Core Glossary
Core Glossary: The Gospel of John (English → Hebrew)
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md across all 21 chapters of John. Terms already present in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json are marked [BASELINE REUSE] and their recorded Hebrew rendering is reused exactly, with no deviation, per the hard rule that established renderings must be reused. New terms specific to John’s vocabulary are marked [NEW] and are candidates for addition to translation memory at Phase 2, with risk tiers assigned using the identical Critical/High/Medium/Low framework.
Table 1 — Terms Reused Exactly from the Baseline Romans Language Package
| Term (English) | Hebrew | Transliteration | Risk | Doctrine | Occurs in Chapters | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| God | אלוהים | Elohim | Critical | Deity of Christ | 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 14, 17, 20 | [BASELINE REUSE] |
| Jesus | ישוע | Yeshua | Critical | Lordship of Christ | all | [BASELINE REUSE] — never ישו |
| Messiah / Christ | משיח | Mashiach | Critical | Messianic Promise | 1, 4, 7, 9, 11, 12, 20 | [BASELINE REUSE] |
| Lord | אדון | Adon | Critical | Lordship of Christ | 20 (20:28, climactic) | [BASELINE REUSE] |
| Son of God | בן האלוהים | ben ha-Elohim | Critical | Sonship of Christ | 1, 3, 5, 10, 11, 20 | [BASELINE REUSE]; contrast with new “children of God” (בני אלוהים) entry below — do not conflate |
| Holy Spirit | רוח הקודש | Ruach HaKodesh | Critical | Holy Spirit as Counselor | 1, 3, 7, 14, 15, 16, 20 | [BASELINE REUSE]; bare “רוח” (Spirit) also occurs contextually, see 07 ch.3 notes |
| Resurrection | תחיית המתים | techiyat hametim | Critical | Resurrection of Christ | 2, 5, 6, 11, 20 | [BASELINE REUSE]; John 5:28-29’s two-outcome distinction requires added qualifiers (see Table 2) |
| Incarnation (doctrinal noun) | התגלמות | hitgalmut | Critical | Incarnation | 1 | [BASELINE REUSE]; verse-level phrase follows Delitzsch precedent, “והדבר נהיה בשר” |
| Salvation | ישועה | yeshu’ah | Critical | Salvation | 3, 4 | [BASELINE REUSE] |
| Kingdom of God | מלכות האלוהים | malchut ha-Elohim | High | Kingdom Mission | 3, 18 | [BASELINE REUSE] |
| Law / Torah | תורה | Torah | Critical | Fulfillment of Prophecy | 1, 5, 7 | [BASELINE REUSE] |
| Sin | חטא | chet | High | Universal Human Accountability | 1, 8, 9, 16, 20 | [BASELINE REUSE] |
| Glory | כבוד | kavod | High | Deity of Christ | 1, 2, 5, 11, 12, 17 | [BASELINE REUSE] |
| Grace (as in “grace and truth”) | חסד | chesed | High | Grace | 1 | [BASELINE REUSE]; pairs with truth (אמת) echoing Exodus 34:6 — see Table 2 |
| Israel | ישראל | Yisra’el | Critical | Unity of Jews and Gentiles | 1, 3 | [BASELINE REUSE] |
| David | דוד | David | Low | Davidic Covenant | 7 | [BASELINE REUSE] |
| Seed of David | זרע דוד | zera David | High | Davidic Covenant | 7 | [BASELINE REUSE] |
| Sanctification | התקדשות | hitkadshut | High | Sanctification | 17 | [BASELINE REUSE] |
| Peace | שלום | shalom | Medium | Peace with God | 14 | [BASELINE REUSE]; nuance shift — relational comfort at Christ’s departure rather than justification-peace |
| Power of God | כוח האלוהים | koach ha-Elohim | Medium | Power of God | (implicit throughout signs/works) | [BASELINE REUSE] |
| Election / chosen | בחירה | bechirah | High | Effectual Calling | 15 (“I have chosen you,” 15:16) | [BASELINE REUSE] |
| Mission / sent | שליחות | shlichut | Medium | Mission to the Nations | 3, 17, 20 | [BASELINE REUSE]; root שלח shared with ἀποστέλλω-language throughout |
| Apostle (conceptual root, shaliach) | שליח | shaliach | Medium | Apostleship | (background to “sent” language) | [BASELINE REUSE] |
| Prophet | נביא | navi | Medium | Inspiration of Scripture | 1, 4, 9 | [BASELINE REUSE] |
| Prophecy / fulfillment | נבואה | nevu’ah | Low | Fulfillment of Prophecy | 5, 12, 19 | [BASELINE REUSE] |
| Faith / believe (noun root) | אמונה | emunah | High | Faith | (root of the pervasive verb, see Table 2) | [BASELINE REUSE] |
| Gentiles / the nations | גויים | goyim | Medium | Unity of Jews and Gentiles | 12 (Greeks seeking Jesus, 12:20 uses Ἕλληνες specifically) | [BASELINE REUSE]; note ch. 12 uses “Greeks” (Ἕλληνες) not generic ethnē — render as יְוָנִים where the specific ethnicity is meant, גויים only where the generic sense is intended |
Table 2 — New Terms Specific to John (Candidates for Translation Memory Addition)
| Term (English) | Greek / Transliteration | Hebrew Rendering | Risk | Doctrine | Occurs in Chapters | Notes / Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| the Word (Logos) | ὁ λόγος / ho logos | הדבר | Critical | Deity and Pre-existence of Christ | 1 | No settled prior Hebrew Christian term exists; must never be rendered מילה (a linguistic word); echoes Genesis 1’s creative speech and the Targumic Memra tradition |
| the Word became flesh | ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο | והדבר נהיה בשר | Critical | Incarnation | 1 | Verse-level phrase per Delitzsch precedent; distinct from the doctrinal noun התגלמות |
| only begotten / one-of-a-kind | μονογενής / monogenēs | בן יחיד / יחיד | Critical | Sonship of Christ / Deity and Pre-existence of Christ | 1, 3 | Asserts categorical uniqueness, not mere birth; must be sharply distinguished from believers’ “children of God” |
| children of God (believers) | τέκνα θεοῦ / tekna theou | בני אלוהים | Critical | New Birth and Regeneration | 1 | Distinct Greek word/category from Christ’s unique Sonship (υἱός); Hebrew must hold apart three senses: OT angelic “sons of God,” Christ’s unique בן האלוהים, and believers’ derived בני אלוהים |
| grace and truth | χάρις καὶ ἀλήθεια | חסד ואמת | High | Grace / Deity of Christ | 1 | Positive resource — recovers Exodus 34:6’s idiom exactly; must be taught as deliberate Christological fulfillment, not left as coincidence |
| Lamb of God | ὁ ἀμνὸς τοῦ θεοῦ | שה האלוהים | Critical | Christ’s Substitutionary Death | 1 | Use שה (Isaiah 53:7 / Passover word), not כבש; links Passover, Genesis 22, and the disputed Isaiah 53 servant figure |
| born again / from above | γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν / gennēthē anōthen | להיוולד מלמעלה (primary) / להיוולד מחדש (secondary sense) | Critical | New Birth and Regeneration | 3 | Untranslatable double entendre; requires a standing translator’s note across every occurrence |
| born of water and the Spirit | γεννηθῇ ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ πνεύματος | להיוולד ממים ומרוח | High | New Birth and Regeneration | 3 | Anchor to Ezekiel 36:25-27, not baptism alone |
| wind / Spirit (pun) | πνεῦμα / pneuma | רוח | Medium (positive asset) | New Birth and Regeneration | 3 | Hebrew רוח naturally preserves the wind/Spirit double meaning of the Greek |
| Son of Man | ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου / ho huios tou anthrōpou | בן האדם | Critical | Deity and Pre-existence of Christ | 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 12, 13 | Dual OT background (ordinary “mortal,” Ezekiel; technical apocalyptic figure, Daniel 7:13) must be explicitly disambiguated per occurrence |
