Core Glossary
Core Glossary — Mark (English → Hebrew)
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing theological term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, across the entire book of Mark (chapters 1-16) plus the core passage (10:35-45). Terms already present in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json are marked [REUSE] and appear with their exact baseline rendering and risk tier — unaltered. New terms introduced by this Mark curriculum are marked [NEW] with a proposed risk tier for confirmation.
Governing rule: [REUSE] renderings are locked. [NEW] renderings and risk tiers below are proposed for Phase 1 Step 2 (doctrine risk registry extension) confirmation, but must not contradict any [REUSE] entry.
A. Terms Reused Exactly from the Baseline Romans Translation Memory
| English Term | Greek | Hebrew (locked) | Transliteration | Risk (baseline) | First Mark occurrence | Mark-specific note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gospel | εὐαγγέλιον | הבשורה | ha-besorah | Medium | 1:1 | Book’s opening/title word |
| Faith | πίστις | אמונה | emunah | High | 2:5 (implicit), 5:34 | Also covers healing-faith sense (σῴζω) |
| Salvation (root) | σῴζω / σωτηρία | ישועה (root י-ש-ע) | yeshu’ah / le-hoshi’a | Critical | 5:23, 34 | Mark applies root verb to physical healing; teaching asset for salvation doctrine |
| Son of God | υἱὸς θεοῦ | בן האלוהים | ben ha-Elohim | Critical | 1:1, 1:11, 9:7, 15:39 | Forms the book’s inclusio; must be verbally identical at all 4 occurrences |
| Kingdom of God | βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ | מלכות האלוהים | malchut ha-Elohim | High | 1:15 | Programmatic thesis statement; “at hand” (ἤγγικεν) signals inaugurated-but-not-consummated |
| Messiah/Christ | Χριστός | משיח | mashiach | Critical | 1:1, 8:29 | Peter’s confession (8:29) is the book’s structural hinge |
| Holy Spirit | πνεῦμα ἅγιον | רוח הקודש | Ruach HaKodesh | Critical | 1:8, 3:29 | 3:29’s unforgivable-sin teaching is highest-stakes application |
| Covenant | διαθήκη | ברית | brit | High | 14:24 | ”Blood of the covenant,” Exodus 24:8 + Jeremiah 31:31 echo |
| Lord | κύριος | אדון | Adon | Critical | 12:36-37 | Psalm 110:1 quotation; Jesus’ own use of the Adonai-adjacent lordship argument |
| Sin | ἁμαρτία | חטא | chet | High | 2:5 | Authority to forgive sin, first collision with blasphemy charge |
| Gentiles/nations | ἔθνη | גויים | goyim | Medium | 10:42 | Used pejoratively here of worldly rulers’ model; ensure critique targets behavior, not ethnicity |
| David | Δαυίδ | דוד | David | Low | 2:25, 10:47-48, 12:35-37 | Davidic-Messiah typology; Bartimaeus’s “Son of David” cry |
| Israel | Ἰσραήλ | ישראל | Yisra’el | Critical | 12:29 | Shema quotation |
| Jesus | Ἰησοῦς | ישוע | Yeshua | Critical | throughout | Never ישו; final ayin mandatory |
| God | θεός | אלוהים | Elohim | Critical | throughout | — |
| Father | πατήρ | אבינו | Avinu | Medium | 14:36 | Paired with Abba |
| Abba | Ἀββά | אבא | Abba | Medium | 14:36 | Ordinary Hebrew “Dad”; weight must come from narrative framing, not the word |
| Prophet | προφήτης | נביא | navi | Low-Medium | 6:4, 6:15 | Jesus’ self-placement in rejected-prophet tradition |
| Apostle | ἀπόστολος | שליח | shaliach | Medium | 6:7, 6:30 | Sending of the Twelve enacts shlichut concept |
| Resurrection | ἀνάστασις | תחיית המתים | techiyat hametim | Critical | 9:9-10, 12:18-27, 16:6 | Sadducee dispute (12) + climactic fulfillment (16) |
B. New Terms Introduced by This Mark Curriculum
| English Term | Greek | Hebrew (proposed) | Transliteration | Doctrine | Risk (proposed) | Rejected alternatives | First occurrence | Key note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Son of Man | ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου | בן האדם | ben ha-adam | Suffering Servant / Son of God; Messianic Secret | Critical | — | 2:10 | Holds humility and Daniel 7 exaltation together; 14x in Mark |
| Ransom | λύτρον | כֹּפֶר | kofer | Ransom for Many | Critical | — | 10:45 | Exodus 21:30/30:12 legal-cultic term; must be taught with Isaiah 53 |
| Many (ransom context) | πολλῶν | רבים | rabim | Ransom for Many | High | — | 10:45 | Direct MT echo of Isaiah 53:11-12 |
| In place of / instead of | ἀντί | תחת | tachat | Ransom for Many; Necessity of the Cross | High | במקום (bimkom) | 10:45 | Genesis 22 (Akedah) substitution echo |
| To serve (verb) | διακονέω | לשרת | le-sharet | Servanthood vs. Worldly Greatness | High | לעבוד | 10:43, 45 | שׁ-ר-ת = Levitical service root |
| Servant (noun) | διάκονος | משרת | mesharet | Servanthood vs. Worldly Greatness | High | — | 10:43 | Distinct from עֶבֶד/doulos below (escalating pair) |
| Slave | δοῦλος | עבד | eved | Servanthood vs. Worldly Greatness; Suffering Servant | High | — | 10:44 | Double-edged: chattel slavery AND עֶבֶד יהוה (Isaiah’s Servant) |
| Authority | ἐξουσία | סמכות | samchut | Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, Nature | High | כוח (koach, reserved for power_of_god); גבורה (rejected, Kabbalistic) | 1:22 | Use consistently across all occurrences (1:22,27; 2:10; 3:15; 6:7; 10:42; 11:28-33) |
| Cup (of suffering) | ποτήριον | כוס | kos | Necessity of the Cross | High | — | 10:38 | Isaiah 51:17/Psalm 75:8 wrath-cup metaphor; also Passover cup (14:23-25) |
| Baptism | βάπτισμα / βαπτίζω | טבילה | tevilah | Faith and Discipleship; Necessity of the Cross | Medium | — | 1:4 | Positive mikveh resonance; metaphorical suffering-sense (10:38-39) must be taught, not assumed |
| Repentance | μετάνοια | תשובה | teshuvah | Kingdom Breaking In | High | — | 1:4 | Object of turning (the kingdom/Jesus) must be explicit, not generic |
| Unclean spirit / demon | πνεῦμα ἀκάθαρτον / δαιμόνιον | רוח טמאה / שד | ruach teme’ah / shed | Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, Nature | Medium | — | 1:23 | Distinguish Christ’s word-only authority from folk-exorcistic practice |
| Leprosy | λέπρα | צרעת | tzara’at | Jesus’ Authority over Sickness | Medium | — | 1:40 | Direct Leviticus 13-14 term reuse |
