Core Glossary
Core Glossary — Revelation
English → French | Full-Book Term Glossary with Translation Risk
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, spanning Revelation 1–22. Terms marked (Romans TM) are already fixed in the baseline translation_memory.json and MUST be reused exactly, without modification, in this curriculum. New terms specific to Revelation are marked (NEW) and must be added to translation memory before Phase 2 processing begins, per the AI Translation Requirements’ term-discovery protocol.
Section A — Reused Baseline Terms (Romans TM) Appearing in Revelation
| Term (EN) | French rendering | Risk | Doctrine link | Chapters | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| God | Dieu | Critical | Sovereignty of God | throughout | Reuse exactly; no deviation. |
| Jesus | Jésus | Low | Return and Reign | throughout | Reuse exactly. |
| Lord | Seigneur | Critical | Return and Reign; Lordship | throughout, esp. 19:16, 22:20 | Reuse exactly; extend to “Roi des rois et Seigneur des seigneurs.” |
| Holy Spirit | Esprit Saint | Critical | Worship of the Lamb | 1, 2–3, 14, 19, 22 | ”Seven Spirits” (1:4) requires added teaching note — see Section B. |
| Father | Père | Medium | Church as Bride (sonship) | 1:6, 14:1 | Reuse exactly. |
| Son of God | Fils de Dieu | Critical | Return and Reign; Deity of Christ | 2:18 | Reserve strictly for Christ; never for believers’ derivative sonship (21:7). |
| Church | Église | High | Church as Bride of Christ | 1–3, 22 | Plural “les Églises” (local congregations) partly disambiguates institutional risk; still flag for teaching. |
| saints | saints | High | Judgment/Vindication; Worship of the Lamb | 5, 6, 8, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 | Gloss as “tous les croyants” per baseline; extremely frequent in Revelation — higher-frequency risk than in Romans. |
| holy | saint | Medium | Sanctification | throughout | Reuse exactly (“Saint, Saint, Saint,” 4:8). |
| glory | gloire | Medium | Sovereignty; New Heaven/Earth | 1, 4, 5, 7, 11, 14, 15, 18, 19, 21 | Reuse exactly. |
| grace | grâce | High | Assurance; New Heaven/Earth | 1:4, 21:6 (δωρεάν), 22:21 | Reuse exactly; reinforce unmerited-gift sense at 21:6, 22:21. |
| peace | paix | Low | — | 1:4 | Reuse exactly. |
| faith | foi | Medium | Perseverance | 2:13, 13:10, 14:12 | Reuse exactly. |
| salvation | salut | Medium | Judgment/Vindication | 7:10, 12:10, 19:1 | Reuse exactly. |
| righteousness | justice | High | Judgment; Vindication of Saints | 16:5, 19:2, 19:8 | Reuse exactly; “righteous deeds of the saints” (19:8) must not read as merit earning status. |
| resurrection | résurrection | Critical | Return and Reign; New Heaven/Earth | 1:5, 20:5–6 | Reuse exactly; extend caution to “première résurrection.” |
| sin | péché | Medium | Judgment of the Wicked | 1:5, 18:4–5 | Reuse exactly. |
| covenant | alliance | Medium | Sovereignty over History | 11:19, 21:3 (formula) | Reuse exactly. |
| kingdom of God | Royaume de Dieu | Medium | Return and Reign | 1:6, 9; 11:15, 12:10 | Reuse exactly; extend to “royaume et prêtres” (5:10), “ils régneront” (22:5). |
| David | David | Low | — | 3:7, 5:5, 22:16 | Reuse exactly. |
| seed of David / descendance de David | descendance de David | Medium | Sovereignty over History | 5:5, 22:16 (“Root and offspring of David”) | Reuse exactly; extend to “rejeton de David.” |
| Israel | Israël | Medium | Unity of Jews and Gentiles | 2:14, 7:4, 21:12 | Reuse exactly; watch modern-political-Israel conflation risk, esp. with “new Jerusalem.” |
| apostle | apôtre | Medium | Church as Bride | 18:20, 21:14 | Reuse exactly. |
| prophet / prophecy | prophète / prophétie | High | Symbolic and Apocalyptic Interpretation | 1, 10, 11, 16, 19, 22 | Revelation is itself designated “prophecy” (1:3, 22:18–19); elevate risk vs. Romans baseline given the whole-book hermeneutical stakes. |
| election / called | élection / appelé | High | Sovereignty over History | 17:14 (“called, chosen, and faithful”) | Reuse exactly; identical political-election collision as documented in baseline. |
| Amen | Amen | Low | — | throughout doxologies | Reuse exactly. |
| Christ | Christ | Low | Return and Reign | 1, 11, 12, 20 | Reuse exactly. |
| Almighty / power of God | Tout-Puissant / puissance de Dieu | Medium | Sovereignty over History | throughout | Reuse “puissance de Dieu” pattern; “Tout-Puissant” is a Revelation-specific extension, see Section B. |
| gentiles / nations | païens / nations | Medium | Unity of Jews and Gentiles | 22:2 | Prefer nations over païens in mission/healing contexts, per baseline guidance. |
Section B — New Revelation-Specific Terms (NEW)
| Term (EN) | Greek (translit.) | French rendering | Risk | Doctrine link | Chapters | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revelation / Apocalypse (book genre) | ἀποκάλυψις (apokalypsis) | révélation / l’Apocalypse | High | Symbolic and Apocalyptic Interpretation | 1 | Secular French “apocalypse” = catastrophic disaster; single largest genre-framing risk in the book. |
| Lamb | Ἀρνίον (Arnion) | Agneau | Critical | Worship of the Lamb | 5 and 28+ occurrences throughout | Central Christological/worship title; must retain sacrificial + victorious paradox together. |
| throne | θρόνος (thronos) | trône | High | Sovereignty of God over History | 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12, 14, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22 | Central recurring sovereignty image (~40 occurrences). |
| Alpha and Omega | τὸ Ἄλφα καὶ τὸ Ὦ | Alpha et Oméga | Critical | Sovereignty; Deity of Christ | 1:8, 21:6, 22:13 | Shared title of Father and Son — direct deity-of-Christ assertion. |
| overcomer / one who conquers | ὁ νικῶν (ho nikōn) | celui qui vaincra / le vainqueur | High | Perseverance and Faithful Witness | 2, 3, 6, 12, 15, 17, 21 | Victory through faithful suffering, not worldly conquest. |
| witness / testimony | μάρτυς / μαρτυρία (martys / martyria) | témoin / témoignage | High | Perseverance and Faithful Witness | 1, 2, 6, 11, 12, 17, 19 | French “martyr” cognate imports death-connotation not present in every occurrence. |
| Almighty | παντοκράτωρ (pantokratōr) | Tout-Puissant | Medium | Sovereignty over History | 1, 4, 11, 15, 16, 19, 21 | — |
| seven Spirits | τὰ ἑπτὰ πνεύματα | les sept esprits | High | Worship of the Lamb; Holy Spirit doctrine | 1:4, 3:1, 4:5, 5:6 | Symbolic sevenfold fullness of the one Spirit; risk of polytheistic literal reading. |
| beast | θηρίον (thērion) | la bête | High | Judgment of the Wicked; Symbolic Interpretation | 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20 | Historic French Reformation-era Papacy identifications; frame as trans-historical symbolic power. |
| mark of the beast | χάραγμα (charagma) | la marque de la bête | High | Symbolic Interpretation; Judgment | 13, 14, 16, 19, 20 | Secular conspiracy/pop-culture sensationalism risk. |
| number of the beast / 666 | ὁ ἀριθμὸς τοῦ θηρίου | le nombre de la bête, 666 | Medium | Symbolic Interpretation | 13 | Same collision as mark of the beast, lower stakes. |
| dragon | δράκων (drakōn) | le dragon | Medium | Sovereignty over History; Assurance of Victory | 12, 13, 16, 20 | French fantasy/fairy-tale connotation risks trivialization. |
| Satan | Σατανᾶς (Satanas) | Satan | Medium | Assurance of Final Victory | 2, 3, 12, 20 | Stable term. |
| devil | διάβολος (diabolos) | le diable | Medium | Assurance of Final Victory | 2, 12, 20 | Popular-culture caricature risk. |
