Core Glossary
Isaiah — Core Glossary (Hmong Language Package)
This glossary compiles every load-bearing term identified in analysis/07_semantic_analysis.md, drawn from all 66 chapters of Isaiah. Section A reuses Romans-baseline Translation Memory entries verbatim — no re-gloss, no alternate rendering, per the hard governing rule of this pipeline. Section B proposes new entries surfaced specifically in Isaiah, each flagged for formal TM-revision review before becoming permanent per the baseline’s revision-control convention. Risk tiers, review-routing, and definitions follow the identical conventions established in assets/doctrine_risk_registry.json and assets/bible_term_registry.json.
Section A — Terms Reused Verbatim from the Romans Baseline TM
| # | English Term | Hmong Rendering (TM, unchanged) | Risk (TM) | Isaiah Chapters | Note on Isaiah Usage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | God | Vajtswv | Low | all | Stable throughout. |
| A2 | Lord | tus Tswv | Low | all | Renders both Adonai and, in construct titles, YHWH; see B1 for the distinct “LORD of Hosts” qualifier. |
| A3 | Holy Spirit | Vaj Ntsuj Plig | Critical | 6 (implicit), 11:2, 32:15, 34:16 (implicit), 42:1, 44:3, 48:16, 59:19,21, 61:1, 63:10-11 | Vaj-prefix must never be dropped; ch.63:10 “grieved His Holy Spirit” is a key personhood text. |
| A4 | Son of God / full deity of Messiah | Leej Tub ntawm Vajtswv | Low | (typologically 7:14, 9:6, 11:1-2) | Applied typologically pending NT fulfillment; never diminish 9:6’s “Mighty God” title. |
| A5 | Gospel | Txoj Moo Zoo | Low | 40:9, 52:7, 60:6 (implicit), 61:1 | 52:7 is the direct OT anchor quoted at Rom 10:15. |
| A6 | Grace | txiaj ntsim | Critical | 26:10, 30:18-19, 33:2, 55:1 (conceptually) | koob hmoov remains PERMANENTLY FORBIDDEN here exactly as in Romans; 55:1’s “without money and without price” reinforces sola gratia. |
| A7 | Peace | kev thaj yeeb | Low | 9:6-7, 26:3,12, 32:17, 48:18, 52:7, 54:10, 57:19, 66:12 | Stable; also embedded in Prince of Peace (see B3). |
| A8 | Faith / Believe | kev ntseeg / ntseeg | Medium | 7:9, 28:16, 30:15, 43:10, 53:1 | Anchoring rule applies; 53:1 is directly quoted Rom 10:16. |
| A9 | Promise | lus cog tseg | Low | 9:6-7 (implicit), 55:3 (partially; see B15 covenant) | Kept distinct from the new, richer covenant/berith entry (B15). |
| A10 | Nations / Gentiles | lwm Haiv Neeg | Low | 2:2-4, 9:1, 11:10, 19:19-25, 42:1,6, 49:6, 52:15, 55:5, 56:3-8, 60:1-3, 66:18-21 | Extremely high frequency; central to the Salvation-to-Nations doctrine. |
| A11 | Jew | cov Yudas | Low | (implicit, “house of Judah”) | Low frequency as a distinct ethnonym in Isaiah; mostly “Israel/Judah” used directly. |
| A12 | Idol | dab mlom | High | 1:29 (implicit), 2:8,18,20, 10:10-11, 17:8, 19:1,3, 21:9, 30:22, 31:7, 40:19-20, 41:29, 42:8,17, 44:9-20, 45:16,20, 46:1,6-7, 48:5, 57:5,13, 66:3 | The single highest-frequency Critical/High term in the book; 44:9-20 is the fullest polemic. |
| A13 | Truth | qhov tseeb | Low | 43:9, 45:19, 59:14-15, 65:16 | Stable. |
| A14 | Unrighteousness | kev tsis ncaj ncees | Low | 59:2-3 | Mirrors righteousness baseline. |
| A15 | Creation | tej uas raug tsim los | Low | 40:26,28, 42:5, 45:7,18, 65:17 (root for B21) | Root morpheme reused for new-creation entry B21. |
| A16 | Sin (act & condition) | txhaum / kev txhaum | High | 1:4,18, 3:9, 5:18, 6:7, 30:1, 40:2, 43:24-25, 44:22, 53:5-6,8,11-12, 58:1, 59:2,12, 64:5-9 | Extremely high frequency; core passage (53) is the book’s densest concentration. |
| A17 | Propitiation / Atoning Sacrifice | qhov theej txhoj kev txhaum | Critical | 53:10 (typological root, see B18 for the distinct OT sacrificial-category term) | Isa 53:10’s “asham” is the OT type this NT term describes; teach in direct parallel, kept lexically distinct per B18. |
| A18 | Redemption | kev txhiv | Medium | 41:14, 43:1,14, 44:6,22-24, 47:4, 48:17,20, 49:7,26, 51:10-11, 52:3,9, 54:5,8, 59:20, 60:16, 62:12, 63:9,16, 35:9-10, 44:23 | Root of the new dedicated Redeemer/go'el title entry (B17); very high frequency, one of Isaiah’s dominant divine self-descriptions. |
| A19 | Reckon / Impute | suav / suav tias | Critical | 53:11-12 (typological) | 53:11’s “justify” (yatsdiq) and 53:12’s “numbered with transgressors” (nimnah) both draw on this forensic-accounting family; core OT root of the Romans doctrine. |
| A20 | Death | txoj kev tuag | Low | 25:8, 26:19, 53:8-9,12 | 25:8 “swallow up death forever” and 26:19 resurrection-hope are key eschatological anchors. |
| A21 | Sanctification | kev raug ua kom dawb huv | High | (root shared with B2 Holiness, see note) | Kept doctrinally distinct from B2 (God’s own essential holiness) even though the Hmong morpheme dawb huv is shared; Isaiah 6 requires the DISTINCT new entry B2, not a reuse of this Romans entry, because the referent (God’s nature vs. believers’ transformation) differs. |
| A22 | Eternal Life | txoj sia nyob mus ib txhis | Low | 40:28 (as divine attribute, new nuance), 53:10 (“prolong his days,” typological resurrection sense) | New nuance flagged: used here of God’s own eternality and of the Servant’s resurrection-life, not only of believers’ gift; log for TM-revision review. |