| Cleanse | καθαρίζω | לטהר | letaher | Jesus’ Authority over Sickness; purity law | Medium | — | 1:42 | See also Ch.7 dietary extension |
| Forgive (sins) | ἀφίημι | לסלוח / סליחה | lislo’ach / selichah | The Cross; Sin | High | — | 2:5 | Selichot liturgical resonance; Jesus’ first-person pronouncement is the doctrinal jolt |
| Blasphemy | βλασφημία | גידוף | giduf | Deity of Christ; Necessity of the Cross | Critical | חילול השם (chillul HaShem, noted as background only) | 2:7 | Recurs 3:28-29, 14:64, 15:29 — track as single thread |
| Sabbath | σάββατον | שבת | Shabbat | Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, Nature | High | — | 2:23-28 | Frame as fulfillment of Sabbath’s purpose, never as abolition |
| Parable | παραβολή | משל | mashal | Kingdom Breaking In; Messianic Secret | Low | — | 4:2 | Strong positive OT/Rabbinic mashal-genre asset |
| Mystery of the Kingdom | μυστήριον τῆς βασιλείας | רז | raz | Kingdom Breaking In; Messianic Secret | Medium | סוד (sod, rejected — Kabbalistic PaRDeS collision) | 4:11 | Daniel 2 apocalyptic idiom, not mystical |
| Fear / awe | φόβος | פחד / יראה | pachad / yir’ah | Faith and Discipleship amid Fear | High | — | 4:41 | Context-sensitive across ordinary fear vs. reverential awe; runs through 4,5,6,9,10,16 |
| ”I am” (divine self-ID) | ἐγώ εἰμι | אני הוא | ani hu | Deity of Christ; Messianic Secret | Critical | אני (ani, plain — rejected as too weak) | 6:50 | Echoes Isaiah 43:10’s divine self-disclosure formula |
| Loaves/bread | ἄρτοι | לחם | lechem | Jesus’ Authority over Nature | Medium | — | 6:35 | Manna/Exodus 16 typology |
| Tradition of the elders | παράδοσις τῶν πρεσβυτέρων | מסורת הזקנים | masoret ha-zekenim | Kingdom Breaking In (law reinterpretation) | High | — | 7:3 | Critique targets specific abuse (Corban), not Oral Torah/halakhah wholesale |
| Clean / unclean (dietary) | καθαρός / κοινός | טהור / טמא | tahor / tamei | Purity law reinterpretation | Critical | — | 7:2 | Highest-sensitivity passage in the book re: kashrut; mandatory theologian review |
| Corban | Κορβάν | קרבן | korban | Tradition vs. Torah | Medium | — | 7:11 | Rare case: Hebrew recovers rather than requires explaining the term |
| Sign | σημεῖον | אות | ot | Messianic Secret | Low | — | 8:11 | Standard OT term |
| Rebuke | ἐπιτιμάω | לגעור | lig’or | Necessity of the Cross | Medium | — | 8:32 | Peter/Jesus mutual rebuke exchange |
| Cross | σταυρός | צלב | tzlav | Necessity of the Cross | Critical | — | 8:34 | Historical-trauma layer: root of צלבנים/Crusaders; mandatory sensitivity review |
| Life/soul | ψυχή | נפש | nefesh | Necessity of the Cross; Ransom for Many | Medium | — | 8:35 | Recovers unified Hebrew anthropology behind Greek psychē |
| Deny/be ashamed | ἀπαρνέομαι / ἐπαισχύνομαι | להתכחש / להתבייש | le-hitkachesh / le-hitbayesh | Faith and Discipleship amid Fear | Medium | — | 8:34, 38 | Sets up Peter’s denial (14:66-72) |
| Transfiguration | μεταμορφόω | השתנה בצורתו | hishtana be-tzurato | Son of God | Critical | — | 9:2-3 | No fixed native Hebrew theological term exists; descriptive phrase required |
| Unbelief | ἀπιστία | חוסר אמונה | choser emunah | Faith and Discipleship amid Fear | Medium | — | 9:24 | Built on established emunah; register is trust, not praxis |
| Stumbling (moral) | σκανδαλίζω | להכשיל | le-hakhshil | Servanthood vs. Worldly Greatness | Medium | — | 9:42 | Leviticus 19:14 מכשול resonance |
| Eternal life | ζωὴ αἰώνιος | חיי עולם | chayei olam | Kingdom Breaking In | Medium | — | 10:17 | Daniel 12:2 anchor; must carry present+personal, not only future+corporate, sense |
| Hosanna | Ὡσαννά | הושע נא | hoshanna | Messianic Promise | Low | — | 11:9 | Recovers Psalm 118:25’s own Hebrew; Sukkot liturgical resonance |
| Temple | ἱερόν / ναός | בית המקדש / היכל | Beit HaMikdash / heikhal | Necessity of the Cross; Kingdom | High | — | 11:11 | Handle destruction/curtain material with care re: Jewish hope for rebuilding |
| Shema / love command | Ἄκουε Ἰσραήλ… ἀγαπήσεις | שמע ישראל…ואהבת | Shema Yisrael… ve-ahavta | Deity of Christ | Critical | — | 12:29 | Exact Masoretic wording required, no free translation |
| Cornerstone | κεφαλὴ γωνίας | ראש פנה / אבן הפנה | rosh pinah / even ha-pinah | Messianic Promise; Messianic Secret | Medium | — | 12:10 | Direct Psalm 118:22 quotation |
| Tribulation | θλῖψις | צרה / צוקה | tzarah / tzukah | Eschatology | Medium | — | 13:19 | Daniel 12:1 / Jeremiah 30:7 anchor |
| False messiahs | ψευδόχριστοι | משיחי שקר | meshichei sheker | Messianic Secret; Messianic Promise | High | — | 13:22 | Bar Kokhba / Shabbatai Zevi historical resonance gives heightened urgency |
| Watch/be alert | γρηγορέω | היו ערים / ערנות | hiyu erim / eranut | Faith and Discipleship amid Fear | Medium | — | 13:33 | Sustained eschatological vigilance, not mere wakefulness |
| Passover | πάσχα | פסח | Pesach | Necessity of the Cross | High | — | 14:1 | Fulfillment typology taught alongside, not replacing, living Jewish Pesach observance |
| Body / blood (of the covenant) | σῶμα / αἷμα | גוף / דם | guf / dam | Necessity of the Cross; Ransom for Many | High | — | 14:22 | Leviticus 17:10-14 blood-prohibition backdrop requires careful sacramental framing |
| Betray/hand over | παραδίδωμι | להסגיר / למסור | lehasgir / limsor | Necessity of the Cross | High | — | 14:10 | מוסר/moser informer-resonance; holds human guilt + divine plan together |
| High priest | ἀρχιερεύς | הכהן הגדול | ha-Kohen ha-Gadol | Necessity of the Cross | High | — | 14:53 | Specific office-holder, not representative of Jewish people collectively — guard against collective-blame readings |
| Crucify (verb) | σταυρόω | לצלוב | litzlov | Necessity of the Cross | Critical | — | 15:13 | Same Crusader-root sensitivity as σταυρός; highest concentration in ch.15 |
| King of the Jews | βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων | מלך היהודים | melekh ha-yehudim | Messianic Promise; Suffering Servant | Critical | — | 15:2 | Mocking irony unwittingly proclaims truth; teach the irony explicitly |
