Core Glossary
Core Glossary — Genesis (Hindi)
This glossary compiles every load-bearing theological term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, across the entire book of Genesis (chapters 1–50). Terms already established in the baseline Romans/Galatians translation_memory.json are marked Reused and carry their exact baseline rendering forward unchanged. Terms newly introduced by Genesis are marked New and are proposed here for addition to translation memory, pending the risk-review routing defined in doctrine_risk_registry.json conventions.
Risk tiers follow the baseline definitions exactly:
- Critical — mistranslation destroys essential doctrine; mandatory theologian review, every occurrence.
- High — significant theological confusion/syncretism risk; mandatory theologian review.
- Medium — reduces clarity but preserves essential meaning; native speaker review recommended.
- Low — minor imprecision risk; automated review sufficient.
Table 1 — Reused Baseline Terms (Load-Bearing in Genesis)
| Key | Hebrew / translit. | Hindi rendering | Risk | Genesis references | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| god | אֱלֹהִים / Elohim | परमेश्वर | Critical | throughout | Baseline god; reused exactly |
| creator | (implied by בָּרָא) | सृजनहार | High | 1:1; 14:19 | Baseline creator; reused exactly |
| holy | קָדוֹשׁ / qadosh (root also in קָדַש) | पवित्र | High | 2:3 | Baseline holy; reused exactly |
| sanctification | (root קדש) | पवित्रीकरण | High | 2:3 (conceptual) | Baseline sanctification; applied to the Sabbath day |
| sin | חַטָּאת / chattath | पाप | High | 4:7; 18:20; 39:9 | Baseline sin; reused exactly |
| covenant | בְּרִית / berit | वाचा | High | 6:18; 9:9-17; 15; 17; 31:44 | Baseline covenant; reused exactly |
| promise | (conceptual, cf. Gal. baseline) | प्रतिज्ञा | High | 12:2-3; 15; 22:16-18; 50:24 | Baseline promise; reused exactly |
| seed / offspring (theological) | זֶרַע / zera | वंश | High | 3:15; 12:7; 15:5; 22:17-18 | Baseline seed_of_abraham/seed_of_david; reused for theological “seed,” distinct from बीज (botanical) |
| blessing | בָּרַך / barak | आशीष | Medium | 1:22,28; 9:1; 12:2-3; 27; 48-49 | Baseline blessing_of_abraham; reused exactly; never आशीर्वाद |
| mercy | (chesed overlap in some contexts) | दया | Medium | 19:16,19 | Baseline mercy; reused where compassion-toward-the-miserable sense is primary |
| kindness of God | (chesed overlap) | कृपा | Medium | 39:21 (secondary option) | Baseline kindness_of_god; see also new chesed entry below for the primary rendering |
| grace (saving) | חֵן / chen (rare, e.g. 6:8 “Noah found favor”) | अनुग्रह | High | 6:8; 19:19 | Baseline grace; reused only where unmerited favor is the sense, never for chesed |
| righteousness | צֶדֶק / צְדָקָה / tsedeq/tsedaqah | धार्मिकता | Critical | 6:9; 15:6; 38:26 | Baseline righteousness; reused exactly; never धर्म |
| imputed righteousness | (Gen 15:6 is the OT source text) | आरोपित धार्मिकता | Critical | 15:6 | Baseline imputed_righteousness; Genesis is its textual origin |
| faith / believed | הֶאֱמִין / he’emin | विश्वास | High | 15:6 | Baseline faith; reused exactly |
| circumcision | מוּל / mul | खतना | Medium | 17:10-14; 34:14 | Baseline circumcision; reused exactly |
| sovereignty | (conceptual) | परमेश्वर की संप्रभुता | High | 18:14; 50:20 | Baseline sovereignty; reused exactly |
| providence | (conceptual) | परमेश्वर का विधान | High | 22:8,14; 39; 41; 45; 50:20 | Baseline providence; reused exactly |
| wrath of God | (conceptual) | परमेश्वर का क्रोध | High | 19:24 | Baseline wrath_of_god; reused exactly |
| worship | (implied in altar-building) | आराधना | High | 12:7-8; 22:5 | Baseline worship; reused exactly; never पूजा |
| sign | אוֹת / ot | चिन्ह | Low | 4:15; 9:12-17; 17:11 | Baseline sign-pattern (marks_of_jesus); reused |
| curse | אָרוּר / arur | श्राप / श्रापित | High | 3:14,17; 4:11; 9:25 | Baseline curse; reused exactly; mandatory translator note every occurrence |
| law | (pre-Sinai sense) | व्यवस्था | High | 26:5 | Baseline law; reused cautiously as forerunner of Mosaic Torah, not Torah itself |
| sacrifice | עֹלָה / olah; זֶבַח / zevach | बलिदान | High | 8:20; 22:2-13 | Baseline living_sacrifice root; reused for literal historical sacrifice |
| remnant | (flood survivors, conceptually) | बचे हुए लोग | High | 7:23; 8 | Baseline remnant; reused by extension |
| election / chosen | (Abraham’s call) | परमेश्वर का चुनाव | High | 12:1-3; 18:19 | Baseline election; reused exactly |
| intercession | (Abraham for Sodom) | मध्यस्थता | Medium | 18:22-33; 20:7 | Baseline intercession; reused exactly |
| Israel (proper name) | יִשְׂרָאֵל / Yisra’el | इस्राएल | Medium/High | 32:28; 35:10 | Baseline israel; reused exactly; origin-of-name narrative adds High-risk nuance (see Table 3) |
| Yahweh confessional pattern | יהוה | see new yahweh entry, Table 2 | Critical | throughout | Related to but distinct from baseline lord/god; see below |
Table 2 — New Critical-Risk Terms
| Key | Hebrew / translit. | Literal meaning | Hindi rendering | Genesis refs | Doctrine | Risk rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| create_ex_nihilo | בָּרָא / bara | to create (divine-subject-only; from nothing) | सृष्टि करना / सृजा | 1:1,21,27; 2:3-4; 5:1-2 | Creation Ex Nihilo | Collides with Hindu cyclical, emanationist सृष्टि cosmology (Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva cycle). Mandatory translator note every occurrence: once-for-all, ex nihilo, by a Creator distinct from creation. |
| image_of_god | צֶלֶם / tselem | image, statue, representative figure | स्वरूप | 1:26-27; 5:1,3; 9:6 | The Image of God | Collides with Hindu svarūpa (deity’s own true form/manifestation); risks an avatar-like reading of humanity as divine emanation rather than a distinct creature bearing derivative representation. Mandatory translator note every occurrence. |
| protoevangelium_seed | זַרְעָהּ / zar’ah (“her seed”) | her offspring | स्त्री का वंश | 3:15 | The Fall and Origin of Sin; Messianic Promise (root) | Fountainhead of the whole seed-promise trajectory culminating in Christ; the grammatical singular (“he shall crush”) must not be flattened into a vague collective, echoing the baseline’s Galatians 3:16 caution. |
| yahweh | יהוה / YHWH | the personal covenant name of God | यहोवा | throughout (from 2:4) | God; Covenant Faithfulness | The personal covenant name, distinct from generic Elohim (परमेश्वर). Must not collapse into generic “God” language when the text specifically invokes the personal, covenant-keeping name; equally must never be confused with any Hindu deity’s proper name. |
| jehovah_jireh | יְהוָה יִרְאֶה / Yahweh Yireh | ”the LORD will see/provide” | यहोवा यिरअः (यहोवा उपलब्ध कराएगा) | 22:14 | Abrahamic Covenant; Atonement (typological root) | The OT’s clearest substitutionary-atonement type; mandatory theologian review connecting God’s own gracious provision of the substitute to the God-to-human gift-direction already established in the baseline’s gave_himself_for_me. |
Table 3 — New High-Risk Terms
| Key | Hebrew / translit. | Literal meaning | Hindi rendering | Genesis refs | Doctrine | Risk rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| likeness | דְּמוּת / demut | likeness, resemblance | समानता | 1:26; 5:1,3 | The Image of God | Must be read with स्वरूप to qualify resemblance-without-identity-of-essence; paired-term risk. |
| spirit_of_god_hovering | רוּחַ אֱלֹהִים / ruach Elohim | Spirit/wind of God | परमेश्वर का आत्मा | 1:2; 41:38 | Creation Ex Nihilo | Must connect to baseline पवित्र आत्मा (personal Spirit); must avoid both naturalistic “wind” reading and impersonal life-force reading. |
| living_being_nephesh | נֶפֶש חַיָּה / nephesh chayyah | living being/creature/soul | जीवित प्राणी | 1:24,30; 2:7,19 | The Image of God; Creation | Avoid जीव (Jain/Hindu eternal transmigrating individual soul); nephesh is a whole animated creature, not a dualistic immortal soul-substance. |
| breath_of_life | נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים / nishmat chayyim | breath of life | जीवन की सांस | 2:7 | Creation Ex Nihilo; Image of God | Avoid प्राण alone (Hindu/yogic universal impersonal vital energy); this is a personal, particular divine act toward one creature. |
| sabbath_rest | שָׁבַת / shabat | to cease, rest | विश्राम करना | 2:2-3 | Creation Ex Nihilo (Sabbath pattern) | Must not be confused with yogic/meditative self-achieved inner stillness; God’s rest is a sovereign, completed, celebratory ceasing. |
| sanctify_the_day | קָדַש / qadash | to make holy, set apart | पवित्र ठहराया | 2:3 | Sabbath; Sanctification | Founding text of Sabbath theology; must not reduce to ritual-purity-only vocabulary (शुद्ध). |
| serpent | נָחָש / nachash | serpent, snake | सर्प | 3:1-15 | The Fall and Origin of Sin | Indian nāga-veneration and kuṇḍalinī associations risk softening the serpent’s deceptive, cursed role. |