| abyss | ἄβυσσος (abyssos) | l’abîme | Medium | Judgment of the Wicked | 9, 11, 17, 20 | Bounded place of restraint, not vague poetic “abyss.” |
| Babylon / the great prostitute | Βαβυλών / ἡ πόρνη ἡ μεγάλη | Babylone / la grande prostituée | High | Judgment of the Wicked; Symbolic Interpretation | 14, 16, 17, 18 | Gendered OT-prophetic idiom risk; also historic Rome/Papacy identification risk. |
| mark / mystery (Babylon) | μυστήριον (mystērion) | mystère | Medium | Symbolic Interpretation | 10, 17 | Secular “mystère” = puzzle; must retain disclosed-divine-purpose sense. |
| bride / wife of the Lamb | νύμφη / γυνή (nymphē / gynē) | épouse / femme | High | Church as Bride of Christ | 19, 21 | Corporate ecclesial covenant image, not private romantic metaphor. |
| new Jerusalem / holy city | Ἰερουσαλὴμ καινή / ἁγία πόλις | la nouvelle Jérusalem / la ville sainte | High | New Heaven and New Earth | 3, 21 | Modern political-Israel/Jerusalem conflation risk. |
| tabernacle / dwell (God with his people) | σκηνόω (skēnoō) | habiter / dresser sa tente | High | New Heaven and New Earth; Incarnation echo | 7, 15, 21 | Direct echo of John 1:14; “habiter” alone loses tent/tabernacle imagery. |
| second death | ὁ θάνατος ὁ δεύτερος | la seconde mort | Critical | Judgment of the Wicked | 2, 20, 21 | Must not soften toward annihilationist ambiguity or metaphor. |
| lake of fire | ἡ λίμνη τοῦ πυρός | l’étang de feu | Critical | Judgment of the Wicked | 19, 20, 21 | Segond-aligned rendering; retain force of final, decisive judgment. |
| book of life | τὸ βιβλίον τῆς ζωῆς | le livre de vie | Medium | Assurance of Final Victory | 3, 13, 17, 20, 21 | Record of belonging, not a source of anxious scrutiny. |
| millennium / thousand years | χίλια ἔτη | mille ans | High | Return and Reign of Christ | 20 | Primary hermeneutical fault line; avoid implying one denominational scheme. |
| first resurrection | ἡ ἀνάστασις ἡ πρώτη | la première résurrection | High | Return and Reign; Resurrection doctrine | 20 | Extends baseline “résurrection” caution into a live interpretive debate. |
| Gog and Magog | Γὼγ καὶ Μαγώγ | Gog et Magog | Medium | Judgment of the Wicked | 20 | OT background required; symbolic of futile final rebellion. |
| great white throne | θρόνος λευκὸς μέγας | grand trône blanc | Medium | Judgment of the Wicked | 20 | Final judicial climax of the throne motif. |
| Hades / Death (personified) | ᾅδης / θάνατος | Hadès / la Mort | Medium | Judgment of the Wicked; Assurance of Final Victory | 1, 6, 20 | Greco-Roman mythology collision (Disney-era pop culture) vs. biblical realm-of-the-dead sense. |
| worship | προσκυνέω (proskyneō) | adorer | Critical | Worship of the Lamb | 4, 5, 7, 9, 13, 14, 19, 22 | Angel’s refusal of worship (19:10; 22:8–9) directly engages Catholic/Protestant veneration debates. |
| worthy | ἄξιος (axios) | digne | High | Worship of the Lamb | 4, 5 | Lamb’s shared worthiness with God asserts co-equal deity. |
| elders (twenty-four) | πρεσβύτεροι (presbyteroi) | anciens | Medium | Worship of the Lamb; Sovereignty | 4, 5, 7, 11, 14, 19 | Collision with French Reformed church-eldership office title. |
| living creatures | ζῷα (zōa) | êtres vivants | Low | Worship of the Lamb | 4, 5, 6, 7, 14, 15, 19 | Prefer over archaic Segond “animaux.” |
| tribulation, great tribulation | θλῖψις (thlipsis) | la (grande) tribulation | High | Perseverance under Persecution | 1, 2, 7 | Established French eschatological phrase carries varied denominational timetables; avoid implying one scheme. |
| patient endurance / perseverance | ὑπομονή (hypomonē) | la persévérance | High | Perseverance and Faithful Witness | 1, 2, 3, 13, 14 | Believer’s appropriate response to persecution, distinct from resistance or accommodation. |
| Faithful and True | πιστὸς καὶ ἀληθινός | Fidèle et Véritable | High | Assurance of Final Victory | 3, 19, 21, 22 | Divine title of reliability, echoed across the book’s close. |
| Word of God (title) | ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ | la Parole de Dieu | High | Deity of Christ; Return and Reign | 19 | Resonant with, but distinct in register from, Johannine “Verbe”/Logos tradition. |
| King of kings, Lord of lords | βασιλεὺς βασιλέων καὶ κύριος κυρίων | Roi des rois et Seigneur des seigneurs | Critical | Return and Reign; Lordship of Christ | 17, 19 | Superlative, exclusive supremacy; never soften. |
| marriage supper of the Lamb | τὸ δεῖπνον τοῦ γάμου τοῦ ἀρνίου | le festin des noces de l’Agneau | High | Church as Bride of Christ | 19 | Combines sacrificial Lamb imagery with covenantal wedding joy. |
| righteous deeds of the saints | τὰ δικαιώματα τῶν ἁγίων | les œuvres justes des saints | High | Judgment; Vindication of Saints | 19 | Fruit of grace-given status, not merit earning it — align with baseline grace/justification cautions. |
| everlasting gospel | εὐαγγέλιον αἰώνιον | l’Évangile éternel | Medium | Gospel; Judgment | 14 | Extends “Évangile” (Romans TM) with qualifier. |
| 144,000 | ἑκατὸν τεσσεράκοντα τέσσαρες χιλιάδες | cent quarante-quatre mille | High | Symbolic and Apocalyptic Interpretation | 7, 14 | Symbolic completeness number, not a literal census figure. |
| synagogue of Satan | συναγωγὴ τοῦ Σατανᾶ | la synagogue de Satan | Critical | Sovereignty over History; historical sensitivity | 2, 3 | Specific local polemic only; acute antisemitism-risk given France’s Jewish community; never generalize to Jewish people collectively. |
| called, chosen, and faithful | κλητοὶ καὶ ἐκλεκτοὶ καὶ πιστοί | appelés, élus et fidèles | High | Sovereignty over History | 17 | Reprises baseline “élection”/“appelé” collision verbatim within Revelation. |
| the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ | ἐγένετο ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ κόσμου… | le royaume du monde est devenu celui de notre Seigneur et de son Christ | High | Return and Reign of Christ | 11 | Central proclamation in miniature; retain already/not-yet tension. |
| they conquered by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony | ἐνίκησαν… διὰ τὸ αἷμα τοῦ ἀρνίου καὶ διὰ τὸν λόγον τῆς μαρτυρίας αὐτῶν | ils l’ont vaincu par le sang de l’Agneau et par la parole de leur témoignage | Critical | Perseverance; Assurance of Final Victory | 12 | Programmatic fusion of three Critical/High terms; interpretive key to two named doctrines. |
| wrath of the Lamb | ἡ ὀργὴ τοῦ ἀρνίου | la colère de l’Agneau | High | Judgment of the Wicked | 6 | Pointed paradox (sacrificial Lamb as righteous judge) must not be softened. |
| I am coming soon | ἔρχομαι ταχύ | je viens bientôt | Critical | Return and Reign of Christ | 22 | Preserve imminence without implying a specific date-timetable. |
| Come, Lord Jesus | Ἔρχου, Κύριε Ἰησοῦ | Viens, Seigneur Jésus | Critical | Return and Reign of Christ | 22 | Climactic prayer uniting Lordship-confession with return doctrine; echoes Aramaic “Maranatha.” |
| they will reign forever and ever | βασιλεύσουσιν εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων | ils régneront aux siècles des siècles | Critical | Return and Reign of Christ | 22 | Final unqualified statement of the reign doctrine, shared with the saints. |
| two witnesses | οἱ δύο μάρτυρες | les deux témoins | High | Perseverance and Faithful Witness | 11 | Compressed enactment of the death-to-vindication pattern. |
| tree of life | τὸ ξύλον τῆς ζωῆς | l’arbre de vie | Medium | New Heaven and New Earth | 2, 22 | Eden background required. |
| river of the water of life | ποταμὸς ὕδατος ζωῆς | le fleuve d’eau de la vie | Medium | New Heaven and New Earth | 21 (v.6), 22 | — |