| Eloi Eloi lama sabachthani (Ps 22 quote) | Ἐλωΐ Ἐλωΐ λεμα σαβαχθανεί | אלי אלי למה עזבתני | Eli Eli lamah azavtani | Suffering Servant; Necessity of the Cross | Critical | — | 15:34 | Exact Masoretic wording (Psalm 22:2) required; teach full psalm arc, not only dereliction |
| Temple curtain | καταπέτασμα | פרוכת | parochet | Necessity of the Cross | Medium | — | 15:38 | Exodus 26:31 reuse; frame access-to-God claim without dismissing Temple’s ongoing significance in Jewish hope |
C. Proper Nouns and Place Names (Low Risk — Transliteration Decisions Only)
| English | Greek | Hebrew | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beelzebul | Βεελζεβούλ | בעלזבול / בעל זבוב | Cf. 2 Kings 1:2 source form |
| Legion | Λεγιών | לגיון | Roman-military self-designation retained |
| John the Baptist | Ἰωάννης ὁ βαπτιστής | יוחנן המטביל | Established Hebrew NT convention |
| Syrophoenician woman | Συροφοινίκισσα | הסורופיניקית | Ethnic/geographic designator |
| Gethsemane | Γεθσημανῆ | גתשמני | From גת שמנים (“oil press”) — positive etymological resonance |
| Golgotha | Γολγοθᾶ | גולגלתא / מקום הגולגולת | Etymology (skull) recovers directly in Hebrew |
D. Cross-Reference Index — Terms Requiring Mandatory Theologian Review
Per the risk framework established in the baseline doctrine_risk_registry.json, the following new Mark-specific terms are assigned Critical risk and require human theologian review at every occurrence, consistent with baseline escalation rules:
- Son of Man (בן האדם) — 2:10; 2:28; 8:31, 38; 9:9, 12, 31; 10:33, 45; 13:26; 14:21, 41, 62
- Ransom (כֹּפֶר) — 10:45
- “I am” divine self-identification (אני הוא) — 6:50; 14:62
- Cross / Crucify (צלב / לצלוב) — 8:34; 15:13-32 (throughout)
- Blasphemy (גידוף) — 2:7; 3:28-29; 14:64; 15:29
- Clean/unclean dietary (טהור/טמא) — 7:2-23
- Transfiguration (השתנה בצורתו) — 9:2-8
- Shema/love command (שמע ישראל…ואהבת) — 12:29-31
- King of the Jews (מלך היהודים) — 15:2, 9, 12, 18, 26
- Eloi Eloi lama sabachthani / Psalm 22 quotation (אלי אלי למה עזבתני) — 15:34
These are proposed additions to the doctrine risk registry for Phase 1 Step 2 confirmation and must be cross-referenced against the baseline’s existing Critical-tier entries (Son of God, Deity of Christ, Sonship of Christ, Resurrection, Lordship of Christ, Salvation, Messianic Promise, Israel, Church as God’s People, Unity of Jews and Gentiles) rather than treated as an independent list.
This glossary must be loaded alongside translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json before any Phase 2 translation of Mark begins. New terms in Section B require formal addition to translation memory (with version increment) before Phase 2 processing, per the baseline’s Translation Memory Load and Enforcement Instructions.
Critical Risk Terms
Salvation
Approved rendering: ישועה
Transliteration: yeshu’ah
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: גאולה
Inherited from Romans package. CRITICAL: shares its root (י-ש-ע) with the name Yeshua itself; Jewish thought defaults yeshu’ah toward corporate/national deliverance rather than individual, present, eternal deliverance from sin. Mark extension: the verb form (le-hoshi’a, root י-ש-ע) is repeatedly applied to physical healing (5:23,28,34; 10:52), giving a Hebrew reader an embodied bridge into the fuller eternal sense — a teaching asset, not merely a risk, but must not be allowed to narrow the fuller sense down to physical rescue alone.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: בן האלוהים
Transliteration: ben ha-Elohim
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Inherited from Romans package. The Tanakh’s existing ‘sons of God’ usage (angelic beings, Israel corporately) never denotes an individual sharing God’s own essence; this third, ontological sense must be explicitly introduced. Mark extension: forms the book’s own inclusio (1:1, 1:11, 9:7, 15:39) and MUST be rendered verbally identically, with full definite force (never an indefinite ‘a son of a god’), at all four occurrences per the cross-document consistency rule.
Messiah
Approved rendering: משיח
Transliteration: mashiach
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Inherited from Romans package. Rambam’s developed messianic job description (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings 11-12) expects one unbroken victorious reign; the two-comings answer must be taught explicitly. Mark extension: 8:29’s Peter confession is the book’s structural hinge, immediately followed by the first Passion prediction and a silencing command — the clearest single enactment of the Messianic Secret; theologian review mandatory.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: רוח הקודש
Transliteration: Ruach HaKodesh
Doctrine: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package. Engages the Rabbinic view (Yoma 9b) that the Ruach HaKodesh departed Israel with the last prophets, and the impersonal-influence-versus-Person question. Mark extension: 3:28-29’s unforgivable-sin teaching (attributing the Spirit’s Jesus-empowered work to Satan) is the highest-stakes application of this term in the book.
Lord
Approved rendering: אדון
Transliteration: Adon
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Inherited from Romans package. Adonai is the traditional spoken substitute for the unpronounced Tetragrammaton; care required against both overreach into the sacred Name’s territory and undershoot into the merely mundane ‘sir’ sense. Mark extension: 12:35-37 is Jesus’ own use of the Psalm 110:1 Adon-argument; the Psalm’s own distinction between YHWH and Adoni (addressed to the Davidic king) must be preserved exactly, since Jesus’ argument depends on it.
Israel
Approved rendering: ישראל
Transliteration: Yisra’el
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Inherited from Romans package. Names the reader’s own nation and central ethnic-religious-national identity. Mark extension: 12:29 has Jesus himself quote the Shema’s opening address to Israel — the book’s most direct engagement with the reader’s own national-religious identity, requiring the same care the baseline reserves for Romans 9-11.