| lifted up (crucifixion/exaltation) | ὑψωθῆναι / hypsōthēnai | ירום ונישא (echoing Isaiah 52:13) | Critical | Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection | 3, 8, 12 | Double sense (humiliation and exaltation) must both be carried; recommend Isaiah 52:13’s Servant Song vocabulary |
| serpent (bronze, Numbers 21) | ὄφις / ophis | נחש (הנחושת) | High | Christ’s Substitutionary Death | 3 | Anchor explicitly to Numbers 21:9, not Genesis 3 |
| eternal life | ζωὴ αἰώνιος / zōē aiōnios | חיי עולם | Critical | Eternal Life through Faith in Christ | 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 17 | Present-tense possession, not solely future/corporate “olam haba” |
| the world (kosmos) | ὁ κόσμος / ho kosmos | עולם | Critical | God’s Love for the World | 1, 3, 8, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17 | Double-duty with “olam” (eternal life) creates a genuine Hebrew wordplay asset at 3:16; must retain John’s negative sense (humanity in rebellion) alongside the positive (object of God’s love) |
| believe | πιστεύω / pisteuō | להאמין | High | Eternal Life through Faith in Christ | pervasive, all chapters | Verb form of אמונה; shares its full doctrinal risk profile (praxis-oriented Jewish default vs. personal trust in Christ) |
| perish | ἀπόλλυμι / apollymi | לאבד / יאבד | Medium | Judgment and Belief/Unbelief | 3 | |
| condemn / judgment | κρίνω, κρίσις / krinō, krisis | לשפוט, משפט | High | Judgment and Belief/Unbelief | 3, 5, 8, 9, 12, 16 | Disambiguate neutral “judge” vs. negative “condemn” per occurrence |
| testify / witness | μαρτυρέω, μαρτυρία / martyreō, martyria | להעיד, עדות | Medium | Deity and Pre-existence of Christ (forensic idiom) | 1, 3, 5, 8, 15, 19, 21 | Structuring forensic/courtroom metaphor of the whole Gospel |
| sent (Father sends Son) | ἀπέστειλεν / apesteilen | שלח | High | Mission / Deity and Pre-existence of Christ | 3, 17, 20 | Shlichut concept illuminates authority but must be qualified: unique eternal sending, not delegated human commission |
| the Jews | οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι / hoi Ioudaioi | היהודים (context-dependent) | Critical | (cross-cutting; touches Unity of Jews and Gentiles and Evangelism doctrines) | 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 18, 19 | The single highest-sensitivity recurring term in the book; every occurrence must be individually assessed as referring to (a) the Jewish people generally, (b) Judean residents specifically, or (c) hostile religious/political authorities specifically — never defaulted to (a) automatically |
| sign | σημεῖον / sēmeion | אות | Medium | (evidentiary basis for all Christological doctrines) | 2, 4, 6, 9, 11, 12, 20 | Preserve revelatory/evidentiary force; do not flatten to generic נס (miracle) |
| hour (appointed time of the cross) | ὥρα / hōra | השעה / העת | High | Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection | 2, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17 | Technical term for the fixed divine timetable of the passion |
| temple (precinct) / sanctuary | ἱερόν / ναός | בית המקדש / ההיכל | High | Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection | 2 | Preserve the Greek’s two-term distinction; ναός applied to Christ’s body is a major typological claim |
| bridegroom | νυμφίος / nymphios | חתן | Medium | (background to God’s Love for the World) | 3 | Positive OT/messianic resource |
| wrath of God | ὀργή / orgē | חרון אף / קצף | High | Judgment and Belief/Unbelief | 3 | Must not be softened to an impersonal consequence |
| living water | ὕδωρ ζῶν / hydōr zōn | מים חיים | Medium | Eternal Life through Faith in Christ | 4, 7 | Echoes Jeremiah 2:13, 17:13; Zechariah 14:8 |
| worship in spirit and truth | προσκυνεῖν ἐν πνεύματι καὶ ἀληθείᾳ | להשתחוות ברוח ובאמת | High | (background to Unity of Father and Son / Holy Spirit) | 4 | Must not appear to relativize the historic Jerusalem Temple, but announce its fulfillment |
| salvation is of the Jews | ἡ σωτηρία ἐκ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἐστίν | הישועה מן היהודים | High | (parallels baseline’s universal_scope_of_gospel “to the Jew first”) | 4 | Positive affirmation of Israel’s redemptive-historical priority |
| equal with God | ἴσος τῷ θεῷ / isos theō | שווה לאלוהים | Critical | Deity and Pre-existence of Christ | 5 | Direct, unsoftened deity claim |
| I am (absolute, theophanic) | ἐγώ εἰμι / egō eimi | אני הוא | Critical | Deity and Pre-existence of Christ / The Seven “I Am” Statements | 6, 8 (climactic at 8:58), 18 | Recovers Isaiah’s divine self-declaration idiom (41:4; 43:10, 13, 25; 46:4; 48:12) — a major positive resource requiring consistent use |
| the Seven “I Am” Statements (as a set) | ἐγώ εἰμι + predicate | אני הוא + תיאור | Critical | The Seven “I Am” Statements | 6 (bread of life), 8 (light of the world), 10 (the door; the good shepherd), 11 (the resurrection and the life), 14 (the way, the truth, the life), 15 (the true vine) | Use אני הוא consistently for all seven (not merely אני) to preserve the link to the absolute theophanic formula even in the predicated forms |
| eat my flesh, drink my blood | φάγητε τὴν σάρκα, πίητε τὸ αἷμα | לאכול את בשרו, לשתות את דמו | Critical | Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection | 6 | Direct collision with Leviticus 17:10-14’s blood prohibition; must be taught explicitly as figurative/participatory, never literal |
| freedom / bondage | ἐλευθερία / eleutheria | חרות / חופש | High | (background to New Birth and Regeneration) | 8 | Exodus/Passover resonance; must not dismiss Abrahamic identity, but redirect toward bondage to sin |
| ”you are of your father the devil” | ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς τοῦ διαβόλου | מאבי המלשין / השטן | Critical | (highest-sensitivity passage in the book) | 8 | Historically weaponized against Jewish people as a whole; must be taught as directed at specific narrative interlocutors only, with mandatory contextual framing |
| put out of the synagogue | ἀποσυνάγωγος (implied) | מנודה / מוחרם מבית הכנסת | High | (background to Evangelism doctrine) | 9 | Sensitive historical Jewish-Christian separation background |
| I and my Father are one | ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἕν ἐσμεν | אני והאב אחד אנחנו | Critical | Unity of the Father and the Son | 10 | Directly engages the Shema’s own defining word, אחד; central textual anchor of this doctrine |
| you are gods (Psalm 82 citation) | θεοί ἐστε | אלוהים אתם | High | Sonship of Christ | 10 | Jesus’s own rabbinic a fortiori argument from Scripture |
| Counselor / Comforter / Advocate (Paraclete) | παράκλητος / paraklētos | המנחם (primary, comfort-emphasis) / הסניגור (advocate/intercessor-emphasis) | Critical | The Holy Spirit as Counselor | 14, 15, 16 | AVOID פרקליט (narrowed in Modern Hebrew to “attorney/prosecutor”); standing translator’s note required explaining the term’s dual advocate/comforter range, with 16:8-11’s prosecutorial nuance toward the world noted separately |
| Spirit of truth | τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας | רוח האמת | High | The Holy Spirit as Counselor | 14, 15, 16 | Names the Paraclete’s identity |