| A23 | Glory | lub yeeb koob | Low | 6:3, 24:23, 40:5, 42:8,12, 43:7, 52:13(implicit), 60:1-3, 66:18-19 | Stable, very high frequency. |
| A24 | Election / Choose | kev xaiv (Vajtswv xaiv raws li nws lub siab nyiam) | Critical | 41:8-9, 42:1, 43:10,20, 44:1-2, 45:4, 65:9,22 | hmoov remains PERMANENTLY FORBIDDEN; Isaiah’s corporate “Israel my chosen” usage must retain the same volitional-clause discipline as the Romans entry. |
| A25 | Remnant | cov seem | Low | 1:9, 4:2-3, 10:20-22, 11:11,16, 37:31-32, 46:3 | 1:9 and 10:22 directly quoted Rom 9:27-29. |
| A26 | Hardening | lub siab tawv | Medium | 6:9-10, 29:10 (quoted Rom 11:8), 63:17 | 6:9-10 is the earliest OT occurrence of this motif in Scripture. |
| A27 | Power | hwjchim | High | 6:3 (Hosts, see B1), 9:6 (Mighty God, see B4), 10:5,13, 40:26,29, 44:12, 63:1 | Qualifier rule (Vajtswv hwjchim) applies throughout; never bare. |
| A28 | Salvation / Save | kev cawm dim / cawm | High | 12:2-3, 25:9, 33:2,22, 35:4, 43:3,11-12, 45:8,17,21-22, 49:6,8,25-26, 51:5-8, 52:7,10, 56:1, 59:1,11,16-17, 60:16,18, 62:1,11, 63:1,5,8-9 | Extremely high frequency, foundational OT root for the entire Romans doctrine “Gospel as the Power of God for Salvation”; anchoring convention applies. |
| A29 | Living Sacrifice / sacrificial-offering domain | khoom fij uas muaj txoj sia nyob | High | 1:11 (critiqued, empty ritual sense), 43:23-24, 53:7,10 (typological, see B18-19) | 1:11’s critique of empty sacrifice must be distinguished from both Christ’s unique atonement and Rom 12:1’s ethical devotion sense; three-way distinction now required (see B18-19). |
| A30 | Kingdom of God | lub Nceeg Vaj ntawm Vajtswv | Low | 9:7 (Davidic throne, typological), 24:23, 33:22 | Reused for the Messianic/Davidic kingdom motif. |
| A31 | Scripture | Vaj Lug Kub | Low | 8:16,20, 34:16 | Stable. |
| A32 | Witness | tus timkhawv | Low | 43:10,12, 44:8, 55:4 | 43:10 “you are my witnesses” is a key covenant-identity text. |
| A33 | World | lub ntiajteb | Low | 13:11, 14:17, 24:4, 27:6, 34:1 | Stable. |
| A34 | Worship / Serve (cultic) | pehawm / pab teev | High | 2:8,20, 27:13, 44:15,17,19, 45:14, 46:6, 66:23 | 66:23’s “all flesh shall come to worship” is the book’s closing worship-vision; object must always be stated (pehawm Vajtswv). |
| A35 | Will of God | Vajtswv lub siab nyiam | Medium | 44:28, 46:10, 48:14, 53:10, 55:11 | 53:10 “it pleased the LORD” is the doctrinally weightiest single occurrence in the book; see core-passage v.10 treatment. |
| A36 | Mercy | txoj kev khuv leej | Medium | 54:7-8 (paired with new chesed/covenant-loyalty nuance, see B16), 55:7, 60:10 | Kept distinct from grace per existing Romans-TM note; new chesed nuance flagged for review (B16). |
| A37 | Love | kev hlub | Low | 63:9 (“in His love and in His pity He redeemed them”) | Stable, positive; no collision. |
| A38 | Hope | kev cia siab | Low | 40:31 (“they that wait upon the LORD”), 51:5 | Stable; ties to the “wait/hope” (qavah/yachal) word-group. |
| A39 | Firstfruits | thawj phaus qoob loo / cov ua ntej | Low-Medium | (not directly present in Isaiah; retained for cross-book consistency only) | No direct Isaiah occurrence identified; logged for completeness, no action required. |
| A40 | Righteousness of God / Righteous | Vajtswv txoj kev ncaj ncees / tus ncaj ncees | Critical | 1:27, 5:16, 9:7, 11:4-5, 26:9-10, 32:17, 42:6,21, 45:8,13,19,23-24, 51:5-8, 53:11, 54:14, 56:1, 58:8, 59:9,16-17, 60:17, 61:3,10-11, 62:1-2 | Extremely high frequency; 53:11 (justification of many) is the doctrine’s OT climax. |
| A41 | Justify / Reckon as righteous | ua kom ncaj ncees / raug suav tias ncaj ncees | Critical | 53:11 | The single OT verbal root (yatsdiq) underlying the entire Romans Justification-by-Faith doctrine; mandatory qualifier applies exactly as in the Romans TM. |
| A42 | Wrath of God | kev npau taws ntawm Vajtswv | High | 1:24, 5:25, 9:19, 10:5,25, 13:9,13, 30:27,30, 34:2, 42:25, 51:17,20,22, 57:16-17, 63:3,6, 66:15 | High frequency; 10:5 (“rod of my anger”) and 63:1-6 (divine warrior) require the same judicial-not-capricious contrast-teaching as the Romans entry. |
| A43 | No condemnation | kev raug txiav txim rau kev puas tsuaj | Medium | 50:9 (“who is he that shall condemn me?”) | Reused, typological anchor for the NT doctrine. |
| A44 | Stumbling block | qhov/pob zeb ua rau dawm ceg | Low-Medium | 8:14 (quoted Rom 9:33), 28:16 (quoted Rom 9:33; 10:11), 57:14 | Both Isaiah occurrences are directly quoted in Romans 9-10; must remain identical to the TM rendering. |
Section B — New Terms Surfaced in Isaiah Full-Book Coverage (Proposed TM-Revision Entries)
Each entry below is logged per §2 of 12_ai_translation_requirements.md’s enforcement convention: “New terms not yet in the TM… MUST be logged for a future TM-revision review rather than silently treated as permanent.” All Critical/High entries below require human theologian review before any Phase 2 generation may rely on them; Medium entries require native-speaker review at minimum.