Jesus
Approved rendering: ישוע
Transliteration: Yeshua
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: ישו
Inherited from Romans package. CRITICAL: must always be spelled with the final ayin, ישוע; the truncated ישו functions as a slur in some circles. Mark extension: zero exceptions across all sixteen chapters; every occurrence must carry the full spelling with no drift toward ישו under any narrative pressure.
God
Approved rendering: אלוהים
Transliteration: Elohim
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Inherited from Romans package. The Shema’s ‘Hashem Echad’ is arguably the single most central affirmation in Jewish identity; Trinitarian language must be framed as compatible with, not a departure from, absolute divine unity. Mark extension: every claim of Jesus’ deity in this book (forgiving sin 2:7; ‘I am’ at 6:50; the Shema quotation itself at 12:29; the trial confession 14:61-62) must be framed against this same commitment.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: תחיית המתים
Transliteration: techiyat hametim
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Inherited from Romans package. Judaism affirms a future general resurrection; the problem is fit with the Rabbinic messianic job description expecting one unbroken reign, not a death-then-return pattern. Mark extension: uniquely stages both the Sadducee-Pharisee resurrection dispute (12:18-27, argued from the Torah itself) and the narrative fulfillment (16:6) within the same book.
Son Of Man
Approved rendering: בן האדם
Transliteration: ben ha-adam
Doctrine: Jesus as the Suffering Servant and Son of God / The Messianic Secret
NEW. Textually anchored via Ezekiel’s usage and Daniel 7:13’s Aramaic bar enash. Holds together humble self-designation and Daniel 7’s exalted, coming figure of judgment without resolving into either alone; both senses must be taught together, never defaulted to only one. Occurs 2:10, 2:28, 8:31, 8:38, 9:9, 9:12, 9:31, 10:33, 10:45, 13:26, 14:21, 14:41, 14:62 — theologian review required at every occurrence.
I Am Divine Self Id
Approved rendering: אני הוא
Transliteration: ani hu
Doctrine: Deity of Christ / The Messianic Secret
Rejected alternatives: אני (ani, plain ‘it’s me’ — too weak, erases the Isaiah 43:10 echo), זה אני (as used in some dynamic-equivalence Hebrew NT editions — same erasure risk)
NEW. Echoes Isaiah 43:10’s own Hebrew formula for divine self-disclosure. Risk runs opposite to most terms: this rendering may be doctrinally MORE explicit than Mark’s own narratively-paced ambiguity intends at 6:50; theologian review required to confirm this heightened explicitness is acceptable. Must be rendered identically at 6:50 and 14:62 (the fully unveiled trial climax) without exception.
Transfiguration
Approved rendering: השתנה בצורתו
Transliteration: hishtana be-tzurato
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: הצטלם, a coined technical neologism
NEW. No fixed native Hebrew theological noun exists, paralleling the baseline’s ‘incarnation’ gap — no continuous native-Hebrew Christian tradition produced one. Use this descriptive ש-נ-ה-root phrase consistently at every mention (9:2-3 and cross-references) rather than coining a technical term.
Blasphemy
Approved rendering: גידוף
Transliteration: giduf
Doctrine: The Blasphemy Charge against Jesus
Rejected alternatives: חילול השם (chillul HaShem — broader halakhic desecration-of-the-Name category; background context only, never the rendering itself)
NEW. Tracks a single thread from Jesus’ first forgiveness-pronouncement to the trial’s death sentence: 2:7; 3:28-29; 14:64; 15:29. Each instance is triggered by Jesus claiming or exercising an exclusively divine prerogative. Theologian review required at every occurrence.
Cross
Approved rendering: צלב
Transliteration: tzlav
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross
Rejected alternatives: עמוד ייסורים (torture stake — Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Hebrew New World Translation’s doctrinally-motivated substitution; NEVER use)
NEW. Standard, unavoidable, already established in Delitzsch’s Hebrew NT tradition. Shares its root with צלבנים (Crusaders), whose campaigns included massacres of Jewish communities — a historical-trauma layer specific to Hebrew, absent from the Romans baseline. Every occurrence (8:34; 15:21,24,30,32) requires theologian AND native-speaker sensitivity review; teaching material must address this association directly.
Crucify
Approved rendering: לצלוב
Transliteration: litzlov
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross / Crucifixion and the King of the Jews
Rejected alternatives: להעמיד על עמוד ייסורים (Watchtower-derived paraphrase; NEVER use)
NEW. Verb form of tzlav; same historical-trauma consideration applies with full force. Chapter 15 has by far the highest concentration of this word-family in the book (15:13-15,20,24-27). Theologian and native-speaker review required throughout.
King Of The Jews
Approved rendering: מלך היהודים
Transliteration: melekh ha-yehudim
Doctrine: Crucifixion and the King of the Jews / Messianic Promise
NEW. A genuine messianic royal title used mockingly (15:2,9,12,18,26); the title’s later derisive use against Jewish messianic hope in antisemitic contexts requires theologian review and active teaching of the passage’s own irony (mockery unwittingly proclaiming truth), not left implicit.
Psalm 22 Quotation
Approved rendering: אלי אלי למה עזבתני
Transliteration: Eli Eli lamah azavtani
Doctrine: The Cry of Dereliction (Psalm 22)
Rejected alternatives: A fresh translation of Mark’s transliterated Aramaic Ἐλωΐ Ἐλωΐ λεμα σαβαχθανεί, divorced from the Psalm 22 Masoretic anchor
NEW. Must reproduce Psalm 22:2’s exact Masoretic wording, precisely parallel to the baseline’s Genesis 15:6 and this curriculum’s Shema handling. Teaching must present the psalm’s full arc (dereliction to eventual vindication, vv. 22-31), not only its opening despair.
Shema Love Command
Approved rendering: שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל ה’ אֱלֹהֵינוּ ה’ אֶחָד … וְאָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹךָ
Transliteration: Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad … ve-ahavta le-re’akha kamokha
Doctrine: The Shema and Divine Unity
Rejected alternatives: A fresh translation from the Greek text of Mark 12:29-31
NEW. Must be quoted using the exact traditional Masoretic/liturgical Hebrew wording, not a fresh translation — directly parallel to the baseline’s Genesis 15:6 handling. One of the strongest available bridges between Trinitarian Christology and the Shema Jesus himself makes his own foundational answer.
Ransom
Approved rendering: כֹּפֶר
Transliteration: kofer
Doctrine: The Ransom for Many
Rejected alternatives: פדיון (pidyon — carries strong Pidyon HaBen firstborn-redemption ritual-payment connotations in everyday Israeli life, domesticating the verse into a familiar family transaction)
NEW. Torah’s own legal-cultic ransom/life-price term (Exodus 21:30; 30:12; Numbers 35:31-32). Calibrated, monetary-legal usage risks narrowing the atonement to a commercial transaction unless paired with the Isaiah 53 Servant background. Theologian review mandatory at 10:45; must be taught alongside Isaiah 53:10-12.
