Core Glossary
Genesis — Core Glossary (Phase 1, Step 1)
Curriculum: Genesis
Language pair: English → German
Status legend: REUSED = term already fixed in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json / bible_term_registry.json and reused here without modification, per the hard rule that established renderings must be reused exactly. NEW = term introduced by this Genesis curriculum, not present in the baseline, requiring its own risk assessment and (in Phase 2) addition to translation memory.
Master Glossary Table
| # | English Term | Hebrew (Transliteration) | LXX Greek | German Rendering | Status | Risk | Doctrine | Chapter(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | God | אֱלֹהִים (Elohim) | ὁ θεός | Gott | REUSED | Medium | Creation Ex Nihilo; all | 1:1 and throughout | Baseline god. Grammatically plural form, singular referent; polemic against ANE polytheism. |
| 2 | create (ex nihilo) | בָּרָא (bara) | ἐποίησεν | schuf / erschaffen | NEW | Critical | Creation Ex Nihilo | 1:1, 21, 27; 2:3 | Never “machte” (would flatten to mere assembly). Distinguish from yatsar (formen) and asah (machen). Guard against German creation-evolution culture-war framing not native to the text. |
| 3 | in the beginning | בְּרֵאשִׁית (bereshit) | Ἐν ἀρχῇ | Am Anfang | NEW | Medium | Creation Ex Nihilo | 1:1 | Absolute origin of time itself, not a narrative opener. |
| 4 | heavens and earth | שָׁמַיִם / אֶרֶץ | οὐρανός / γῆ | Himmel und Erde | NEW | Low | Creation Ex Nihilo | 1:1 | Merism for the entire created order. |
| 5 | formless and empty | תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ (tohu wa-bohu) | ἀόρατος καὶ ἀκατασκεύαστος | wüst und leer | NEW | Medium | Creation Ex Nihilo | 1:2 | Iconic, well-known German phrase; guard against flattening its specific theological function. |
| 6 | Spirit of God | רוּחַ אֱלֹהִים (ruach Elohim) | πνεῦμα θεοῦ | Geist Gottes | NEW (cf. REUSED root) | High | Creation Ex Nihilo | 1:2; 41:38 | Distinguish from baseline holy_spirit = “Heiliger Geist” (fuller NT revelation); this is its OT seed-form. |
| 7 | light | אוֹר (or) | φῶς | Licht | NEW | Low | Creation Ex Nihilo | 1:3ff | — |
| 8 | good / very good | טוֹב / טוֹב מְאֹד (tov / tov me’od) | καλόν / καλὰ λίαν | gut / sehr gut | NEW | Medium | Creation Ex Nihilo; Sin’s Consequences | 1:4–31 | Functional/moral/ontological goodness, not merely aesthetic; foundational for evil-as-intrusion doctrine. |
| 9 | firmament / expanse | רָקִיע (raqia) | στερέωμα | Gewölbe (older: Feste) | NEW | Medium | Creation Ex Nihilo | 1:6–8 | Note both Lutherbibel-era renderings for cross-generational clarity. |
| 10 | according to its kind | לְמִינֵהוּ (le-mino) | κατὰ γένος | nach seiner Art | NEW | Medium | Creation Ex Nihilo | 1:11–25 | Keep theological (ordering will of God), not a biological-taxonomy claim. |
| 11 | living creature | נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה (nephesh chayyah) | ψυχὴ ζῶσα | lebendiges Wesen | NEW | Medium | Creation Ex Nihilo; Image of God | 1:20–24; 2:7 | Avoid “Seele” (imports Platonic dualism foreign to holistic Hebrew nephesh); shared with animals, so must not itself carry the Image-of-God distinction. |
| 12 | image (of God) | צֶלֶם (tselem) | εἰκών | Bild (“Bild Gottes”) | NEW | Critical | The Image of God | 1:26–27; 5:1,3; 9:6 | MUST be distinguished from baseline’s Christological image_of_the_invisible_god = “Ebenbild des unsichtbaren Gottes” (Christ as the perfect, uncreated Image). Genesis’s tselem is the created, derivative image. Positive bridge: German Grundgesetz Art. 1 (Menschenwürde). |
| 13 | likeness | דְּמוּת (demut) | ὁμοίωσις | Gleichnis / “uns ähnlich” | NEW | High | The Image of God | 1:26 | Parallel intensifier of tselem, not a separable theological category — do not teach a “lost likeness, retained image” distinction absent from the Hebrew text. |
| 14 | dominion / rule | רָדָה (radah) | ἄρχω | herrschen | NEW | High | The Image of God | 1:26, 28 | German-specific: pair always with stewardship framing (Schöpfungsverantwortung) given Germany’s strong ecological-theology tradition. |
| 15 | subdue | כָּבַשׁ (kavash) | κατακυριεύω | sich dienstbar machen / unterwerfen | NEW | Critical | The Image of God | 1:28 | MUST NOT be confused or intertextually blended with baseline’s submission = “sich unterordnen” (Ephesians 5, Critical, household-code doctrine) — wholly unrelated doctrines. German ecological-theology critique of exploitative readings must be addressed in teaching material. |
| 16 | male and female | זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה | ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ | Mann und Frau / männlich und weiblich | NEW | Medium | The Image of God | 1:27 | Both sexes fully and equally image-bearing; keep within the text’s own claim. |
| 17 | be fruitful and multiply | פְּרוּ וּרְבוּ (peru u-revu) | αὐξάνεσθε καὶ πληθύνεσθε | Seid fruchtbar und mehret euch | NEW | Low | Creation Ex Nihilo; Covenant Faithfulness | 1:28; 9:1,7 | Iconic Lutherbibel phrase; creation mandate renewed post-Flood as covenant continuity. |
| 18 | rest / cease | שָׁבַת (shabat) | κατέπαυσεν | ruhte | NEW | Medium | Creation Ex Nihilo | 2:2–3 | Completion/enthronement, never divine fatigue — guard against implying imperfection. |
| 19 | bless / blessing | בָּרַךְ / בְּרָכָה (barakh / berakhah) | εὐλογέω / εὐλογία | segnen / Segen | NEW | High | Abrahamic Covenant; Covenant Faithfulness | 2:3; 12:2–3; 22; 27; 49 | Single most load-bearing new term for the Abrahamic Covenant doctrine; keep relationally rich, not “good fortune.” |
| 20 | sanctify / holy | קָדַשׁ (qadash) | ἁγιάζω | heiligen / heilig | REUSED | Medium | Creation Ex Nihilo | 2:3 | Baseline holy/sanctification root exactly. First “holy” object in Scripture is a day. |
| 21 | breath of life | נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים (nishmat chayyim) | πνοὴν ζωῆς | Odem des Lebens / Lebensatem | NEW | Medium | The Image of God | 2:7 | Iconic Luther phrase; distinguishes man’s animation from the generic “let the earth bring forth” language. |