| the true vine | ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἄμπελος ἡ ἀληθινή | אני הוא הגפן האמתית | Critical | The Seven “I Am” Statements / Unity of Jews and Gentiles (typology) | 15 | Fulfills, does not replace, the OT vine-as-Israel metaphor (Psalm 80; Isaiah 5; Ezekiel 15, 19; Hosea 10) |
| convict of sin (Paraclete’s forensic ministry) | ἐλέγχω / elegchō | להוכיח / להאשים | High | The Holy Spirit as Counselor | 16 | Forensic register supporting the “prosecutorial” half of the Paraclete’s range |
| the only true God…whom you have sent | τὸν μόνον ἀληθινὸν θεόν…ὃν ἀπέστειλας | האלוהים האמת האחד…אשר שלחת | Critical | Unity of the Father and the Son / Deity of Christ | 17 | Requires careful Trinitarian framing against a subordinationist misreading |
| that they all may be one (ecclesial unity modeled on Father-Son unity) | ἵνα πάντες ἓν ὦσιν | שיהיו כולם אחד | Critical | Unity of the Father and the Son | 17 | Extends the Shema-adjacent אחד risk into ecclesiology |
| it is finished | τετέλεσται / tetelestai | נשלם / כלה | Critical | Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection | 19 | Completed, sufficient accomplishment, not mere cessation |
| not one bone broken / pierced | Psalm 34:20 / Zechariah 12:10 citations | ועצם לא תישבר בו / והביטו אלי את אשר דקרו | Critical | Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection | 19 | Reinforces Passover Lamb typology as fulfilled prophecy |
| my Lord and my God | ὁ κύριός μου καὶ ὁ θεός μου | אדוני ואלוהי | Critical | Deity and Pre-existence of Christ | 20 | Climactic personal deity confession; combines baseline’s אדון and אלוהים terms directly and personally applied to Jesus |
| that you might believe…and have life through his name (purpose statement) | ἵνα πιστεύσητε…ζωὴν ἔχητε ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ | למען תאמינו…ויהיו לכם חיים בשמו | Critical | (structural — the Gospel’s own thesis statement) | 20 | Requires the same cross-document rendering consistency mandated for Romans 1:16-17, 8:28, 10:9-10 in the baseline |
Table 3 — Terms Noted but Assessed Low Priority / Low Risk (for completeness)
| Term (English) | Hebrew | Risk | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rabbi / Teacher | רבי / מורה | Medium | Sincere but inadequate Christological category; must be taught as true-but-insufficient |
| Passover | פסח | High (cultural sensitivity, not vocabulary) | Typological fulfillment (Lamb of God) must not imply replacement of the Jewish festival itself |
| Sabbath | שבת | Medium | Direct term; risk is doctrinal framing (Christ’s authority over Sabbath), not vocabulary |
| Feast of Tabernacles / Dedication | חג הסוכות / חנוכה | Low-Medium | Genuine shared festival settings; positive cultural resource |
| light / darkness | אור / חושך | Medium | Strong positive Genesis 1 resonance; ensure moral (not merely cognitive) force is retained |
| truth | אמת | Low-Medium | Well-established, positive; central to “Spirit of truth” and “the way, the truth, and the life” |
| glorify (verb) | לכבד | High | [BASELINE REUSE root — כבוד]; avoid the colloquial “social respect” sense |
| honor the Son | לכבד את הבן | High | Same caution as above |
| new commandment | מצוה חדשה | Medium | Not an abrogation of Torah’s love command (Leviticus 19:18) but its Christ-measured intensification |
| Rabboni | רבוני | Medium | Intimate, personal address exceeding “Rabbi” |
| feed my sheep | רעה את צאני | Low | Reuses Good Shepherd imagery established in ch. 10 |
| ἀγαπάω / φιλέω distinction (21:15-17) | אהב (single verb) | Medium | Greek’s possible two-verb nuance does not survive into Hebrew without a translator’s note |
Cross-Reference to Bible Doctrines (Curriculum Parameter Mapping)
| Curriculum Doctrine | Primary Terms (this glossary) | Primary Chapters |
|---|---|---|
| The Deity and Pre-existence of Christ (the Word) | the Word/הדבר, ascend/descend, equal with God, I am absolute/אני הוא, my Lord and my God | 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 17, 20 |
| The New Birth and Regeneration by the Spirit | born again/from above, born of water and Spirit, wind/Spirit pun, children of God | 3 |
| Eternal Life through Faith in Christ | eternal life/חיי עולם, believe/להאמין, perish, living water, bread of life | 3, 4, 5, 6, 11 |
| God’s Love for the World | loved/אהב, the world/עולם, only begotten/יחיד, sent/שלח | 3, 17 |
| Judgment and Belief/Unbelief | condemn/judgment, wrath, light/darkness, resurrection of life/of judgment | 3, 5, 9, 12, 16 |
| The Seven “I Am” Statements | אני הוא + bread/light/door/shepherd/resurrection/way/vine | 6, 8, 10, 11, 14, 15 |
| The Holy Spirit as Counselor | Paraclete/המנחם/הסניגור, Spirit of truth, convict of sin | 14, 15, 16 |
| Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection | Lamb of God, lifted up, it is finished, not one bone broken, one man die for the people | 1, 3, 11, 12, 19 |
| Unity of the Father and the Son | I and my Father are one, if you have seen me you have seen the Father, that they all may be one, the only true God whom you have sent | 10, 14, 17 |
This glossary must be loaded alongside the baseline translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json before any Phase 2 translation of John. New terms marked [NEW] above are proposed additions to translation memory and require theologian review before finalization, per the escalation rules in 12_ai_translation_requirements.md.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: אלוהים
Transliteration: Elohim
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: θεός / אֱלֹהִים
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package (exact copy). No viable alternative word; the risk is entirely in content. The Shema’s ‘Hashem Echad’ (the LORD is One) remains the single most central affirmation in Jewish identity. John 1:1, 1:18, and 20:28 apply this term directly and personally to Jesus; framing must engage the Shema as an intra-scriptural question, never as introducing a second deity. NEVER substitute אֱלוֹהַ (the bare singular ‘a god/deity’ form used in demoted-Christology sectarian renderings) for אלוהים at John 1:1 or elsewhere.
Jesus
Approved rendering: ישוע
Transliteration: Yeshua
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: ישו
Original: Ἰησοῦς / יֵשׁוּעַ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package (exact copy). Must always be spelled with the final ayin, ישוע; never the truncated ישו. John uses this name more than any other Gospel (over 200 occurrences); a single lapse anywhere across all 21 chapters is a serious error.
Messiah
Approved rendering: משיח
Transliteration: Mashiach
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Original: Χριστός / מָשִׁיחַ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package (exact copy). John 1:41, 4:25-26, 7:41-42, 11:27, 20:31 all invoke the Rabbinic messianic job description (Rambam, Laws of Kings 11-12); the two-part fulfillment claim (completed first coming, future consummation) must be taught explicitly, not assumed.