| garments_of_skin | כָּתְנוֹת עוֹר / katnot or | garments of skin | चमड़े के वस्त्र | 3:21 | The Fall; Atonement (typological root) | Early substitutionary-atonement type (God covers shame at the cost of an animal’s life); must not be reduced to a merely practical detail. |
| sin_crouching | חַטָּאת רֹבֵץ / chattath rovetz | sin is crouching | पाप द्वार पर छिपा बैठा है | 4:7 | Sin’s Consequences | Personification of sin as an active, near danger; must not be softened into an abstract force. |
| gods_grief | וַיִּתְעַצֵּב / vayit’atsev | it grieved him | उसका मन दुखित हुआ | 6:6 | Sin’s Consequences; Sovereignty of God | Anthropopathic language; must hold together genuine divine relational sorrow and God’s unchanging character without resolving the tension in translation itself. |
| gods_remembering | וַיִּזְכֹּר / vayizkor | and he remembered | स्मरण किया | 8:1; 9:15-16 | Covenant Faithfulness across Generations | Denotes active covenant-faithful intervention, not lapse-and-recall memory. |
| common_grace | (theological category; cf. 8:22) | — | सामान्य कृपा | 8:22; 9; 41; 45 | Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace | Non-salvific divine kindness extended to all humanity/creation; must be kept distinct from अनुग्रह (saving grace). |
| el_shaddai | אֵל שַׁדַּי / El Shaddai | God Almighty | सर्वशक्तिमान परमेश्वर | 17:1; 35:11 | Abrahamic Covenant | Contains शक्ति root, in tension with baseline’s forbidden-term rule for “power of God”; retained as a fixed established title only, with adjudication note. |
| chesed_covenant_love | חֶסֶד / chesed | steadfast/covenant love, loyalty | करुणा | 24:12,14; 39:21; 47:29 | Covenant Faithfulness across Generations | Must be distinguished from both अनुग्रह (saving grace) and दया (compassion); denotes active, loyal love within an established relationship. |
| dominion_mandate | רָדָה / כָּבַש / radah / kabash | have dominion / subdue | अधिकार रखना / अधीन करना | 1:26,28 | The Image of God | Must avoid both exploitative domination and non-interventionist ahimsa-style passivity; delegated, accountable stewardship. |
| son_whom_you_love | בִּנְךָ יְחִידְךָ אֲשֶׁר־אָהַבְתָּ | your son, your only son, whom you love | तेरा पुत्र, तेरा एकलौता, जिससे तू प्रेम करता है | 22:2 | Abrahamic Covenant; Atonement typology | Deliberate typological echo of “beloved Son” language later applied to Christ; must not over-claim exact equivalence. |
| ram_in_his_place | תַּחַת בְּנוֹ / tachat beno | in his son’s place | उसके पुत्र के स्थान पर | 22:13 | Abrahamic Covenant; Atonement typology | Direct substitution language parallel to baseline atonement entries. |
| gods_with_you | הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי עִמָּךְ | behold, I am with you | देख, मैं तेरे साथ हूँ | 28:15; 39:2,21,23 | Covenant Faithfulness; Providence | Covenant relational presence (“Immanuel principle”), not vague generic providence. |
| israel_wrestles | יִשְׂרָאֵל (etymology, שָׂרִיתָ) | he strives/wrestles with God | इस्राएल — परमेश्वर से जूझनेवाला | 32:28 | Covenant Faithfulness | Must convey tenacious dependence in prayer, not human power over God; the wrestling ends in blessing-through-weakness. |
| providence_in_suffering | לֹא־אַתֶּם שְׁלַחְתֶּם… כִּי הָאֱלֹהִים | it was not you but God who sent me | परमेश्वर ने मुझे भेजा | 45:5,7-8 | Joseph and God’s Providence in Suffering | Must hold together real human moral responsibility for evil and God’s overruling sovereign good purpose, without fatalism or excusing sin. |
| god_meant_it_for_good | וַאֲנִי אֶחְשְׁבֶהָ לְטֹבָה | but God meant/purposed it for good | परमेश्वर ने उसे भलाई के लिये ठहराया | 50:20 | Joseph and God’s Providence in Suffering | The climactic providence statement of Genesis; render identically wherever it recurs across curriculum documents. |
| scepter_prophecy | שֵׁבֶט / shevet | scepter, tribal staff | राजदण्ड | 49:10 | Covenant Faithfulness; Messianic Promise (root) | Root text of the Davidic/messianic royal-line trajectory; preserve studied ambiguity of “Shiloh,” do not resolve the contested referent in-text. |
Table 4 — New Medium-Risk Terms
| Key | Hebrew / translit. | Literal meaning | Hindi rendering | Genesis refs | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| formless_void | תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ / tohu wa-bohu | formless and empty | निराकार और सुनसान | 1:2 | Not an eternal chaos-principle; already itself created material |
| the_deep | תְּהוֹם / tehom | the deep, abyss | गहरे जल | 1:2 | Inert matter, not a rival cosmic power/deity |
| light_created | אוֹר / or | light | ज्योति | 1:3-5 | Created thing, subordinate to God; avoid divine-light conflation |
| tov_good | טוֹב / tov | good | अच्छा | 1:4,10,12,18,21,25,31 | Affirms real, non-illusory goodness of material creation |
| day_yom | יוֹם / yom | day | दिन | 1:5 et al. | Preserve interpretive openness (24-hr/age/framework debate) |
| firmament | רָקִיע / raqia | expanse, firmament | आकाशमण्डल | 1:6-8 | ANE phenomenological cosmology, not a scientific claim |
| kind_species | לְמִינוֹ / le-mino | according to its kind | अपनी अपनी जाति के अनुसार | 1:11-25 | जाति’s caste-association in Hindi requires clarifying note |
| let_us_make | נַעֲשֶׂה / na’aseh | let us make | हम बनायें | 1:26 | Legitimate later-revelation Trinity connection, not a proof-text |
| male_and_female | זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה | male and female | नर और नारी | 1:27 | Retain unqualified; equal image-bearing regardless of sex |
| ground_dust | אֲדָמָה / עָפָר | ground / dust | मिट्टी / धूल | 2:7,19 | Adam/adamah wordplay best preserved in teaching notes |
| garden_of_eden | גַּן־עֵדֶן | garden of Eden | अदन की बारी | 2:8-15 | Proper name; low collision risk |
| tree_of_life_knowledge | עֵץ הַחַיִּים / עֵץ הַדַּעַת | tree of life / of knowledge | जीवन का वृक्ष / भले-बुरे के ज्ञान का वृक्ष | 2:9,17; 3:22-24 | Distinguish from Indian cosmic-tree symbolism (Bodhi tree, Ashvattha) |
| one_flesh | עֶצֶם…וּבָשָׂר / echad | one flesh | एक तन | 2:23-24 | Full ontological equality of woman; not a lesser derivative being |
| naked_not_ashamed | עֲרוּמִּים / arummim | naked, not ashamed | नंगे थे, लज्जित नहीं हुए | 2:25 | Pre-Fall relational transparency; sets up ch.3 contrast |
| eyes_opened | וַתִּפָּקַחְנָה עֵינֵיהֶם | their eyes were opened | उनकी आँखें खुल गयीं | 3:7 | Not a positive “awakening”/enlightenment; tragic guilt-discovery |
| nakedness_shame | עֶרְוָה / בֹּשׁ | nakedness / shame | लज्जा | 3:7,10 | Honor/shame dynamics; flag for native speaker review |
| cherubim | כְּרוּבִים / keruvim | cherubim | करूब | 3:24 | Transliterated; low risk |
| offering_minchah | מִנְחָה / minchah | offering, gift | भेंट | 4:3-5 | चढ़ावा risks Hindu temple-offering connotation; prefer भेंट |
| walked_with_god | הָלַךְ אֶת־הָאֱלֹהִים | walked with God | परमेश्वर के साथ चलता रहा | 5:22,24; 6:9 | Idiom for close covenantal fellowship |
| nephilim_sons_of_god | בְנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים / נְפִלִים | sons of God / Nephilim | परमेश्वर के पुत्र / नफीलीम | 6:1-4 | Exegetically contested referent; record alternatives, do not resolve in-text |
| ark_flood | תֵּבָה / מַבּוּל | ark / flood | जहाज़ / जलप्लावन | 6-8 | Distinguish मबूल from generic बाढ़ to preserve unique narrative weight |
| pleasing_aroma | רֵיחַ הַנִּיחֹחַ | pleasing aroma | सुखदायक सुगन्ध | 8:21 | Literal historical sacrifice; avoid यज्ञ-style ritual drift |
| covenant_sign_rainbow | קֶשֶׁת / qeshet | bow (rainbow) | इन्द्रधनुष | 9:12-17 | God’s own reminder-pledge, not a human ritual object |
| ham_canaan_curse | קִלְלַת חָם / כְּנַעַן | curse of Ham/Canaan | श्रापित (कनान) | 9:20-27 | Application risk: must reject any caste/race-hierarchy reading |
| tower_of_babel | מִגְדָּל / migdal | tower | मीनार | 11:1-9 | Collective self-exaltation; judgment tempered by common grace |
| priest_kohen | כֹּהֵן / kohen | priest | याजक | 14:18 | Avoid पुरोहित/पंडित (caste-linked Hindu ritual specialist terms) |
| tithe | מַעֲשֵׂר / ma’aser | a tenth | दशमांश | 14:20 | Low-medium; established term |
| el_elyon | אֵל עֶלְיוֹן | God Most High | परम प्रधान परमेश्वर | 14:18-20 | Keep tied explicitly to परमेश्वर, not a separate deity |
| cut_a_covenant | כָּרַת בְּרִית | to cut a covenant | वाचा बाँधना | 15:18 | Established Hindi covenant-idiom |
| covenant_theophany | תַּנּוּר עָשָׁן וְלַפִּיד אֵשׁ | smoking oven and flaming torch | धूआँ देता भभका और जलती मशाल | 15:17 | Unilateral covenant enactment; God alone passes through |
| el_roi | אֵל רֳאִי | the God who sees me | वह परमेश्वर जो मुझे देखता है | 16:13 | Providence/care extending beyond the covenant-line family |
| name_change | (Abram→Abraham, etc.) | — | नाम परिवर्तन | 17:5,15; 32:28 | Divinely-given new identity marking covenant destiny |