| 22 | helper corresponding to him | עֵזֶר כְּנֶגְדּוֹ (ezer kenegdo) | βοηθὸν κατ᾽ αὐτόν | Hilfe, die ihm entspricht | NEW | High | The Image of God | 2:18 | NEVER “Gehilfin” (subordinate connotation) — forbidden substitution for this curriculum. |
| 23 | one flesh | לְבָשָׂר אֶחָד | εἰς σάρκα μίαν | ein Fleisch | NEW (cf. REUSED root) | Low | The Image of God | 2:24 | Neutral bodily/kinship sense of Fleisch; disambiguate on first occurrence from baseline’s ethical Fleisch sense (Galatians). |
| 24 | serpent | נָחָשׁ (nachash) | ὄφις | Schlange | NEW | High | The Fall / Origin of Sin | 3 | Not explicitly “Satan” in the text itself; note the later canonical identification without importing it into the translation. |
| 25 | cursed | אָרוּר (arur) | ἐπικατάρατος | verflucht | NEW (cf. REUSED family) | High | The Fall / Sin’s Consequences | 3:14, 17 | Judicial verdict, consistent with baseline’s curse_of_the_law/Fluch discipline; never folk-magic. |
| 26 | seed / offspring | זֶרַע (zera) | σπέρμα | Same | REUSED | Critical | The Fall (protoevangelium); Abrahamic Covenant | 1:11–12; 3:15; 12:7; 15:5; 17:7; 22:17 | REUSE baseline collective-singular seed_of_abraham/seed_of_david convention exactly; requires explicit exposition of the singular/plural argument, especially at 3:15 and 22:17–18. |
| 27 | cherubim | כְּרוּבִים | χερουβίμ | Cherubim | NEW | Low | The Fall | 3:24 | Established loanword. |
| 28 | offering | מִנְחָה / קָרְבָּן | θυσία / δῶρον | Opfer / Opfergabe | NEW | Low | The Fall’s Consequences | 4:3–5 | — |
| 29 | sin | חֵטְא / חַטָּאת (chet / chattah) | ἁμαρτία | Sünde | REUSED | High | The Fall and the Origin of Sin | 3–4 and throughout | Baseline sin exactly. Genesis 4:7’s personified “sin crouching at the door” is a strong teaching counterweight to colloquial German trivialization of the word. |
| 30 | blood | דָּם (dam) | αἷμα | Blut | NEW | Medium | The Fall’s Consequences; Image of God | 4:10; 9:4–6 | Foundational sacrificial/ethical vocabulary; basis of the sanctity-of-life ethic at 9:6. |
| 31 | violence | חָמָס (chamas) | ἀδικία | Gewalt | NEW | Low | Sin’s Consequences | 6:11, 13 | — |
| 32 | God regretted / relented | נִחַם (nicham) | ἐνθυμέομαι | es reute Gott | NEW | High | Sin’s Consequences; Providence | 6:6 | Anthropopathic language; must not imply divine imperfection/changeability (immutability doctrine); flag for theologian framing. |
| 33 | favor / grace | חֵן (chen) | χάρις | Gnade | REUSED (cautiously) | High | Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace | 6:8 | Baseline grace root exactly, but note: OT chen is unmerited favor found by a person, not yet full NT soteriological charis — canonically continuous, not identical; do not retroject full systematic weight. |
| 34 | ark | תֵּבָה (tevah) | κιβωτός | Arche | NEW | Low | Sin’s Consequences | 6–9 | Established German loanword/cultural phrase (“Arche Noah”). |
| 35 | covenant | בְּרִית (berit) | διαθήκη | Bund | REUSED | High | Abrahamic Covenant; Covenant Faithfulness | 6:18; 9:9–17; 12; 15; 17; 26; 35 | Baseline covenant exactly; relational bond, not mere contract. |
| 36 | rainbow / bow | קֶשֶׁת (qeshet) | τόξον | Bogen / Regenbogen | NEW | Low | Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace | 9:12–17 | Covenant sign, not meteorological explanation; note contemporary secular symbolic co-optation as pastoral awareness only. |
| 37 | image of God (ethical application) | בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים | ἐν εἰκόνι θεοῦ | Bild Gottes | NEW (reuse of #12) | Critical | The Image of God | 9:6 | Sanctity-of-human-life basis for the prohibition of murder; doctrinal hinge from Creation to ethics. |
| 38 | nation | גּוֹי (goy) | ἔθνος | Volk / Nation | NEW | Low | (background) | 10 | Descriptive genealogical sense here; not yet the theologically freighted Jew/Gentile category. |
| 39 | tower | מִגְדָּל (migdal) | πύργος | Turm | NEW | Low | Sin’s Consequences | 11:4 | — |
| 40 | scattered | פּוּץ (puts) | διασπείρω | zerstreute | NEW | Low | Sin’s Consequences | 11:8–9 | — |
| 41 | go forth (“go for yourself”) | לֶךְ־לְךָ (lekh-lekha) | Ἔξελθε | Geh! | NEW | Medium | Abrahamic Covenant | 12:1 | Reflexive intensifier untranslatable into German; reuse baseline called/calling = “berufen”/“Berufung” for the doctrinal frame. |
| 42 | called / calling | — | κλητός / κλῆσις | berufen / Berufung | REUSED | High | Abrahamic Covenant | 12:1 | Baseline called/calling exactly, applied here to Abraham’s founding call. |
| 43 | priest | כֹּהֵן (kohen) | ἱερεύς | Priester | NEW | Medium | Abrahamic Covenant (background) | 14:18 | Melchizedek’s non-Levitical priesthood; forward cross-reference to Psalm 110/Hebrews 7. |
| 44 | tithe | מַעֲשֵׂר (ma’aser) | δεκάτη | Zehnter | NEW | Low | (background) | 14:20 | — |
| 45 | believe | הֶאֱמִן (he’emin) | πιστεύω | glauben / Glaube | REUSED | Critical | Abrahamic Covenant and Promise | 15:6 | Baseline faith exactly. Foundational OT text for justifying faith, quoted in Romans 4:3 and Galatians 3:6. |
| 46 | credited/imputed righteousness | וַיַּחְשְׁבֶהָ לּוֹ צְדָקָה (va-yachshevha lo tsedaqah) | ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην | zugerechnete Gerechtigkeit (“er rechnete es ihm zur Gerechtigkeit”) | REUSED | Critical | Abrahamic Covenant and Promise | 15:6 | MUST match baseline’s imputed_righteousness exactly. This is the direct source-text Paul quotes; absolute enforcement, no earned/process reading permitted. |
| 47 | righteousness | צְדָקָה (tsedaqah) | δικαιοσύνη | Gerechtigkeit | REUSED | Critical | Abrahamic Covenant; (contrast at 18:19) | 15:6; 18:19 | Baseline righteousness exactly; note the ethical/social sense at 18:19 is distinct from the forensic sense at 15:6 — same Hebrew word, two senses, must not be conflated. |
| 48 | circumcision | בְּרִית מִילָה (berit milah) | περιτομή | Beschneidung | REUSED | Medium | Abrahamic Covenant and Promise | 17 | Baseline circumcision exactly; founding OT institution — cross-reference but distinguish from the Galatians controversy. Avoid resonance with Germany’s 2012 circumcision-law debate. |
| 49 | everlasting covenant | בְּרִית עוֹלָם | διαθήκη αἰώνιος | ewiger Bund | NEW | Medium | Abrahamic Covenant | 17:7, 13, 19 | — |