| # | English Term | Hebrew (translit.) | Hmong Rendering (proposed) | Risk | Doctrine | Chapters | Alternatives Rejected | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B1 | LORD of Hosts | יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת (YHWH tseva’ot) | tus Tswv uas Kav Tag Nrho Cov Tub Rog Saum Ntuj | High | Holiness/Majesty of God; Sovereignty over Nations | 6:3, 37:16, and 60+ occurrences throughout | Bare “hwjchim” title with no army-imagery — rejected, loses the specific “commander of heavenly armies” sense | Must always co-occur with Vajtswv/tus Tswv; requires a teaching note distinguishing God’s command of heavenly armies from any folk celestial-spirit-army concept. |
| B2 | Holy, Holy, Holy (divine holiness/transcendence) | קָדוֹשׁ (qadosh, x3, 6:3); קְדוֹשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל (Holy One of Israel) | Dawb Huv, Dawb Huv, Dawb Huv; tus Dawb Huv ntawm Cov Yixalayees | Critical | Holiness and Majesty of God | 6:3 and ~25 occurrences of “Holy One of Israel” throughout (1:4, 5:19, 10:20, 12:6, 30:11-12, 41:14, 43:3, 45:11, 54:5, 60:9,14, etc.) | Treating as synonymous, undifferentiated reuse of the Romans sanctification entry — rejected; the referent (God’s own essential nature vs. believers’ progressive transformation) is doctrinally distinct even though the Hmong morpheme is shared | Highest-frequency new Critical term in the book; must be explicitly distinguished from folk ritual-purity dawb huv AND from the Romans-baseline hagiasmos sense. |
| B3 | Wonderful Counselor / Mighty God / Everlasting Father / Prince of Peace | יוֹעֵץ פֶּלֶא, אֵל גִּבּוֹר, אֲבִי־עַד, שַׂר־שָׁלוֹם | Tus Pab Tswv Yim Zoo Kawg Nkaus; Vajtswv uas Muaj Hwjchim Loj Kawg Nkaus; Leej Txiv uas Nyob Mus Ib Txhis; Tus Thawj Coj uas Muab Kev Thaj Yeeb | Critical | Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant | 9:6 | Softening “Mighty God” to “mighty hero/strong man” — rejected, echoes the Romans-baseline’s forbidden diminished-sonship pattern and denies full deity | ”Everlasting Father” requires a Trinity-persons teaching note to avoid modalistic confusion with the First Person. |
| B4 | Immanuel | עִמָּנוּ אֵל (‘immanu El) | Emanuyees (transliterated) + mandatory gloss: Vajtswv nrog peb nyob | Critical | Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant | 7:14; cf. Matt 1:23 | Glossing merely as “God helps us” — rejected, blunts the direct deity/incarnation claim | First-use footnote required, parallel to the existing Abba, Leej Txiv convention in the Romans TM. |
| B5 | Virgin | עַלְמָה (almah) | tus ntxhais dawb huv uas tsis tau sib deev | Critical | Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant | 7:14 | Rendering merely as “young woman” — rejected, loses the virginity marker essential to the Virgin Birth doctrine | Must retain unambiguous virginity marker consistent with the Matt 1:23 LXX “parthenos” reading. |
| B6 | Servant of the LORD (title) | עֶבֶד יְהוָה (‘eved YHWH) | Tus Qhev ntawm tus Tswv | Critical | Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant | 41:8-9, 42:1,19, 43:10, 44:1-2,21, 49:3,5-7, 50:10, 52:13, 53:11 | Bare, unqualified “qhev” reused from the Romans doulos entry with no title-marking — rejected, would lose the office/title sense and read as a generic slave-mention rather than a Messianic-prophetic designation | Lexically reuses the Romans-baseline qhev (doulos) rendering per the reuse mandate, but ALWAYS with the title-qualifier ntawm tus Tswv; carries the same honored-voluntary-bondservice catechetical note as the Romans entry, now extended to the corporate-Israel and ultimate-Messianic-individual referents. |
| B7 | Healing (by his wounds we are healed) | נִרְפָּא (nirpa, from רָפָא, rapha) | Vajtswv txoj kev kho (los ntawm tus Qhev txoj kev raug mob, ib zaug xwb) | Critical | Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant | 53:5; cf. 6:10, 19:22, 30:26, 57:18-19 | Bare, unqualified “kho” (heal) with no once-for-all/substitutionary anchor — rejected, would assimilate Christ’s atonement into the repeatable shamanic (txiv neeb) ritual-healing framework | Single highest-priority collision flag surfaced in this analysis; mandatory contrast-teaching required at every occurrence. |
| B8 | Guilt offering / offering for sin | אָשָׁם (asham) | khoom fij daws txim | Critical | Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant; parallels Justification by Faith | 53:10 | Collapsing into the general khoom fij (living sacrifice) entry with no distinct category — rejected, loses the specific OT sacrificial-legal category identifying the Servant’s death as an actual atoning sacrifice | Must be taught as the OT type directly parallel to the Romans-baseline propitiation_atoning_sacrifice (qhov theej txhoj kev txhaum), while kept distinguishable from both that NT term and from khoom fij uas muaj txoj sia nyob (ethical living sacrifice) — a three-way distinction. |
| B9 | Numbered with the transgressors / reckoned among sinners | נִמְנָה (nimnah) | raug suav nrog cov neeg fav xeeb | Critical | Justification by Faith (OT root); Coming Messiah/Suffering Servant | 53:12 | Treating as unrelated to the reckoning/imputation word-family — rejected, misses the deliberate mirror-image forensic logic (He is reckoned guilty so believers may be reckoned righteous) | Must be cross-taught with Romans-baseline reckon_impute (suav / suav tias) as its direct conceptual OT parallel. |
| B10 | Made intercession for the transgressors | יַפְגִּיעַ (yaphgia) | thov Vajtswv pab cov neeg txhaum | High | Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant | 53:12 | Rendering with vocabulary resembling shamanic spirit-negotiation on a client’s behalf — rejected without explicit contrast-teaching | Must be taught as the Servant’s own unrepeatable, self-sacrificial priestly intercession accomplished BY His death, not third-party shamanic mediation. |
| B11 | Fear not (comfort refrain) | אַל־תִּירָא (al-tira) | Tsis txhob ntshai | Medium | Comfort and Restoration for God’s People | 41:10,13-14, 43:1,5, 44:2,8, 54:4 | Treating as generic reassurance with no contrast to the constant fear-of-spirits backdrop of Hmong traditional religion — rejected as under-taught, though not a lexical collision itself | Major positive-apologetic point: explicit contrast should be drawn in teaching with the ongoing fear of provoking ancestral/nature spirits central to animist practice. |
| B12 | Fear of the LORD (reverence) | יִרְאַת יְהוָה (yirat YHWH) | kev hwm thiab paub ntshai Vajtswv lub hwjchim | High | Holiness and Majesty of God | 11:2-3, 33:6 | Using the same bare verb/noun as B11’s “fear not” without distinguishing reverence-fear from terror-fear — rejected, would create an internal contradiction between the “fear not” comfort texts and the “fear the LORD” reverence texts | Must be kept lexically and doctrinally distinct from B11; reverent awe before God’s holiness (Doctrine 1), not the terror the “fear not” texts remove. |
| B13 | Day of the LORD | יוֹם יְהוָה (yom YHWH) | Hnub ntawm tus Tswv | High | Sovereignty of God over the Nations | 13:6,9, 34:8 (implicit), and related “in that day” formulas throughout 24-27 | Rendering with fatalistic/astrological framing — rejected, must be God’s sovereignly appointed day of reckoning, not an impersonally determined fate-day | Same collision-family concern as the Romans-baseline hmoov prohibition for election; requires the same personal-agency safeguard. |
| B14 | Redeemer (kinsman-redeemer title) | גֹּאֵל (go’el) | Tus Txhiv | High | Comfort and Restoration; Coming Messiah | 41:14, 43:14, 44:6,24, 47:4, 48:17, 49:7,26, 54:5,8, 59:20 (quoted Rom 11:26-27), 60:16, 63:16 | Reducing to the bare TM redemption (kev txhiv) noun with no kinsman-family frame — rejected, loses the rich forensic-familial background (buying back a relative/land from debt-bondage) that makes the title so relationally warm | Recommend formal TM-revision review to add as a dedicated title entry building on, not replacing, the existing Romans redemption noun entry. |