| morning star | ὁ ἀστὴρ ὁ πρωϊνός | l’étoile du matin | Medium | Return and Reign of Christ | 2, 22 | Must be distinguished from the unrelated “Lucifer” (Isaiah 14) tradition. |
| crown of life | στέφανος τῆς ζωῆς | couronne de vie | Medium | Perseverance and Faithful Witness | 2 | Victor’s-wreath imagery, not royal diadem. |
| rod / scepter of iron | ῥάβδος σιδηρᾶ | sceptre de fer | Medium | Return and Reign of Christ | 2, 12, 19 | Messianic royal authority to judge/rule. |
| Armageddon | Ἁρμαγεδών | Harmaguédon | Medium | Sovereignty over History; Symbolic Interpretation | 16 | Pop-culture disaster-word collision, parallel to “apocalypse.” |
| Michael / war in heaven | Μιχαήλ | Michel | Low | Assurance of Final Victory | 12 | — |
| accuser | ὁ κατήγορος | l’accusateur | Medium | Assurance of Final Victory | 12 | Legal/courtroom image of the defeated prosecutor. |
| come out of her, my people | ἐξέλθατε ἐξ αὐτῆς, ὁ λαός μου | sortez d’elle, mon peuple | Medium | Judgment of the Wicked | 18 | Moral/spiritual separation, not geographic withdrawal. |
| Abaddon / Apollyon | Ἀβαδδὼν / Ἀπολλύων | Abaddon / Apollyon | Medium | Judgment of the Wicked | 9 | ”Destroyer” meaning should be glossed. |
| judged according to their works | ἐκρίθησαν κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν | jugés selon leurs œuvres | High | Judgment of the Wicked | 20 | Hold together with, not against, grace/justification (Romans TM). |
| holy, holy, holy | ἅγιος ἅγιος ἅγιος | Saint, Saint, Saint | Medium | Sanctification; Worship of the Lamb | 4 | Hebraic superlative; retain triple repetition. |
| new (qualitative) | καινός (kainos) | nouveau / nouvelle | Medium | New Heaven and New Earth | 2, 3, 5, 21 | Distinguish from merely-recent (νέος); renewal-in-kind, not replacement. |
| sea (symbolic chaos) | θάλασσα (thalassa) | mer | Medium | New Heaven and New Earth; Symbolic Interpretation | 4, 13, 21 | Symbol of chaos/threat, not merely geographic. |
| worship the beast (idolatrous parody) | προσκυνέω (perverted use) | adorer la bête | High | Judgment of the Wicked; Worship of the Lamb (negative counterpart) | 13 | Direct negative counterpart to true worship; parallel must be visible. |
| Word/witness triad: called, elders, worthy, tabernacle, Lamb, throne — cross-reference | — | — | — | — | — | See individual entries above; these five terms interlock across nearly every chapter and should be reviewed together in Phase 2 QA passes. |
Section C — Chapters Explicitly Reviewed with No New Terms Beyond Continuation
No chapter in Revelation was found to introduce zero new theological vocabulary; every chapter (1–22) contributes at least one load-bearing term, as documented in 07_semantic_analysis.md. Chapters 9, 16, and 18 are the closest to pure continuations of an immediately preceding chapter’s structural pattern (trumpets, bowls, and Babylon’s fall, respectively) but each still introduces distinct new terms of doctrinal weight (Abaddon/Apollyon, ch. 9; Armageddon, ch. 16; “come out of her, my people” and “merchants of the earth,” ch. 18) and are therefore treated in full above rather than marked as reused-only.
This glossary must be merged into a Revelation-specific translation_memory.json extension before Phase 2 segment translation begins, per the Translation Memory Load and Enforcement Instructions in 12_ai_translation_requirements.md. All Section A terms must match the baseline Romans package exactly; all Section B terms are new entries requiring theologian review before finalization for every Critical- and High-risk row.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: Dieu
Transliteration: Dieu
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over History
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package; translation reused exactly. In Revelation God is repeatedly identified as ‘celui qui est assis sur le trône,’ reinforcing rather than altering the baseline sense.
Lord
Approved rendering: Seigneur
Transliteration: Seigneur
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: maître, patron
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package; French rendering unchanged, but risk is elevated from High (baseline) to Critical in this curriculum given the superlative title ‘Roi des rois et Seigneur des seigneurs’ (19:16) and the climactic confessional prayer ‘Viens, Seigneur Jésus’ (22:20). Never soften toward ‘a lord among lords.‘
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Esprit Saint
Transliteration: Esprit Saint
Doctrine: Worship of the Lamb
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package exactly. See new entry ‘seven_spirits’ for the symbolic sevenfold-fullness risk unique to Revelation 1:4; 3:1; 4:5; 5:6.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: Fils de Dieu
Transliteration: Fils de Dieu
Doctrine: Deity and Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: envoyé de Dieu, homme divin
Original: υἱὸς θεοῦ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package exactly. MUST NEVER be applied to the believer’s derivative sonship in 21:7, which uses ‘adoption filiale’ (baseline term) instead.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: résurrection
Transliteration: résurrection
Doctrine: The Return and Reign of Christ
Rejected alternatives: renaissance
Original: ἀνάστασις
Category: Eschatology
Inherited from Romans package; French rendering unchanged, but risk is elevated from Medium (baseline) to Critical in this curriculum given its foundational role in Christ’s own identity (1:5) and the further interpretively-contested extension at ‘first_resurrection’ (20:5-6).
Alpha And Omega
Approved rendering: Alpha et Oméga
Transliteration: to Alpha kai to Ō
Doctrine: Deity and Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: le commencement et la fin (paraphrase seule, perd le parallèle de titre partagé)
Original: τὸ Ἄλφα καὶ τὸ Ὦ
Category: God
NEW. Divine self-designation applied identically to the Father (1:8; 21:6) and to Christ (22:13) — a direct assertion of Christ’s full deity. Must appear identically at all three occurrences.
Lamb
Approved rendering: Agneau
Transliteration: Arnion
Doctrine: Worship of the Lamb
Rejected alternatives: agneau (minuscule, générique), petit mouton (image trop attendrissante)
Original: Ἀρνίον
Category: Christology
NEW. The single most theologically load-bearing term in Revelation (28+ occurrences). Must always retain the slain-yet-victorious paradox (5:6) together; never reduce to a gentle pastoral image.
King Of Kings
Approved rendering: Roi des rois et Seigneur des seigneurs
Transliteration: basileus basileōn kai kyrios kyriōn
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: un roi parmi d’autres rois, Roi des rois (titre tronqué)
Original: βασιλεὺς βασιλέων καὶ κύριος κυρίων
Category: Christology
NEW. Superlative, exclusive-supremacy title (17:14; 19:16); must always appear in full, never abbreviated or softened.
Synagogue Of Satan
Approved rendering: la synagogue de Satan
Transliteration: synagōgē tou Satana
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: généralisation au peuple juif (interdite dans tous les cas)
Original: συναγωγὴ τοῦ Σατανᾶ
Category: Perseverance
NEW. Specific local polemical designation for a hostile group in Smyrna/Philadelphia (2:9; 3:9). Given France’s Jewish community and the historical weight of Christian antisemitic rhetoric, must be anchored exclusively to the local conflict and never generalized.