| burnt_offering_isaac | עֹלָה | burnt offering | होमबलि | 22:2-13 | Literal, historical; must not be softened into metaphor |
| birthright | בְּכֹרָה / bekorah | birthright | पहिलौठे का अधिकार | 25:29-34 | Covenant transmission not bound to birth order |
| avon_guilt | עָוֹן / avon | guilt, iniquity | अपराध / दोष | 44:16 | Distinguish from पाप (act) — avon is resulting guilt/culpability |
| peniel | פְּנִיאֵל | face of God | पनीएल | 32:30 | Wonder of surviving a face-to-face encounter with God |
| defiled_tame | טָמֵא / tame | defiled, unclean | अशुद्ध | 34 | Distinct category from पाप (sin); legitimate use of अशुद्ध here |
| dream_chalom | חֲלוֹם / chalom | dream | स्वप्न | 37; 40-41 | Legitimate special revelation in-narrative; not a general endorsement of dream-divination |
| gods_shepherd_care | הָאֱלֹהִים אֲשֶׁר רָעָה אֹתִי | the God who has been my shepherd | वह परमेश्वर जो मेरा चरवाहा रहा है | 48:15 | Warm pastoral divine-image; anticipates later shepherd theology |
Table 5 — New Low-Risk Terms
| Key | Hebrew / translit. | Hindi rendering | Genesis refs | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| beginning_bereshit | בְּרֵאשִׁית | आदि में | 1:1 | Medium-leaning but functionally low collision if noted |
| heavens_earth | הַשָּׁמַיִם / הָאָרֶץ | आकाश / पृथ्वी | 1:1 | Standard cosmological vocabulary |
| darkness | חֹשֶׁךְ | अंधकार | 1:2 | Continuity with baseline light/darkness pairing |
| hovering | מְרַחֶפֶת | मण्डराना | 1:2 | Gentle, purposeful divine activity |
| god_said | וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים | परमेश्वर ने कहा | 1:3 et al. | Never render with incantation-style phrasing |
| separated | וַיַּבְדֵּל | अलग करना | 1:4 | Structuring verb of creation week |
| named_qara | קָרָא | नाम रखा | 1:5 | Sovereign ordering authority |
| evening_morning | עֶרֶב / בֹקֶר | सांझ / भोर | 1:5 | Day-boundary formula |
| dry_land_seas | יַבָּשָׁה / יַמִּים | सूखी भूमि / समुद्र | 1:9-10 | Standard vocabulary |
| seed_botanical | זֶרַע (botanical use) | बीज | 1:11-13 | Keep distinct from theological वंश |
| luminaries | מְאֹרֹת | ज्योतियाँ | 1:14-16 | Standard vocabulary |
| appointed_times | מוֹעֲדִים | नियत समय | 1:14 | Avoid पर्व in this cosmological context |
| be_fruitful_multiply | פָּרוּ וּרְבוּ | फूलो-फलो और बढ़ो | 1:28; 9:1 | Standard creation-mandate phrase |
| very_good | טוֹב מְאֹד | बहुत ही उत्तम | 1:31 | Climactic creation verdict |
| finished_work | וַיְכֻלּוּ | पूरे हो गये | 2:1 | Standard |
| eve_chavvah | חַוָּה | हव्वा | 3:20 | Established transliteration |
| deception_vocabulary | (serpent’s speech) | धोखा देना | 3:1-5 | Standard |
| mark_of_cain | אוֹת (Cain’s sign) | चिन्ह | 4:15 | Protective, not punitive |
| anger_qana | קָנָא / חָרָה | क्रोध | 4:5 | Standard |
| long_lifespans | (genealogical numbers) | (numerals) | 5:5-32 | Treat as historical claims in teaching notes |
| bethel | בֵּית־אֵל | बेतेल | 28:19 | Transliterated proper name |
| mizpah_covenant_stone | (boundary marker) | मिस्पा | 31:44-53 | Standard oath/covenant vocabulary |
| isaac_laughter | יִצְחָק | इसहाक | 21:3-6 | Established transliteration; name-meaning worth a teaching note |
| altar_mizbeach | מִזְבֵּח | वेदी | 8:20; 12:7-8; 22 | Standard, low risk on its own (see sacrifice for the act) |
| table_of_nations | גּוֹיִם / goyim | राष्ट्र / अन्यजाति | 10 | Reuse baseline gentiles/nations pattern |
Chapter Coverage Index (Full-Book Verification)
| Chapter(s) | New terms introduced | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | create_ex_nihilo, image_of_god, likeness, formless_void, the_deep, spirit_of_god_hovering, light_created, tov_good, day_yom, firmament, kind_species, let_us_make, male_and_female, dominion_mandate, be_fruitful_multiply, very_good, + reused god/holy | Core passage — full verse-by-verse |
| 2 | ground_dust, breath_of_life, garden_of_eden, tree_of_life_knowledge, one_flesh, naked_not_ashamed, sabbath_rest, sanctify_the_day | Core passage — full verse-by-verse (2:1-3) + ch. terms (2:4-25) |
| 3 | serpent, eyes_opened, nakedness_shame, curse (reused), protoevangelium_seed, garments_of_skin, cherubim | Fall/Origin of Sin — fully analyzed |
| 4 | offering_minchah, sin_crouching, mark_of_cain, anger_qana | Fully analyzed |
| 5 | image_of_god (reaffirmed), likeness (reaffirmed), walked_with_god, long_lifespans | Fully analyzed |
| 6 | nephilim_sons_of_god, gods_grief, righteousness (reused), ark_flood | Fully analyzed |
| 7 | mabbul/ark_flood (continued) | No independent new term beyond ch.6/8; reviewed |
| 8 | gods_remembering, pleasing_aroma, common_grace | Fully analyzed |
| 9 | covenant (reused, first named), covenant_sign_rainbow, image_of_god (9:6 ethical ground), ham_canaan_curse | Fully analyzed |
| 10 | table_of_nations | No major new risk term; reviewed |
| 11 | tower_of_babel | Fully analyzed |
| 12 | promise/blessing (Critical reuse — foundational text), altar_mizbeach, called/calling (reused) | Fully analyzed |
| 13 | — | No new terms; reuses ch.12 covenant/promise vocabulary. Reviewed. |
| 14 | priest_kohen, tithe, el_elyon | Fully analyzed |
| 15 | imputed_righteousness (Critical, OT source text), cut_a_covenant, covenant_theophany | Fully analyzed |
| 16 | el_roi | Fully analyzed |
| 17 | el_shaddai, circumcision (reused), name_change | Fully analyzed |
| 18 | sovereignty (reused), intercession (reused) | Fully analyzed |
| 19 | wrath_of_god (reused) | Fully analyzed |
| 20 | — | No new terms; reuses covenant/fear-of-God vocabulary. Reviewed. |
| 21 | isaac_laughter | Fully analyzed |
| 22 | burnt_offering_isaac, son_whom_you_love, jehovah_jireh, ram_in_his_place | Fully analyzed — Critical/High cluster |
| 23 | — | No new terms; reuses promise/covenant vocabulary. Reviewed. |
| 24 | chesed_covenant_love (first full instance) | Fully analyzed |
| 25 | birthright | Fully analyzed |
| 26 | law (reused, pre-Sinai sense) | Fully analyzed |
| 27 | blessing (reused, binding/irrevocable nuance) | No new term; reviewed |
| 28 | bethel, gods_with_you | Fully analyzed |
| 29-30 | — | No new terms; naming wordplay handled in teaching notes. Reviewed. |
| 31 | mizpah_covenant_stone | No major new risk term; reviewed |
| 32 | israel_wrestles, peniel | Fully analyzed |
| 33 | — | No new terms; reconciliation theme by analogy to baseline NT term. Reviewed. |
| 34 | defiled_tame | Fully analyzed |
| 35 | — | No new terms; reaffirms Israel/Bethel/El Shaddai. Reviewed. |
| 36 | — | No new theological vocabulary (genealogy). Reviewed. |
| 37 | dream_chalom | Fully analyzed |
| 38 | righteousness (reused, “more righteous than I”) | No new term; reviewed |
| 39 | gods_with_you (reused), chesed_covenant_love (reused) | Fully analyzed |
| 40 | — | No new terms; reuses dream_chalom. Reviewed. |
| 41 | spirit_of_god_hovering (reused), common_grace (reused, famine relief) | Fully analyzed |
| 42-44 | avon_guilt | Fully analyzed |
| 45 | providence_in_suffering | Fully analyzed — doctrinal core text |
| 46-47 | — | No new terms; reuses covenant/blessing/providence/common_grace. Reviewed. |
| 48 | gods_shepherd_care | Fully analyzed |
| 49 | scepter_prophecy | Fully analyzed |
| 50 | god_meant_it_for_good, (promise reused, “God will surely visit you”) | Fully analyzed — doctrinal core text |
Coverage confirmed: all 50 chapters of Genesis reviewed. No chapter silently omitted.
This glossary must be loaded alongside 07_semantic_analysis.md and the baseline translation_memory.json / bible_term_registry.json before any Phase 2 segment translation. New terms marked here require formal addition to translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json, and corresponding new doctrine entries in doctrine_risk_registry.json, in the subsequent Phase 1 steps of this pipeline.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: परमेश्वर
Transliteration: Parameśvara
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo
Rejected alternatives: ईश्वर, भगवान
Original: אֱלֹהִים
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unmodified. परमेश्वर (Supreme Lord) is the BSI OV standard. ईश्वर is used in some contexts; both are acceptable but परमेश्वर is preferred for doctrinal precision. भगवान has broad Hindu deity usage — avoid. In Genesis 1, Elohim (परमेश्वर) is presented with no accompanying theogony, contrasting ANE/Hindu cosmogonies in which deities themselves emerge from a prior substance or principle.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: धार्मिकता
Transliteration: dhārmikatā
Doctrine: Justification by Faith (Old Testament Root Text)
Rejected alternatives: धर्म, पुण्य, न्याय
Original: צֶדֶק / צְדָקָה
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unmodified. CRITICAL: never धर्म (Hindu cosmic duty). Used of Noah (6:9, ‘before God’ — relational standing, not autonomous moral perfection) and comparatively of Tamar (38:26).