| B15 | Covenant | בְּרִית (berit) | kev cog lus (ntawm Vajtswv) | High | Comfort and Restoration; The Future of Israel (bridge doctrine) | 24:5, 28:15,18, 33:8, 54:10, 55:3, 56:4,6, 59:21, 61:8 | Collapsing into the existing TM promise (lus cog tseg) with no distinct entry — rejected; Hebrew berit denotes a more formal, often bilateral covenant-oath than the general “promise” entry captures | Recommend a dedicated new TM entry distinct from, and paired with, promise; “everlasting covenant” (kev cog lus nyob mus ib txhis) is the most frequent qualified form. |
| B16 | Covenant-loyalty / kindness (chesed, paired with mercy) | חֶסֶד (chesed) | kev hlub ncaj ncees ntawm kev cog lus | Medium | Comfort and Restoration | 54:8,10, 55:3 | Flattening into the existing TM mercy (txoj kev khuv leej) entry with no distinct nuance noted — rejected as an oversimplification, though not a lexical error | Hebrew chesed (steadfast covenant love/loyalty) is broader than the Greek eleos mercy-sense already fixed in the Romans TM; flagged for a future TM-revision review to consider a dedicated entry. |
| B17 | New Heavens and New Earth | שָׁמַיִם חֲדָשִׁים וָאֶרֶץ חֲדָשָׁה (shamayim chadashim va’erets chadashah) | lub Ntuj Tshiab thiab Lub Ntiajteb Tshiab | Critical | The New Heavens and New Earth | 65:17, 66:22 | Presenting as merely renewed political fortune for Israel rather than a literal cosmic re-creation — rejected, undercuts the doctrine’s eschatological scope | Cultural-comprehension flag: Hmong layered-heavens cosmology (multiple spirit-inhabited sky realms) could cause “new heavens” to be heard as a renewed spirit-realm rather than a literal, physical new creation; explicit teaching note required. |
| B18 | Resurrection (of the dead) | יִחְיוּ מֵתֶיךָ (yichyu meteikha, “your dead shall live”) | cov tuag yuav sawv rov qab muaj txoj sia | Critical | The New Heavens and New Earth; Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant | 26:19; typologically 53:10-12 | Rendering as mere spiritual survival/afterlife rather than bodily resurrection — rejected, weakens the doctrine’s connection to the Servant’s own resurrection-vindication | Foundational background text for the Messiah’s resurrection logic implicit in Isa 53:10-12. |
| B19 | Cyrus, “mine anointed” (secular/instrumental anointing) | מְשִׁיחוֹ (meshicho) | tus uas Vajtswv tau xaiv thiab pleev roj tsa | Medium | Sovereignty of God over the Nations | 45:1 | Using the same unqualified “Anointed One” language reserved for the ultimate Messiah — rejected, would confuse a one-time historical-instrumental anointing with the eternal Messianic office | Must be explicitly taught as distinct from the ultimate Anointed One of chs. 7, 9, 11, 53, 61; a disambiguation need rather than a traditional-religion collision. |
| B20 | Foreigner joined to the LORD (Gentile inclusion in worship) | הַנֵּכָר הַנִּלְוָה עַל־יְהוָה (hanechar hannilvah al-YHWH) | lwm Haiv Neeg uas koom nrog tus Tswv | High | Salvation Extended to the Nations | 56:3-8; cf. 19:19-25 | Under-teaching this as a minor exception rather than a major doctrinal statement — rejected; this is a central Salvation-to-Nations proof text | Strong positive resonance with Hmong clan-inclusion/adoption custom already flagged positively in the Romans-baseline adoption_as_sons entry. |
| B21 | Anointed to preach good tidings (Servant’s Spirit-anointed gospel-commission) | מָשַׁח…לְבַשֵּׂר (mashach…levasser) | Vaj Ntsuj Plig nyob rau saum kuv, rau qhov tus Tswv tau pleev roj tsa kuv coj Txoj Moo Zoo mus qhia | Critical | Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant | 61:1 (quoted by Jesus, Luke 4:18-19) | Treating as a generic prophetic-commissioning formula unconnected to the ultimate Messiah — rejected; Jesus explicitly self-identifies with this exact text | Combines reused Vaj Ntsuj Plig and Txoj Moo Zoo TM entries with the new Servant-anointing vocabulary; among the most doctrinally load-bearing verses in the book. |
| B22 | Transgression / rebellion (distinct sin-vocabulary term) | פֶּשַׁע (pesha) | kev fav xeeb | Medium | Judgment on Israel’s Idolatry and Injustice; Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant | 1:2, 53:5,8,12, 59:12, 65:2 (quoted Rom 10:20-21) | Flattening into the general TM sin_act_and_condition with no distinction from “iniquity” (avon) or “sin” (chatta’ah) — rejected as an oversimplification that loses Hebrew’s richer sin-vocabulary | Recommend pairing with, never replacing, the existing TM kev txhaum entry; specifically denotes willful revolt against covenant authority. |
| B23 | Justice paired with righteousness | מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) | kev txiav txim ncaj | Medium | Judgment on Israel’s Idolatry and Injustice | 1:17,21,27, 5:7,16, 9:7, 30:18, 32:1,16, 33:5, 42:1,3-4, 51:4, 56:1, 59:8-9,11,14-15, 61:8 | Collapsing into the existing TM righteousness_of_god_righteous with no distinct term — rejected; Isaiah consistently yokes mishpat and tsedaqah as a deliberate word-pair | Recommend a dedicated new entry kept paired with, not substituted for, the existing righteousness entry. |
| B24 | Trust/rely on (misplaced political trust vs. trust in God) | בָּטַח (batach) | vam khom / tso siab rau | Medium | Judgment on Israel’s Idolatry and Injustice; Sovereignty over Nations | 30:12, 31:1, 36:4-9 | Merging into the general TM faith_believe with no distinction — rejected; Isaiah’s polemic specifically concerns misplaced reliance on human/political power for security, a narrower sense than saving faith | Useful disambiguation term for the “trust Egypt vs. trust the LORD” oracles (chs. 30-31, 36). |
| B25 | Woe (judgment-oracle marker) | הוֹי (hoy) | Txom nyem lauj | Low | Judgment on Israel’s Idolatry and Injustice | 1:4 (implicit), 5:8,11,18,20-22, 10:1,5, 28:1, 29:1,15, 30:1, 31:1, 33:1, 45:9-10 | None — stable, transparent exclamation | Recurring structural marker across the woe-oracle collections; logged once, reused by reference. |
| B26 | Comfort (covenant-restoration comfort) | נָחַם (nacham) | Nplig…lub siab | High | Comfort and Restoration for God’s People | 40:1, 49:13, 51:3,12,19, 52:9, 61:2, 66:13 | Rendering as merely emotional/psychological comfort — rejected; must be covenant-restoration comfort grounded explicitly in forgiveness (40:2) and coming glory | Forms an inclusio between 40:1 and 66:13, framing the entire second half of the book. |
Section C — Glossary Cross-Reference Notes for Phase 2 Enforcement
- All Section A terms are governed by the identical mandatory-qualifier rules already fixed in
assets/translation_memory.json(e.g.,hwjchimalwaysVajtswv hwjchim;ntsuj pligfor the divine Person alwaysVaj Ntsuj Plig;pehawmalways with stated object). No exception is created for Isaiah. - All Section B terms are proposed, not yet permanent. Per §2.4 of
12_ai_translation_requirements.md, any Phase 2 generation task using a Section B term must either (a) await formal TM-revision review and approval, or (b) insert[TRANSLATOR REVIEW NEEDED: <term>]if used provisionally. - Three-way sacrificial-domain distinction (new for Isaiah, extending the Romans two-way distinction): the Romans baseline already distinguishes
propitiation_atoning_sacrifice(Christ’s unique, sufficient atonement, Rom 3:25) fromliving_sacrifice(ethical devotion, Rom 12:1). Isaiah adds a third, OT-typological term,khoom fij daws txim(B8, guilt/reparation offering, Isa 53:10), which must be taught as the prophetic type fulfilled by the Romans propitiation term — never merged with either of the other two. - Two “fear” entries (B11, B12) must never be confused.