Lord
Approved rendering: אדון
Transliteration: Adon
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package (exact copy). Climactic use at John 20:28 (‘my Lord and my God’) applies Adon-level lordship to Jesus personally and directly; Adonai is the traditional spoken substitute for the Tetragrammaton, so this confession must never be softened or hedged.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: בן האלוהים
Transliteration: ben ha-Elohim
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Original: υἱὸς θεοῦ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package (exact copy). John 1:49, 3:16-18, 5:17-18, 10:36, 11:27, 20:31 press this claim repeatedly. Must be sharply distinguished in Hebrew from the plural, derived ‘children of God’ (בני אלוהים, see new term children_of_god) given to believers by new birth — never substitute one for the other.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: רוח הקודש
Transliteration: Ruach HaKodesh
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package (exact copy). John develops the Spirit’s permanent, personal indwelling and advocacy (chs. 14-16, see new term paraclete) far beyond the Rabbinic view that the Ruach HaKodesh ‘departed from Israel’ with the last prophets (b. Yoma 9b); this contrast must be taught explicitly at each occurrence, including John 20:22.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: תחיית המתים
Transliteration: techiyat hametim
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Original: ἀνάστασις
Category: Eschatology
Inherited from Romans package (exact copy). John 11:25 makes Christ himself the resurrection, not merely its agent (see seven_i_am_predicated); John 5:28-29 introduces a two-outcome distinction requiring added qualifiers (see new term resurrection_of_life_and_judgment).
Incarnation
Approved rendering: התגלמות
Transliteration: hitgalmut
Doctrine: Incarnation
Rejected alternatives: הגשמה
Original: ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package (exact copy). John 1:14 is now a direct source verse for this doctrinal noun (unlike Romans, where it was inferred from 1:3). NEVER use הגשמה (Modern Hebrew for ‘actualizing a dream/vision’), which would trivialize the doctrine into self-actualization language. See new term word_became_flesh for the verse-level phrase governed by Delitzsch precedent.
Salvation
Approved rendering: ישועה
Transliteration: yeshu’ah
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: גאולה
Original: σωτηρία / σῴζω
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (exact copy). John 3:17, 4:22, 4:42 use this individually and eternally, resisting the Jewish default toward corporate/national deliverance. 4:22’s ‘salvation is of the Jews’ (see new term salvation_is_of_the_jews) is a positive affirmation of Israel’s redemptive priority and must not be diluted.
Law
Approved rendering: תורה
Transliteration: Torah
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Original: νόμος
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package (exact copy). John 1:17, 5:39-46, 7:19-23 invoke Torah as beloved covenant gift and testimony to Christ; the ‘new commandment’ of 13:34 (see new term new_commandment) must never be framed as abrogating Torah’s own love command (Leviticus 19:18).
Israel
Approved rendering: ישראל
Transliteration: Yisra’el
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Original: Ἰσραήλ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package (exact copy). John 1:31, 1:49, and 3:10 (‘teacher of Israel’) name the reader’s own nation directly; Jesus’s identity as ‘King of Israel’ (1:49) must be taught without triggering supersessionist overtones — see new term true_vine for the related typological caution.
The Word
Approved rendering: הדבר
Transliteration: ha-davar
Doctrine: The Deity and Pre-existence of Christ (the Word)
Rejected alternatives: מילה, לוגוס
Original: ὁ λόγος
Category: Christology
No settled prior Hebrew Christian term exists because no continuous native-Hebrew-speaking Christian community bridged the apostolic era and Hebrew’s revival. NEVER render as מילה (a mere linguistic word/term), which strips away the ontological weight entirely; never transliterate as a Logos-loanword, which would sever the deliberate Genesis 1 (‘וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים’) and Targumic Memra resonance. Governs John 1:1-18.
Word Became Flesh
Approved rendering: והדבר נהיה בשר
Transliteration: ve-ha-davar nihyah basar
Doctrine: Incarnation
Rejected alternatives: והדבר התגשם
Original: ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο
Category: Christology
Verse-level phrase (John 1:14), distinct from the doctrinal noun התגלמות; follows the Delitzsch Hebrew NT precedent exactly so the phrase reads as established translation tradition rather than an improvised rendering.
Only Begotten
Approved rendering: בן יחיד / יחיד
Transliteration: ben yachid / yachid
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: בן שנולד
Original: μονογενής
Category: Christology
Not primarily ‘born’ but ‘unique, one-of-a-kind’; John 1:14, 18, 3:16, 18 apply it exclusively to Christ. Must be sharply distinguished from believers’ plural, derived ‘children of God’ status (see children_of_god) — Hebrew’s shared ben/beney-Elohim vocabulary could otherwise blur the two categories.
Children Of God
Approved rendering: בני אלוהים
Transliteration: b’nei Elohim
Doctrine: The New Birth and Regeneration by the Spirit
Original: τέκνα θεοῦ
Category: Salvation
Hebrew בני אלוהים already carries two established Tanakh senses (angelic beings, Genesis 6:2/Job 1:6; Israel corporately, Exodus 4:22). John’s usage (1:12-13) adds a third sense (individual believers, by new birth) that must be held apart from both OT senses and from Christ’s unique, singular בן האלוהים. Never substitute for son_of_god or vice versa.
Lamb Of God
Approved rendering: שה האלוהים
Transliteration: seh ha-Elohim
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection
Rejected alternatives: כבש האלוהים
Original: ὁ ἀμνὸς τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Salvation
Use שֶׂה (Isaiah 53:7’s and Exodus 12’s own word), NEVER כֶּבֶשׂ, to preserve the direct link to Passover typology and to the exegetically contested Suffering Servant text of Isaiah 53 (mainstream Rabbinic reading since Rashi treats the servant as collective Israel). John 1:29, 36. Teach as an interpretive claim being argued, not an assumed consensus.
Born Again From Above
Approved rendering: להיוולד מלמעלה
Transliteration: le-hivvaled mi-l’ma’lah
Doctrine: The New Birth and Regeneration by the Spirit
Rejected alternatives: להיוולד מחדש (secondary sense only)
Original: γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν
Category: Salvation
Greek ἄνωθεν (John 3:3, 7) is deliberately double-sensed (spatial ‘from above’ / temporal ‘again’); no single Hebrew word carries both senses simultaneously. Nicodemus’s confusion (3:4) assumes the temporal sense; use מלמעלה as the primary rendering to correctly land Jesus’s intended sense, with a MANDATORY standing translator’s note explaining the double meaning is invisible in Hebrew alone.
Son Of Man
Approved rendering: בן האדם
Transliteration: ben ha-adam
Doctrine: The Deity and Pre-existence of Christ (the Word)
Original: ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου
Category: Christology
Dual OT background: ordinary ‘mortal/human being’ (Ezekiel’s address) versus the technical apocalyptic-messianic figure of Daniel 7:13-14 who receives everlasting dominion. A Hebrew reader’s default association is the ordinary sense; the Daniel 7 sense must be surfaced explicitly at each of the eight occurrences (1:51; 3:13-14; 5:27; 6:27; 8:28; 9:35; 12:23, 34; 13:31), not assumed to carry forward from a single footnote.
Lifted Up
Approved rendering: ירום ונישא
Transliteration: yarum ve-nissa
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection
Rejected alternatives: יצלב (crucifixion-only, flat single-sense verb)
Original: ὑψωθῆναι
Category: Salvation
Greek ὑψωθῆναι (John 3:14; 8:28; 12:32-34) is deliberately double-sensed: physical elevation (crucifixion) AND exaltation/glorification. Deliberately echoes Isaiah 52:13’s Servant Song vocabulary (יָרוּם וְנִשָּׂא) to preserve both senses simultaneously; a flat, single-sense crucifixion verb would lose the exaltation half entirely.
