AI Translation Requirements

12 AI Translation Requirements and Instruction Set — Mark (German)

English → German | Mark 1–16 | Language Package

Source language: English Destination language: German Curriculum: Mark 1–16 Generated: 2026-07-11

Purpose

Extends (never contradicts) the promoted Romans baseline and the Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Matthew packages generated 2026-07-11. Given Mark’s extensive triple-tradition overlap with Matthew, this document assumes the Matthew package’s system prompt additions apply to all parallel passages and documents only Mark-distinctive requirements.

Pre-flight Checklist

Load this package’s, all five prior packages’, and the promoted Romans translation memory, term registry, and doctrine registry, plus this document, applied in addition to the Romans and Matthew baselines’ system prompts.

System Prompt Additions for Mark

CRITICAL FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTIONS NEW TO THIS MARK PACKAGE:
- "Nehme sein Kreuz auf sich" (8:34): NEVER flattened to a generic metaphor for hardship --
  preserve the concrete first-century execution-method background.
- Eloi, Eloi, lama asabtani (15:34): NEVER rendered without both the Aramaic transliteration and
  its translation present, matching Mark's own text.
- Mark 16:9-20: NEVER presented with the same textual certainty as the rest of the Gospel without
  transparent textual-critical framing.

DOCTRINAL PRESERVATION RULES NEW TO THIS MARK PACKAGE:
1. The messianic-secret motif: where Jesus commands silence about his identity (e.g. 1:44; 3:12;
   8:30), preserve this as a deliberate narrative feature, not an inconsistency to smooth over.
2. Mark's "immediately" (εὐθύς) style marker: maintain a consistent German rendering ("sogleich")
   throughout to preserve the Gospel's distinctive rapid narrative pace.
3. The Son's limited knowledge (13:32) and the cry of dereliction (15:34): flag both for
   theologian review as genuine Christological questions, without adjudicating their full
   technical resolution in the translated text itself.
4. Mark's unique retention of "for all nations" (11:17): preserve this phrase rather than
   silently harmonizing with Matthew's shorter parallel.
5. The ending of Mark (16:8 vs. 16:9-20): present 16:8 as a deliberate, if unresolved, likely
   original conclusion where relevant, and 16:9-20 with transparent textual-critical status.

TONE REQUIREMENTS: identical register to prior baselines. Mark's characteristically blunt,
unembellished narrative style (e.g. the sharpness of Jesus' rebuke of Peter, 8:33) should not be
smoothed over relative to Matthew's sometimes more developed parallel accounts.

READING LEVEL TARGET: identical to prior baselines.

TRANSLITERATION STANDARDS: prior baseline entries apply unchanged, extended with Mark's Aramaic
preservations (Talitha kum, 5:41; Ephphatha, 7:34; Eloi Eloi lema sabachthani, 15:34), each kept
transliterated and translated within the text as Mark's own narrative does.

FOOTNOTE REQUIREMENTS: unchanged mechanism, with the addition that any use of Mark 16:9-20 in
teaching material carries a transparent textual-critical note.

AMBIGUITY HANDLING: unchanged protocol.

ESCALATION RULES NEW TO THIS MARK PACKAGE:
Automatically flag for human theologian review, in addition to prior baseline lists:
- ALL 11 doctrines in this package's doctrine registry require theologian review, continuing the
  pattern established in the Matthew package.
- The cry of dereliction (15:34) and the Son's limited knowledge (13:32) specifically, given
  their genuine unresolved Christological weight.

FLAG but allow native speaker review (not theologian required):
- None in this package, consistent with the Matthew package's profile.

Validation Rules

In addition to every check in the prior baselines’ validation tables:

Validation Rule	Check
Cross-bearing concreteness	Verify 8:34 retains its first-century execution-method background
Aramaic preservations	Verify Talitha kum, Ephphatha, and Eloi Eloi lema sabachthani all carry both transliteration and translation
”Sogleich” consistency	Verify a consistent rendering of εὐθύς is maintained throughout
16:9-20 textual note	Verify transparent textual-critical framing accompanies any teaching use
11:17 “for all nations”	Verify this phrase is retained, not silently harmonized with Matthew

Cross-Reference Preservation Rules

Mark = Markus; abbreviation Mk.; citation format “Markus 8,31” (comma, not colon).
The greatest commandment (12:29-31) must render identically to Matthew 22:37-39, Romans 13:9, and Galatians 5:14.

Translation Memory Load and Enforcement Instructions

Identical mechanism to prior baselines: load this package’s and all five prior packages’ translation memory at session start.

Glossary Enforcement Priority Order

Identical to the Romans baseline.

Theological Consistency Rules Across Documents

Rule	Rationale
Same German term for the same Greek/English theological term across all documents	Learner consistency
Same rendering of Mark 8:31-38 across all documents	Core passage of this curriculum
Der Menschensohn… Lösegeld für viele identical to Matthew 20:28	Cross-Gospel consistency for a shared saying
Greatest commandment identical across Mark, Matthew, Romans, Galatians	Cross-curriculum consistency

Performance Notes for Batch Processing

Identical to prior baselines.

Load this document as part of the pre-flight checklist before every Phase 2 translation session. See translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json for the enforcement databases. See 11_doctrine_analysis.md for full doctrine risk level reference.