Tsis txhob ntshai(comfort, fear removed) andkev hwm thiab paub ntshai Vajtswv lub hwjchim(reverent awe retained) operate simultaneously throughout Isaiah 40-66 and must be kept doctrinally distinct in every teaching unit that touches either. - Holiness (B2) is never a re-gloss of Sanctification (A21). Both use the Hmong morpheme
dawb huv, but B2 describes God’s own unapproachable, transcendent nature (Doctrine: Holiness and Majesty of God) while A21 describes believers’ progressive Spirit-wrought moral transformation (Romans doctrine: Sanctification and Life in the Spirit). This distinction must be explicit in every lesson touching Isaiah 6, 35:8, 57:15, or 65:25. - Chapter-coverage completeness: every one of Isaiah’s 66 chapters is represented either in Section A (reused terms) or Section B (new terms) above, or explicitly logged as introducing no new vocabulary in
analysis/07_semantic_analysis.md§2 (chs. 12, 15-18, 20-23, 29, 32-39, 46-48, 57-58, 60, 62, 64). No chapter has been silently skipped.
Critical Risk Terms
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Vaj Ntsuj Plig
Transliteration: pneuma hagion / ruach YHWH, ruach qodesh
Doctrine: Holiness and Majesty of God; The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
Rejected alternatives: bare ntsuj plig (no Vaj prefix) — rejected, denotes an animistic wandering human soul
Inherited from Romans package. Vaj-prefix mandatory at every occurrence: Isa 11:2, 32:15, 42:1, 44:3, 48:16, 59:19,21, 61:1, 63:10-11. Isa 63:10 (‘they grieved His Holy Spirit’) is a key personhood text.
Grace
Approved rendering: txiaj ntsim
Transliteration: charis / chen
Doctrine: Salvation Extended to the Nations; Comfort and Restoration for God’s People
Rejected alternatives: koob hmoov (fortune/blessing tied to fate and ritual correctness) — PERMANENTLY FORBIDDEN for this sense
Inherited from Romans package. Isa 55:1’s free invitation (‘without money and without price’) reinforces sola gratia exactly as Rom 4:4-5; also 26:10, 30:18-19, 33:2.
Propitiation Atoning Sacrifice
Approved rendering: qhov theej txhoj kev txhaum
Transliteration: hilastērion (NT term describing the OT type of Isa 53:10’s asham)
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
Rejected alternatives: transliterated loanword — rejected, opaque, prevents necessary contrast-teaching
Inherited from Romans package. Isa 53:10’s guilt offering (see guilt_offering_asham) is the OT sacrificial type this NT term describes; teach in direct, explicit parallel, kept lexically distinct per the mandatory three/four-way sacrificial-domain distinction (see living_sacrifice notes).
Reckon Impute
Approved rendering: suav / suav tias
Transliteration: logizomai / nimnah (root manah)
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
Inherited from Romans package. Isa 53:11-12’s ‘justify’/‘numbered with the transgressors’ both draw on this forensic-accounting family; core OT root of the Romans Justification-by-Faith doctrine. Cross-taught with numbered_with_transgressors as the mirror-image transaction.
Election Choose
Approved rendering: kev xaiv (Vajtswv xaiv raws li nws lub siab nyiam)
Transliteration: eklogē / bachar
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over the Nations; The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
Rejected alternatives: hmoov (impersonal fate/fortune) vocabulary — PERMANENTLY FORBIDDEN
Inherited from Romans package. 41:8-9, 42:1, 43:10,20, 44:1-2, 45:4, 65:9,22; earliest explicit ‘chosen’ statement applied corporately to Israel, later paired with the Servant title.
Righteousness Of God Righteous
Approved rendering: Vajtswv txoj kev ncaj ncees / tus ncaj ncees
Transliteration: dikaiosynē theou / tsedeq, tsedaqah, tsaddiq
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant; Judgment on Israel’s Idolatry and Injustice
Rejected alternatives: bare ‘kev ncaj ncees’ without the reckoning qualifier — rejected
Inherited from Romans package. Extremely high frequency; 53:11 (justification of many) is the doctrine’s OT climax: 1:27, 5:16, 9:7, 11:4-5, 26:9-10, 32:17, 42:6,21, 45:8,13,19,23-24, 51:5-8, 54:14, 56:1, 58:8, 59:9,16-17, 60:17, 61:3,10-11, 62:1-2. Must always be paired with justify_reckon_as_righteous and, where Isaiah pairs it, with justice_mishpat.
Justify Reckon As Righteous
Approved rendering: ua kom ncaj ncees / raug suav tias ncaj ncees
Transliteration: dikaioō / yatsdiq
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
Rejected alternatives: ‘will make [morally] good’ — rejected, inverts the forensic sense
Inherited from Romans package. Isa 53:11 (yatsdiq) is the single OT verbal root underlying the entire Justification-by-Faith doctrine; mandatory reckoning-qualifier rule applies exactly as in the Romans TM.
Law Mosaic Divine
Approved rendering: Txoj Kevcai (ntawm Vajtswv / Mauxes)
Transliteration: nomos / torah
Doctrine: General / Cross-cutting (background to Judgment on Idolatry and Injustice)
Rejected alternatives: bare ‘Txoj Kevcai’ without qualifier — rejected, collapses into ancestral custom-keeping
Inherited from Romans package. Referenced at 2:3 (‘out of Zion shall go forth the law’) and 8:16,20 (‘bind up the testimony, seal the law’); qualifier mandatory at every occurrence exactly as in the Romans baseline.
Flesh Neutral Descent Body
Approved rendering: lub cev nqaij tawv
Transliteration: sarx (neutral)
Doctrine: General / Cross-cutting
Rejected alternatives: bare nqaij used unmarked for both senses — rejected
Inherited from Romans package. Reused at Isa 40:6-8 (‘all flesh is grass’) with a new mortality/frailty nuance rather than the original genealogical-descent sense; must still be kept lexically distinct from any morally-loaded sinful-nature sense per the Romans baseline rule.