Eternal Life
Approved rendering: חיי עולם
Transliteration: chayei olam
Doctrine: Eternal Life through Faith in Christ
Original: ζωὴ αἰώνιος
Category: Salvation
עולם defaults in Jewish usage toward the future, corporate ‘olam haba’ (world to come); John’s usage (3:15-16, 36; 4:14; 5:24; 6:47; 10:28; 17:3; 20:31) is present-tense and individually received. No viable substitute exists; require a recurring teaching note at every occurrence, not only at first occurrence (3:15-16).
The World
Approved rendering: עולם
Transliteration: olam
Doctrine: God’s Love for the World
Original: ὁ κόσμος
Category: Salvation
עוֹלָם is a genuine double-duty Hebrew word (also the root of חיי עולם/eternal life in the very same verse, John 3:16), producing a wordplay asset absent from the Greek — actively teach this. But the Rabbinic ‘olam hazeh/olam haba’ technical category must not narrow κόσμος into a merely spatial-temporal sense; John’s negative moral sense (humanity in rebellion, 15:18-19) must also survive alongside the positive sense (3:16).
The Jews
Approved rendering: היהודים
Transliteration: ha-Yehudim
Doctrine: ‘The Jews’ — Historical and Interpretive Sensitivity
Original: οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι
Category: Church
The single highest-sensitivity recurring term in the book (chapters 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 18, 19). A Hebrew-speaking reader will hear היהודים as referring to their own people without qualification by default; John’s usage ranges across the Jewish people generally, Judean residents, and hostile authorities specifically. Every occurrence must be individually assessed rather than defaulted to the generic-people sense. John 8:44 (see father_the_devil) is the most historically weaponized instance and requires mandatory contextual framing.
Equal With God
Approved rendering: שווה לאלוהים
Transliteration: shaveh l’Elohim
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: ἴσος τῷ θεῷ
Category: Christology
John 5:18. One of the most direct deity-of-Christ statements in the Gospel, drawn from the Jewish leaders’ own (accurate) inference from Jesus’s words; must be preserved without softening, per doctrinal-preservation rule 1 (never minimize claims of Messiah’s deity).
I Am Absolute
Approved rendering: אני הוא
Transliteration: ani hu
Doctrine: The Seven ‘I Am’ Statements
Rejected alternatives: אני קיים
Original: ἐγώ εἰμι
Category: Christology
The unqualified theophanic self-declaration formula (6:20; 8:24, 28, 58; 13:19; 18:5-6). Render consistently with אֲנִי הוּא, the exact idiom of Isaiah’s divine self-declarations (41:4; 43:10, 13, 25; 46:4; 48:12) — never diluted into a flatter phrase such as אני קיים (‘I exist’). John 8:58’s attempted stoning is narrative evidence the hearers understood the claim as an appropriation of the divine Name. Note: Jewish anti-missionary apologetic sometimes argues אני הוא merely means ‘I am he [the Messiah]’ rather than a divine self-identification — teaching material must make the Isaiah intertextual link explicit rather than relying on the Hebrew wording alone.
Seven I Am Predicated
Approved rendering: אני הוא + תיאור
Transliteration: ani hu + te’ur
Doctrine: The Seven ‘I Am’ Statements
Rejected alternatives: אני (bare, without הוא)
Original: ἐγώ εἰμι + predicate
Category: Christology
The seven predicated forms: bread of life (6:35), light of the world (8:12), the door (10:7, 9), the good shepherd (10:11, 14), the resurrection and the life (11:25), the way/truth/life (14:6), the true vine (15:1, 5). Use אני הוא consistently for all seven (never bare אני) to preserve the link to the absolute theophanic formula even where a predicate follows; each additionally draws on a distinct OT typology that must be surfaced per occurrence.
Eat Flesh Drink Blood
Approved rendering: לאכול את בשרו / לשתות את דמו
Transliteration: le’echol et besaro / lishtot et damo
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection
Original: φάγητε τὴν σάρκα…πίητε τὸ αἷμα
Category: Salvation
John 6:53-56. Direct collision with Leviticus 17:10-14’s blood prohibition. Must be taught explicitly and forcefully as figurative/participatory language for receiving the benefits of Christ’s death (cf. 6:63, ‘the words I speak are spirit and life’), NEVER as literal ingestion, and framed as fulfilling rather than violating Torah’s underlying reverence for blood as life/atonement (Leviticus 17:11).
Father The Devil
Approved rendering: (sensitive phrase — mandatory contextual note required at every occurrence; see notes)
Transliteration: n/a
Doctrine: ‘The Jews’ — Historical and Interpretive Sensitivity
Original: ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς τοῦ διαβόλου ἐστέ
Category: Church
John 8:44. The single most historically weaponized verse in this Gospel, used to justify centuries of antisemitic violence when misapplied to the Jewish people as a whole rather than to the specific interlocutors in the narrative dispute. Requires the most careful theologian-level framing in the entire curriculum: must be taught as directed at particular unbelieving opponents in a specific first-century controversy, never generalized to ‘the Jews’ as an ethnic-religious category. MAY NOT be translated, published, or discussed without an accompanying mandatory contextual note at first and every subsequent occurrence.
Father And Son One
Approved rendering: אני והאב אחד אנחנו
Transliteration: ani ve-ha-Av echad anachnu
Doctrine: Unity of the Father and the Son
Original: ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἕν ἐσμεν
Category: Christology
John 10:30. The central textual anchor of the Unity of the Father and the Son doctrine. The Hebrew rendering directly engages אֶחָד, the Shema’s own defining word (‘שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל…ה’ אֶחָד’). Must be taught with maximal care as an intra-scriptural claim about the nature of the one God’s own unity, compatible with — not competing against — the Shema. This is the single highest-stakes unity term in the whole book.
Paraclete
Approved rendering: המנחם / הסניגור
Transliteration: ha-menachem / ha-sanegor
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit as Counselor
Rejected alternatives: פרקליט
Original: παράκλητος
Category: God
FORBIDDEN alternative: פְּרַקְלִיט, narrowed in Modern Hebrew almost entirely to ‘attorney/legal counsel’ (cf. פרקליטות המדינה, the State Attorney’s Office). Use הַמְנַחֵם (comfort-emphasis, echoing Isaiah 40:1’s ‘נַחֲמוּ נַחֲמוּ עַמִּי’) as PRIMARY rendering, with הַסַּנֵּיגוֹר (a Rabbinic loanword for a defense advocate, m. Avot) available for the advocate/intercessor sense (John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7). A standing translator’s note is MANDATORY, since ‘Menachem’ is also a traditional Rabbinic name for the Messiah (b. Sanhedrin 98b) requiring disambiguation, and since 16:8-11 supports the term’s prosecutorial half toward the world (see convict_of_sin).
True Vine
Approved rendering: הגפן האמתית
Transliteration: ha-gefen ha-amitit
Doctrine: The Seven ‘I Am’ Statements
Original: ἡ ἄμπελος ἡ ἀληθινή
Category: Church
John 15:1, 5. The vine is one of the OT’s most established metaphors for Israel itself (Psalm 80:8-16; Isaiah 5:1-7; Jeremiah 2:21; Ezekiel 15, 19:10-14; Hosea 10:1). Must be taught as Christ fulfilling and embodying what Israel-as-vine was called to be, NOT replacing or discarding that image — parallel to the baseline’s Romans 11 grafting-in, not-replacement framework.