They Conquered By Blood Of Lamb
Approved rendering: ils l’ont vaincu par le sang de l’Agneau et par la parole de leur témoignage
Transliteration: enikēsan auton dia to haima tou arniou kai dia ton logon tēs martyrias autōn
Doctrine: Perseverance and Faithful Witness under Persecution
Original: ἐνίκησαν αὐτὸν διὰ τὸ αἷμα τοῦ ἀρνίου καὶ διὰ τὸν λόγον τῆς μαρτυρίας αὐτῶν
Category: Perseverance
NEW. Programmatic fusion verse (12:11) of Agneau, vaincre, and témoignage — the interpretive key to two named doctrines; requires maximum rendering precision.
They Will Reign Forever
Approved rendering: ils régneront aux siècles des siècles
Transliteration: basileusousin eis tous aiōnas tōn aiōnōn
Doctrine: The Return and Reign of Christ
Original: βασιλεύσουσιν εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων
Category: Kingdom
NEW. Final, unqualified statement of Christ’s reign shared with the saints forever (22:5); must retain full, unending, certain force.
Worship
Approved rendering: adorer
Transliteration: proskyneō
Doctrine: Worship of the Lamb
Rejected alternatives: vénérer (catégorie distincte à ne jamais fusionner silencieusement)
Original: προσκυνέω
Category: Worship
NEW. Reverent homage due to God and the Lamb alone, explicitly refused by an angel (19:10; 22:8-9) — directly engages Catholic veneration debates around saints, Mary, and angels; must be rendered with precision, without polemicizing against any tradition.
Second Death
Approved rendering: la seconde mort
Transliteration: ho thanatos ho deuteros
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Rejected alternatives: extinction/anéantissement (ambiguïté annihilationniste à éviter), métaphore de malheur présent (rejeté)
Original: ὁ θάνατος ὁ δεύτερος
Category: Judgment
NEW. Eternal separation from God for the unrepentant, distinct from ordinary physical death (2:11; 20:6, 14; 21:8); must be sharply distinguished from the ‘mort’ abolished in 21:4.
Lake Of Fire
Approved rendering: l’étang de feu
Transliteration: hē limnē tou pyros
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Rejected alternatives: le lac de feu (variante moderne, non retenue comme rendu principal)
Original: ἡ λίμνη τοῦ πυρός
Category: Judgment
NEW. Place of final judgment for the unrepentant (19:20; 20:10, 14-15; 21:8), imagery drawn from Sodom’s destruction; must retain full, decisive, just-judgment force without sensationalizing or softening.
I Am Coming Soon
Approved rendering: je viens bientôt
Transliteration: erchomai tachy
Doctrine: The Return and Reign of Christ
Rejected alternatives: je viens immédiatement (sur-précision d’un calendrier), je reviendrai un jour (affaiblit l’imminence)
Original: ἔρχομαι ταχύ
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Christ’s repeated announcement of imminent return (22:7, 12, 20); must preserve imminence without implying a specific date — particularly sensitive given French readers’ historical exposure to date-setting millenarian movements.
Come Lord Jesus
Approved rendering: Viens, Seigneur Jésus
Transliteration: Erchou, Kyrie Iēsou
Doctrine: The Return and Reign of Christ
Original: Ἔρχου, Κύριε Ἰησοῦ
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Climactic prayer of eschatological longing (22:20), echoing Aramaic ‘Maranatha’; must match the register of Romans 10:9’s ‘Jésus est Seigneur’ per the consistency rule for pivotal confessional statements.
High Risk Terms
144000
Approved rendering: cent quarante-quatre mille
Transliteration: hekaton tesserakonta tessares chiliades
Doctrine: Symbolic and Apocalyptic Interpretation
Rejected alternatives: recensement littéral (lecture erronée à rejeter explicitement)
Original: ἑκατὸν τεσσεράκοντα τέσσαρες χιλιάδες
Category: Symbolic Interpretation
NEW. Symbolic number of completeness (12 x 12 x 1,000) representing the full, secure company of God’s servants (7:4; 14:1, 3); requires an explicit numeric-symbolism teaching note.
Church
Approved rendering: Église
Transliteration: Église
Doctrine: The Church as Bride of Christ
Rejected alternatives: temple (bâtiment seul)
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Plural ‘les Églises’ (chs. 1-3) denotes the seven concrete local congregations, partly disambiguating the institutional-Catholic-Church risk; still must be distinguished from any building, especially at 21:22’s ‘no temple’ language.
Saints
Approved rendering: saints
Transliteration: les saints
Doctrine: Sainthood of All Believers
Original: ἅγιοι
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package exactly; gloss as ‘tous les croyants’ per baseline. Occurs far more frequently in Revelation than in Romans (chs. 5, 6, 8, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20), intensifying the baseline’s canonized-intercessor risk, especially at ‘prayers of the saints’ (5:8; 8:3-4).
Grace
Approved rendering: grâce
Transliteration: grâce
Doctrine: Grace as Unmerited Gift
Rejected alternatives: faveur, mérite
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Reinforce the unmerited-gift sense at 21:6 (‘gratuitement’, δωρεάν) and the closing benediction 22:21.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: justice
Transliteration: justice
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Rejected alternatives: vertu, droiture
Original: δικαιοσύνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package exactly. At 19:8 (‘righteous deeds of the saints’) must not be read as merit earning salvation; see new entry ‘righteous_deeds_of_saints’.
Prophet
Approved rendering: prophète
Transliteration: prophète
Doctrine: Symbolic and Apocalyptic Interpretation
Rejected alternatives: voyant
Inherited from Romans package; French rendering unchanged, but risk elevated from Low (baseline) to High since Revelation designates itself ‘prophecy’ (1:3; 22:18-19), raising the hermeneutical stakes well beyond the Romans baseline’s occasional usage.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: prophétie
Transliteration: prophétie
Doctrine: Inspiration and Canonical Integrity of Prophecy
Inherited from Romans package; French rendering unchanged, but risk elevated from Low (baseline) to High given the book’s self-designation as prophecy and the canon-integrity warning at 22:18-19.
Election
Approved rendering: élection
Transliteration: élection
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over History
Rejected alternatives: chance, destin
Original: ἐκλογή / ἐκλεκτός
Category: Sovereignty
Inherited from Romans package exactly. French ‘élection’ is the everyday political-election word; this collision recurs verbatim in Revelation’s climactic victory scene, ‘appelés, élus et fidèles’ (17:14) — see new entry ‘called_chosen_faithful’.
Called
Approved rendering: appelé
Transliteration: appelé
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over History
Rejected alternatives: invité
Original: κλητός
Category: Sovereignty
Inherited from Romans package exactly; part of the triad ‘called, chosen, and faithful’ (17:14).
Seven Spirits
Approved rendering: les sept esprits
Transliteration: ta hepta pneumata
Doctrine: Worship of the Lamb
Rejected alternatives: la plénitude de l’Esprit (paraphrase qui perd l’écho d’Isaïe 11:2)
Original: τὰ ἑπτὰ πνεύματα
Category: God
NEW. Symbolic sevenfold fullness of the one Holy Spirit before the throne (1:4; 3:1; 4:5; 5:6), not seven distinct spirit-beings. A literal French reading risks a polytheistic misunderstanding; requires a mandatory teaching note at every occurrence given the Critical Trinitarian stakes attached to ‘Esprit Saint.‘
Throne
Approved rendering: trône
Transliteration: thronos
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over History
Original: θρόνος
Category: God
NEW. The book’s controlling sovereignty image (~40 occurrences). French ‘trône’ is easily read through a feudal-ceremonial, decorative lens rather than God’s active, present rule over unfolding persecution and judgment; requires a recurring teaching note.
Worthy
Approved rendering: digne
Transliteration: axios
Doctrine: Worship of the Lamb
Original: ἄξιος
Category: Worship
NEW. Worship-worthiness ascribed to God alone (4:11) and then shared explicitly with the Lamb (5:9, 12-13) — a direct assertion of co-equal deity; must not read as derivative or lesser honor for the Lamb.