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: आरोपित धार्मिकता
Transliteration: āropita dhārmikatā
Doctrine: Justification by Faith (Old Testament Root Text)
Rejected alternatives: अर्जित धार्मिकता, माफी पाना, पुण्य प्राप्त करना
Original: וְהֶאֱמִן בַּיהוה וַיַּחְשְׁבֶהָ לּוֹ צְדָקָה
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unmodified. Genesis 15:6 (‘and he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness’) is the single most theologically load-bearing OT verse for this doctrine, underlying Romans 4 and Galatians 3. The compound phrase must never be abbreviated; credited, not earned, righteousness.
Messiah
Approved rendering: मसीह
Transliteration: Masīha
Doctrine: The Messianic Line and Davidic Promise (Old Testament Root)
Rejected alternatives: अभिषिक्त व्यक्ति, देव-दूत
Inherited from Romans package, unmodified. The Anointed One fulfilling OT promise; not one of many divine figures. Conceptually anchors the trajectory begun at protoevangelium_seed (3:15) and scepter_prophecy (49:10), though the title itself is not yet used as a proper noun within Genesis.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: पवित्र आत्मा
Transliteration: Pavitra Ātmā
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo
Rejected alternatives: ब्रह्म, परमात्मा, देव-आत्मा
Inherited from Romans package, unmodified. Never ब्रह्म or परमात्मा alone. Genesis 1:2’s ruach Elohim and 41:38’s recognition of ‘the Spirit of God’ in Joseph must be read as this same personal, divine third Person — see spirit_of_god_hovering for the Genesis-specific extension.
Lord
Approved rendering: प्रभु
Transliteration: Prabhu
Doctrine: Providence and the Sovereignty of God
Rejected alternatives: स्वामी, ईश्वर
Inherited from Romans package, unmodified. Reserved for New-Testament-continuity contexts and any Genesis address to God as sovereign master (e.g. ‘O Lord GOD,’ Adonai). Must not be used to translate the personal covenant name YHWH — see yahweh below, which is transliterated, never rendered प्रभु, in this Genesis package.
Yahweh
Approved rendering: यहोवा
Transliteration: Yahweh / YHWH
Doctrine: Covenant Faithfulness across Generations
Rejected alternatives: प्रभु (would erase the personal-name distinction), परमेश्वर (would collapse Elohim/Yahweh interplay)
Original: יהוה
Category: God
New term. The personal, covenant-keeping name of God, introduced at Genesis 2:4 and used throughout the patriarchal narratives (12:1; 15:6-18; 22:14; 39:2,21,23). Must not silently collapse into generic परमेश्वर when the text specifically invokes God’s personal, covenant identity — losing this distinction flattens the deliberate Elohim/Yahweh interplay running through Genesis. Must never be confused with, or rendered by, any Hindu deity’s proper name. Transliterate; never translate.
Create Ex Nihilo
Approved rendering: सृष्टि करना / सृजा
Transliteration: bara
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo
Original: בָּרָא
Category: Creation
New term. Used in the Hebrew Bible exclusively of God bringing something into existence without prior material (Genesis 1:1,21,27; 2:3-4; 5:1-2). सृष्टि is the established BSI rendering, but Hindu cosmology’s सृष्टि names the emanation-phase of an endless सृष्टि-स्थिति-संहार cosmic cycle (Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva) in which creation is not ultimately distinct from Brahman. MANDATORY translator note on every occurrence: (a) free act of a personal Creator ontologically distinct from what he creates; (b) a once-for-all historical act, not one turn of a repeating cycle; (c) ex nihilo, without pre-existing material.
Image Of God
Approved rendering: स्वरूप
Transliteration: tselem
Doctrine: The Image of God
Original: צֶלֶם
Category: Humanity
New term. Humanity’s status as God’s representative image-bearer (Genesis 1:26-27; 5:1,3; 9:6). स्वरूप in Hindu devotional usage denotes a deity’s own true form/manifestation (svarūpa); a guru is sometimes described as embodying divine svarūpa. MANDATORY translator note every occurrence: humans are not divine in essence, not emanations, not avatars; they are creatures who represent and reflect God while remaining ontologically distinct from him. Genesis 9:6 makes this the explicit ground for the sanctity of human life and prohibition of murder. Must always be paired with likeness (समानता).
Protoevangelium Seed
Approved rendering: स्त्री का वंश
Transliteration: zar’ah
Doctrine: The Protoevangelium (First Messianic Promise)
Original: זַרְעָהּ
Category: Salvation
New term. ‘Her seed’ — the first messianic promise: the woman’s offspring who will crush the serpent’s head while himself being wounded (Genesis 3:15). The fountainhead of the entire seed-promise trajectory fulfilled in Christ; the Hebrew grammatical singular (‘he shall crush your head,’ 3:15b) must not be flattened into a vague collective, echoing the same singular/plural sensitivity flagged for Galatians 3:16. Mandatory theologian review.
Jehovah Jireh
Approved rendering: यहोवा यिरअः
Transliteration: Yahweh Yireh
Doctrine: Substitutionary Atonement Typology
Original: יְהוָה יִרְאֶה
Category: Atonement
New term. ‘The LORD will provide/see to it,’ coined at the climax of Abraham’s substitution-test (Genesis 22:14). The clearest OT type of substitutionary atonement (a ram dies ‘in his place,’ v.13), prefiguring Christ’s substitutionary death. Mandatory theologian review, with a translator note connecting God’s own gracious provision of the substitute to the God-to-human gift-direction established in the baseline’s gave_himself_for_me entry — not a human-initiated ritual sacrifice earning divine favor.
Creator Ethical Ground
Approved rendering: स्वरूप
Transliteration: ki be-tselem Elohim asah et ha-adam
Doctrine: Human Dignity and the Sanctity of Life
Original: כִּי בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים עָשָׂה אֶת־הָאָדָם
Category: Humanity
New term. ‘For God made man in his own image’ — given as the express ground for the prohibition of murder and the establishment of capital justice (Genesis 9:6). Reuses स्वरूप exactly; the Bible’s own explicit ethical outworking of the image-of-God doctrine, establishing universal human dignity regardless of status, ethnicity, or condition, directly confronting caste-based spiritual hierarchy.
High Risk Terms
Creator
Approved rendering: सृजनहार
Transliteration: sṛjanahāra
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo
Rejected alternatives: ब्रह्मा
Original: implied by בָּרָא; explicit at 14:19
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unmodified. Never Hindu creator-deity names. सृजनहार is the established Hindi Christian form; applies in Genesis to Elohim as Creator (1:1) and to El Elyon as ‘possessor/maker of heaven and earth’ (14:19).
Holy
Approved rendering: पवित्र
Transliteration: pavitra
Doctrine: Sabbath Rest and the Sanctification of Time
Rejected alternatives: शुद्ध, निर्मल
Inherited from Romans package, unmodified. पवित्र = set apart for God; morally pure. शुद्ध has ritual-purity connotations. Underlies Genesis 2:3’s sanctify_the_day, the first biblical use of the holiness root.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: पवित्रीकरण
Transliteration: pavitrikaraṇa
Doctrine: Sabbath Rest and the Sanctification of Time
Rejected alternatives: सफाई, शुद्धिकरण
Inherited from Romans package, unmodified. Process of being made holy. Distinct from Hindu ritual purification (shuddhi). Genesis 2:3 applies this root to a unit of time for the first time in Scripture.
Sin
Approved rendering: पाप
Transliteration: pāpa
Doctrine: Sin and Guilt before a Personal God
Rejected alternatives: अधर्म, अशुद्धता
Inherited from Romans package, unmodified. Moral transgression before a personal God. Distinguish from ritual impurity (अशुद्धता, reserved in Genesis for defiled_tame) and from resulting guilt/culpability (अपराध/दोष, reserved for avon_guilt). Used across Genesis 4:7; 18:20; 39:9 and elsewhere; never अधर्म.
Covenant
Approved rendering: वाचा
Transliteration: vācā
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Rejected alternatives: अनुबंध, समझौता
Original: בְּרִית
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unmodified. Relational covenant bond, more than a legal contract. Genesis 6:18; 9:9-17 (universal, with ‘every living creature’); 15; 17; 26:5; 31:44 all reuse this term exactly.
Promise
Approved rendering: प्रतिज्ञा
Transliteration: pratijñā
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Rejected alternatives: वरदान, वचन (alone, ambiguous with mere spoken word)
Original: conceptual; cf. Galatians baseline
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans/Galatians package, unmodified. God’s unilateral, unconditional covenant pledge. Genesis 12:2-3; 15; 22:16-18; 50:24 are the textual root of the entire Abrahamic covenant doctrine and of Paul’s later Galatians 3 argument. वरदान forbidden — would make the promise merit-conditioned, the reverse of the text’s own logic that the promise precedes and is independent of human performance.
Seed Of Abraham
Approved rendering: वंश
Transliteration: vaṃśa
Doctrine: The Messianic Line and Davidic Promise (Old Testament Root)
Original: זֶרַע
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Galatians package, unmodified. Theological offspring/lineage sense of זֶרַע (zera). Genesis 12:7; 15:5; 22:17-18. Must be kept lexically distinct from the botanical use of the same Hebrew word, rendered बीज, across all 50 chapters, preserving the seed→Seed literary trajectory culminating in Christ (cf. protoevangelium_seed, 3:15).
Faith
Approved rendering: विश्वास
Transliteration: viśvāsa
Doctrine: Justification by Faith (Old Testament Root Text)
Rejected alternatives: श्रद्धा, आस्था, भरोसा
Original: הֶאֱמִין
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unmodified. Genesis 15:6 — Abram’s trust in the LORD’s specific promise, the OT root text of the NT pistis doctrine. Object of faith (the LORD’s specific covenant promise) must remain recoverable from context.