Only True God Sent
Approved rendering: האלוהים האמת האחד…אשר שלחת
Transliteration: ha-Elohim ha-emet ha-echad…asher shalachta
Doctrine: Unity of the Father and the Son
Original: τὸν μόνον ἀληθινὸν θεόν…ὃν ἀπέστειλας
Category: God
John 17:3. Juxtaposition of strict monotheism with the Father’s sending of Jesus Christ. One of the passages most liable to a subordinationist misreading if handled carelessly; must be taught within the same framework as deity_of_christ and unity_of_father_and_son — the Son’s being sent does not compromise his own full deity, any more than the Word’s distinctness from ‘the God’ in John 1:1 compromises the Word’s deity.
That They All May Be One
Approved rendering: שיהיו כולם אחד
Transliteration: she-yihyu kulam echad
Doctrine: Unity of the Father and the Son
Original: ἵνα πάντες ἓν ὦσιν
Category: Church
John 17:21-23. Ecclesial unity modeled on Father-Son unity. Extends the Shema-adjacent אחד risk from John 10:30 into ecclesiology; must be taught precisely so believers’ unity is understood as patterned after, not identical in kind to, the Father-Son ontological unity.
It Is Finished
Approved rendering: נשלם / כלה
Transliteration: nishlam / kalah
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection
Rejected alternatives: נגמר
Original: τετέλεσται
Category: Salvation
John 19:30. Perfect tense marks an accomplished, sufficient act, not merely an ending. AVOID נגמר (a flatter, administrative ‘it’s over/concluded’); prefer כלה or a construction avoiding the merely-administrative connotation, pending native-speaker comprehension testing referenced in the Translation Landscape analysis.
Bone Not Broken Pierced
Approved rendering: ועצם לא תישבר בו / והביטו אלי את אשר דקרו
Transliteration: ve-etsem lo tishaver bo / ve-hibitu elai et asher dakaru
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Original: ὀστοῦν αὐτοῦ οὐ συντριβήσεται / ὄψονται εἰς ὃν ἐξεκέντησαν
Category: Covenant
John 19:36-37, citing Psalm 34:20, Exodus 12:46, and Zechariah 12:10. Reinforces Passover-Lamb typology as fulfilled prophecy. Must quote the Masoretic wording of both source texts precisely so the fulfillment claim is independently verifiable against the Tanakh itself.
My Lord And My God
Approved rendering: אדוני ואלוהי
Transliteration: adoni ve-Elohai
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: ὁ κύριός μου καὶ ὁ θεός μου
Category: Christology
John 20:28, Thomas’s confession — the most explicit personal deity confession in the Gospel. Combines both אדון and אלוהים directly and personally applied to Jesus; must be rendered without any softening or qualification, exactly per baseline doctrinal-preservation rules 1 and 2 (compare Romans 10:9’s ישוע הוא האדון). The climactic Deity-of-Christ confession of the whole book.
Purpose Statement
Approved rendering: למען תאמינו…ויהיו לכם חיים בשמו
Transliteration: lema’an ta’aminu…ve-yihyu lachem chayim bishmo
Doctrine: Eternal Life through Faith in Christ
Original: ἵνα πιστεύσητε…καὶ ζωὴν ἔχητε ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ
Category: Faith
John 20:30-31. The Gospel’s own explicit purpose/thesis statement, structurally parallel to Romans 1:16-17’s thesis-statement status in the baseline. Must be rendered with maximal cross-document consistency throughout the entire curriculum wherever it is quoted, exactly as required for Romans 1:16-17, 8:28, and 10:9-10.
Resurrection Of Life And Judgment
Approved rendering: תחיית החיים / תחיית המשפט
Transliteration: techiyat ha-chayim / techiyat ha-mishpat
Doctrine: Judgment and Belief/Unbelief
Original: ἀνάστασις ζωῆς / ἀνάστασις κρίσεως
Category: Eschatology
John 5:28-29. Builds on the baseline תחיית המתים but requires added qualifiers so the two distinct eschatological outcomes are not flattened into one generic ‘resurrection.’ Always retain both qualifying phrases together as a contrastive pair; never render 5:28-29 with the bare unqualified term.
High Risk Terms
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: מלכות האלוהים
Transliteration: malchut ha-Elohim
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Kingdom
Inherited from Romans package (exact copy). John 3:3, 5 (entrance by new birth) and 18:36 (‘my kingdom is not of this world’) explicitly guard against political/territorial readings tied to the Land, of particular weight for a Hebrew-speaking reader’s own national self-understanding.
Sin
Approved rendering: חטא
Transliteration: chet
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package (exact copy). John 1:29, 8:34, 9:41, 16:8-9 present sin as a universal bondage requiring the Lamb’s removal (see lamb_of_god), in tension with mainstream Jewish anthropology’s confidence in real freedom to choose good via Torah observance.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: זרע דוד
Transliteration: zera David
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: σπέρμα Δαυίδ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package (exact copy). Underlies John 7:42’s debate; requires the same Davidic-covenant typology teaching established in the Romans package.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: התקדשות
Transliteration: hitkadshut
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: קידוש
Original: ἁγιάζω / ἁγιασμός
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package (exact copy). NEVER use קידוש (the Shabbat/holiday wine-blessing ritual). John 17:17, 19 (‘sanctify them in truth… I sanctify myself’) requires careful disambiguation between believers’ sanctification (17:17) and Christ’s own self-sanctification (17:19), a distinction absent from the Romans usage.
Election
Approved rendering: בחירה
Transliteration: bechirah
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Original: ἐκλογή / ἐκλέγομαι
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (exact copy). John 15:16, 19 (‘I have chosen you’) moves toward individual, discipleship-specific election, requiring the same scope-shift teaching against the corporate ‘am hanivchar’ default flagged in Romans.
Faith
Approved rendering: אמונה
Transliteration: emunah
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: ביטחון
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package (exact copy). Root of the pervasive Johannine verb להאמין (see new term believe, ~98 occurrences); must be anchored as personal trust in Jesus’s revealed identity, not bundled with mitzvot-observant faithfulness.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: גויים
Transliteration: goyim
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: עמים
Original: ἔθνη / Ἕλληνες
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package (exact copy). John 12:20 specifically names ‘Greeks’ (Ἕλληνες), not the generic ethnē; render as יְוָנִים where the specific ethnicity is meant, reserving גויים for the truly generic sense.
Grace And Truth
Approved rendering: חסד ואמת
Transliteration: chesed ve-emet
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: חן ואמת
Original: χάρις καὶ ἀλήθεια
Category: God
Recovers Exodus 34:6’s חסד ואמת idiom exactly (John 1:14, 17), using baseline’s חסד (not חן) for grace. Must be taught as a deliberate Christological claim — the glory Moses could not fully see is now beheld in the Word — not left as coincidental phrasing.
Born Of Water And Spirit
Approved rendering: להיוולד ממים ומרוח
Transliteration: le-hivvaled mi-mayim u-me-ruach
Doctrine: The New Birth and Regeneration by the Spirit
Original: γεννηθῇ ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ πνεύματος
Category: Salvation
John 3:5. Must be anchored explicitly to Ezekiel 36:25-27’s promised cleansing water and new spirit for Israel’s end-time renewal, not assumed to mean Christian water-baptism alone.
Bronze Serpent
Approved rendering: הנחש הנחושת
Transliteration: ha-nachash ha-nechushtan
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection
Original: ὄφις
Category: Salvation
John 3:14. Must be explicitly anchored to Numbers 21:9’s own phrase, never to Genesis 3’s tempter, to avoid an incongruous serpent-as-savior-type misreading.