| 50 | God Almighty | אֵל שַׁדַּי (El Shaddai) | — | Gott, der Allmächtige | NEW | Low | Abrahamic Covenant | 17:1 | — |
| 51 | test / try | נִסָּה (nissah) | πειράζω | prüfen | NEW | High | Abrahamic Covenant | 22:1 | NEVER “versuchen” (false-friend collision with “tempt to sin,” James 1:13) — forbidden substitution for this curriculum. |
| 52 | burnt offering | עוֹלָה (olah) | ὁλοκαύτωμα | Brandopfer | NEW | Low | Abrahamic Covenant | 22:2ff | — |
| 53 | the LORD will provide | יְהוָה יִרְאֶה | κύριος εἶδεν | Der HERR wird sehen/versorgen | NEW | Medium | Abrahamic Covenant | 22:14 | Typological connection to substitutionary atonement may be drawn explicitly in teaching material. |
| 54 | birthright | בְּכֹרָה (bekorah) | πρωτοτόκια | Erstgeburtsrecht | NEW | Low | Covenant Faithfulness; Providence | 25:31–34 | — |
| 55 | election / choice before birth | — (25:23 narrative) | — | Erwählung | REUSED | High | Providence and the Sovereignty of God | 25:23 | Baseline election exactly; direct source-text for Romans 9:10–13. Flag for theologian review — do not impose a single tradition’s systematic framing. |
| 56 | angels / messengers | מַלְאָכִים (mal’akhim) | ἄγγελοι | Engel | NEW | Low | Covenant Faithfulness | 28:12 | — |
| 57 | Israel | יִשְׂרָאֵל (Yisra’el) | Ἰσραήλ | Israel | REUSED | Medium | Covenant Faithfulness across Generations | 32:28; 35:10 | Baseline israel exactly. Founding patriarchal-narrative sense; keep distinguished from contemporary geopolitical application per baseline’s existing Staatsräson caution. |
| 58 | dream | חֲלוֹם (chalom) | ἐνύπνιον | Traum | NEW | Medium | Joseph and Providence in Suffering | 37; 40; 41 | Vehicle of divine revelation and providential planning. |
| 59 | the LORD was with [him] | וַיהוה הָיָה אֶת | καὶ ἦν κύριος μετά | der HERR war mit [ihm] | NEW | High | Providence and the Sovereignty of God | 39:2, 21, 23 | Recurring providence-formula; reuse baseline providence = “Vorsehung” for the doctrine label; guard against a deist/impersonal reading. |
| 60 | providence | — | πρόνοια | Vorsehung | REUSED | High | Providence and the Sovereignty of God; Joseph doctrine | 39; 45; 50 | Baseline providence exactly. |
| 61 | for the preservation of life | לְמִחְיָה (lemichyah) | εἰς ζωήν | um … am Leben zu erhalten | NEW | Critical | Joseph and God’s Providence in Suffering | 45:5, 7 | Interpretive key verse of the Joseph doctrine arc; must hold real evil and real divine purpose together without collapsing either. |
| 62 | Shiloh | שִׁילֹה (Shiloh) | τὰ ἀποκείμενα αὐτῷ | Schilo / “bis der komme, dem [das Zepter] gehört” | NEW | Critical | Messianic Promise (background); Abrahamic Covenant | 49:10 | Genuinely disputed Hebrew text; flag for theologian review; connects forward to baseline’s messianic_promise and davidic_covenant. |
| 63 | scepter | שֵׁבֶט (shevet) | σκῆπτρον | Zepter | NEW | Medium | Covenant Faithfulness (messianic line) | 49:10 | — |
| 64 | you meant evil, God meant good | אֱלֹהִים חֲשָׁבָהּ לְטֹבָה | ὁ θεὸς ἐβουλεύσατο εἰς ἀγαθά | Gott gedachte es gut zu machen | NEW | Critical | Joseph and God’s Providence in Suffering | 50:20 | Doctrinal capstone; verbatim-consistency discipline (per baseline’s Romans 8:28/10:9–10 rule) applies; same root (חָשַׁב) as #46’s “credited” — canonical echo worth surfacing in teaching material. |
Cross-Reference to Baseline Terms Reused Without Modification
The following terms are governed entirely by the existing baseline translation_memory.json and are reused in this Genesis curriculum with no change: Gott (god), Sünde (sin), Glaube/glauben (faith), Gerechtigkeit (righteousness), zugerechnete Gerechtigkeit (imputed righteousness), Bund (covenant), Same (seed, collective singular), Beschneidung (circumcision), Israel (proper name), Vorsehung (providence), Erwählung (election), berufen/Berufung (called/calling), heilig/Heiligung (holy/sanctification), Gnade (grace, applied cautiously to the OT chen).
New Terms Requiring Translation-Memory Registration in Phase 2
The following are genuinely new to this curriculum and must be added to translation_memory.json (with version increment) before Phase 2 segment translation begins: schuf/erschaffen (create ex nihilo), Bild (image of God, distinct from Christological Ebenbild), Segen/segnen (blessing), Geist Gottes (Spirit of God, OT form), Hilfe, die ihm entspricht (helper corresponding to him), prüfen (test, never versuchen), Vorsehung-adjacent Joseph-narrative formulas (der HERR war mit..., um ... am Leben zu erhalten, Gott gedachte es gut zu machen), Schilo (Shiloh), sich dienstbar machen/unterwerfen (subdue — flagged to avoid confusion with the unrelated baseline submission term).
Critical Risk Terms
Righteousness
Approved rendering: Gerechtigkeit
Transliteration: Gerechtigkeit
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: Tugend
Original: צְדָקָה
Category: Salvation
CRITICAL. Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly for Genesis 15:6 (forensic sense) AND Genesis 18:19 (distinct ethical/social sense, ‘Gerechtigkeit und Recht’). Both senses share one German word; teaching material must distinguish them explicitly without implying justification is conduct-based.
Justification
Approved rendering: Rechtfertigung
Transliteration: Rechtfertigung
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: Erlösung (distinct concept)
Inherited from Romans package. Not itself Genesis vocabulary but the doctrine-label teaching material must use when cross-referencing Genesis 15:6 to Romans 4 and Galatians 3; never let it drift toward the Catholic infused-grace-process reading at exactly the verse behind Luther’s Turmerlebnis.
Flesh
Approved rendering: Fleisch
Transliteration: Fleisch
Doctrine: Flesh versus Spirit
Inherited from Romans package. Genesis 2:24’s ‘one flesh’ (see one_flesh entry) reuses this root in its neutral bodily/kinship sense and MUST be disambiguated on first occurrence from this Critical-risk ethical/sinful-nature sense established for Galatians — the two senses must never be allowed to silently co-occur without a clarifying transition.