Grace
Approved rendering: अनुग्रह
Transliteration: anugraha
Doctrine: Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace
Rejected alternatives: कृपा, दया, वरदान, भाग्य, कर्म-फल, पुण्य
Original: חֵן
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unmodified. Reserved for the unmerited-favor sense only (e.g. Genesis 6:8, ‘Noah found favor/chen in the eyes of the LORD’; 19:19). Must never be used interchangeably with chesed_covenant_love (करुणा) or common_grace (सामान्य कृपा), which name distinct concepts.
Providence
Approved rendering: परमेश्वर का विधान
Transliteration: Parameśvara kā vidhāna
Doctrine: Providence and the Sovereignty of God
Rejected alternatives: भाग्य, कर्म का नियम
Original: conceptual
Category: Providence
Inherited from Romans package, unmodified. God’s personal, purposive governance. Never भाग्य or karma language. Especially load-bearing across Genesis 22:8,14; 39; 41; 45; 50:20.
Sovereignty
Approved rendering: परमेश्वर की संप्रभुता
Transliteration: Parameśvara kī samprabhutā
Doctrine: Providence and the Sovereignty of God
Rejected alternatives: भाग्य, नियति
Original: conceptual, cf. Genesis 18:14
Category: Providence
Inherited from Romans package, unmodified. God’s personal rule; never impersonal fate/karma. Genesis 18:14 (‘Is anything too hard for the LORD?’); 50:20.
Wrath Of God
Approved rendering: परमेश्वर का क्रोध
Transliteration: Parameśvara kā krodha
Doctrine: Divine Judgment and the Flood
Rejected alternatives: बदला
Original: conceptual, cf. Genesis 19:24
Category: Providence
Inherited from Romans package, unmodified. God’s settled, righteous judgment against sin; never personal revenge or capricious anger. Genesis 19:24 (Sodom and Gomorrah).
Election
Approved rendering: परमेश्वर का चुनाव
Transliteration: Parameśvara kā cunāva
Doctrine: Providence and the Sovereignty of God
Rejected alternatives: भाग्य, नियति, किस्मत
Original: conceptual, cf. Genesis 12:1-3; 18:19
Category: Providence
Inherited from Romans package, unmodified. God’s sovereign personal choice. Genesis 12:1-3; 18:19 — the call of Abraham.
Worship
Approved rendering: आराधना
Transliteration: ārādhanā
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Rejected alternatives: पूजा
Original: implied in altar-building
Category: Worship
Inherited from Romans package, unmodified. NEVER पूजा. Genesis 12:7-8; 22:5 — Abraham’s repeated altar-building as an ongoing worship pattern.
Law
Approved rendering: व्यवस्था
Transliteration: vyavasthā
Doctrine: Covenant Faithfulness across Generations
Rejected alternatives: धर्म, शरीयत, नियम
Original: conceptual, cf. Genesis 26:5 (“charge, commandments, statutes, and laws”)
Category: Law
Inherited from Romans/Galatians package, unmodified. NEVER धर्म. Genesis 26:5 references Abraham’s obedience to God’s ‘charge, commandments, statutes, and laws’ predating Sinai — the conceptual forerunner of, not identical to, the Mosaic Torah.
Curse
Approved rendering: श्राप / श्रापित
Transliteration: śrāpa / śrāpita
Doctrine: The Fall and the Origin of Sin
Original: אָרוּר
Category: Sin
Inherited from Galatians package, unmodified. Must read as God’s fixed judicial verdict, never a transferable, ritually-liftable folk-curse. Mandatory translator note every occurrence. Genesis 3:14,17 (serpent, ground); 4:11 (Cain); 9:25 (Ham/Canaan) — the OT root of Christ’s later curse-bearing (Galatians 3:13).
Power Of God
Approved rendering: परमेश्वर की सामर्थ्य
Transliteration: Parameśvara kī sāmarthya
Doctrine: Providence and the Sovereignty of God
Rejected alternatives: शक्ति, ताकत
Inherited from Romans package, unmodified. Use सामर्थ्य; never शक्ति. Directly relevant to the el_shaddai adjudication note below: सर्वशक्तिमान परमेश्वर is retained ONLY as a fixed compound title and must never be used as a general substitute for सामर्थ्य in ordinary ‘power of God’ contexts.
Remnant
Approved rendering: बचे हुए लोग
Transliteration: bace hue loga
Doctrine: Divine Judgment and the Flood
Inherited from Romans package, unmodified. Applied by extension in Genesis to the flood survivors (7:23; 8) preserved by grace, not merit.
El Shaddai
Approved rendering: सर्वशक्तिमान परमेश्वर
Transliteration: El Shaddai
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: אֵל שַׁדַּי
Category: God
New term. ‘God Almighty’ (Genesis 17:1; 35:11). The long-established Hindi Bible rendering contains the root शक्ति, which the baseline power_of_god entry forbids for general ‘power of God’ contexts due to its Shakti-goddess association. ADJUDICATION: retained here ONLY as a single fixed compound proper title, per established Hindi Bible tradition; must never be extended back into general ‘power of God’ contexts, which remain governed by सामर्थ्य.
Spirit Of God Hovering
Approved rendering: परमेश्वर का आत्मा
Transliteration: ruach Elohim merachefet
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo
Rejected alternatives: प्राण (impersonal life-force reading)
Original: רוּחַ אֱלֹהִים מְרַחֶפֶת
Category: Creation
New term. The Spirit of God hovering purposefully over the waters at creation (Genesis 1:2), later recognized in Joseph (41:38). Must connect to the baseline पवित्र आत्मा (personal Holy Spirit); must avoid both a merely naturalistic ‘wind’ reading that empties the Spirit’s personal creative agency and an impersonal life-force/prana reading.
Sabbath Rest
Approved rendering: विश्राम करना
Transliteration: shabat
Doctrine: Sabbath Rest and the Sanctification of Time
Original: שָׁבַת
Category: Creation
New term. God’s ceasing from his finished creative work (Genesis 2:2-3). Must not be confused with Hindu/yogic concepts of self-achieved inner stillness through meditative technique or ascetic withdrawal; God’s rest is a sovereign, completed, celebratory ceasing, later given as gift and pattern to humanity.
Sanctify The Day
Approved rendering: पवित्र ठहराया
Transliteration: qadash
Doctrine: Sabbath Rest and the Sanctification of Time
Rejected alternatives: शुद्ध-only ritual-purity vocabulary
Original: קָדַש
Category: Sanctification
New term. God’s setting apart of the seventh day as holy (Genesis 2:3), the first biblical use of the qadash root, applied to a unit of time. Founding text of all later biblical Sabbath theology; must not be reduced to ritual-purity-only vocabulary.
Likeness
Approved rendering: समानता
Transliteration: demut
Doctrine: The Image of God
Original: דְּמוּת
Category: Humanity
New term. ‘Likeness,’ paired with tselem to reinforce resemblance in righteousness, rationality, relationality, and moral agency (Genesis 1:26; 5:1,3). Must always be read together with स्वरूप to qualify resemblance-without-identity-of-essence; standing alone it risks the same avatar-adjacent misreading flagged for image_of_god.
Dominion Mandate
Approved rendering: अधिकार रखना / अधीन करना
Transliteration: radah / kabash
Doctrine: Dominion and Stewardship of Creation
Original: רָדָה / כָּבַש
Category: Humanity
New term. Humanity’s divinely mandated, accountable stewardship over creation as God’s representative rulers (Genesis 1:26,28). Guard against two opposite errors: (a) unaccountable exploitative domination; (b) non-interventionist ahimsa-style passivity. Genesis 1:28 mandates delegated, accountable royal-priestly stewardship, neither extreme.
Living Being Nephesh
Approved rendering: जीवित प्राणी
Transliteration: nephesh chayyah
Doctrine: The Image of God
Rejected alternatives: जीव (Hindu/Jain eternal transmigrating soul)
Original: נֶפֶש חַיָּה
Category: Humanity
New term. A whole animated living being (animal or human), body and life together — not an exclusively human, dualistic, immortal soul-substance (Genesis 1:24,30; 2:7,19). जीव would be a category error, denoting an eternal, individually distinct soul bound within transmigration.
Breath Of Life
Approved rendering: जीवन की सांस
Transliteration: nishmat chayyim
Doctrine: The Image of God
Rejected alternatives: प्राण (Hindu/yogic impersonal universal vital energy)
Original: נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים
Category: Humanity
New term. The breath of life God personally and intimately breathes into the formed man (Genesis 2:7). Avoid प्राण alone as the primary rendering; this depicts a personal, particular divine act toward one specific creature, not participation in an impersonal cosmic energy field.
Serpent
Approved rendering: सर्प
Transliteration: nachash
Doctrine: The Fall and the Origin of Sin
Original: נָחָש
Category: Sin
New term. The crafty creature that deceives Eve, later identified with Satan (Revelation 12:9; Genesis 3:1-15). In Indian religious culture, serpents (nāga) frequently carry positive or reverential connotations — nāga-worship, Śeṣa Nāga as Vishnu’s cosmic couch, kuṇḍalinī ‘serpent power.’ MANDATORY translator/teaching note ensuring the negative, deceptive, cursed role is not inadvertently colored by these positive associations.
Garments Of Skin
Approved rendering: चमड़े के वस्त्र
Transliteration: katnot or
Doctrine: Substitutionary Atonement Typology
Original: כָּתְנוֹת עוֹר
Category: Sin
New term. The covering God himself provides for the couple’s shame, requiring the death of an animal — an early hint of substitutionary atonement (Genesis 3:21). Must not be reduced to a merely practical clothing detail; flag for theologian review as an early atonement-typology text.
Sin Crouching
Approved rendering: पाप द्वार पर छिपा बैठा है
Transliteration: ha-chattath rovetz la-petach
Doctrine: Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace
Original: הַחַטָּאת רֹבֵץ לַפֶּתַח
Category: Sin
New term. Sin personified as a predatory, near presence crouching at the door, which must be actively mastered (Genesis 4:7). Reuses baseline पाप exactly; the personification must not be softened into an abstract force.