Faithful And True
Approved rendering: Fidèle et Véritable
Transliteration: pistos kai alēthinos
Doctrine: Assurance of God’s Final Victory over Evil
Rejected alternatives: c’est vrai (trop générique, perd la fiabilité alliancielle)
Original: πιστὸς καὶ ἀληθινός
Category: Christology
NEW. Divine title of covenant reliability first applied to God’s words (21:5), then explicitly to Christ (19:11).
Word Of God
Approved rendering: la Parole de Dieu
Transliteration: ho logos tou theou
Doctrine: Deity and Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: le Verbe (registre johannique distinct, à noter mais non substituer)
Original: ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Christology
NEW. Christological title for the returning rider (19:13); conceptually resonant with, but distinct in register from, the Johannine ‘Verbe’ (Logos) tradition.
First Resurrection
Approved rendering: la première résurrection
Transliteration: hē anastasis hē prōtē
Doctrine: Millennial Reign Interpretation
Original: ἡ ἀνάστασις ἡ πρώτη
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Extends the Critical ‘résurrection’ caution into a further, denominationally contested interpretive question (20:5-6); requires non-partisan framing.
Righteous Deeds Of Saints
Approved rendering: les œuvres justes des saints
Transliteration: ta dikaiōmata tōn hagiōn
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Rejected alternatives: mérites des saints (lecture méritoire erronée)
Original: τὰ δικαιώματα τῶν ἁγίων
Category: Salvation
NEW. The fine linen of the bride (19:8); must be read as fruit of a status already granted by grace, never as earning that status.
Bride Of The Lamb
Approved rendering: épouse / femme
Transliteration: nymphē / gynē
Doctrine: The Church as Bride of Christ
Original: νύμφη / γυνή
Category: Church
NEW. Corporate covenant image of the whole people of God (19:7; 21:2, 9). No pre-fixed baseline term exists; ‘épouse’ alone risks a private-romance reading and must always be paired with a corporate gloss connecting to ‘Église’.
Marriage Supper Of The Lamb
Approved rendering: le festin des noces de l’Agneau
Transliteration: to deipnon tou gamou tou arniou
Doctrine: The Church as Bride of Christ
Original: τὸ δεῖπνον τοῦ γάμου τοῦ ἀρνίου
Category: Church
NEW. Climactic wedding-feast image of the consummated union between Christ and his redeemed people (19:9); must retain both the sacrificial identity of the Lamb and the joyful covenantal register together.
New Jerusalem
Approved rendering: la nouvelle Jérusalem / la ville sainte
Transliteration: Ierousalēm kainē / hagia polis
Doctrine: The New Heaven and New Earth
Original: Ἰερουσαλὴμ καινή / ἁγία πόλις
Category: Eschatology
NEW. The consummated dwelling of God with his people (3:12; 21:2, 9-27); must be anchored explicitly against conflation with the modern political city/state, given France’s Jewish community and Middle East political discourse.
Tabernacle Dwell
Approved rendering: habiter / dresser sa tente
Transliteration: skēnoō
Doctrine: The New Heaven and New Earth
Rejected alternatives: il habitera avec eux (seul, sans note, perd l’écho du tabernacle)
Original: σκηνόω
Category: Eschatology
NEW. God’s final, permanent dwelling with his people (7:15; 15:5; 21:3), deliberately echoing John 1:14 and the OT tent of meeting. Bare ‘habiter’ is doctrinally serviceable but severs this intertextual link without a translator note.
Beast
Approved rendering: la bête
Transliteration: thērion
Doctrine: Symbolic and Apocalyptic Interpretation
Original: θηρίον
Category: Judgment
NEW. Composite monstrous figure of oppressive anti-God power (chs. 11, 13-17, 19-20). Must be framed as a symbolic, trans-historical figure, not an endorsement of France’s Reformation-era Papacy-identification tradition.
Mark Of The Beast
Approved rendering: la marque de la bête
Transliteration: charagma
Doctrine: Symbolic and Apocalyptic Interpretation
Original: χάραγμα
Category: Judgment
NEW. Symbol of total economic/social allegiance to anti-God power (13:16-17). Must resist secular conspiracy-theory literalization (technology, barcodes).
Babylon Great Prostitute
Approved rendering: la grande prostituée / Babylone la grande
Transliteration: hē pornē hē megalē / Babylōn hē megalē
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Original: ἡ πόρνη ἡ μεγάλη / Βαβυλὼν ἡ μεγάλη
Category: Judgment
NEW. Idolatrous, seductive world-system allied with political/economic power against God (chs. 14, 16-18). Gendered OT-prophetic idiom risk; requires a teaching note situating the image within Isaiah/Ezekiel/Jeremiah’s covenant-unfaithfulness tradition, clarifying the referent is a corrupt system, not women as such.
Judged According To Works
Approved rendering: jugés selon leurs œuvres
Transliteration: ekrithēsan kata ta erga autōn
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Original: ἐκρίθησαν κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν
Category: Judgment
NEW. Standard of final judgment (20:12-13); must be held together with, not against, the baseline’s Critical grace/justification framework — works evidence a grace-given status, not a second path to acceptance.
Wrath Of The Lamb
Approved rendering: la colère de l’Agneau
Transliteration: hē orgē tou arniou
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Original: ἡ ὀργὴ τοῦ ἀρνίου
Category: Judgment
NEW. Paradoxical judicial wrath exercised by the sacrificial Lamb (6:16); the pairing of ‘Agneau’ with judicial wrath is theologically pointed and must not be softened or treated as incongruous.
Tribulation
Approved rendering: la (grande) tribulation
Transliteration: thlipsis
Doctrine: Perseverance and Faithful Witness under Persecution
Original: θλῖψις
Category: Perseverance
NEW. Suffering/distress, intensified as ‘the great tribulation’ (7:14). The established French phrase carries denominationally varied end-times freight; must not import a single prophetic timetable.
Patient Endurance
Approved rendering: la persévérance
Transliteration: hypomonē
Doctrine: Perseverance and Faithful Witness under Persecution
Rejected alternatives: résistance (militante), accommodation (opposé)
Original: ὑπομονή
Category: Perseverance
NEW. Steadfast endurance under pressure, the appropriate believer’s response to beast-power (1:9; 2:2-3, 19; 3:10; 13:10; 14:12); distinct from armed resistance or accommodation.
Overcomer
Approved rendering: celui qui vaincra / le vainqueur
Transliteration: ho nikōn
Doctrine: Perseverance and Faithful Witness under Persecution
Rejected alternatives: conquérant militaire (lecture triomphaliste erronée)
Original: ὁ νικῶν
Category: Perseverance
NEW. Programmatic term (all seven letters; 12:11; 21:7): victory through faithful endurance and testimony unto death, never worldly conquest.
Witness Testimony
Approved rendering: témoin / témoignage
Transliteration: martys / martyria
Doctrine: Perseverance and Faithful Witness under Persecution
Rejected alternatives: martyr (importe systématiquement une connotation de mort absente de certaines occurrences, ex. 1:5)
Original: μάρτυς / μαρτυρία
Category: Perseverance
NEW. Jesus is ‘the faithful witness’ (1:5); term develops toward witnesses killed for their testimony (2:13; 6:9; 17:6). Escalate to ‘martyr’ only where context makes death explicit.
Two Witnesses
Approved rendering: les deux témoins
Transliteration: hoi dyo martyres
Doctrine: Perseverance and Faithful Witness under Persecution
Original: οἱ δύο μάρτυρες
Category: Perseverance
NEW. Two prophetic figures whose death and resurrection (11:3-12) compresses the whole book’s perseverance-unto-vindication pattern.
Called Chosen Faithful
Approved rendering: appelés, élus et fidèles
Transliteration: klētoi kai eklektoi kai pistoi
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over History
Original: κλητοὶ καὶ ἐκλεκτοὶ καὶ πιστοί
Category: Sovereignty
NEW. Triadic description at the climactic victory scene (17:14); reprises the baseline ‘élection’/‘appelé’ collision verbatim.