Lord
Approved rendering: Herr
Transliteration: Herr
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Meister, Chef
Inherited from Romans package, including the existing ‘Mr./Herr’ flattening-risk caution. In Genesis, ‘Herr’ additionally renders the Tetragrammaton (YHWH) throughout, especially in the recurring providence-formula ‘der HERR war mit Joseph’ (39:2,21,23) — always render YHWH in small-caps-style ‘HERR’ per established German Bible convention (Lutherbibel/Einheitsübersetzung), never lower-case ‘herr’.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: zugerechnete Gerechtigkeit
Transliteration: zugerechnete Gerechtigkeit
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: verdiente Gerechtigkeit
Original: וַיַּחְשְׁבֶהָ לּוֹ צְדָקָה
Category: Salvation
CRITICAL, absolute enforcement. Inherited from Romans package. Genesis 15:6 is the direct source-text: ‘und er rechnete es ihm zur Gerechtigkeit’ (Luther’s own historic wording) — this is Paul’s own chosen OT proof-text (Romans 4:3; Galatians 3:6) and the exact verse behind Luther’s Reformation breakthrough (Turmerlebnis). Any rendering suggesting Abram earned or was made righteous by a process is forbidden.
Create Ex Nihilo
Approved rendering: schuf / erschaffen
Transliteration: bara
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo
Rejected alternatives: machte (flattens to mere assembly, reserved for asah), bildete/formte (reserved for yatsar)
Original: בָּרָא
Category: Creation
NEW. Genesis 1:1, 21, 27; 2:3-4; 5:1-2; 6:7. Never ‘machte’. Guard against both German Naturphilosophie/Idealism-flavored secularizing drift and imported Anglo-American creation-evolution culture-war framing foreign to the German Protestant tradition of reading Genesis 1 theologically (Barth, Bonhoeffer). Preserve radical ontological dependence of all things on God from no pre-existing material.
Image Of God
Approved rendering: Bild
Transliteration: tselem
Doctrine: The Image of God
Rejected alternatives: Ebenbild (reserved exclusively for Christ’s unique, uncreated deity-Image)
Original: צֶלֶם
Category: Anthropology
CRITICAL, highest-risk term in this curriculum. Genesis 1:26-27; 5:1,3; 9:6. MUST be fenced absolutely from the baseline’s Christological ‘Ebenbild des unsichtbaren Gottes’ (Colossians 1:15) — humanity’s created, derivative image-bearing must never be conflated with Christ’s eternal, uncreated Image. Positive bridge: Grundgesetz Art. 1 (‘Die Würde des Menschen ist unantastbar’), but guard against a secularized ‘dignity’ floating free of its theological ground.
Subdue
Approved rendering: sich dienstbar machen / unterwerfen
Transliteration: kavash
Doctrine: The Image of God
Rejected alternatives: untertan machen (older Lutherbibel wording, retained only with explicit stewardship framing)
Original: כָּבַשׁ
Category: Anthropology
CRITICAL. Genesis 1:28. Two distinct concerns: (1) German ecological theology has critiqued ‘untertan machen’-style language for enabling exploitation (the Lynn White thesis is well known in German theological discourse) — frame as accountable stewardship, never license for exploitation; (2) MUST NOT be intertextually blended with the baseline’s unrelated Critical-risk ‘sich unterordnen’ (Ephesians 5:21-24, household-code submission) — wholly unrelated doctrines, no implied echo permitted.
Seed Offspring
Approved rendering: Same
Transliteration: zera
Doctrine: The Fall and the Origin of Sin
Original: זֶרַע
Category: Covenant
CRITICAL. Genesis 3:15 (protoevangelium — a specific coming deliverer, singular) versus 12:7/15:5/17:7/22:17 (collective descendants). Same German collective-singular noun; German readers do not automatically parse it as strictly singular. Requires explicit singular/plural exposition at every occurrence, matching the baseline’s seed_of_abraham discipline exactly.
Image Of God Sanctity Of Life
Approved rendering: Bild Gottes
Transliteration: be-tselem Elohim asah et-ha-adam
Doctrine: The Image of God
Original: בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים עָשָׂה אֶת־הָאָדָם
Category: Ethics
CRITICAL. Genesis 9:6. Must reuse ‘Bild Gottes’ exactly as fixed at 1:26-27 (see image_of_god). The doctrinal hinge connecting Creation directly to ethics — the sanctity-of-human-life basis for the prohibition of murder — never diluted or treated as a separate, lesser doctrine.
For The Preservation Of Life
Approved rendering: um … am Leben zu erhalten
Transliteration: lemichyah
Doctrine: Joseph and God’s Providence in Suffering
Rejected alternatives: everything happens for a reason (FORBIDDEN pop-devotional flattening)
Original: לְמִחְיָה
Category: Providence
CRITICAL. Genesis 45:5, 7. The interpretive key verse of the Joseph doctrine arc. Must never be flattened into a generic platitude; must be taught with full pastoral seriousness alongside the brothers’ genuine, unminimized guilt (45:4-5) — both truths held together, neither collapsed into the other.
Shiloh
Approved rendering: Schilo / “bis der komme, dem [das Zepter] gehört”
Transliteration: Shiloh
Doctrine: Covenant Faithfulness across Generations
Original: שִׁילֹה
Category: Christology
CRITICAL. Genesis 49:10. Genuinely textually disputed Hebrew; offer transliteration and interpretive paraphrase side by side rather than silently choosing one. Connects forward to the baseline’s messianic_promise and davidic_covenant doctrines. Flag for mandatory theologian review given the genuine interpretive difficulty — do not overclaim more textual certainty than the Hebrew supports.
You Meant Evil God Meant Good
Approved rendering: Gott gedachte es gut zu machen
Transliteration: ve-atem chashavtem alai ra’ah, Elohim chashavah le-tovah
Doctrine: Joseph and God’s Providence in Suffering
Rejected alternatives: everything happens for a reason (FORBIDDEN pop-devotional flattening)
Original: וְאַתֶּם חֲשַׁבְתֶּם עָלַי רָעָה אֱלֹהִים חֲשָׁבָהּ לְטֹבָה
Category: Providence
CRITICAL. Genesis 50:20. Luther’s classic, widely memorized full wording (‘Ihr gedachtet Böses mit mir zu tun, aber Gott gedachte es gut zu machen’) requires the same verbatim-consistency discipline the baseline applies to Romans 8:28 and 10:9-10. Must never minimize the brothers’ real guilt nor reduce providence to a shallow silver-lining reading. Note the canonical echo: the same Hebrew root (chashav) underlies Genesis 15:6’s ‘credited to him as righteousness.‘
High Risk Terms
Grace
Approved rendering: Gnade
Transliteration: Gnade
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: Barmherzigkeit, Wohlwollen
Luther’s sola gratia versus Catholic sacramental-grace freight. Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly for Genesis 6:8’s chen (‘Noah found grace/favor’), the OT root of this doctrine — see also the new ‘favor_grace’ entry below, which flags this specific Genesis occurrence as NOT to be retrojectively loaded with full NT soteriological precision.