Clean Unclean Dietary
Approved rendering: טָהוֹר / טָמֵא
Transliteration: tahor / tamei
Doctrine: Purity and Defilement
NEW. Torah’s own foundational purity terms (Leviticus 11); no substitute is possible or desirable. Highest-sensitivity term-pair in the entire book, given centuries of Jewish-Christian polemic over whether Mark 7:15-23 abrogates kashrut. Mandatory theologian review; retain the Greek’s genuine syntactic ambiguity at 7:19 rather than resolving toward maximal abrogation.
High Risk Terms
Faith
Approved rendering: אמונה
Transliteration: emunah
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: ביטחון
Inherited from Romans package. Must be anchored as personal trust in Messiah’s finished work, not bundled with continued Torah-observance as its necessary expression. Mark extension: extends to trust exercised toward Jesus personally in moments of healing (5:34, 10:52) and crisis (4:40, 9:23-24), which reinforces rather than overrides the baseline’s caution against a praxis-only reading; anchor explicitly to trust in Jesus personally at each occurrence.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: מלכות האלוהים
Transliteration: malchut ha-Elohim
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Inherited from Romans package. Distinguish from Malchut Shamayim’s present Torah-submission category and from Jewish national/political sovereignty expectations tied to the Land. Mark extension: 1:15’s perfect-force ἤγγικεν (‘has drawn near’) must be rendered with a verb signaling imminence-with-arrival (e.g. הגיעה / קרבה), not softened into pure futurity; flag at every kingdom occurrence (1:15; 4:11,26,30; 9:1,47; 10:14-15,23-25; 12:34; 14:25; 15:43).
Covenant
Approved rendering: ברית
Transliteration: brit
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. ‘New covenant’ extended to uncircumcised Gentiles apart from Torah observance is a live point of difficulty. Mark extension: 14:24’s ‘blood of the covenant’ directly echoes Exodus 24:8’s ratification formula and implicitly Jeremiah 31:31; Leviticus 17:10-14’s blood-prohibition must not let this be misheard as a literal violation of Torah.
Sin
Approved rendering: חטא
Transliteration: chet
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Inherited from Romans package. Mainstream Jewish anthropology (yetzer hatov/yetzer hara, real freedom to choose good) does not default to an inherited corrupted nature from Adam. Mark extension: 2:5-10 stages the first collision between Jesus’ authority to forgive sin directly and the scribes’ recognition that this is God’s exclusive prerogative — the seed of the blasphemy charge that recurs to the trial (14:64).
Gentiles
Approved rendering: גויים
Transliteration: goyim
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: עמים
Inherited from Romans package. Has acquired a mildly-to-strongly pejorative colloquial shade in everyday Modern Hebrew/Yiddish-inflected usage. Mark extension: 10:42 uses this term pejoratively of worldly rulers’ domineering leadership model, not as a salvation-historical category — the critique must land on the behavior of gentile rulers, not incidentally reinforce goyim’s colloquial slight, especially since this occurs four verses before the core passage’s ransom saying.
Many
Approved rendering: רַבִּים
Transliteration: rabim
Doctrine: The Ransom for Many
NEW. Not merely a correct rendering — it IS the Masoretic Text’s own word in Isaiah 53:11-12. A translator note citing Isaiah 53:11-12 at Mark 10:45 is strongly recommended; this is the richest direct intertextual bridge available anywhere in this curriculum.
In Place Of
Approved rendering: תַּחַת
Transliteration: tachat
Doctrine: The Ransom for Many / The Necessity of the Cross
Rejected alternatives: בְּמָקוֹם (bimkom — more transparent but theologically flatter, lacks the Genesis 22 echo)
NEW. Carries strong OT substitutionary-sacrifice resonance (Genesis 22:13, the ram offered ‘tachat’ Isaac) — an apt typological echo for Mark 10:45 and the recommended primary rendering.
To Serve
Approved rendering: לְשָׁרֵת
Transliteration: le-sharet
Doctrine: Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness
Rejected alternatives: לעבוד (le-avod)
NEW. Draws on the ש-ר-ת root used of Levitical/priestly service (Numbers 3:6), lending dignity rather than degrading the concept. Must remain distinct from עֶבֶד (slave) so Mark’s own deliberately escalating servant→slave pair (10:43-44) is not collapsed into one word.
Servant
Approved rendering: מְשָׁרֵת
Transliteration: mesharet
Doctrine: Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness
NEW. First, lower rung of Mark’s two-step escalation (10:43: great → servant, then 10:44: first → slave). Must remain distinct from עֶבֶד below.
Slave
Approved rendering: עֶבֶד
Transliteration: eved
Doctrine: Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness / Jesus as the Suffering Servant and Son of God
NEW. Genuinely double-edged and both edges are doctrinal assets: (1) chattel slavery’s lowest social sense, matching δοῦλος exactly, and (2) עֶבֶד יהוה is Isaiah’s own term for the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 42:1; 52:13-53:12). The same word describing the disciples’ calling (10:44) describes Jesus’ own atoning death one verse later (10:45); a translator note connecting both to Isaiah 52-53 is strongly recommended.
Fear Awe
Approved rendering: פַּחַד / יִרְאָה
Transliteration: pachad / yir’ah
Doctrine: Faith and Discipleship amid Fear
NEW. Two distinct Hebrew words do the work English does with one ambiguous word. Mark the transition points (e.g., 4:41’s shift from storm-terror to numinous awe) deliberately. Runs through 4:40-41; 5:15,33,36; 6:50; 9:6,32; 10:32; 13:33-37; and climactically 16:8, whose deliberately unresolved fear must not be softened.
Authority
Approved rendering: סַמְכוּת
Transliteration: samchut
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature
Rejected alternatives: כוח (koach — reserved by baseline for ‘power of God’), גבורה (gevurah — rejected in baseline as a Kabbalistic sefirah)
NEW. The standard, non-mystical Modern Hebrew word for legitimate, vested authority — matches ἐξουσία’s own sense precisely. Must be used with total consistency across every occurrence (1:22,27; 2:10; 3:15; 6:7; 10:42; 11:28-33) so the reader can trace one authority-thread through the whole book, including its ironic inversion at 10:42.
Forgive
Approved rendering: לִסְלֹחַ / סְלִיחָה
Transliteration: lislo’ach / selichah
Doctrine: The Blasphemy Charge against Jesus
NEW. Selichah is deeply embedded in Jewish liturgical life (the Selichot penitential prayers), where forgiveness is sought from God directly without a human mediator claiming to grant it in God’s own name. Jesus’ first-person pronouncement (‘your sins ARE forgiven,’ not ‘may God forgive you’) at 2:5 is precisely the doctrinal jolt the scribes register at 2:7; this jolt must be preserved.