Kingdom Of World Become Kingdom Of Lord
Approved rendering: le royaume du monde est devenu celui de notre Seigneur et de son Christ
Transliteration: egeneto hē basileia tou kosmou tou kyriou hēmōn kai tou Christou autou
Doctrine: The Return and Reign of Christ
Original: ἐγένετο ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ κόσμου τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν καὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ
Category: Kingdom
NEW. The book’s central proclamation in miniature (11:15); must retain the definitive, already-announced-though-not-yet-consummated tension.
Worship The Beast
Approved rendering: adorer la bête
Transliteration: proskyneō (usage idolâtre)
Doctrine: Worship of the Lamb
Original: προσκυνέω (idolatrous use)
Category: Worship
NEW. Perverted counterpart of true worship (13:4, 8, 12); the same French verb used for true worship of God/the Lamb is here perverted, and this parallel must remain visible.
Revelation Apocalypse
Approved rendering: révélation / l’Apocalypse
Transliteration: apokalypsis
Doctrine: Symbolic and Apocalyptic Interpretation
Rejected alternatives: catastrophe (dérive sémantique moderne à rejeter)
Original: ἀποκάλυψις
Category: Symbolic Interpretation
NEW. The book’s self-designation (1:1) as unveiling, not disaster-prediction. Contemporary secular French ‘apocalypse’ has drifted almost entirely toward ‘catastrophic disaster’ — the single most consequential genre-framing risk in the whole book.
Millennium
Approved rendering: mille ans
Transliteration: chilia etē
Doctrine: Millennial Reign Interpretation
Rejected alternatives: le millénium (terme technique figé, imposerait un schéma dénominationnel)
Original: χίλια ἔτη
Category: Eschatology
NEW. The primary hermeneutical fault line of the book (20:2-7); French Catholic, Reformed, and Evangelical traditions hold materially different schemes — retain the plain, non-technical phrase.
Four Horsemen
Approved rendering: les quatre cavaliers
Transliteration: (symbolic figures, 6:1-8)
Doctrine: Symbolic and Apocalyptic Interpretation
NEW. Symbolic figures of conquest, war, famine, and death (6:1-8). Strong secular/pop-culture familiarity with ‘the four horsemen of the apocalypse’ risks free-floating disaster-trope readings divorced from God’s sovereign unsealing of history.
Incense
Approved rendering: les parfums (l’encens)
Transliteration: thymiamata
Doctrine: Sainthood of All Believers
NEW. Symbolic representation of the prayers of God’s people ascending directly to him (5:8; 8:3-4). Must be sharply distinguished from the Catholic devotional practice of intercession through the saints — here believers themselves pray, not intermediaries being petitioned.
Medium Risk Terms
Father
Approved rendering: Père
Transliteration: Père
Doctrine: Deity and Sonship of Christ
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package exactly; source of the believer’s kingdom-and-priesthood status (1:6) and the 144,000’s relationship to the Lamb (14:1).
Holy
Approved rendering: saint
Transliteration: saint
Doctrine: Holiness and Moral Purity in the New Creation
Rejected alternatives: pur
Inherited from Romans package exactly; reuse in the triple acclamation ‘Saint, Saint, Saint’ (4:8) without paraphrase or flattening.
Glory
Approved rendering: gloire
Transliteration: gloire
Doctrine: The New Heaven and New Earth
Original: δόξα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package exactly; becomes the literal light of the new Jerusalem (21:23).
Faith
Approved rendering: foi
Transliteration: foi
Doctrine: Perseverance and Faithful Witness under Persecution
Rejected alternatives: croyance, religion
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package exactly; sustains believers under persecution (2:13; 13:10; 14:12).
Salvation
Approved rendering: salut
Transliteration: salut
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Rejected alternatives: délivrance
Original: σωτηρία
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package exactly; celebrated in the heavenly liturgy’s acclamations (7:10; 12:10; 19:1).
Sin
Approved rendering: péché
Transliteration: péché
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package exactly; in view especially at ‘come out of her, my people’ regarding Babylon’s sins (18:4-5).
Covenant
Approved rendering: alliance
Transliteration: alliance
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over History
Rejected alternatives: contrat
Original: διαθήκη
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package exactly; the ark of the covenant appears in the heavenly temple (11:19), and the covenant formula ‘his people… their God’ reaches its fulfillment at 21:3.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: Royaume de Dieu
Transliteration: Royaume de Dieu
Doctrine: The Return and Reign of Christ
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Kingdom
Inherited from Romans package exactly; extend to ‘un royaume, des prêtres’ (5:10) and ‘ils régneront’ (22:5) — see new entry ‘they_will_reign_forever’.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: descendance de David
Transliteration: descendance de David
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over History
Rejected alternatives: semence de David (archaïque)
Original: ῥίζα Δαυίδ / γένος Δαυίδ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package exactly; extend to ‘le rejeton de David’ (22:16: ‘la racine et la descendance de David’).
Israel
Approved rendering: Israël
Transliteration: Israël
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Original: Ἰσραήλ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Watch the modern-political-Israel conflation risk, especially near ‘new Jerusalem’ imagery (21:12).
Apostle
Approved rendering: apôtre
Transliteration: apôtre
Doctrine: The Church as Bride of Christ
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package exactly; ‘les douze apôtres de l’Agneau’ inscribed on the city’s foundations (21:14) and referenced at 18:20.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: puissance de Dieu
Transliteration: puissance de Dieu
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over History
Rejected alternatives: force
Original: δύναμις
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package exactly (‘puissance’, not the weaker ‘force’); acclaimed repeatedly in the heavenly liturgy alongside ‘Tout-Puissant’ — see new entry ‘almighty’.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: païens
Transliteration: païens
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: étrangers
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Prefer companion rendering ‘les nations’ (see new entry ‘gentiles_nations’) in mission/healing contexts such as 22:2, per baseline guidance.
Holy Holy Holy
Approved rendering: Saint, Saint, Saint
Transliteration: hagios hagios hagios
Doctrine: Holiness and Moral Purity in the New Creation
Rejected alternatives: très saint (adjectif compressé, perd le triple redoublement hébraïque)
Original: ἅγιος ἅγιος ἅγιος
Category: Worship
NEW. Hebraic-superlative triple acclamation (4:8, echoing Isaiah 6:3); must never be flattened into a single adjective.
Son Of Man
Approved rendering: fils d’homme
Transliteration: huios anthrōpou
Doctrine: Deity and Sonship of Christ
Original: υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου
Category: Christology
NEW. Danielic title (Daniel 7:13, Revelation 1:13) emphasizing Christ’s glorified humanity and judicial authority; must not be confused with ‘Fils de Dieu’ (Critical, eternal Sonship).
Morning Star
Approved rendering: l’étoile du matin
Transliteration: ho astēr ho prōinos
Doctrine: The Return and Reign of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Lucifer (tradition distincte issue d’Ésaïe 14, inapplicable ici)
Original: ὁ ἀστὴρ ὁ πρωϊνός
Category: Christology
NEW. Self-title of Christ (2:28; 22:16); must be distinguished from the unrelated Latin ‘Lucifer’ tradition later associated with Satan.
Rod Of Iron
Approved rendering: sceptre de fer
Transliteration: rhabdos sidēra
Doctrine: The Return and Reign of Christ
Rejected alternatives: verge de fer (archaïque)
Original: ῥάβδος σιδηρᾶ
Category: Christology
NEW. Messianic royal authority to judge/rule (2:27; 12:5; 19:15), echoing Psalm 2:9; not arbitrary brutality.
Book Of Life
Approved rendering: le livre de vie
Transliteration: to biblion tēs zōēs
Doctrine: Assurance of God’s Final Victory over Evil
Original: τὸ βιβλίον τῆς ζωῆς
Category: Salvation
NEW. The record of those who belong to God (3:5; 20:12, 15; 21:27); present as settled belonging, not a source of anxious scrutiny.
Everlasting Gospel
Approved rendering: l’Évangile éternel
Transliteration: euangelion aiōnion
Doctrine: The Return and Reign of Christ
Original: εὐαγγέλιον αἰώνιον
Category: Salvation
NEW. Extends the baseline ‘Évangile’ with a qualifier (14:6); the eternality qualifier must be retained, not dropped for brevity.