Salvation
Approved rendering: Rettung
Transliteration: Rettung
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: Heil (Nazi-era contamination risk), Erlösung (more existential/liberation-flavored)
Inherited from Romans package, including the existing Heil caution. Genesis has no term requiring ‘Rettung’ directly, but teaching material connecting Joseph’s ‘lemichyah’ (preservation of life) forward to the doctrine of salvation must not casually substitute ‘Rettung’ into Genesis 45:5,7’s own fixed wording (‘um … am Leben zu erhalten’).
Election
Approved rendering: Erwählung
Transliteration: Erwählung
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Inherited from Romans package. Genesis 25:23 (Jacob chosen over Esau before birth) is Paul’s own proof-text for Romans 9:10-13; German Reformed and Lutheran traditions differ in emphasis on predestination — do not impose either tradition’s systematic framing on this Genesis narrative for a mixed audience. Also relevant at 36 (Esau’s contrasted line) and 48:13-20 (Ephraim over Manasseh).
Sin
Approved rendering: Sünde
Transliteration: Sünde
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Original: חֵטְא / חַטָּאת
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package; risk elevated to High in Genesis usage per doctrine_risk_registry.json, since this is the doctrine’s origin point (Genesis 3-4) rather than a downstream application. Genesis 4:7’s personified ‘die Sünde lauert vor der Tür’ is a strong teaching counterweight to colloquial trivialization (‘Sünde’ on a diet).
Providence
Approved rendering: Vorsehung
Transliteration: Vorsehung
Doctrine: Providence
Original: (theological category; cf. πρόνοια)
Category: Providence
Inherited from Romans package, risk elevated to High in Genesis usage. Genesis supplies the curriculum’s richest sustained illustration (the Joseph narrative, chs. 37-50) of this doctrine; per the baseline’s own caution against Enlightenment/deist ‘impersonal governing order’ readings (Kant), never let the abstract noun stand alone without the concrete relational formula ‘der HERR war mit ihm’ in the same teaching unit.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: Heiden
Transliteration: Heiden
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Inherited from Romans package, including the existing pejorative-connotation and antisemitism-sensitivity caution. Genesis 10’s ‘goy’ (nation) is purely descriptive genealogy and must NOT be rendered ‘Heiden’ — see the new ‘nation’ entry below; this loaded term should be reserved for later, theologically freighted Jew/Gentile contexts.
Seed Of Abraham
Approved rendering: Same
Transliteration: Same
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Inherited from Romans package (established there for Galatians 3:16,19,29). Genesis is this term’s own OT fountainhead: the collective-singular ‘Same’ occurs at Genesis 3:15 (protoevangelium, singular deliverer), 12:7, 15:5, 17:7, and 22:17-18 (collective descendants) — see also the new ‘seed_offspring’ entry below documenting each occurrence’s distinct sense. Requires the same explicit singular/plural exposition at every load-bearing occurrence.
Spirit Of God
Approved rendering: Geist Gottes
Transliteration: ruach Elohim
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo
Original: רוּחַ אֱלֹהִים
Category: God
NEW. Genesis 1:2; 41:38. Must be kept distinguishable from baseline’s ‘Heiliger Geist’ (fully revealed NT Trinitarian Person) — teach as OT seed-form, not retrojected with full precision, nor reduced to a naturalistic ‘mere wind’ reading invited by German’s polyvalent Geist/Wind/Atem range for ruach.
Likeness
Approved rendering: uns ähnlich
Transliteration: demut
Doctrine: The Image of God
Rejected alternatives: Gleichnis (noun form risks implying a separate theological category)
Original: דְּמוּת
Category: Anthropology
NEW. Genesis 1:26. A parallel intensifier of tselem, not a separable theological category — never teach a historic ‘image retained / likeness lost at the Fall’ distinction, which the Hebrew text does not support and German systematic vocabulary (Ebenbildlichkeit) could otherwise reintroduce.
Dominion
Approved rendering: herrschen
Transliteration: radah
Doctrine: The Image of God
Original: רָדָה
Category: Anthropology
NEW. Genesis 1:26, 28. Delegated royal-representative authority flowing from image-bearing. Must always pair with stewardship framing (Schöpfungsverantwortung) given Germany’s influential ecological-theology tradition; keep lexically and conceptually distinct from the unrelated baseline household-code ‘submission’ doctrine.
Bless And Blessing
Approved rendering: Segen / segnen
Transliteration: barakh / berakhah
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Rejected alternatives: Glück (flattens to generic good fortune)
Original: בָּרַךְ / בְּרָכָה
Category: Covenant
NEW. The single most load-bearing new term for the Abrahamic Covenant doctrine. Genesis 2:3; 12:2-3; 22; 27; 49. Keep relationally rich (covenant favor and its overflow to others), guarding against German secular usage’s drift toward soft, sentimental greeting-card ‘Segen’.
Helper Corresponding To Him
Approved rendering: Hilfe, die ihm entspricht
Transliteration: ezer kenegdo
Doctrine: The Image of God
Rejected alternatives: Gehilfin (FORBIDDEN — subordinate connotation actively undermines the text’s egalitarian force)
Original: עֵזֶר כְּנֶגְדּוֹ
Category: Anthropology
NEW. Genesis 2:18. ‘Ezer’ is used elsewhere of God himself as Israel’s helper (Psalm 121:1-2), showing no inherent inferiority connotation. Live contemporary German discourse on gender/marriage cites this verse from multiple sides — requires careful theologian framing so the equal-partner sense is neither hierarchically over-read nor flattened into sameness.
Serpent
Approved rendering: Schlange
Transliteration: nachash
Doctrine: The Fall and the Origin of Sin
Rejected alternatives: Satan (premature — a later canonical identification, cf. Revelation 12:9)
Original: נָחָשׁ
Category: Sin
NEW. Genesis 3. The text itself does not name this figure Satan; note the later canonical identification explicitly in teaching material while preserving the passage’s own implication of a malicious, deceiving agent opposed to God’s word.
Cursed
Approved rendering: verflucht
Transliteration: arur
Doctrine: The Fall and the Origin of Sin
Original: אָרוּר
Category: Sin
NEW. Genesis 3:14, 17 (God’s own judicial pronouncement); also 9:25 (Noah’s human pronouncement on Canaan — a distinct, lesser theological authority, must not be taught as equivalent). Consistent with the baseline’s ‘Fluch des Gesetzes’ discipline: always a judicial verdict, never a folk-magic curse.
God Regretted
Approved rendering: es reute Gott
Transliteration: nicham
Doctrine: Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace
Original: נִחַם
Category: God
NEW. Genesis 6:6. Anthropopathic language; must not imply divine imperfection, ignorance, or changeability of character (contra divine immutability), while honoring the text’s own emotionally serious language. Touches a live, small-scale German theological conversation adjacent to the open-theism debate — flag for theologian framing.