Believe
Approved rendering: להאמין
Transliteration: le-ha’amin
Doctrine: Faith
Original: πιστεύω
Category: Faith
Verb form of אמונה; shares its full doctrinal risk profile (root א-מ-ן carries a praxis/mitzvot-observance connotation in Jewish usage). John’s verb (used ~98 times, the Gospel’s central verb) denotes personal trust in Jesus’s person and testimony, not intellectual assent or covenant-faithfulness-through-observance. Anchors the Gospel’s own thesis statement (see purpose_statement).
Condemn Judgment
Approved rendering: לשפוט / משפט
Transliteration: lishpot / mishpat
Doctrine: Judgment and Belief/Unbelief
Original: κρίνω / κρίσις
Category: Judgment
Must be disambiguated per occurrence throughout the Gospel (3:17-19; 5:22, 27-30; 8:15-16; 9:39; 12:31, 47-48; 16:8, 11) between neutral ‘judge/evaluate’ and negative ‘condemn.’ John 3:19’s condemnation names a self-imposed verdict provoked by response to light, distinct from the ordinary civil-legal sense of מִשְׁפָּט.
Sent
Approved rendering: שלח
Transliteration: shalach
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
Original: ἀπέστειλεν
Category: Church
The Father’s sending of the pre-existent Son (John 3:17; 17:3, 18; 20:21). The shlichut concept (‘a shaliach is as the sender himself’) illuminates the authority of the sending, but must be qualified: the Father-Son sending is unique and eternal, not a delegated commission to a previously independent human agent.
Hour
Approved rendering: השעה / העת
Transliteration: ha-sha’ah / ha-‘et
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection
Original: ὥρα
Category: Christology
Recurs as a technical term for the divinely appointed, fixed time of the cross/glorification (2:4; 7:30; 8:20; 12:23, 27; 13:1; 17:1); must be flagged wherever it names the appointed hour of the passion, not merely clock-time.
Temple Sanctuary
Approved rendering: בית המקדש / ההיכל
Transliteration: beit ha-mikdash / ha-heichal
Doctrine: Temple Fulfillment (Christ’s Body as True Sanctuary)
Original: ἱερόν / ναός
Category: Christology
The Greek distinguishes ἱερόν (the whole Temple complex) from ναός (the sanctuary building itself); John applies the latter to Christ’s own body (2:19-21). Recommend preserving the distinction (מקדש for the complex, היכל for the inner sanctuary) so the body-as-sanctuary claim lands with intended force, given the Temple’s unique weight in Jewish memory and its eventual 70 CE destruction.
Wrath Of God
Approved rendering: חרון אף / קצף
Transliteration: charon af / ketsef
Doctrine: Judgment and Belief/Unbelief
Original: ἡ ὀργὴ τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Judgment
John 3:36. God’s righteous judicial anger against persistent unbelief; must not be softened into a merely impersonal consequence. This is the negative flip-side of eternal life in the very same discourse.
Worship In Spirit And Truth
Approved rendering: להשתחוות ברוח ובאמת
Transliteration: le-hishtachavot be-ruach uve-emet
Doctrine: Temple Fulfillment (Christ’s Body as True Sanctuary)
Original: προσκυνεῖν ἐν πνεύματι καὶ ἀληθεί�ᾳ
Category: Church
John 4:21-24. True worship no longer geographically restricted to Jerusalem or Gerizim; must be handled so as not to appear to relativize or dismiss the historic significance of the Jerusalem Temple, but rather to announce its typological fulfillment.
Salvation Is Of The Jews
Approved rendering: הישועה מן היהודים
Transliteration: ha-yeshu’ah min ha-Yehudim
Doctrine: Israel and the Vine Typology (Unity, not Replacement)
John 4:22. Direct parallel to the baseline’s ‘to the Jew first’ priority language (Romans 1:16). A strong positive resource affirming, in Jesus’s own words, Israel’s distinct redemptive-historical role; must not be flattened or omitted in favor of a purely universalist reading.
Freedom Bondage
Approved rendering: חרות / חופש
Transliteration: cherut / chofesh
Doctrine: The New Birth and Regeneration by the Spirit
Original: ἐλευθερία
Category: Salvation
John 8:32-36. Resonates with Exodus/Passover freedom-from-bondage language and the interlocutors’ Abrahamic-descent claim (8:33); must not appear to dismiss ethnic/covenantal Abrahamic identity, but rather redirect it toward a deeper bondage (sin) and deeper freedom.
Put Out Of Synagogue
Approved rendering: מנודה / מוחרם מבית הכנסת
Transliteration: menudeh / mucharam mi-beit ha-kneset
Doctrine: ‘The Jews’ — Historical and Interpretive Sensitivity
Original: ἀποσυνάγωγος
Category: Church
John 9:22, 34; 12:42; 16:2. Reflects a real historical process of separation between the early Jewish-Christian community and the wider synagogue; must be taught with awareness of the long, often painful history of that separation, not presented as a neutral procedural detail.
You Are Gods
Approved rendering: אלוהים אתם
Transliteration: Elohim atem
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Original: θεοί ἐστε
Category: Christology
John 10:34, quoting Psalm 82:6. Positive resource showing Jesus arguing within recognized Jewish hermeneutical method (qal vachomer, lesser-to-greater); must not be read as diminishing his own unique claim, since he argues from the lesser case (human judges) to the greater (himself).
Spirit Of Truth
Approved rendering: רוח האמת
Transliteration: ruach ha-emet
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit as Counselor
Original: τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας
Category: God
Names the Paraclete’s identity (14:17; 15:26; 16:13). Carries the same under-personalization risk as the baseline’s Holy Spirit entry: mainstream Rabbinic tradition (b. Yoma 9b) holds the Ruach HaKodesh functions as impersonal influence and ‘departed from Israel’ with the last prophets — must be taught against this default at each of the three occurrences.
Convict Of Sin
Approved rendering: להוכיח / להאשים
Transliteration: le-hochiach / le-ha’ashim
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit as Counselor
Original: ἐλέγχω
Category: God
John 16:8-11. The Paraclete’s forensic work of exposing sin, righteousness, and judgment to the world. Supports the prosecutorial half of the Paraclete’s semantic range (see paraclete); the standing translator’s note on the Paraclete should reference this text as evidence for the term’s dual advocate-toward-believers / prosecutor-toward-the-world function.
Passover
Approved rendering: פסח
Transliteration: Pesach
Doctrine: Passover and Lamb Typology
Original: πάσχα
Category: Covenant
The Jewish festival providing the Lamb typology for Christ’s death (chs. 2, 6, 11-13, 18-19). Typological fulfillment (see lamb_of_god, bone_not_broken_pierced) must not imply replacement or supersession of the Jewish festival itself; the shared festival calendar is a genuine cultural asset requiring careful, non-supersessionist framing.
Father Of The Son
Approved rendering: האב
Transliteration: ha-Av
Doctrine: Unity of the Father and the Son
New term, added for completeness. John’s pervasive Christological ‘the Father’ (ὁ πατήρ, e.g., 5:17-18; 10:30; 14:9; 17:1-26) refers specifically to the Father’s relation to the eternal Son, distinct from the baseline Romans ‘father’ entry (אבינו, Avinu), which names God’s corporate, adoptive fatherhood over believers (Romans 8). Do not conflate האב (this entry, Christological) with אבינו (baseline, adoptive/corporate) — they answer different doctrinal questions and must not be used interchangeably.