Holy One Of Israel Holiness
Approved rendering: Dawb Huv, Dawb Huv, Dawb Huv / tus Dawb Huv ntawm Cov Yixalayees
Transliteration: qadosh qadosh qadosh / qedosh Yisra’el
Doctrine: Holiness and Majesty of God
Rejected alternatives: treating as synonymous, undifferentiated reuse of the Romans sanctification entry — rejected, referent (God’s own nature vs. believers’ transformation) is doctrinally distinct
NEW ENTRY. ~25 occurrences of ‘Holy One of Israel’ (1:4, 5:19, 10:20, 12:6, 30:11-12, 41:14, 43:3, 45:11, 54:5, 60:9,14) plus the programmatic 6:3 triple acclamation — the single highest-frequency new Critical term in the book. Must be explicitly distinguished at every first occurrence per lesson module from both folk ritual purity ‘dawb huv’ and the Romans-baseline sanctification entry.
Wonderful Counselor
Approved rendering: Tus Pab Tswv Yim Zoo Kawg Nkaus
Transliteration: yo’ets pele
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
NEW ENTRY. Part of the fixed four-title cluster of Isa 9:6 (with mighty_god, everlasting_father, prince_of_peace); never separate the four titles in generation — always present as a unit.
Mighty God
Approved rendering: Vajtswv uas Muaj Hwjchim Loj Kawg Nkaus
Transliteration: El Gibbor
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
Rejected alternatives: ‘mighty hero’ / ‘strong man’ softening — PERMANENTLY FORBIDDEN, echoes the Romans-baseline diminished-sonship pattern and denies full deity
NEW ENTRY. Isa 9:6; the single clearest, most unambiguous OT ascription of full deity to the child-Messiah.
Everlasting Father
Approved rendering: Leej Txiv uas Nyob Mus Ib Txhis
Transliteration: avi’ad
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
Rejected alternatives: reading as if the Son IS the First Person of the Trinity — rejected; this is a Hebrew idiom for ‘Father/Source of eternity, eternal Sustainer,’ not a claim of Personal identity
NEW ENTRY. Requires a mandatory Trinity-persons teaching note at every occurrence to avoid modalistic confusion; reuses the father_god/son_of_god distinction already fixed in the Romans TM.
Immanuel
Approved rendering: Emanuyees (transliterated) + mandatory gloss: Vajtswv nrog peb nyob
Transliteration: immanu El
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
Rejected alternatives: glossing merely as ‘God helps us’ — rejected, blunts the direct deity/incarnation claim
NEW ENTRY. Isa 7:14; direct bridge to Matt 1:23. First-use footnote required, parallel to the existing ‘Abba, Leej Txiv’ Aramaic-retention convention.
Virgin Almah
Approved rendering: tus ntxhais dawb huv uas tsis tau sib deev
Transliteration: almah
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
Rejected alternatives: rendering merely as ‘young woman’ — rejected, loses the virginity marker essential to the Virgin Birth doctrine
NEW ENTRY. Isa 7:14; must retain an unambiguous virginity marker consistent with the Matt 1:23 LXX ‘parthenos’ reading. Always used as the full compound, never abbreviated to bare ‘dawb huv’ (which would trigger the holiness or ritual-purity senses instead).
Servant Of The Lord
Approved rendering: Tus Qhev ntawm tus Tswv
Transliteration: ‘eved YHWH
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
Rejected alternatives: bare unqualified ‘qhev’ with no title-marking — rejected, would read as a generic slave-mention rather than a Messianic-prophetic designation
NEW ENTRY. Lexically reuses the inherited servant_slave_doulos rendering, but ALWAYS with the title-qualifier ‘ntawm tus Tswv’; referent shifts between corporate Israel and the individual Messiah across 41:8-9, 42:1,19, 43:10, 44:1-2,21, 49:3,5-7, 50:10, 52:13, 53:11 without warning in the source text — requires explicit referent-tracking teaching note at each new occurrence cluster.
Servant Spirit Anointed Gospel Commission
Approved rendering: Vaj Ntsuj Plig nyob rau saum kuv, rau qhov tus Tswv tau pleev roj tsa kuv coj Txoj Moo Zoo mus qhia
Transliteration: mashach…levasser
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
Rejected alternatives: treating as a generic prophetic-commissioning formula unconnected to the ultimate Messiah — rejected; Jesus explicitly self-identifies with this exact text at Luke 4:18-19
NEW ENTRY. Isa 61:1-3. Combines the inherited holy_spirit and gospel entries with new Servant-anointing vocabulary; among the most doctrinally load-bearing verses in the book.
Bearing Verbs Substitution
Approved rendering: nqa / thauj / ris
Transliteration: nasa / sabal
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
Rejected alternatives: softer verbs implying shared rather than vicarious/exclusive bearing (e.g. ‘help carry’) — rejected, erases the total-substitution force
NEW ENTRY. Isa 53:4, 11, 12 (core passage) — this verb-family forms the inclusio carrying the entire substitutionary-atonement argument; must always be used with an explicit substitutionary object marker (‘rau peb,’ ‘hloov peb chaw’).
Stricken Smitten Mistaken Inference
Approved rendering: raug Vajtswv ntaus/rau txim
Transliteration: nagua, mukeh Elohim
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
Rejected alternatives: presenting as a true statement rather than the crowd’s mistaken inference — rejected, would make the passage CONFIRM rather than OVERTURN merit-based suffering theology
NEW ENTRY. Isa 53:4 (core passage). Must always be presented as the onlookers’ MISTAKEN inference, explicitly corrected by v.5’s ‘for OUR transgressions’ — the passage’s central rhetorical hinge, given the Hmong customary linkage of suffering/illness to ancestral or spirit offense requiring ritual correction.
Chastisement Musar
Approved rendering: kev raug txim uas yuav coj kev thaj yeeb rau peb
Transliteration: musar
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
NEW ENTRY. Isa 53:5 (core passage). Must always be anchored to the substitutionary ‘upon Him, not upon us’ logic, paralleling the mandatory-qualifier convention already fixed for justify_reckon_as_righteous.
Healing By His Wounds
Approved rendering: Vajtswv txoj kev kho (los ntawm tus Qhev txoj kev raug mob, ib zaug xwb, tsis rov muaj dua)
Transliteration: nirpa (from rapha)
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
Rejected alternatives: bare unqualified ‘kho’ (heal) with no once-for-all/substitutionary anchor — PERMANENTLY FORBIDDEN, would assimilate Christ’s atonement into the repeatable shamanic (txiv neeb) ritual-healing framework
NEW ENTRY. Isa 53:5 (core passage); also 6:10, 19:22, 30:26, 57:18-19. SINGLE HIGHEST-PRIORITY COLLISION FLAG in this entire Language Package. Mandatory contrast-teaching note required at every occurrence without exception.
Lamb To The Slaughter
Approved rendering: raug coj mus tua zoo li ib tug menyuam yaj
Transliteration: kasseh latevach yuval
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
NEW ENTRY. Isa 53:7 (core passage). Must be explicitly taught as pointing to Christ’s unique, sufficient, sacrificial death, never left ambiguous between shamanic appeasement offerings and ordinary ethical living-sacrifice.