Favor Grace
Approved rendering: Gnade
Transliteration: chen
Doctrine: Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace
Original: חֵן
Category: Salvation
NEW (Genesis-specific OT-seed-form usage of the inherited ‘Gnade’ root). Genesis 6:8, Noah’s unmerited favor. Per the baseline’s High-risk Gnade framing, must not be retrojectively loaded with full NT sola-gratia precision, while its canonical continuity toward that later doctrine, and toward Common Grace, is honored rather than severed.
Called And Calling
Approved rendering: berufen / Berufung
Transliteration: qara / keriah
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: קָרָא / קְרִיאָה (conceptually; cf. κλητός / κλῆσις)
Category: Salvation
NEW (Genesis-specific application of the inherited called/calling root). Genesis 12:1, Abraham’s founding call — the paradigmatic OT instance of the divine-calling doctrine. Teach as sovereign divine initiative, not human career-choice language, per the baseline’s existing ‘Berufung’ homonym-collision caution.
Test Or Try
Approved rendering: prüfen
Transliteration: nissah
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Rejected alternatives: versuchen (FORBIDDEN — false-friend collision with ‘tempt to sin,’ James 1:13)
Original: נִסָּה
Category: Faith
NEW, forbidden-substitution level. Genesis 22:1. ‘Gott prüfte Abraham’ required; ‘Gott versuchte Abraham’ produces a theologically incorrect reading (implying God tempts toward evil) and must be flagged wherever it appears.
Election Choice Before Birth
Approved rendering: Erwählung
Transliteration: n/a (narrative, Genesis 25:23)
Doctrine: Providence and the Sovereignty of God
Original: (narrative, Genesis 25:23)
Category: Salvation
NEW (Genesis-specific narrative application of the inherited election doctrine). Genesis 25:23, Paul’s own proof-text for Romans 9:10-13. German Reformed (more comfortable with double predestination, esp. German-speaking Switzerland) and Lutheran (more pastoral) traditions differ; do not impose either systematic framing. Also relevant at 36 (Esau’s line) and 48:13-20 (Ephraim/Manasseh).
The Lord Was With Him
Approved rendering: der HERR war mit [ihm]
Transliteration: va-YHWH hayah et
Doctrine: Joseph and God’s Providence in Suffering
Original: וַיהוה הָיָה אֶת
Category: Providence
NEW. Genesis 39:2, 21, 23. The recurring providence-formula structuring the entire Joseph narrative. Must be taught as intensely personal, covenantal presence sustaining an unjustly suffering individual, guarding against the deist/impersonal ‘die Vorsehung’ reading (Kant).
Common Grace
Approved rendering: Gottes Güte, die allen Menschen gilt / allgemeine Gnade
Transliteration: n/a (systematic-theology category; cf. chen at Genesis 6:8)
Doctrine: Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace
Rejected alternatives: Gnade (bare, without qualifier — collapses into either the OT chen sense or the NT saving-grace sense)
NEW, COINED TERM. No native German theological compound exists for English ‘common grace’ as distinct from saving grace. Use ‘Gottes Güte, die allen Menschen gilt’ in narrative/devotional register, or ‘allgemeine Gnade’ with a mandatory first-occurrence gloss distinguishing it from ‘rettende Gnade’/‘Gnade zur Rettung’ in more technical register. Genesis 6-9 (Noahic covenant, common preservation of humanity).
Righteousness Ethical Sense
Approved rendering: Gerechtigkeit und Recht
Transliteration: tsedaqah u-mishpat
Doctrine: Providence and the Sovereignty of God
NEW (fencing entry). Genesis 18:19. Same Hebrew root (tsedaqah) as 15:6’s forensic imputed-righteousness sense, but here denoting right/just conduct toward others. Teaching material must distinguish the two senses of ‘Gerechtigkeit’ explicitly, protecting the baseline’s Critical-risk forensic/faith-alone framing from any conduct-based drift.
Adam Adamah Wordplay
Approved rendering: Mensch / Erde (Ackerboden)
Transliteration: adam / adamah
Doctrine: The Image of God
NEW. Genesis 2:7; 3:19. Humanity’s name encodes creaturely origin from the earth, a built-in check against pride, echoed at the Fall’s curse (‘to dust you shall return’). The wordplay is entirely lost in German (‘Mensch’ and ‘Erde’ share no root); teaching material must supply an explicit etymological footnote rather than relying on the translated text to convey it.
Medium Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: Gott
Transliteration: Gott
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: אֱלֹהִים / יהוה
Category: God
Sharp religious-literacy divide between former West and East Germany makes ‘Gott’ increasingly cultural-historical vocabulary rather than a live claim for a growing konfessionslos population. Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly for Genesis. In Genesis 1:1, ‘Elohim’ (grammatically plural, singular verb) polemically distinguishes Israel’s one Creator from ANE pantheons (Enuma Elish, Baal cycle) — German readers must not read the plural form as evidence of polytheism.
Faith
Approved rendering: Glaube
Transliteration: Glaube
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: Weltanschauung
Personal trust in God’s specific promise, not generic religiosity. Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly for Genesis 15:6 (‘er glaubte’), the foundational OT text for justifying faith, quoted in Romans 4:3 and Galatians 3:6.
Holy
Approved rendering: heilig
Transliteration: heilig
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: rein
Inherited from Romans package. Reused exactly for Genesis 2:3 (‘heiligte’), qadash — the first ‘holy’ object named in Scripture is a day, not a place or person; keep distinct from later church-calendar Sabbath/Sunday debates.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: Heiligung
Transliteration: Heiligung
Doctrine: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package. Root shared with Genesis 2:3’s qadash vocabulary; low direct occurrence in Genesis narrative but the doctrine label for the Sabbath-holiness teaching unit.
Covenant
Approved rendering: Bund
Transliteration: Bund
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: בְּרִית
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, risk elevated in practice to High for Genesis usage (see doctrine_risk_registry.json). Genesis is the fountainhead of every subsequent biblical covenant (Noah 6:18/9:9-17; Abraham 12/15/17; reaffirmed to Isaac 26 and Jacob 35); consistency of ‘Bund’ across Genesis 6-50 is unusually load-bearing for the whole curriculum’s covenant vocabulary.
Called
Approved rendering: berufen
Transliteration: berufen
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Inherited from Romans package. Reused for Abraham’s founding call (Genesis 12:1), the paradigmatic OT instance of the doctrine — teach as sovereign divine initiative, not human career-choice language.
Calling
Approved rendering: Berufung
Transliteration: Berufung
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Inherited from Romans package, including the existing career-vocation/legal-appeal homonym-collision caution. Reused for the doctrinal frame of Abraham’s call (Genesis 12:1), paired with ‘go_forth’ below.
Israel
Approved rendering: Israel
Transliteration: Israel
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Original: יִשְׂרָאֵל
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, including the existing Staatsräson caution. Reused for Jacob’s covenant renaming (Genesis 32:28; 35:10) — the founding patriarchal-narrative sense, which must be kept clearly distinguished in teaching material from any contemporary geopolitical application.