Elders
Approved rendering: anciens
Transliteration: presbyteroi
Doctrine: Heavenly Liturgy and Angelic Ministry
Original: πρεσβύτεροι
Category: Worship
NEW. The twenty-four elders (4:4, 10 and throughout worship scenes). French ‘anciens’ collides with the actual lay-elder office title in French Reformed/Presbyterian polity; requires a disambiguating note.
Twelve Tribes Gates Apostles
Approved rendering: douze tribus / douze portes / douze apôtres
Transliteration: phylai dōdeka / pylōnes dōdeka / apostoloi dōdeka
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Original: φυλαὶ δώδεκα / πυλῶνες δώδεκα / ἀπόστολοι δώδεκα
Category: Covenant
NEW. Symbolic completeness uniting old and new covenant peoples in the new Jerusalem’s structure (21:12-14); should not be read as architectural literalism divorced from this theological function.
Number Of The Beast
Approved rendering: le nombre de la bête, six cent soixante-six
Transliteration: ho arithmos tou thēriou
Doctrine: Numerical and Symbolic Completeness
Original: ὁ ἀριθμὸς τοῦ θηρίου
Category: Judgment
NEW. Same secular-speculation collision as mark of the beast, at somewhat lower stakes (13:17-18).
Dragon
Approved rendering: le dragon
Transliteration: drakōn
Doctrine: Assurance of God’s Final Victory over Evil
Original: δράκων
Category: Judgment
NEW. Explicitly identified as Satan/the devil (12:9); French ‘dragon’ evokes fantasy/fairy-tale creatures and requires an explicit identification note.
Satan
Approved rendering: Satan
Transliteration: Satanas
Doctrine: Assurance of God’s Final Victory over Evil
Original: Σατανᾶς
Category: Judgment
NEW. Proper name of the cosmic adversary, bound and finally destroyed (2:9, 24; 3:9; 12:9; 20:2, 7); risk is downstream trivialization, not translation ambiguity.
Devil
Approved rendering: le diable
Transliteration: diabolos
Doctrine: Assurance of God’s Final Victory over Evil
Original: διάβολος
Category: Judgment
NEW. Slanderer/accuser, another name for Satan (2:10; 12:9, 12; 20:2, 10). French idiom and popular culture (‘faire le diable’) has domesticated the term into caricature.
Abyss
Approved rendering: l’abîme
Transliteration: abyssos
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Original: ἄβυσσος
Category: Judgment
NEW. Bounded, underworld place of restraint for evil spiritual powers (9:1-2, 11; 11:7; 17:8; 20:1, 3); distinguish from a merely poetic ‘abyss’ (despair metaphor).
Mystery
Approved rendering: mystère
Transliteration: mystērion
Doctrine: Inspiration and Canonical Integrity of Prophecy
Original: μυστήριον
Category: Symbolic Interpretation
NEW. A divinely disclosed, though not yet fully realized, purpose of God (10:7; 17:5, 7). Secular French ‘mystère’ (unsolved puzzle) risks reducing this to an open riddle.
Gog And Magog
Approved rendering: Gog et Magog
Transliteration: ho Gōg kai ho Magōg
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Original: ὁ Γὼγ καὶ ὁ Μαγώγ
Category: Judgment
NEW. Symbolic figures of futile final rebellion against God’s reign (20:8, echoing Ezekiel 38-39); requires OT background note, not a reference to a modern nation.
Great White Throne
Approved rendering: un grand trône blanc
Transliteration: thronos leukos megas
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Original: θρόνος λευκὸς μέγας
Category: Judgment
NEW. Final judicial climax of the throne motif (20:11); read together with the High-risk ‘throne’ entry.
Hades Death
Approved rendering: Hadès / la Mort
Transliteration: hadēs / thanatos
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Original: ᾅδης / θάνατος
Category: Judgment
NEW. Personified temporary abode of the dead, finally emptied and destroyed (1:18; 6:8; 20:13-14). French cultural familiarity with ‘Hadès’ through Greco-Roman myth/pop media risks a mythological reading.
Accuser
Approved rendering: l’accusateur
Transliteration: ho katēgoros
Doctrine: Assurance of God’s Final Victory over Evil
Original: ὁ κατήγορος
Category: Judgment
NEW. Legal/courtroom title for Satan as defeated prosecutor of believers (12:10).
Come Out Of Her My People
Approved rendering: sortez d’elle, mon peuple
Transliteration: exelthate ex autēs, ho laos mou
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Original: ἐξέλθατε ἐξ αὐτῆς, ὁ λαός μου
Category: Judgment
NEW. Call to decisive moral/spiritual separation from Babylon’s corrupt system (18:4), not geographic relocation or monastic withdrawal.
Abaddon Apollyon
Approved rendering: Abaddon / Apollyon
Transliteration: Abaddōn / Apollyōn
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Original: Ἀβαδδὼν / Ἀπολλύων
Category: Judgment
NEW. Both meaning ‘Destroyer’ (9:11); retain both transliterated forms, with the shared meaning glossed.
Crown Of Life
Approved rendering: couronne de vie
Transliteration: stephanos tēs zōēs
Doctrine: Perseverance and Faithful Witness under Persecution
Rejected alternatives: diadème (couronne royale, image distincte)
Original: στέφανος τῆς ζωῆς
Category: Perseverance
NEW. Victor’s wreath promised to the faithful-unto-death (2:10); French ‘couronne’ does not natively distinguish athletic-victory imagery from royal-crown imagery.
Armageddon
Approved rendering: Harmaguédon
Transliteration: Harmagedōn
Doctrine: Symbolic and Apocalyptic Interpretation
Original: Ἁρμαγεδών
Category: Symbolic Interpretation
NEW. Symbolic place-name for the final gathering of anti-God powers (16:16); French pop-culture familiarity risks the same disaster-flattening as ‘apocalypse.‘
Tree Of Life
Approved rendering: l’arbre de vie
Transliteration: to xylon tēs zōēs
Doctrine: The New Heaven and New Earth
Original: τὸ ξύλον τῆς ζωῆς
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Granted to overcomers (2:7) and standing in the new Jerusalem (22:2, 14), echoing Genesis 2:9; 3:22-24; requires Eden cross-reference.
River Of Water Of Life
Approved rendering: le fleuve d’eau de la vie
Transliteration: potamos hydatos zōēs
Doctrine: The New Heaven and New Earth
Original: ποταμὸς ὕδατος ζωῆς
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Flows from God’s throne in the new creation (22:1), reprising 21:6’s water-of-life imagery; keep vocabulary consistent across both occurrences.
New Qualitative
Approved rendering: nouveau / nouvelle
Transliteration: kainos
Doctrine: The New Heaven and New Earth
Original: καινός
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Qualitatively new, of a new kind (contrast νέος, merely recent); French ‘nouveau’ does not distinguish the two senses without a teaching gloss (21:1, 5; 2:7, 17; 3:12; 5:9).
Sea Symbolic
Approved rendering: mer
Transliteration: thalassa
Doctrine: The New Heaven and New Earth
Original: θάλασσα
Category: Symbolic Interpretation
NEW. Recurring symbol of primeval chaos and threat (13:1), finally abolished (21:1). A purely literal-geographic reading misses the symbolic chaos-motif.
Faithful Witness Titles
Approved rendering: le témoin fidèle, le premier-né des morts, le souverain des rois de la terre
Transliteration: ho martys ho pistos, ho prōtotokos tōn nekrōn, ho archōn tōn basileōn
Doctrine: Deity and Sonship of Christ
Original: ὁ μάρτυς ὁ πιστός, ὁ πρωτότοκος τῶν νεκρῶν, ὁ ἄρχων τῶν βασιλέων
Category: Christology
NEW. Opening title cluster for Christ (1:5); ‘premier-né des morts’ should be read in continuity with the baseline ‘résurrection’ concept.
Temple
Approved rendering: le temple (le sanctuaire)
Transliteration: naos
Doctrine: The New Heaven and New Earth
Original: ναός
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Inner sanctuary, measured (11:1-2) but explicitly absent from the final city, where God and the Lamb are its temple (21:22); the contrast should be preserved for teaching.