Sabbath
Approved rendering: שַׁבָּת
Transliteration: Shabbat
Doctrine: Sabbath and Torah Fulfillment
NEW. No alternative rendering is possible or desirable. Risk is entirely in framing: 2:23-3:6 must be taught as a claim about Shabbat’s true purpose (Genesis 2, Exodus 20:8-11) and Jesus’ own authority over its interpretation, never as devaluing or abolishing Shabbat observance.
Tradition Of Elders
Approved rendering: מָסֹרֶת הַזְּקֵנִים
Transliteration: masoret ha-zekenim
Doctrine: Sabbath and Torah Fulfillment
NEW. Jesus’ critique (7:8-9) must be framed narrowly — targeting the specific Corban-abuse he names — not as a wholesale rejection of interpretive tradition or halakhah, given this passage’s frequent, unfair use in Jewish-Christian polemical history.
Repentance
Approved rendering: תְּשׁוּבָה
Transliteration: teshuvah
Doctrine: The Kingdom of God Breaking In
NEW. A rich, positive, doctrinally central Jewish category — a genuine asset. In mainstream Jewish usage teshuvah’s content is typically ‘returning to Torah observance’; in Mark (1:4, 1:15) the object of the turning is specifically the arriving kingdom and Jesus himself, and this object must be made contextually explicit at every occurrence.
Cup
Approved rendering: כּוֹס
Transliteration: kos
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross
NEW. Modern Hebrew’s dominant association is the literal drinking vessel (reinforced positively by the Seder’s four cups, 14:23-25). The metaphorical wrath/suffering sense (Isaiah 51:17; Psalm 75:8) at 10:38-39, 14:36 must be actively signaled by context or translator note, or it flattens to the literal object.
Temple
Approved rendering: בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ / הֵיכָל
Transliteration: Beit HaMikdash / heikhal
Doctrine: Temple Judgment and Fulfillment
NEW. Carries maximal weight and reverence in Jewish memory and hope, including hope for future rebuilding. Jesus’ prophetic action (11:15-17) and destruction-prediction (13:1-2) must be handled as judgment on corrupted practice and typological fulfillment, never casual dismissal of the Temple’s legitimacy.
Passover
Approved rendering: פֶּסַח
Transliteration: Pesach
Doctrine: The Passover and the New Covenant Meal
NEW. No translation problem for the word itself. Fulfillment typology (14:1,12,14,16) requires careful, respectful teaching alongside, never as superseding, the ongoing living Jewish observance of Pesach.
Body Blood Covenant
Approved rendering: גּוּפִי / דָּמִי שֶׁל הַבְּרִית
Transliteration: gufi / dami shel ha-brit
Doctrine: The Passover and the New Covenant Meal
NEW. דָּם carries significant Torah-legal weight against Leviticus 17:10-14’s blood-prohibition. ‘This is my blood’ language (14:22-24) must be taught as its own distinct sacramental/memorial category, not a literal violation of Torah’s prohibition; do not import a specific later Eucharistic theology not present in the Greek.
Betray Hand Over
Approved rendering: לְהַסְגִּיר / לִמְסֹר
Transliteration: lehasgir / limsor
Doctrine: Betrayal and Divine Sovereignty
NEW. The root מ-ס-ר produces מוֹסֵר (moser), a term with severe negative weight in Jewish historical memory (one who informs on fellow Jews to gentile authorities). Using this root for Judas’s act (14:10-11,18,21,41-44) is apt and illuminating but should be drawn on deliberately in teaching, not treated as accidental; holds Judas’s culpability and the Son of Man’s divinely-purposed ‘handing over’ together without collapsing either.
High Priest
Approved rendering: הַכֹּהֵן הַגָּדוֹל
Transliteration: ha-Kohen ha-Gadol
Doctrine: The Trial and the High Priest
NEW. Direct, correct reuse of the Torah’s own office-title (Leviticus 21:10). Given this passage’s history in antisemitic ‘Christ-killer’ polemic, theologian review is required, distinguishing the specific historical office-holder’s actions from any collective characterization of the Jewish people.
False Messiahs
Approved rendering: מְשִׁיחֵי שֶׁקֶר
Transliteration: meshichei sheker
Doctrine: False Messiahs and Eschatological Hope
NEW. Carries unusually direct, felt urgency for a Hebrew-speaking audience given the historical experience of Bar Kokhba and Shabbatai Zevi movements (13:22). Keep the base translation unadorned; historical resonance belongs in accompanying teaching notes, not the rendered verse itself.
Medium Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: הבשורה
Transliteration: ha-besorah
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: חדשות טובות
Inherited from Romans package. Besorah is generic Hebrew for ‘good news’ of any kind and must be qualified as the specific proclamation of salvation through the Messiah. Mark extension: this is the book’s own opening/title word (1:1, ‘the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God’), setting the register for all sixteen chapters — the qualification requirement applies with maximal force from the very first verse.
David
Approved rendering: דוד
Transliteration: David
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Judaism affirms Davidic messianism robustly but applies it to a still-future, different figure; the typological connection to Jesus must be taught, not assumed. Mark extension: used at 2:25 (David’s precedent for Sabbath-need), 10:47-48 (Bartimaeus’s ‘Son of David’ cry), and 12:35-37 (David’s own Spirit-inspired testimony to a superior Lord).
Father
Approved rendering: אבינו
Transliteration: Avinu
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Inherited from Romans package. Avinu in Jewish liturgy is corporate (‘Avinu Malkeinu’); Romans develops an individualized, intimate filial cry — an emphasis-shift to teach. Mark extension: 14:36 pairs this with Abba in Gethsemane, the book’s most intimate and anguished address to God.
Abba
Approved rendering: אבא
Transliteration: Abba
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Inherited from Romans package. Abba is simply ordinary, unremarkable Modern Hebrew for ‘Dad’; the radical intimacy must be carried by surrounding framing, not the word’s own register. Mark extension: 14:36 preserves Jesus’ own actual Aramaic word at his moment of deepest anguish; weight must come from the sweat, repeated prayer, and distress of the surrounding narrative, not the word itself.
Prophet
Approved rendering: נביא
Transliteration: navi
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Inherited from Romans package. Calling Jesus navi is uncontroversial in itself but should not be treated as settling messianic identity. Mark extension: 6:4 (‘a prophet is not without honor except in his hometown’) places Jesus self-consciously in the rejected-prophet tradition.