Ham Canaan Curse
Approved rendering: श्रापित (कनान)
Transliteration: qillelat Cham / Kena’an
Doctrine: The Noahic Covenant
Original: קִלְלַת חָם / כְּנַעַן
Category: Sin
New term. The curse pronounced on Canaan following Ham’s disrespect of Noah (Genesis 9:20-27). This historically fraught passage has been misused to justify racial/ethnic hierarchy. MANDATORY teaching note explicitly rejecting any caste-, ethnicity-, or race-based hierarchy reading.
Gods Grief
Approved rendering: उसका मन दुखित हुआ
Transliteration: vayit’atsev
Doctrine: Divine Judgment and the Flood
Original: וַיִּתְעַצֵּב
Category: Sin
New term. Anthropopathic language expressing God’s genuine relational sorrow over human sin (Genesis 6:6). Must hold together genuine divine grief and God’s unchanging character without resolving the tension in the translation itself — a matter for teaching notes.
Covenant Theophany
Approved rendering: धूआँ देता हुआ भभका और जलती हुई मशाल
Transliteration: tannur ashan ve-lappid esh
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: תַּנּוּר עָשָׁן וְלַפִּיד אֵשׁ
Category: Covenant
New term. God’s own visible presence passing alone between the halved animals, signifying the covenant’s unilateral, unconditional character (Genesis 15:17). Only God passes through, not Abram; must not be flattened into a mutual, bilateral contract image.
Scepter Prophecy
Approved rendering: राजदण्ड
Transliteration: shevet
Doctrine: The Messianic Line and Davidic Promise (Old Testament Root)
Original: שֵׁבֶט
Category: Covenant
New term. ‘The scepter shall not depart from Judah… until Shiloh comes,’ establishing Judah’s royal, ultimately messianic line (Genesis 49:10). Render literally and preserve the text’s own studied ambiguity of ‘Shiloh’ (transliterate शीलो) rather than resolving the contested referent within the translation itself.
Israel Wrestles
Approved rendering: इस्राएल — परमेश्वर से जूझनेवाला
Transliteration: Yisra’el / sarita
Doctrine: Covenant Faithfulness across Generations
Original: יִשְׂרָאֵל (from שָׂרָה, “to strive”)
Category: Covenant
New term. The etymological meaning of Jacob’s new name: one who strives/wrestles with God and men and prevails (Genesis 32:28). Must convey tenacious, persistent covenantal wrestling in prayer and dependence, not human power over God — the wrestling ends in blessing-through-weakness (32:25,31, the limp).
Chesed Covenant Love
Approved rendering: करुणा
Transliteration: chesed
Doctrine: Covenant Faithfulness across Generations
Rejected alternatives: अनुग्रह (reserved for saving grace), दया (reserved for compassion toward the miserable)
Original: חֶסֶד
Category: Salvation
New term. Steadfast, loyal, active covenant love within an established relationship (Genesis 24:12,14; 39:21; 47:29). Must be kept distinct from both अनुग्रह and दया; a clarifying translator note is required wherever this nuance could otherwise collapse into either existing term.
Sacrifice Olah
Approved rendering: बलिदान
Transliteration: olah / zevach
Doctrine: Substitutionary Atonement Typology
Rejected alternatives: यज्ञ
Original: עֹלָה / זֶבַח
Category: Atonement
New term. A literal, historical burnt offering/sacrifice (Genesis 8:20; 22:2-13). Denotes real, literal, historical sacrifice, not a metaphorical whole-life offering; must not be softened into metaphor, and must avoid वेदी/यज्ञ vocabulary drifting toward Hindu ritual-offering connotations.
Burnt Offering Isaac
Approved rendering: होमबलि
Transliteration: olah
Doctrine: Substitutionary Atonement Typology
Original: עֹלָה
Category: Atonement
New term. The burnt offering Abraham is commanded to make of Isaac, later reversed by substitution (Genesis 22:2-13). Must not be softened into metaphor; a real historical test involving literal sacrificial intention.
Son Whom You Love
Approved rendering: तेरा पुत्र, तेरा एकलौता, जिससे तू प्रेम करता है
Transliteration: binkha yechidekha asher-ahavta
Doctrine: Substitutionary Atonement Typology
Original: בִּנְךָ יְחִידְךָ אֲשֶׁר־אָהַבְתָּ
Category: Atonement
New term. ‘Your son, your only son, whom you love’ — covenantal language later echoed of Christ (‘my beloved Son,’ Matthew 3:17) (Genesis 22:2). Theologian review recommended to preserve the deliberate typological echo without over-claiming a one-to-one equivalence the text itself does not assert.
Ram In His Place
Approved rendering: उसके पुत्र के स्थान पर
Transliteration: tachat beno
Doctrine: Substitutionary Atonement Typology
Original: תַּחַת בְּנוֹ
Category: Atonement
New term. The ram God provides as a substitute ‘in the place of his son’ (Genesis 22:13). Substitution language directly parallel to the baseline atonement entries gave_himself_for_me and atonement_curse_bearing.
Gods With You
Approved rendering: देख, मैं तेरे साथ हूँ
Transliteration: hinneh anokhi immakh
Doctrine: Covenant Faithfulness across Generations
Original: הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי עִמָּךְ
Category: Providence
New term. The covenant-presence promise renewed personally to Jacob and echoed of Joseph, an early ‘Immanuel principle’ instance (Genesis 28:15; 39:2,21,23). Must be read as covenant relational presence, not a vague sense of general providence.
Providence In Suffering
Approved rendering: परमेश्वर ने मुझे भेजा
Transliteration: lo atem shelachtem oti hennah ki ha-Elohim
Doctrine: Joseph and God’s Providence in Suffering
Original: לֹא־אַתֶּם שְׁלַחְתֶּם אֹתִי הֵנָּה כִּי הָאֱלֹהִים
Category: Providence
New term. ‘It was not you who sent me here, but God’ — providence operating through, without excusing, genuine human sin (Genesis 45:5,7-8). Must hold together real human moral responsibility for evil and God’s sovereign good purpose, without fatalism or excusing sin. Mandatory theologian review.
God Meant It For Good
Approved rendering: परमेश्वर ने उसे भलाई के लिये ठहराया
Transliteration: va-ani echshevehah le-tovah
Doctrine: Joseph and God’s Providence in Suffering
Original: וַאֲנִי אֶחְשְׁבֶהָ לְטֹבָה
Category: Providence
New term. The Joseph narrative’s climactic providence statement (Genesis 50:20). Render identically wherever it recurs across future curriculum documents, paralleling the baseline’s insistence on verbatim consistency for Romans 8:28.
Common Grace
Approved rendering: सामान्य कृपा
Transliteration: n/a (theological category)
Doctrine: Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace
Rejected alternatives: अनुग्रह (saving grace, reserved separately), bare कृपा (never dropped from the सामान्य compound)
Original: theological category, rooted in Genesis 8:22
Category: Providence
New term. God’s non-salvific, sustaining kindness extended to all humanity/creation regardless of merit (Genesis 8:22; 9; 41; 45). Must always appear as the full compound सामान्य कृपा, never abbreviated to bare कृपा, and must be glossed on first use against अनुग्रह.
Tree Of Life Knowledge
Approved rendering: जीवन का वृक्ष / भले-बुरे के ज्ञान का वृक्ष
Transliteration: etz ha-chayyim / etz ha-da’at tov wa-ra
Doctrine: The Fall and the Origin of Sin
Original: עֵץ הַחַיִּים / עֵץ הַדַּעַת טוֹב וָרָע
Category: Creation
New term. Two specific, real, named trees representing continuing covenantal life in God’s presence and the forbidden testing-boundary of moral autonomy (Genesis 2:9,17; 3:22-24). Tree symbolism carries strong independent resonance in Indian religious culture (the Bodhi tree, the banyan/Ashvattha ‘world tree’ of samsara). A translator note is required clarifying these are two specific historical trees with a specific moral-covenantal function, not a cosmic-tree symbol.
Medium Risk Terms
Blessing Of Abraham
Approved rendering: आशीष
Transliteration: āśīṣa
Doctrine: Divine Presence and Covenant Blessing
Rejected alternatives: आशीर्वाद (guru/elder reciprocal-favor connotation)
Original: בָּרַך
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Galatians package, unmodified. God’s own gracious initiative, not a reciprocal-favor exchange. Applies across Genesis 1:22,28; 9:1; 12:2-3; 27; 48-49 — every instance of בָּרַך (barak). Never आशीर्वाद.
Circumcision
Approved rendering: खतना
Transliteration: khatanā
Doctrine: Circumcision as Covenant Sign
Original: מוּל
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Galatians package, unmodified. Established, caste-neutral Hindi Christian term. Genesis 17:10-14 (covenant sign in Abraham’s flesh); 34:14.
Mercy
Approved rendering: दया
Transliteration: dayā
Doctrine: Sin and Guilt before a Personal God
Original: overlaps with chesed in some contexts
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unmodified. Compassion toward the miserable, as in the LORD’s mercy toward Lot’s family (Genesis 19:16,19). Kept distinct from अनुग्रह (grace) and करुणा (chesed_covenant_love).
Kindness Of God
Approved rendering: कृपा
Transliteration: kṛpā
Doctrine: Covenant Faithfulness across Generations
Original: חֶסֶד (secondary option)
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unmodified. Permitted in non-grace contexts per the baseline grace entry. Used as a secondary rendering option for chesed at Genesis 39:21, subordinate to the primary करुणा rendering.
Intercession
Approved rendering: मध्यस्थता
Transliteration: madhyasthatā
Doctrine: Providence and the Sovereignty of God
Rejected alternatives: शफाअत
Original: conceptual, cf. Genesis 18:22-33; 20:7
Category: Providence
Inherited from Romans package, unmodified. Genesis 18:22-33 (Abraham for Sodom); 20:7 (for Abimelech).