Gentiles Nations
Approved rendering: païens / nations
Transliteration: ethnē
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Original: ἔθνη
Category: Church
NEW. Non-Jewish peoples in the healing of the nations (22:2) and universal worship scenes (7:9); prefer ‘les nations’ over ‘païens’ in mission/healing contexts, per baseline guidance.
Almighty
Approved rendering: Tout-Puissant
Transliteration: pantokratōr
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over History
Original: παντοκράτωρ
Category: God
NEW. Recurring divine title reinforcing God’s total sovereignty (1, 4, 11, 15, 16, 19, 21); reserved for God (and, at times, Christ), not a generic superlative.
Scroll Seven Seals
Approved rendering: le livre (rouleau), sept sceaux
Transliteration: biblion, sphragides hepta
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over History
NEW. The scroll represents God’s sovereign plan for history and judgment (5:1), not an arbitrary literary device.
Jezebel Nicolaitans
Approved rendering: Jézabel, les Nicolaïtes
Transliteration: Iezabel, Nikolaitai
Doctrine: Perseverance and Faithful Witness under Persecution
NEW. OT-typed false teaching and a heterodox faction (2:6, 15, 20); Jezebel requires OT background.
Key Of David
Approved rendering: la clé de David
Transliteration: hē kleis Dauid
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over History
NEW. Christ’s exclusive authority over access to God’s kingdom (3:7, echoing Isaiah 22:22).
Kingdom And Priests
Approved rendering: un royaume, des prêtres
Transliteration: basileian kai hiereis
Doctrine: The Return and Reign of Christ
NEW. Corporate priestly-kingdom status of the redeemed (5:10), extending ‘Royaume de Dieu.‘
Merchants Of The Earth
Approved rendering: les marchands de la terre
Transliteration: hoi emporoi tēs gēs
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
NEW. Economic-idolatry imagery mourning Babylon’s fall (18:3, 11, 15); avoid importing an anachronistic political-economic program into the text.
Spirit Says To Churches
Approved rendering: l’Esprit dit aux Églises
Transliteration: to pneuma legei tais ekklēsiais
Doctrine: Perseverance and Faithful Witness under Persecution
NEW. The Spirit’s ongoing personal address to the churches (2:7 et al.), consistent with the Critical rating for ‘Esprit Saint’ as a personal agent.
Sit With Me On Throne
Approved rendering: s’asseoir avec moi sur mon trône
Transliteration: kathisai met’ emou en tō thronō mou
Doctrine: The Return and Reign of Christ
NEW. Shared future reign with Christ (3:21; cf. 20:4, 22:5); must not be conflated with Christ’s own unique sovereign identity.
Nothing Unclean Shall Enter
Approved rendering: il n’y entrera rien d’impur
Transliteration: ou mē eiselthē eis autēn pan koinon
Doctrine: Holiness and Moral Purity in the New Creation
NEW. Moral/relational purity, not ritual purity (21:27).
Glory Is Its Light
Approved rendering: la gloire de Dieu… l’Agneau en est le flambeau
Transliteration: hē doxa tou theou… ho lychnos autēs to arnion
Doctrine: The New Heaven and New Earth
NEW. God’s radiant presence literally illumines the new Jerusalem, with the Lamb as its lamp (21:23).
Do Not Add Or Take Away
Approved rendering: si quelqu’un y ajoute… si quelqu’un en retranche
Transliteration: ean tis epithē ep’ auta… ean tis aphelē
Doctrine: Inspiration and Canonical Integrity of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: avertissement contre toute traduction biblique (lecture erronée à rejeter)
NEW. Canon-integrity warning specific to this book (22:18-19); functions as a canon-closing formula for Revelation, not a universal warning against Bible translation.
Little Scroll
Approved rendering: le petit livre (rouleau)
Transliteration: biblaridion
Doctrine: Inspiration and Canonical Integrity of Prophecy
NEW. Sweet-then-bitter scroll (10:2, 9-10, echoing Ezekiel 2-3); symbolic of the mixed sweetness and bitterness of the prophetic calling.
Low Risk Terms
Jesus
Approved rendering: Jésus
Transliteration: Jésus
Doctrine: The Return and Reign of Christ
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package; reuse exactly throughout, including the climactic prayer ‘Viens, Seigneur Jésus’ (22:20).
Christ
Approved rendering: Christ
Transliteration: Christ
Doctrine: The Return and Reign of Christ
Original: Χριστός
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package; reuse exactly, e.g. ‘le royaume du monde est devenu celui de notre Seigneur et de son Christ’ (11:15).
Peace
Approved rendering: paix
Transliteration: paix
Doctrine: Peace with God
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package exactly; opening greeting formula, 1:4.
David
Approved rendering: David
Transliteration: David
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over History
Original: Δαυίδ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package exactly.
Amen
Approved rendering: Amen
Transliteration: Amen
Doctrine: Heavenly Liturgy and Angelic Ministry
Original: ἀμήν
Category: Worship
Inherited from Romans package exactly; closes doxologies throughout the book.
Living Creatures
Approved rendering: êtres vivants
Transliteration: zōa
Doctrine: Heavenly Liturgy and Angelic Ministry
Rejected alternatives: animaux (archaïque Segond, connotation dégradante)
Original: ζῷα
Category: Worship
NEW. Four symbolic worshiping beings (4:6-9, echoing Ezekiel 1 and Isaiah 6).
Open Door
Approved rendering: une porte ouverte
Transliteration: thyra aneōgmenē
Doctrine: The Church as Bride of Christ
NEW. Image of opportunity/access (3:8, 20).
Lukewarm
Approved rendering: tiède
Transliteration: chliaros
Doctrine: Perseverance and Faithful Witness under Persecution
NEW. Laodicea’s spiritual half-heartedness (3:16); vivid but not doctrinally ambiguous.
Gold Refined Fire White Garments
Approved rendering: or purifié par le feu, des vêtements blancs
Transliteration: chrysion pepyrōmenon, himatia leuka
Doctrine: Holiness and Moral Purity in the New Creation
NEW. Purification and covering imagery (3:18).
Hidden Manna White Stone
Approved rendering: la manne cachée, un caillou blanc
Transliteration: to manna to kekrymmenon, psēphos leukē
Doctrine: Perseverance and Faithful Witness under Persecution
NEW. Private, intimate reward imagery for the overcomer (2:17).
New Song
Approved rendering: un chant nouveau
Transliteration: ōdē kainē
Doctrine: Worship of the Lamb
NEW. New-creation worship response to the Lamb’s redeeming work (5:9; 14:3).
Ark Of Covenant
Approved rendering: l’arche de l’alliance
Transliteration: hē kibōtos tēs diathēkēs
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over History
NEW. Appears in the heavenly temple (11:19); reuses the baseline ‘alliance’ term.
Michael War In Heaven
Approved rendering: Michel, une guerre dans le ciel
Transliteration: Michaēl, polemos en tō ouranō
Doctrine: Assurance of God’s Final Victory over Evil
NEW. Cosmic conflict narrative (12:7); stable proper name, low ambiguity risk.
Millstone
Approved rendering: une pierre semblable à une grande meule
Transliteration: lithos hōs mylinos megas
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
NEW. Symbolic act of Babylon’s finality (18:21).
Hallelujah
Approved rendering: Alléluia
Transliteration: Hallelouia
Doctrine: Heavenly Liturgy and Angelic Ministry
NEW. Liturgical acclamation (19:1, 3, 4, 6); reuses the baseline Amen/Alléluia transliteration convention.
Trumpets
Approved rendering: trompette(s)
Transliteration: salpinx
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over History
NEW. Signals of divine action/warning in salvation-history sequence (8:2 et seq.).
Wormwood
Approved rendering: absinthe (plante amère)
Transliteration: apsinthos
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
NEW. Bitter plant, symbolic of judgment turning sweetness to bitterness (8:11); gloss to avoid confusion with the modern alcoholic spirit of the same French name.
Silence In Heaven
Approved rendering: silence
Transliteration: sigē
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over History
NEW. Dramatic pause before judgment unfolds (8:1).
Referenced passages