Apostle
Approved rendering: שליח
Transliteration: shaliach
Doctrine: Apostleship
Inherited from Romans package. Jewish legal concept of shlichut captures delegated apostolic authority well; main risk is the modern secular Jewish Agency emissary overlay. Mark extension: 6:7-13,30 narrates the sending of the Twelve, the concrete enactment of this concept, including delegated ἐξουσία/samchut.
Glory
Approved rendering: כבוד
Transliteration: kavod
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Inherited from Romans package. Must retain the weighty manifest-divine-presence sense rather than Modern Hebrew’s colloquial ‘kol ha-kavod’ (mere social respect). Mark extension: 10:37 dramatizes exactly this collision — James and John collapse kavod into social honor, which Jesus corrects by redirecting to the cup and the cross (10:38-45); also occurs at 8:38 and 13:26 of the Son of Man’s coming.
Peace
Approved rendering: שלום
Transliteration: shalom
Doctrine: Peace with God
Inherited from Romans package. Risk of dilution through ubiquity as an everyday greeting. Mark extension: 5:34’s ‘go in peace’ to the healed woman carries the same dilution risk; the weight is carried by the preceding healing/faith pronouncement, not the greeting alone.
Cornerstone
Approved rendering: רֹאשׁ פִּנָּה / אֶבֶן הַפִּנָּה
Transliteration: rosh pinah / even ha-pinah
Doctrine: Messianic Promise / The Messianic Secret
NEW. Render using Psalm 118:22’s own established Masoretic wording, not a fresh translation, continuing Mark’s pattern of allusive rather than blunt messianic self-identification (12:10-11).
Life Soul
Approved rendering: נֶפֶשׁ
Transliteration: nefesh
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross / The Ransom for Many
NEW. Recovers the original Semitic idiom the Greek ψυχή was straining to represent — a genuine translation asset at 8:35-37 and 10:45. Modern Hebrew’s colloquial drift toward ‘personality/vibe’ must not soften the weight of ‘giving up his life.‘
Great
Approved rendering: גָּדוֹל
Transliteration: gadol
Doctrine: Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness
NEW. Plain and correct; the risk is entirely in surrounding framing — must not soften the paradox that gadol = mesharet, ‘great = servant’ (10:43; cf. 9:33-37’s identical pairing).
Lord It Over Worldly Rulers
Approved rendering: רוֹדִים בָּהֶם
Transliteration: rodim bahem
Doctrine: Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness
Rejected alternatives: אֲדנוּת עֲלֵיהֶם (adonut aleihem — rejected specifically to protect the baseline’s Critical-risk reservation of Adon/lord-vocabulary for Christ’s own non-domineering lordship)
NEW. Deliberate translation choice at 10:42: sacrifices the Greek’s own κατακυριεύω/κύριος root-wordplay in order to keep Adon-vocabulary exclusively reserved for Christ’s true lordship elsewhere in the curriculum (Mark 12:35-37; baseline Romans 10:9). Flag for theologian review to confirm this trade-off.
Unbelief
Approved rendering: חוֹסֶר אֱמוּנָה
Transliteration: choser emunah
Doctrine: Faith and Discipleship amid Fear
NEW. Built transparently on established emunah (9:24, ‘I believe; help my unbelief’); operative register is trust/confidence, consistent with the baseline’s caution against a praxis-only reading.
Deny Be Ashamed
Approved rendering: לְהִתְכַּחֵשׁ / לְהִתְבַּיֵּשׁ
Transliteration: le-hitkachesh / le-hitbayesh
Doctrine: Faith and Discipleship amid Fear
NEW. Sets up the shame/denial motif tracked from warning (8:34,38) to narrative fulfillment (Peter’s actual denial, 14:66-72).
Stumbling
Approved rendering: לְהַכְשִׁיל
Transliteration: le-hakhshil
Doctrine: Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness
NEW. Good OT resonance with Leviticus 19:14’s מִכְשׁוֹל (stumbling block); underscores the severity of the community-responsibility warnings (9:42-47).
Watch Be Alert
Approved rendering: הִיוּ עֵרִים
Transliteration: hiyu erim
Doctrine: False Messiahs and Eschatological Hope
NEW. Conveys sustained eschatological readiness, not mere physical wakefulness (13:33-37) — steady vigilance rather than either complacency or panic.
Unclean Spirit Demon
Approved rendering: רוּחַ טְמֵאָה / שֵׁד
Transliteration: ruach teme’ah / shed
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature
NEW. Talmudic shedim-lore gives comprehension asset but risks importing folk-magical assumptions (amulets, incantations) foreign to Mark’s word-only exorcisms (1:23,26,34,39; 3:11-12,22-30; 5:1-20; 7:24-30; 9:14-29). Distinguish explicitly in translator notes.
Leprosy
Approved rendering: צָרַעַת
Transliteration: tzara’at
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature
NEW. Direct reuse of Torah’s own technical term (Leviticus 13-14) at 1:40-42. Ensure the narrative’s emphasis on Jesus’ compassion and authority is not lost beneath the legal register.
Cleanse
Approved rendering: לְטַהֵר
Transliteration: letaher
Doctrine: Purity and Defilement
NEW. Matches Torah’s own purity vocabulary (טהור/טמא) at 1:42; the same term-family recurs at much higher stakes in the dietary controversy of chapter 7.
Corban
Approved rendering: קָרְבָּן
Transliteration: korban
Doctrine: Purity and Defilement / Sabbath and Torah Fulfillment
NEW. Rare case where Hebrew recovers, rather than requires explaining, the source term (7:11) — Mark himself has to gloss this Aramaic/Hebrew loanword for his Greek audience, while a Hebrew reader already possesses it fully.
Issue Of Blood
Approved rendering: זוֹב דָּמִים
Transliteration: zov damim
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature
NEW. Direct match to Torah’s own vocabulary (Leviticus 15:25); the woman’s twelve-year condition (5:25-34) placed her under continuous ritual impurity, and Jesus’ response crosses that purity boundary without rebuking her for the technical contact violation.
Mystery Of Kingdom
Approved rendering: רָז
Transliteration: raz
Doctrine: The Kingdom of God Breaking In / The Messianic Secret
Rejected alternatives: סוד (sod — carries a specific Kabbalistic PaRDeS-system technical sense, importing an esoteric-mystical framework absent from the text)
NEW. Drawn directly from Daniel’s apocalyptic usage (Daniel 2:18-19,27-30,47), matching Mark’s own apocalyptic idiom at 4:11. סוד must be actively avoided despite being the more common colloquial word for ‘secret.‘
Eternal Life
Approved rendering: חַיֵּי עוֹלָם
Transliteration: chayei olam
Doctrine: Discipleship and Kingdom Entry
NEW. Strong OT anchor (Daniel 12:2) corresponding to the Rabbinic עולם הבא category. Must carry Mark’s present, personal, allegiance-to-Jesus dimension (10:17,30), not only future/corporate futurity.