Circumcision
Approved rendering: Beschneidung
Transliteration: Beschneidung
Doctrine: Circumcision and New Creation
Original: בְּרִית מִילָה
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Reused for the founding OT institution (Genesis 17), distinct from the Galatians controversy over necessity for Gentile believers; avoid resonance with Germany’s 2012 religious-circumcision legal debate.
Intercession
Approved rendering: Fürbitte
Transliteration: Fürbitte
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Inherited from Romans package. Reused for Abraham’s intercession for Sodom (Genesis 18:16-33) and for the divine-justice teaching unit surrounding it.
Father
Approved rendering: Vater
Transliteration: Vater
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Inherited from Romans package. Genesis itself has no direct ‘God as Father’ address, but the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob) as human fathers within covenant-transmission narratives should never be confused in teaching material with this distinct divine-Fatherhood doctrine label.
Abba
Approved rendering: Abba
Transliteration: Abba
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Inherited from Romans package. No direct Genesis occurrence; retained here only to confirm no competing Genesis-specific rendering is required and cross-book consistency is preserved.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Heiliger Geist
Transliteration: Heiliger Geist
Doctrine: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package. Must be kept sharply distinct from the new Genesis-specific ‘spirit_of_god’ entry below (Genesis 1:2; 41:38, ruach Elohim) — the OT seed-form of this doctrine, never retrojected with full Trinitarian precision nor reduced to a naturalistic ‘mere wind’ reading.
Messiah
Approved rendering: Messias
Transliteration: Messias
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Inherited from Romans package. Relevant as background doctrine label connecting forward from Genesis 3:15 (protoevangelium) and 49:10 (Shiloh) to the NT fulfillment; not itself Genesis vocabulary.
In The Beginning
Approved rendering: Am Anfang
Transliteration: bereshit
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo
Original: בְּרֵאשִׁית
Category: Creation
NEW. Genesis 1:1. German readers may hear this in a storybook ‘once upon a time’ register; teaching material must state explicitly this denotes the absolute origin of time itself, not entry into a pre-existing timeline.
Formless And Empty
Approved rendering: wüst und leer
Transliteration: tohu wa-bohu
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo
Original: תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ
Category: Creation
NEW. Genesis 1:2. The phrase’s familiarity in secular German idiom (a desolate room, landscape) risks flattening its theological function as the pre-ordering state resolved by God’s speech-acts.
Good And Very Good
Approved rendering: gut / sehr gut
Transliteration: tov / tov me’od
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo
Rejected alternatives: schön (too aesthetic, loses moral/functional weight)
Original: טוֹב / טוֹב מְאֹד
Category: Creation
NEW. Genesis 1:4-31. Functional/moral/ontological goodness, never merely aesthetic; establishes creation’s original goodness prior to the Fall — foundational for teaching evil as a later intrusion, not built into creation.
Firmament
Approved rendering: Gewölbe
Transliteration: raqia
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo
Original: רָקִיע
Category: Creation
NEW. Genesis 1:6-8. Lutherbibel 2017 uses ‘Gewölbe’; older editions/hymnody use ‘Feste’. Note both renderings so learners moving between editions are not confused. Not a scientific cosmological claim — part of creation’s ordering.
According To Its Kind
Approved rendering: nach seiner Art
Transliteration: le-mino
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo
Original: לְמִינֵהוּ
Category: Creation
NEW. Genesis 1:11-25. Keep theological (God’s ordering will), not a biological-taxonomy claim; contemporary German Art-vs-Spezies debates can pull this into creation-evolution polemics.
Living Creature
Approved rendering: lebendiges Wesen
Transliteration: nephesh chayyah
Doctrine: The Image of God
Rejected alternatives: lebende Seele (imports Platonic/Cartesian dualism foreign to holistic Hebrew nephesh)
Original: נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה
Category: Anthropology
NEW. Genesis 1:20-24; 2:7. Shared with animals — must not itself carry humanity’s distinct dignity, which comes from the separate Image of God statement (1:26-27). ‘Seele’ remains the traditional Lutherbibel rendering and widely known; flag for reviewer awareness rather than blanket substitution.
Male And Female
Approved rendering: Mann und Frau / männlich und weiblich
Transliteration: zakhar u-nekevah
Doctrine: The Image of God
Original: זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה
Category: Anthropology
NEW. Genesis 1:27. Both sexes equally and fully bear the image of God; state the text’s own claim without either overclaiming or underclaiming into unrelated contemporary German gender-discourse debates.
Rest Cease
Approved rendering: ruhte
Transliteration: shabat
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo
Original: שָׁבַת
Category: Creation
NEW. Genesis 2:2-3. Signals completion and enthronement over a finished cosmos, never fatigue or recovery — must not contradict divine impassibility/omnipotence. Keep distinct from later church-calendar Sabbath/Sunday questions.
Sanctify And Holy
Approved rendering: heiligen / heilig
Transliteration: qadash / qodesh
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo
Original: קָדַשׁ / קֹדֶשׁ
Category: Sanctification
NEW (Genesis-specific application of the inherited ‘holy’ root). Genesis 2:3. The first ‘holy’ thing named in Scripture is a day, not a place or person — keep distinct from later church-calendar debates across German confessions.
Breath Of Life
Approved rendering: Odem des Lebens / Lebensatem
Transliteration: nishmat chayyim
Doctrine: The Image of God
Original: נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים
Category: Anthropology
NEW. Genesis 2:7. Luther’s classic ‘Odem des Lebens’ remains widely known; the 2017 Lutherbibel revision uses ‘Lebensatem’ — note both for cross-edition consistency. Distinguishes humanity’s direct, intimate animation from the generic ‘let the earth bring forth’ language used of animals (1:24).
Blood
Approved rendering: Blut
Transliteration: dam
Doctrine: The Image of God
Original: דָּם
Category: Ethics
NEW. Genesis 4:10; 9:4-6. Foundational sacrificial/ethical vocabulary; basis of the sanctity-of-life ethic at 9:6 (see image_of_god_sanctity_of_life).
Go Forth
Approved rendering: Geh!
Transliteration: lekh-lekha
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: לֶךְ־לְךָ
Category: Covenant
NEW. Genesis 12:1. The reflexive dative (‘go, for your own sake’) is largely untranslatable into German; teach the lost nuance explicitly in supporting material. Pairs with the inherited ‘berufen/Berufung’ doctrinal frame for Abram’s founding call.
Priest
Approved rendering: Priester
Transliteration: kohen
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: כֹּהֵן
Category: Covenant
NEW. Genesis 14:18. Melchizedek’s non-Levitical priesthood; theologically significant for later typology (Psalm 110; Hebrews 7) — flag forward for cross-reference consistency rather than a present translation difficulty.
Everlasting Covenant
Approved rendering: ewiger Bund
Transliteration: berit olam
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: בְּרִית עוֹלָם
Category: Covenant
NEW. Genesis 17:7, 13, 19. ‘Ewig’ can be read loosely in secular German; keep the specifically covenantal, promissory sense in view.