Israel
Approved rendering: इस्राएल
Transliteration: Isrāela
Doctrine: Covenant Faithfulness across Generations
Original: יִשְׂרָאֵל
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unmodified. Proper name; BSI established form. Genesis 32:28; 35:10 give Jacob’s new covenant name; see israel_wrestles for the higher-risk etymological nuance.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: अन्यजाति
Transliteration: anyajāti
Doctrine: Genealogical Record-Keeping and Historical Continuity
Rejected alternatives: विदेशी
Inherited from Romans package, unmodified. Non-Jews/non-covenant peoples. Underlies table_of_nations (Genesis 10) and the ‘all nations’ scope of the Abrahamic promise (12:3).
El Elyon
Approved rendering: परम प्रधान परमेश्वर
Transliteration: El Elyon
Doctrine: Providence and the Sovereignty of God
Original: אֵל עֶלְיוֹן
Category: God
New term. ‘God Most High,’ Melchizedek’s title for God (Genesis 14:18-20), emphasizing supreme sovereignty over all, including pagan kings. Must be kept explicitly tied to परमेश्वर, not treated as a separate deity-name.
El Roi
Approved rendering: वह परमेश्वर जो मुझे देखता है
Transliteration: El Roi
Doctrine: Divine Presence and Covenant Blessing
Original: אֵל רֳאִי
Category: God
New term. ‘The God who sees me,’ coined by Hagar, a marginalized foreign slave woman, in response to God’s personal attention to her suffering (Genesis 16:13). An early providence/common-grace text showing God’s care extending beyond the covenant-line family.
Formless Void
Approved rendering: निराकार और सुनसान
Transliteration: tohu wa-bohu
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo
Original: תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ
Category: Creation
New term. ‘Formless and empty,’ describing the unformed state of created material prior to God’s ordering work (Genesis 1:2). Must not be read as an eternal, uncreated chaos-principle co-existent with God, as in some ANE/Hindu cosmogonies; verse 1 has already established God created this material.
The Deep
Approved rendering: गहरे जल
Transliteration: tehom
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo
Original: תְּהוֹם
Category: Creation
New term. The pre-formed watery mass/abyss (Genesis 1:2). Unlike ANE myths featuring a combative sea/chaos-deity, tehom has no personality or rival power here; a translator note should clarify it is inert matter, not a rival cosmic power or deity.
Light Created
Approved rendering: ज्योति
Transliteration: or
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo
Original: אוֹר
Category: Creation
New term. The first created thing, named ‘day’ apart from any luminary (Genesis 1:3-5). Per the baseline glory entry’s caution, do not extend this light-metaphor toward Hindu divine-light or self-luminous-Brahman concepts; light here is a created thing, subordinate to and distinct from its Creator.
Tov Good
Approved rendering: अच्छा
Transliteration: tov
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo
Original: טוֹב
Category: Creation
New term. God’s recurring verdict over creation, culminating in ‘very good’ (Genesis 1:4,10,12,18,21,25,31). Recommend a translator note at first occurrence affirming the created order’s real, God-affirmed goodness, guarding against any reading that devalues the physical world as māyā (illusion).
Day Yom
Approved rendering: दिन
Transliteration: yom
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo
Original: יוֹם
Category: Creation
New term. Must be rendered literally and consistently; the translation must not resolve the young-earth/old-earth/literary-framework interpretive debate held differently across faithful evangelical traditions — the Hindi text should remain as open as the Hebrew.
Firmament
Approved rendering: आकाशमण्डल
Transliteration: raqia
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo
Original: רָקִיע
Category: Creation
New term. The expanse/vault separating waters above from waters below (Genesis 1:6-8). Teaching note recommended: ANE phenomenological cosmological language describing how the sky appears, not a modern scientific claim about physical structure.
Kind Species
Approved rendering: अपनी अपनी जाति के अनुसार
Transliteration: le-mino
Doctrine: Dominion and Stewardship of Creation
Original: לְמִינוֹ
Category: Creation
New term. ‘According to its kind’ (Genesis 1:11-25). जाति in Hindi unavoidably carries a strong secondary sense of social ‘caste’; here it denotes biological kind/species only. A clarifying translator note is required every occurrence; प्रकार is a viable lower-risk alternative in some occurrences.
Let Us Make
Approved rendering: हम बनायें
Transliteration: na’aseh
Doctrine: The Image of God
Original: נַעֲשֶׂה
Category: Creation
New term. God’s plural self-deliberation before creating humanity (Genesis 1:26). Teaching note: treat as a legitimate later-revelation connection to the Trinity, not a stand-alone Trinity proof-text at this stage of revelation.
God Said
Approved rendering: परमेश्वर ने कहा
Transliteration: vayomer Elohim
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo
Original: וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים
Category: Creation
New term. The creative speech-act formula repeated ten times in Genesis 1. Low risk as vocabulary but theologically weighty: never render with incantation/mantra-style phrasing suggesting ritually efficacious utterance rather than sovereign personal command.
Beginning Bereshit
Approved rendering: आदि में
Transliteration: bereshit
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo
Original: בְּרֵאשִׁית
Category: Creation
New term. ‘In the beginning’ (Genesis 1:1), an absolute, singular temporal starting point. आदि carries associations with Hindu cosmological terms (आदि पुरुष, आदिशक्ति); context and teaching notes must make clear this names a datable divine act, not a Hindu primal principle.
Male And Female
Approved rendering: नर और नारी
Transliteration: zakar u-nekevah
Doctrine: The Image of God
Original: זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה
Category: Humanity
New term. Both sexes created equally in God’s image, with no gradation of image-bearing by sex (Genesis 1:27). Retain unqualified, consistent with the baseline unity_in_christ precedent of retaining unqualified egalitarian pairs.
Ground Dust
Approved rendering: मिट्टी / धूल
Transliteration: adamah / aphar
Doctrine: The Image of God
Original: אֲדָמָה / עָפָר
Category: Humanity
New term. The ground/dust from which the man is formed and named (Genesis 2:7,19). The Adam/adamah wordplay is largely untranslatable into Hindi and should be preserved in teaching notes rather than forced into the translation.
One Flesh
Approved rendering: एक तन
Transliteration: etzem…u-vasar / echad
Doctrine: The Image of God
Original: עֶצֶם…וּבָשָׂר / אֶחָד
Category: Humanity
New term. ‘Bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh’; the covenantal union of the first marriage, establishing full ontological equality between man and woman (Genesis 2:23-24). Keep the equality emphasis explicit in teaching notes — the woman is not a lesser derivative being.
Eyes Opened
Approved rendering: उनकी आँखें खुल गयीं
Transliteration: vatippakachnah eineihem
Doctrine: The Fall and the Origin of Sin
Rejected alternatives: जागरण/बोध-style positive ‘awakening’ framing
Original: וַתִּפָּקַחְנָה עֵינֵיהֶם
Category: Sin
New term. The idiom for newly acquired, morally compromised self-awareness following disobedience (Genesis 3:7). Must not be rendered as a positive spiritual ‘awakening’; this is the tragic discovery of guilt and shame, the opposite of liberating insight.
Nakedness Shame
Approved rendering: लज्जा
Transliteration: ervah / bosh
Doctrine: The Fall and the Origin of Sin
Original: עֶרְוָה / בֹּשׁ
Category: Sin
New term. The relational rupture of hiding from one another and from God following disobedience, contrasted with 2:25 (Genesis 3:7,10). Honor/shame dynamics are pronounced in Indian social contexts; flag for native speaker review to ensure the shame described is theological (broken relationship with God), not merely social embarrassment.
Offering Minchah
Approved rendering: भेंट
Transliteration: minchah
Doctrine: Sin and Guilt before a Personal God
Rejected alternatives: चढ़ावा (Hindu temple-offering connotation)
Original: מִנְחָה
Category: Sin
New term. The offering brought by both Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:3-5); the text emphasizes God’s regard for the offerer’s heart/faith, not a fixed ritual formula. भेंट is religiously neutral; चढ़ावा must be avoided.
Avon Guilt
Approved rendering: अपराध / दोष
Transliteration: avon
Doctrine: Sin and Guilt before a Personal God
Rejected alternatives: अधर्म
Original: עָוֹן
Category: Sin
New term. Guilt/iniquity — the resulting consequence of wrongdoing that the brothers recognize (Genesis 44:16). Distinguish from पाप (the act) — avon emphasizes resulting guilt/culpability. Never अधर्म (already rejected by the baseline sin entry).
Defiled Tame
Approved rendering: अशुद्ध
Transliteration: tame
Doctrine: Sin and Guilt before a Personal God
Original: טָמֵא
Category: Sin
New term. A resulting state of ritual or moral defilement/impurity, distinct from the act of sin itself (Genesis 34). The baseline sin entry rejects अशुद्धता specifically as an alternative for पाप; that rule does not forbid अशुद्ध here, where tame legitimately denotes defilement as its own distinct category.
Nephilim Sons Of God
Approved rendering: परमेश्वर के पुत्र / नफीलीम
Transliteration: bene ha-Elohim / nephilim
Doctrine: Divine Judgment and the Flood
Original: בְנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים / נְפִלִים
Category: Sin
New term. A much-debated identification of powerful pre-flood beings/rulers (Genesis 6:1-4). Flagged for exegetical-choice sensitivity; record interpretive options (fallen angelic beings, powerful human rulers, Sethite vs. Cainite line) as alternatives_considered rather than resolving the referent in the translated text.
Cut A Covenant
Approved rendering: वाचा बाँधना
Transliteration: karat berit
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: כָּרַת בְּרִית
Category: Covenant
New term. The Hebrew idiom for formally establishing a binding covenant, from the ceremonial cutting of animals (Genesis 15:9-10,17-18). The literal ‘cutting’ image cannot transfer, but covenant-ratification weight must be preserved.
Covenant Sign Rainbow
Approved rendering: इन्द्रधनुष
Transliteration: qeshet
Doctrine: The Noahic Covenant
Original: קֶשֶׁת
Category: Covenant
New term. The rainbow given as the sign of the Noahic covenant (Genesis 9:12-17), paired with चिन्ह. God’s own reminder-pledge (‘when I see it, I will remember’), not a human ritual object.