Baptism
Approved rendering: טְבִילָה
Transliteration: tevilah
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross / Faith and Discipleship amid Fear
NEW. Positive mikveh resonance connecting John’s rite (1:4-9) to an existing purity-and-renewal category. The metaphorical extension to ‘immersion in suffering/death’ (10:38-39) is not native to the word and must be taught explicitly, not assumed to transfer automatically.
Temple Curtain
Approved rendering: פָּרֹכֶת
Transliteration: parochet
Doctrine: Temple Judgment and Fulfillment
NEW. Direct reuse of the Torah’s own term (Exodus 26:31). 15:38’s torn curtain must be taught as a changed-access-to-God claim without dismissing the Temple’s ongoing centrality in Jewish hope and memory.
Tribulation
Approved rendering: צָרָה / צוּקָה
Transliteration: tzarah / tzukah
Doctrine: False Messiahs and Eschatological Hope
NEW. Good OT anchoring (Daniel 12:1, Jeremiah 30:7’s ‘time of Jacob’s trouble’) at 13:19,24; ensure the specific eschatological, not merely generic-hardship, sense is contextually clear.
Talitha Cumi
Approved rendering: טַלִּיתָא קוּמִי
Transliteration: talita kumi
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature
Rejected alternatives: קוּמִי, יַלְדָּה (a fully domesticated Hebrew paraphrase, losing the preserved Aramaic form)
NEW (Phase 1 Step 8 addition per linguistic gap analysis). At 5:41, per the restoration rule (Mark’s own Aramaic-into-Greek transliterations should be restored to their presumed Aramaic/Hebrew-cognate form, not re-transliterated from the Greek); accompany with a translator note giving the Hebrew-equivalent meaning.
Divorce Adultery
Approved rendering: גֵּרוּשִׁין / נִאוּף
Transliteration: gerushin / ni’uf
Doctrine: Discipleship and Kingdom Entry
NEW. Jesus’ teaching (10:2-12) engages directly with the live Hillel/Shammai halakhic dispute over Deuteronomy 24:1-4’s grounds — a real interpretive question for a Hebrew-speaking audience, not an abstract ethical topic.
Loaves Bread
Approved rendering: לֶחֶם
Transliteration: lechem
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature
NEW. Straightforward, but the manna/Exodus 16 echo (לֶחֶם מִן הַשָּׁמַיִם) should be flagged in translator notes at both feeding miracles (6:35-44; 8:1-9, the latter in Gentile territory) as an intentional intertextual resonance.
True Family Of God
Approved rendering: מִי שֶׁעֹשֶׂה אֶת רְצוֹן הָאֱלוֹהִים
Transliteration: mi she-oseh et retzon ha-Elohim
Doctrine: Kinship in God’s Family
NEW. Jesus redefines true kinship (3:31-35) as obedience to God’s will rather than biological descent; teach as a family metaphor adjacent to, but not conflated with, the baseline’s High-risk adoption doctrine (Israel’s birth-covenant sonship, Deuteronomy 14:1).
Low Risk Terms
First
Approved rendering: רִאשׁוֹן
Transliteration: rishon
Doctrine: Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness
NEW. Pairs with gadol to form the rhetorical escalation completed by eved (10:44); compare Mark 9:35’s identical pairing.
Sign
Approved rendering: אוֹת
Transliteration: ot
Doctrine: The Messianic Secret
NEW. Standard OT term (Exodus’s plague-signs, Isaiah 7:14); Jesus’ refusal to give a demanded sign (8:11-12) ties to the Secret’s pattern of refusing to authenticate his identity through spectacle on demand.
Parable
Approved rendering: מָשָׁל
Transliteration: mashal
Doctrine: The Kingdom of God Breaking In / The Messianic Secret
NEW. Strong positive existing asset: already carries the dual revealing/veiling wisdom-genre resonance from OT and Rabbinic tradition (4:2-34), minimal adjustment needed.
Hosanna
Approved rendering: הוֹשַׁע נָא
Transliteration: hoshanna
Doctrine: Davidic Acclaim and the Triumphal Entry
NEW. Recovers Psalm 118:25’s own Hebrew directly (11:9-10); already embedded in Jewish liturgical life (Sukkot’s Hoshanot) — a strong positive resonance asset.
Tax Collectors Sinners
Approved rendering: מוֹכְסִים וְחַטָּאִים
Transliteration: mokhsim ve-chata’im
Doctrine: The Kingdom of God Breaking In
NEW. Standard, established rendering of a fixed social-religious category-pair (2:15-17); low ambiguity.
Beelzebul
Approved rendering: בַּעֲלְזְבוּל / בַּעַל זְבוּב
Transliteration: Be’elzevul / Ba’al Zevuv
Doctrine: The Unforgivable Sin against the Spirit
NEW proper noun. Name for the prince of demons (3:22), likely a mocking corruption of Baal-zebub (2 Kings 1:2); primarily a transliteration decision — either the 2 Kings source form or a direct transliteration is defensible.
Legion
Approved rendering: לִגְיוֹן
Transliteration: Legyon
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature
NEW proper noun/self-designation (5:9). Retain the Roman-military self-designation rather than paraphrasing conceptually, to preserve the deliberate occupying-power political subtext.
John The Baptist
Approved rendering: יוֹחָנָן הַמַּטְבִּיל
Transliteration: Yochanan ha-Matbil
Doctrine: Necessity of the Cross
NEW proper noun. Established Hebrew NT convention. His martyrdom narrative (6:14-29) foreshadows Jesus’ own passion.
Syrophoenician Woman
Approved rendering: הַסּוּרוֹפִינִיקִית
Transliteration: ha-Surophoenikit
Doctrine: Gentile Inclusion and Unity
NEW proper/ethnic designation (7:24-30). An early narrative anticipation of the baseline’s Unity of Jews and Gentiles doctrine, cross-referenced but not developed doctrinally here as Romans 9-11 does.
Gethsemane
Approved rendering: גֵּתְשְׁמָנֵי
Transliteration: Getshemani
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross
NEW proper noun, from Hebrew/Aramaic גַּת שְׁמָנִים (‘oil press’) — a positive etymological resonance worth a translator note for the scene of Jesus’ anguished prayer (14:32).
Golgotha
Approved rendering: גֻּלְגֹּלְתָּא / מְקוֹם הַגֻּלְגֹּלֶת
Transliteration: Golgota / mekom ha-gulgolet
Doctrine: Crucifixion and the King of the Jews
NEW proper noun, from Aramaic/Hebrew גֻּלְגֹּלֶת (‘skull’). Mark’s own gloss (‘place of a skull’) recovers directly in Hebrew (15:22); recommend the transliterated form in running text with the meaning noted.
Referenced passages