The Lord Will Provide
Approved rendering: Der HERR wird sehen / versorgen
Transliteration: YHWH yireh
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: יְהוָה יִרְאֶה
Category: Faith
NEW. Genesis 22:14. The substitutionary ram invites, but must not overclaim, a typological connection to substitutionary atonement; keep the text’s own historical particularity clear.
Dream
Approved rendering: Traum
Transliteration: chalom
Doctrine: Joseph and God’s Providence in Suffering
Original: חֲלוֹם
Category: Providence
NEW. Genesis 37; 40; 41. Modern German readers may default to a purely psychological (Freudian/Jungian) reading given Germany’s/Austria’s major contribution to psychoanalytic dream theory; teaching material must note the text’s own framing of these as God-given revelation.
Scepter
Approved rendering: Zepter
Transliteration: shevet
Doctrine: Covenant Faithfulness across Generations
Original: שֵׁבֶט
Category: Covenant
NEW. Genesis 49:10. The ruler’s staff associated with Judah, anticipating the later Davidic royal line. Moderate risk only via its connection to the disputed Shiloh term.
Low Risk Terms
Prophecy
Approved rendering: Weissagung
Transliteration: Weissagung
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Inherited from Romans package. Relevant as the doctrine label for Genesis 49:8-12 (Jacob’s blessing on Judah, including the disputed Shiloh term) and 3:15.
Heavens And Earth
Approved rendering: Himmel und Erde
Transliteration: ha-shamayim ve-ha-arets
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo
Original: הַשָּׁמַיִם וְהָאָרֶץ
Category: Creation
NEW. Genesis 1:1. A merism for the entire created order, not two separately itemized creations.
Light
Approved rendering: Licht
Transliteration: or
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo
Original: אוֹר
Category: Creation
NEW. Genesis 1:3ff. Called into being by divine speech-fiat, prior to and independent of sun/moon.
Be Fruitful And Multiply
Approved rendering: Seid fruchtbar und mehret euch
Transliteration: peru u-revu u-mil’u
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo
Original: פְּרוּ וּרְבוּ וּמִלְאוּ
Category: Creation
NEW. Genesis 1:28; 9:1,7. Iconic, widely recognized Lutherbibel phrase; the creation mandate renewed to Noah as covenant continuity after judgment.
One Flesh
Approved rendering: ein Fleisch
Transliteration: le-vasar echad
Doctrine: The Image of God
Original: לְבָשָׂר אֶחָד
Category: Anthropology
NEW. Genesis 2:24. Neutral bodily/kinship sense of ‘Fleisch’; MUST be disambiguated on first occurrence from the baseline’s Critical-risk ethical/sinful-nature ‘Fleisch’ (Galatians 5) — mandatory gloss: ‘im körperlichen, ehelichen Sinn, nicht im Sinn der sündigen Natur.‘
Cherubim
Approved rendering: Cherubim
Transliteration: keruvim
Doctrine: The Fall and the Origin of Sin
Original: כְּרוּבִים
Category: Creation
NEW. Genesis 3:24. Established loanword, standard in both Lutherbibel and Einheitsübersetzung.
Offering
Approved rendering: Opfer / Opfergabe
Transliteration: minchah / qorban
Doctrine: Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace
Original: מִנְחָה / קָרְבָּן
Category: Worship
NEW. Genesis 4:3-5; 8:20; 22:2ff. Standard rendering; low translation risk at these narrative occurrences.
Violence
Approved rendering: Gewalt
Transliteration: chamas
Doctrine: Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace
Original: חָמָס
Category: Sin
NEW. Genesis 6:11, 13. Standard rendering. Avoid unnecessary phonetic association in teaching material with an unrelated contemporary political organization sharing a similar-sounding name; the underlying Hebrew root is unrelated.
Ark
Approved rendering: Arche
Transliteration: tevah
Doctrine: Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace
Original: תֵּבָה
Category: Covenant
NEW. Genesis 6-9. Established German loanword and deeply embedded cultural phrase (‘Arche Noah’).
Rainbow Bow
Approved rendering: Bogen / Regenbogen
Transliteration: qeshet
Doctrine: Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace
Original: קֶשֶׁת
Category: Covenant
NEW. Genesis 9:12-17. A covenant sign, not a meteorological explanation. Contemporary secular symbolic co-optation (LGBTQ+ pride, peace movements) in German-speaking Europe is pastoral-awareness background only, no translation change implied.
Nation
Approved rendering: Volk / Nation
Transliteration: goy
Doctrine: Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace
Rejected alternatives: Heiden (reserved for the later theologically freighted Jew/Gentile category)
Original: גּוֹי
Category: Covenant
NEW. Genesis 10. Purely descriptive genealogical sense in the Table of Nations — must NOT be rendered with the baseline’s loaded ‘Heiden’, which is reserved for the later theologically freighted category.
Tower
Approved rendering: Turm
Transliteration: migdal
Doctrine: Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace
Original: מִגְדָּל
Category: Sin
NEW. Genesis 11:4. Expression of human pride and self-glorifying autonomy, contrasted narratively with God’s sovereign initiative in naming/blessing Abram two chapters later.
Scattered
Approved rendering: zerstreute
Transliteration: puts
Doctrine: Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace
Original: פּוּץ
Category: Sin
NEW. Genesis 11:8-9. God’s judicial dispersal of humanity at Babel.
Tithe
Approved rendering: Zehnter
Transliteration: ma’aser
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: מַעֲשֵׂר
Category: Covenant
NEW. Genesis 14:20. Distinct from later halakhic/ecclesiastical tithing practice.
God Almighty
Approved rendering: Gott, der Allmächtige
Transliteration: El Shaddai
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: אֵל שַׁדַּי
Category: God
NEW. Genesis 17:1. Emphasizes God’s power to fulfill covenant promises against natural impossibility (e.g., Sarah’s barrenness).
Burnt Offering
Approved rendering: Brandopfer
Transliteration: olah
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: עוֹלָה
Category: Worship
NEW. Genesis 22:2ff. Standard rendering.
Birthright
Approved rendering: Erstgeburtsrecht
Transliteration: bekorah
Doctrine: Providence and the Sovereignty of God
Original: בְּכֹרָה
Category: Covenant
NEW. Genesis 25:31-34. Low term-level risk; the underlying event carries High doctrinal weight for the election doctrine (see election_choice_before_birth).
Angels Messengers
Approved rendering: Engel
Transliteration: mal’akhim
Doctrine: Covenant Faithfulness across Generations
Original: מַלְאָכִים
Category: God
NEW. Genesis 28:12. Standard rendering.
Toledot Generations
Approved rendering: Geschichte / Entstehung
Transliteration: toledot
Doctrine: Covenant Faithfulness across Generations
NEW. Genesis 2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10, 27; 25:12, 19; 36:1, 9; 37:2. The structuring genealogical-narrative formula of the whole book (source of the Greek/English title ‘Genesis’); low individual translation risk, but flag for teaching material as the book’s own internal structural marker.
Referenced passages