Guilt Offering Asham
Approved rendering: khoom fij daws txim
Transliteration: asham
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
Rejected alternatives: collapsing into the general living_sacrifice entry with no distinct category — rejected, loses the specific OT sacrificial-legal category
NEW ENTRY. Isa 53:10 (core passage). Must be taught in direct parallel with the inherited propitiation_atoning_sacrifice entry as its OT type/prophecy, while kept distinguishable from both that NT term and from living_sacrifice — a mandatory three-way distinction within the broader four-way fence.
Poured Out His Soul
Approved rendering: nws muab nws txoj sia rho tawm huv tibsi mus rau txoj kev tuag
Transliteration: he’erah lamavet naphsho
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
NEW ENTRY. Isa 53:12 (core passage); restates and intensifies that the Servant’s death is total, willing self-giving unto literal death, not merely severe suffering.
Righteous Servant Title
Approved rendering: Kuv tus Qhev ncaj ncees
Transliteration: avdi tsaddiq
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
NEW ENTRY. Isa 53:11 (core passage). Combines the inherited righteousness_of_god_righteous entry with the new servant_of_the_lord title entry; both halves must be present together — dropping either loses either the messianic office or the imputed-righteousness doctrine.
Numbered With Transgressors
Approved rendering: raug suav nrog cov neeg fav xeeb
Transliteration: lapposh’im nimnah
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
NEW ENTRY. Isa 53:12 (core passage). Must be explicitly cross-taught with the inherited reckon_impute entry as the mirror-image transaction: He is reckoned guilty so believers may be reckoned righteous.
New Heavens New Earth
Approved rendering: lub Ntuj Tshiab thiab Lub Ntiajteb Tshiab
Transliteration: shamayim chadashim va’erets chadashah
Doctrine: The New Heavens and New Earth
Rejected alternatives: presenting as merely renewed political fortune for Israel rather than a literal cosmic re-creation — rejected, undercuts the doctrine’s eschatological scope
NEW ENTRY. Isa 65:17, 65:25, 66:22-23. Cultural-comprehension flag: Hmong layered-heavens cosmology (multiple spirit-inhabited sky realms) could cause ‘new heavens’ to be heard as a renewed spirit-realm rather than a literal, physical new creation; explicit teaching note required at every occurrence.
Resurrection Of The Dead
Approved rendering: cov tuag yuav sawv rov qab muaj txoj sia
Transliteration: yichyu meteikha
Doctrine: The New Heavens and New Earth; The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
Rejected alternatives: rendering as mere spiritual survival/afterlife rather than bodily resurrection — rejected, any verb resembling ‘hu’ (call/summon) — FORBIDDEN, would assimilate permanent bodily resurrection into the folk practice of ritually ‘calling back’ a wandering soul (hu plig)
NEW ENTRY. Isa 26:19; typologically 53:10-12. Foundational background text for the Messiah’s own resurrection-vindication logic; must be rendered plainly as literal bodily resurrection.
High Risk Terms
Idol
Approved rendering: dab mlom
Transliteration: eidōlon / elil, pesel
Doctrine: Judgment on Israel’s Idolatry and Injustice
Rejected alternatives: generic ‘statue’ softening — rejected, must not soften the term
Inherited from Romans package. Single highest-frequency Critical/High term in the book: 2:8,18,20, 10:10-11, 17:8, 19:1,3, 21:9, 30:22, 31:7, 40:19-20, 41:29, 42:8,17, 44:9-20, 45:16,20, 46:1,6-7, 48:5, 57:5,13, 66:3. 44:9-20 is the fullest manufacture-satire and confronts a currently practiced Hmong religious act, not a comparative-religion abstraction.
Sin Act And Condition
Approved rendering: txhaum / kev txhaum
Transliteration: hamartia / chatta’ah, chet
Doctrine: Judgment on Israel’s Idolatry and Injustice; The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
Inherited from Romans package. Extremely high frequency, densest at the core passage (53:5,6,8,11,12); also 1:4,18, 3:9, 5:18, 6:7, 30:1, 40:2, 43:24-25, 44:22, 58:1, 59:2,12, 64:5-9. Must be kept lexically distinct from transgression_rebellion_pesha and unrighteousness per the mandatory sin-vocabulary triad fencing rule.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: kev raug ua kom dawb huv
Transliteration: hagiasmos
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant (background); NOT reused for Isaiah’s own Holiness-of-God doctrine
Rejected alternatives: treating as synonymous with holy_one_of_israel_holiness — rejected, referents differ
Inherited from Romans package. Kept doctrinally DISTINCT from the new holy_one_of_israel_holiness entry even though the Hmong morpheme ‘dawb huv’ is shared — Isaiah 6 requires the distinct new entry because the referent (God’s own nature vs. believers’ progressive moral transformation) differs.
Power
Approved rendering: hwjchim
Transliteration: dynamis / koach, gevurah
Doctrine: Holiness and Majesty of God; The Sovereignty of God over the Nations
Rejected alternatives: bare, unqualified hwjchim — FORBIDDEN
Inherited from Romans package. Qualifier rule (Vajtswv hwjchim) applies without exception, including 6:3 (Hosts), 9:6 (Mighty God), 10:5,13, 40:26,29, 44:12, 63:1.
Salvation Save
Approved rendering: kev cawm dim / cawm
Transliteration: sōtēria / yeshu’ah, yasha
Doctrine: Salvation Extended to the Nations
Rejected alternatives: unanchored ‘dim’ parallel to shamanic soul-rescue — rejected without explicit sole-agency anchoring
Inherited from Romans package. Extremely high frequency, the foundational OT root for the ‘Gospel as Power of God for Salvation’ doctrine: 12:2-3, 25:9, 33:2,22, 35:4, 43:3,11-12, 45:8,17,21-22, 49:6,8,25-26, 51:5-8, 52:7,10, 56:1, 59:1,11,16-17, 60:16,18, 62:1,11, 63:1,5,8-9. 43:11 (‘besides me there is no savior’) reinforces the mandatory sole-agency anchoring convention.
Living Sacrifice
Approved rendering: khoom fij uas muaj txoj sia nyob
Transliteration: thysia zōsa / zevach, qorban
Doctrine: Judgment on Israel’s Idolatry and Injustice; The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
Rejected alternatives: unqualified ‘fij’ identical to spirit-appeasement offering language — rejected without explicit framing
Inherited from Romans package. Isa 1:11’s critique of empty ritual sacrifice must be distinguished from both the Servant’s unique guilt-offering/atonement (guilt_offering_asham, propitiation_atoning_sacrifice) and ordinary ethical devotion — a mandatory FOUR-way sacrificial-domain distinction (condemned empty ritual / OT guilt-offering type / NT propitiation / ethical living-sacrifice); also 43:23-24, 53:7,10.