Name Change
Approved rendering: नाम परिवर्तन
Transliteration: Abraham / Sarah / Yisra’el
Doctrine: Covenant Faithfulness across Generations
Original: אַבְרָהָם / שָׂרָה / יִשְׂרָאֵל
Category: Covenant
New term. Divinely-given new names marking covenant destiny (Genesis 17:5,15; 32:28). Established transliterations अब्राहम / सारा retained; worth a teaching note on new identity marking covenant destiny.
Birthright
Approved rendering: पहिलौठे का अधिकार
Transliteration: bekorah
Doctrine: Covenant Faithfulness across Generations
Original: בְּכֹרָה
Category: Covenant
New term. The firstborn’s special inheritance and covenantal privilege, sold by Esau for a meal (Genesis 25:29-34). Theologically significant for the doctrine of covenant transmission not being bound to natural birth-order, anticipating Romans 9.
Pleasing Aroma
Approved rendering: सुखदायक सुगन्ध
Transliteration: reyach ha-nichoach
Doctrine: Substitutionary Atonement Typology
Original: רֵיחַ הַנִּיחֹחַ
Category: Atonement
New term. God’s favorable acceptance of Noah’s post-flood sacrifice, anticipating the whole sacrificial system (Genesis 8:21). Avoid वेदी/यज्ञ ritual-offering connotations while still conveying real, historical, literal sacrifice.
Gods Remembering
Approved rendering: स्मरण किया
Transliteration: vayizkor Elohim
Doctrine: Providence and the Sovereignty of God
Original: וַיִּזְכֹּר אֱלֹהִים
Category: Providence
New term. God’s active, covenant-faithful intervention on behalf of the remembered party, not mere cognitive recall (Genesis 8:1; 9:15-16). Denotes active covenant faithfulness — God has not forgotten in any ordinary sense.
Gods Shepherd Care
Approved rendering: वह परमेश्वर जो मेरा चरवाहा रहा है
Transliteration: ha-Elohim asher ra’ah oti
Doctrine: Divine Presence and Covenant Blessing
Original: הָאֱלֹהִים אֲשֶׁר רָעָה אֹתִי
Category: Providence
New term. ‘The God who has been my shepherd’ (Genesis 48:15). A warm, relational image worth flagging for consistent future use; anticipates later shepherd theology (Psalm 23; John 10).
Priest Kohen
Approved rendering: याजक
Transliteration: kohen
Doctrine: Providence and the Sovereignty of God
Rejected alternatives: पुरोहित, पंडित
Original: כֹּהֵן
Category: Worship
New term. Melchizedek is ‘priest of God Most High’ (Genesis 14:18). Avoid पुरोहित/पंडित, which in common Hindi usage denote a Brahmanical or Hindu ritual specialist class tied to caste-based religious authority; याजक is the established, caste-neutral Hindi Christian term.
Tithe
Approved rendering: दशमांश
Transliteration: ma’aser
Doctrine: Providence and the Sovereignty of God
Original: מַעֲשֵׂר
Category: Worship
New term. Abram’s tenth given to Melchizedek (Genesis 14:20). Standard, low-medium risk established term.
Tower Of Babel
Approved rendering: मीनार
Transliteration: migdal
Doctrine: Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace
Original: מִגְדָּל
Category: Church
New term. The tower symbolizing collective human self-exaltation and self-sufficient unity in defiance of God’s command to fill the earth (Genesis 11:1-9). The judgment of scattering/confusing languages is itself tempered by ongoing common grace — humanity is scattered, not destroyed.
Dream Chalom
Approved rendering: स्वप्न
Transliteration: chalom
Doctrine: Joseph and God’s Providence in Suffering
Original: חֲלוֹם
Category: Revelation
New term. The vehicle of divine revelation to Joseph and Pharaoh (Genesis 37:5-11; 40-41). Dreams function as legitimate special revelation within this narrative’s own historical setting, not a general endorsement of dream-interpretation practice as an ongoing means of guidance — a distinction worth a brief teaching note given the prominence of dream-interpretation and astrology in Indian popular religion.
Ark Flood
Approved rendering: जहाज़ / जलप्लावन
Transliteration: tevah / mabbul
Doctrine: Divine Judgment and the Flood
Rejected alternatives: बाढ़ (generic flooding, insufficiently unique)
Original: תֵּבָה / מַבּוּל
Category: Providence
New term. The vessel of deliverance and the judgment-flood itself (Genesis 6-8). Distinguish जलप्लावन from generic बाढ़ to preserve the term’s unique, singular, judgment-laden narrative weight.
Peniel
Approved rendering: पनीएल
Transliteration: Peniel
Doctrine: Covenant Faithfulness across Generations
Original: פְּנִיאֵל
Category: Covenant
New term. ‘Face of God’ — Jacob’s naming of the place where he wrestled with God and yet survived (Genesis 32:30). Note the theological wonder that seeing God and surviving is itself remarkable (cf. Exodus 33:20).
Low Risk Terms
Be Fruitful Multiply
Approved rendering: फूलो-फलो और बढ़ो
Transliteration: paru u-revu
Doctrine: Dominion and Stewardship of Creation
Original: פָּרוּ וּרְבוּ
Category: Creation
New term. The creation blessing/mandate to multiply and fill the earth (Genesis 1:28; 9:1). Standard, low risk.
Very Good
Approved rendering: बहुत ही उत्तम
Transliteration: tov me’od
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo
Original: טוֹב מְאֹד
Category: Creation
New term. God’s climactic verdict over the completed creation (Genesis 1:31). Low vocabulary risk; carries the climactic weight of tov_good.
Heavens Earth
Approved rendering: आकाश / पृथ्वी
Transliteration: ha-shamayim / ha-aretz
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo
Original: הַשָּׁמַיִם / הָאָרֶץ
Category: Creation
New term. Standard cosmological vocabulary (Genesis 1:1). Reserve स्वर्ग for God’s heavenly dwelling in other contexts, not the physical sky.
Darkness
Approved rendering: अंधकार
Transliteration: choshek
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo
Original: חֹשֶׁךְ
Category: Creation
New term. Literal darkness before light’s creation (Genesis 1:2,4-5). Continuity with the baseline light/darkness pairing; retain the baseline caution against extending light/darkness metaphors toward Hindu divine-light concepts.
Naked Not Ashamed
Approved rendering: नंगे थे, लज्जित नहीं हुए
Transliteration: arummim
Doctrine: The Fall and the Origin of Sin
Original: עֲרוּמִּים
Category: Humanity
New term. The pre-Fall state of unbroken relational transparency (Genesis 2:25). Sets up the sharp honor/shame contrast developed in Genesis 3:7,10.
Anger Qana
Approved rendering: क्रोध
Transliteration: qana / charah
Doctrine: Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace
Original: קָנָא / חָרָה
Category: Sin
New term. Cain’s anger/jealousy toward Abel preceding the first murder (Genesis 4:5). Standard vocabulary; low risk.
Mark Of Cain
Approved rendering: चिन्ह
Transliteration: ot
Doctrine: Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace
Original: אוֹת
Category: Sin
New term. The protective sign God places on Cain (Genesis 4:15), an instance of restraining common grace even toward a murderer under judgment; the sign is protective, not punitive.
Altar Mizbeach
Approved rendering: वेदी
Transliteration: mizbeach
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: מִזְבֵּח
Category: Worship
New term. The altar built for sacrifice and worship (Genesis 8:20; 12:7-8; 22). Standard, low risk on its own; see sacrifice_olah for the sacrificial act itself.
Table Of Nations
Approved rendering: राष्ट्र / अन्यजाति
Transliteration: goyim
Doctrine: Genealogical Record-Keeping and Historical Continuity
Original: גּוֹיִם
Category: Church
New term. The ethnic-linguistic diversity of humanity as part of God’s created design (Genesis 10). Reuses the baseline gentiles/nations pattern; prepares for Babel (ch.11) and the ‘all nations’ promise to Abraham (12:3).
Garden Of Eden
Approved rendering: अदन की बारी
Transliteration: Gan-Eden
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo
Original: גַּן־עֵדֶן
Category: Creation
New term. The specific garden in which God places the first man and woman (Genesis 2:8-15). Transliterated proper name plus established ‘garden’; low collision risk.
Cherubim
Approved rendering: करूब
Transliteration: keruvim
Doctrine: The Fall and the Origin of Sin
Original: כְּרוּבִים
Category: Sin
New term. The guardians, with a flaming sword, of the way back to the tree of life following the expulsion from Eden (Genesis 3:24). Transliterated; low risk.
Eve Chavvah
Approved rendering: हव्वा
Transliteration: Chavvah
Doctrine: The Fall and the Origin of Sin
Original: חַוָּה
Category: Humanity
New term. The name given to the first woman, ‘mother of all living’ (Genesis 3:20). Established transliteration.
Isaac Laughter
Approved rendering: इसहाक
Transliteration: Yitzchak
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: יִצְחָק
Category: Covenant
New term. Isaac’s name, echoing Sarah’s and Abraham’s laughter at the promise’s seemingly impossible fulfillment (Genesis 17:17; 18:12; 21:6). Worth a teaching note tying प्रतिज्ञा fulfillment to God’s faithfulness across delay.
Bethel
Approved rendering: बेतेल
Transliteration: Beit-El
Doctrine: Divine Presence and Covenant Blessing
Original: בֵּית־אֵל
Category: Covenant
New term. ‘House of God,’ the site of Jacob’s vision of the ladder and God’s covenant-presence promise (Genesis 28:19; 35). Transliterated proper name; low risk.
Mizpah Covenant Stone
Approved rendering: मिस्पा
Transliteration: Mitspah
Doctrine: Covenant Faithfulness across Generations
Original: boundary marker referenced in Genesis 31
Category: Covenant
New term. The boundary-stone covenant established between Jacob and Laban (Genesis 31:44-53). Standard oath/covenant vocabulary; low risk.
Referenced passages