Medium Risk Terms
Glory
Approved rendering: כבוד
Transliteration: kavod
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: δόξα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package (exact copy). John 1:14, 2:11, and especially 12:41 (identifying Isaiah 6’s vision of YHWH’s glory with Christ’s glory) require the weighty manifest-presence sense, not the colloquial ‘kol hakavod’ social-respect usage.
Grace
Approved rendering: חסד
Transliteration: chesed
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: חן
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (exact copy). John 1:14, 16-17 pairs this with truth (see new term grace_and_truth), directly recovering Exodus 34:6’s חסד ואמת idiom; still must be sharpened against ordinary Jewish usage that does not exclude covenant obligation.
David
Approved rendering: דוד
Transliteration: David
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: Δαυίδ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package (exact copy). John 7:42’s debate over Bethlehem/Davidic origin is a genuine point of first-century controversy, though the name itself carries minimal independent risk.
Peace
Approved rendering: שלום
Transliteration: shalom
Doctrine: Peace with God
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (exact copy). John 14:27’s peace is relational comfort amid Christ’s departure, a distinct nuance from Romans 5:1’s justification-peace, but the same Hebrew term is appropriate; the everyday-greeting dilution risk noted in the baseline persists.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: כוח האלוהים
Transliteration: koach ha-Elohim
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Rejected alternatives: גבורת האל
Original: δύναμις θεοῦ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package (exact copy). Use כוח rather than גבורה (a Kabbalistic sefirah) throughout John’s signs narrative, as in the Romans package.
Mission
Approved rendering: שליחות
Transliteration: shlichut
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
Original: ἀποστολή / πέμπω
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package (exact copy). Underlies the Father-Son sending language throughout John (see new term sent); modern Israeli shlichut (Jewish Agency emissary work) remains the secular overlay to distinguish from.
Apostle
Approved rendering: שליח
Transliteration: shaliach
Doctrine: Apostleship
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package (exact copy). Background concept to shaliach-authority language used of the disciples (John 20:21); the shlichut principle illuminates but must not be applied identically to the unique Father-Son sending (see new term sent).
Prophet
Approved rendering: נביא
Transliteration: navi
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Original: προφήτης
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package (exact copy). John 1:21, 4:19, 9:17 raise ‘the prophet’ (Deuteronomy 18:15) as one of several inadequate categories the narrative shows insufficient for Jesus’s full identity, alongside ‘Rabbi’ (see new term rabbi_teacher).
Wind Spirit Pun
Approved rendering: רוח
Transliteration: ruach
Doctrine: The New Birth and Regeneration by the Spirit
Original: πνεῦμα
Category: God
A genuine positive asset rather than merely a risk: Hebrew רוח carries exactly the same wind/Spirit double meaning as Greek πνεῦμα in John 3:8 (the Greek usage likely reflects this very Hebrew/Aramaic semantic range). Highlight positively in teaching material, unlike the untranslatable ἄνωθεν pun.
Perish
Approved rendering: לאבד / יאבד
Transliteration: le’abed / yo’aved
Doctrine: Judgment and Belief/Unbelief
Original: ἀπόλλυμι
Category: Judgment
John 3:15-16. Ranges from ordinary loss to final ruin; ensure the Hebrew verb conveys exclusion from life with God, not annihilation of being.
Testify Witness
Approved rendering: להעיד / עדות
Transliteration: le-ha’id / edut
Doctrine: Testimony and Witness (Forensic Idiom)
Original: μαρτυρέω / μαρτυρία
Category: Revelation
Structures the entire Gospel as a courtroom drama (1:7-8, 34; 3:11; 5:31-39; 8:13-18; 15:26-27; 19:35; 21:24). Hebrew legal vocabulary (עדות, עדים) is a robust, well-suited existing resource; the primary risk is cross-chapter consistency, not inherent collision.
Sign
Approved rendering: אות
Transliteration: ot
Doctrine: Sign Theology (The Seven Signs)
Rejected alternatives: נס
Original: σημεῖον
Category: Revelation
John’s technical term for the seven selected miracles (2:11; 4:54; 6:14; 9:16; 11:47; 12:18; 20:30). Preserve the revelatory/evidentiary function via אות (echoing Exodus’s covenant signs); NEVER flatten to generic נס (miracle/wonder), which loses John’s technical, purpose-driven usage.
Bridegroom
Approved rendering: חתן
Transliteration: chatan
Doctrine: God’s Love for the World
Original: νυμφίος
Category: God
John 3:29. Strong positive OT/messianic bridegroom resource (Isaiah 62:5; Hosea 2; Song of Songs); John the Baptist’s self-effacing role as merely ‘the friend’ should be surfaced alongside this typology.
Living Water
Approved rendering: מים חיים
Transliteration: mayim chayim
Doctrine: Eternal Life through Faith in Christ
Original: ὕδωρ ζῶν
Category: Salvation
John 4:10-14; 7:37-39. Strong positive OT resource echoing Jeremiah 2:13, 17:13, Zechariah 14:8; should be explicitly connected to these prophetic ‘fountain’ texts rather than treated as a novel Johannine metaphor.
New Commandment
Approved rendering: מצוה חדשה
Transliteration: mitzvah chadashah
Doctrine: The New Commandment of Love
Original: ἐντολὴν καινήν
Category: Church
John 13:34-35; 15:12-13. מצוה carries strong existing Torah-commandment connotations (a positive resource); the qualifier ‘new’ requires careful framing as Christ-measured intensification of Leviticus 19:18’s love command, not its abrogation.
Light Darkness
Approved rendering: אור / חושך
Transliteration: or / choshech
Doctrine: Judgment and Belief/Unbelief
Original: φῶς / σκότος
Category: Judgment
John 1:4-9; 3:19-21; 8:12; 9:5; 12:35-36. Strong positive OT resource (Genesis 1:3; Isaiah 9:2; Psalm 27:1); risk is under-realizing the moral (not merely revelatory/cognitive) force of the contrast — darkness here is chosen and culpable, not mere absence of information.
Sabbath
Approved rendering: שבת
Transliteration: Shabbat
Doctrine: Sabbath Authority
Original: σάββατον
Category: Covenant
John 5, 9. Direct, uncontested term; the doctrinal risk lies entirely in framing Christ’s claimed authority over the Sabbath, not in vocabulary choice.
Rabbi Teacher
Approved rendering: רבי / מורה
Transliteration: rabi / moreh
Doctrine: The Deity and Pre-existence of Christ (the Word)
Original: ῥαββί / διδάσκαλος
Category: Church
John 1:38, 49; 3:2; 20:16 (see also רבוני/Rabboni, 20:16, an intensified personal form). Exact, native Hebrew loanword; must be taught as an inadequate, if sincere, category for Jesus’s full identity, since the narrative repeatedly shows this title undersells what is being revealed.
Low Risk Terms
Prophecy
Approved rendering: נבואה
Transliteration: nevu’ah
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Original: προφητεία
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package (exact copy). Low independent risk beyond consistency with the Fulfillment of Prophecy doctrine, active at John 12:38, 41 and 19:24, 36-37.
Truth
Approved rendering: אמת
Transliteration: emet
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit as Counselor
Original: ἀλήθεια
Category: Revelation
Well-established, positive term; central to ‘Spirit of truth’ (see spirit_of_truth) and ‘the way, the truth, and the life’ (see seven_i_am_predicated) — low independent risk beyond consistency with those compound terms.
Referenced passages