and Worship
NEW TERM. Retain untranslated. Stable, ecumenical, shared with Catholic liturgical usage (sung before the Gospel reading) — a positive resonance, not a collision. Ps 113-117; 146-150.
Praise Verb
Approved rendering: louer / louange
Transliteration: halal
Doctrine: Praise and Worship
Rejected alternatives: féliciter, applaudir
Original: הָלַל
Category: Praise and Worship
NEW TERM. To praise, celebrate publicly. Ps 150 and throughout. Avoid ‘féliciter/applaudir,’ which lack the worship register; keep consistently anchored to God as object to avoid a generic-compliment reading.
Sing Song
Approved rendering: chanter / chant
Transliteration: shir / zamar
Doctrine: Praise and Worship
Original: שִׁיר / זָמַר
Category: Praise and Worship
NEW TERM. To sing, a song, to make music. Ps 96:1; 98:1; 149:1. Low collision risk.
Selah
Approved rendering: Sélah
Transliteration: Selah
Doctrine: Praise and Worship
Original: סֶלָה
Category: Praise and Worship
NEW TERM. Retain untranslated per standard French Bible convention; do not attempt to translate. Occurs 71 times throughout the Psalter.
Goodness
Approved rendering: bonté
Transliteration: tov
Doctrine: Character of God as Shepherd
Original: טוֹב
Category: Praise and Worship
NEW TERM. Moral goodness, benefit, well-being; the shepherd’s active, ongoing benevolence. Ps 23:6. Core passage term. Do not confuse with the standing Segond-tradition alternative rendering of hesed itself — here ‘bonté’ is a distinct paired term (tov), not the hesed rendering (amour fidèle).
Decree
Approved rendering: décret
Transliteration: choq
Doctrine: Kingship and the Messianic King (Psalm 2)
Original: חֹק
Category: Kingship
NEW TERM. An inscribed, fixed statute; a sovereign, unalterable royal/divine pronouncement. Ps 2:7. Low collision risk.
Green Pastures
Approved rendering: verts pâturages
Transliteration: ne’ot deshe
Doctrine: Character of God as Shepherd
Original: נְאוֹת דֶּשֶׁא
Category: Character of God
NEW TERM. Lush pastures of tender new growth; abundance and safety sufficient for rest. Ps 23:2. Core passage term. Low collision risk.
Still Waters
Approved rendering: eaux tranquilles
Transliteration: mey menuchot
Doctrine: Character of God as Shepherd
Original: מֵי מְנֻחוֹת
Category: Character of God
NEW TERM. Calm, quiet water safe to drink from. Ps 23:2. Core passage term. Low collision risk.
Table Banquet
Approved rendering: table
Transliteration: shulchan
Doctrine: Character of God as Shepherd
Original: שֻׁלְחָן
Category: Character of God
NEW TERM. A table/meal-spread, often royal/hospitality setting. Ps 23:5. Core passage term. Low collision risk.
Cup Overflows
Approved rendering: ma coupe est débordante
Transliteration: kosi revayah
Doctrine: Character of God as Shepherd; Covenant Faithfulness (Hesed)
Original: כּוֹסִי רְוָיָה
Category: Character of God
NEW TERM. Superabundant fullness, echoing hesed’s characteristic overflow. Ps 23:5. Core passage term. Low collision risk.
Everlasting To Everlasting
Approved rendering: d’éternité en éternité
Transliteration: me’olam ad-olam
Doctrine: The Eternity, Omniscience, and Omnipresence of God
Original: מֵעוֹלָם עַד־עוֹלָם
Category: God
NEW TERM. God’s timeless existence contrasted with human transience. Ps 90:1-4. Low collision risk.
Searched And Known
Approved rendering: tu me sondes et tu me connais
Transliteration: chaqartani vateda
Doctrine: The Eternity, Omniscience, and Omnipresence of God
Original: חָקַרְתָּנִי וַתֵּדָע
Category: God
NEW TERM. Total, penetrating divine knowledge of a person. Ps 139:1. Low collision risk.
Most High
Approved rendering: le Très-Haut
Transliteration: Elyon
Doctrine: The Character of God as Refuge
Original: עֶלְיוֹן
Category: God
NEW TERM. A divine title emphasizing supreme exaltation. Ps 91:1; 47:2; 57:2. Low collision risk.
Almighty
Approved rendering: le Tout-Puissant
Transliteration: Shaddai
Doctrine: The Character of God as Refuge
Original: שַׁדַּי
Category: God
NEW TERM. Divine title of disputed etymology, traditionally ‘Almighty.’ Ps 91:1. Pairs with wing-shelter refuge imagery. Low collision risk.
Amen
Approved rendering: Amen
Transliteration: amen
Doctrine: Praise and Worship
Original: אָמֵן
Category: Praise and Worship
NEW TERM. A liturgical affirmation, ‘truly, so be it,’ closing each of the Psalter’s five books (Ps 41:13; 72:19; 89:52; 106:48). Retain transliterated per established French Bible convention, consistent with the baseline’s own transliteration instructions for other Hebrew/Aramaic liturgical terms (Abba, Alléluia).
Referenced passages