Worship Serve Cultic
Approved rendering: pehawm / pab teev
Transliteration: latreuō / avad, hishtachavah
Doctrine: Salvation Extended to the Nations; Judgment on Israel’s Idolatry and Injustice
Rejected alternatives: bare, unanchored pehawm — FORBIDDEN, identical verb used for pehawm dab
Inherited from Romans package. Object must always be stated (‘pehawm Vajtswv’); 66:23’s ‘all flesh shall come to worship’ is the book’s climactic closing worship-vision and must retain the discipline without exception, even in celebratory register; also 2:8,20, 27:13, 44:15,17,19, 45:14, 46:6.
Wrath Of God
Approved rendering: kev npau taws ntawm Vajtswv
Transliteration: orgē theou / af, charon
Doctrine: Judgment on Israel’s Idolatry and Injustice; The Sovereignty of God over the Nations
Rejected alternatives: unqualified ‘npau taws’ associated only with capricious spirit/ancestor anger — rejected
Inherited from Romans package. Isa 10:5 (‘rod of my anger’) and 63:1-6 (divine warrior) require the same judicial-not-capricious contrast-teaching as the Romans entry; also 1:24, 5:25, 9:19, 10:25, 13:9,13, 30:27,30, 34:2, 42:25, 51:17,20,22, 57:16-17, 63:3,6, 66:15.
Servant Slave Doulos
Approved rendering: qhev
Transliteration: doulos
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
Rejected alternatives: koom tes (co-worker/partner) softening — rejected
Inherited from Romans package as the base lexical rendering. In Isaiah this word is NEVER used bare; it underlies the mandatory new title entry servant_of_the_lord (‘Tus Qhev ntawm tus Tswv’), required at every occurrence to preserve the office/title sense (41:8-9, 42:1,19, 43:10, 44:1-2,21, 49:3,5-7, 50:10, 52:13, 53:11).
All Israel Will Be Saved
Approved rendering: tag nrho cov Yixalayees yuav dim
Transliteration: pas Israēl sōthēsetai (root: Isa 59:20-21)
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over the Nations; Comfort and Restoration for God’s People
Rejected alternatives: flattening to generic clan/lineage-continuity language — rejected
Inherited from Romans package. Isa 59:20-21 (‘the Redeemer shall come to Zion… my Spirit that is upon you’) is the direct OT root text quoted at Rom 11:26-27, confirming this entry’s origin; must be anchored to God’s irrevocable covenant faithfulness.
Lord Of Hosts
Approved rendering: tus Tswv uas Kav Tag Nrho Cov Tub Rog Saum Ntuj
Transliteration: YHWH tseva’ot
Doctrine: Holiness and Majesty of God
Rejected alternatives: bare ‘hwjchim’ title with no army-imagery — rejected, loses the specific commander-of-heavenly-armies sense
NEW ENTRY. Occurs 60+ times (6:3, 37:16, 44:6, 45:13, 47:4, 54:5, and pervasive). Must always co-occur with Vajtswv/tus Tswv; requires a teaching note distinguishing God’s sovereign command of heavenly armies from any folk concept of contractible celestial-spirit-armies or warrior-spirits negotiable by a shaman.
Prince Of Peace
Approved rendering: Tus Thawj Coj uas Muab Kev Thaj Yeeb
Transliteration: sar shalom
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
NEW ENTRY. Reuses the inherited ‘peace’ TM entry; ties forward to the Davidic-throne continuity motif of 9:7.
Wounded Bruised Crushed
Approved rendering: raug hlais/raug mob loj kawg; raug tsoo tawg/raug tuab
Transliteration: mecholal / medukka
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
NEW ENTRY. Isa 53:5 (core passage). Must be taught alongside chastisement_musar and will_of_god (53:10, ‘it pleased the LORD’) to preserve that this crushing is the Father’s own purposeful act, not incidental suffering.
Cut Off From Land Of Living
Approved rendering: raug txiav tu ntawm cov neeg tseem ciaj sia
Transliteration: nigzar me’erets chayyim
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
Rejected alternatives: softening toward ‘suffered greatly’ without actual death — rejected, blunts the doctrine’s resurrection-vindication logic
NEW ENTRY. Isa 53:8 (core passage); must be preserved plainly as a real, violent, premature death.
Intercession For Transgressors
Approved rendering: thov Vajtswv pab cov neeg txhaum
Transliteration: yaphgia
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
Rejected alternatives: vocabulary resembling shamanic third-party spirit-negotiation performed for a client — rejected without explicit contrast-teaching
NEW ENTRY. Isa 53:12 (core passage). Must be taught as the Servant’s own unrepeatable, self-sacrificial priestly intercession accomplished BY His death, not third-party shamanic mediation.
Fear Of The Lord Reverence
Approved rendering: kev hwm thiab paub ntshai Vajtswv lub hwjchim
Transliteration: yirat YHWH
Doctrine: Holiness and Majesty of God
Rejected alternatives: using the same bare verb/noun as the ‘fear not’ refrain without distinguishing reverence-fear from terror-fear — rejected, would create an internal contradiction
NEW ENTRY. 11:2-3, 33:6. Must be kept lexically and doctrinally distinct from fear_not_comfort_refrain; reverent awe before God’s holiness, not the terror the ‘fear not’ texts remove.
Day Of The Lord
Approved rendering: Hnub ntawm tus Tswv
Transliteration: yom YHWH
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over the Nations
Rejected alternatives: fatalistic/astrological framing — rejected, must be God’s sovereignly appointed day of reckoning, not an impersonally determined fate-day
NEW ENTRY. 13:6,9, 34:8; same collision-family concern as the Romans-baseline hmoov prohibition for election, now extended to eschatological judgment-timing.
Redeemer Goel
Approved rendering: Tus Txhiv
Transliteration: go’el
Doctrine: Comfort and Restoration for God’s People
Rejected alternatives: reducing to the bare inherited redemption noun with no kinsman-family frame — rejected, loses the rich forensic-familial background
NEW ENTRY. 41:14, 43:14, 44:6,24, 47:4, 48:17, 49:7,26, 54:5,8, 59:20 (quoted Rom 11:26-27), 60:16, 63:16. One of Isaiah’s most frequent divine titles; built on, not replacing, the inherited redemption entry.
Covenant Berith
Approved rendering: kev cog lus (ntawm Vajtswv)
Transliteration: berit
Doctrine: Comfort and Restoration for God’s People
Rejected alternatives: collapsing into the existing inherited ‘promise’ entry with no distinct entry — rejected; berit denotes a more formal, often bilateral covenant-oath
NEW ENTRY. 24:5, 28:15,18, 33:8, 54:10, 55:3, 56:4,6, 59:21, 61:8; ‘everlasting covenant’ (kev cog lus nyob mus ib txhis) is the most frequent qualified form. Isa 28:15,18’s ironic ‘covenant with death’ requires care to avoid confusion with the legitimate divine-covenant sense.
Foreigner Joined To The Lord
Approved rendering: lwm Haiv Neeg uas koom nrog tus Tswv
Transliteration: hanechar hannilvah al-YHWH
Doctrine: Salvation Extended to the Nations
Rejected alternatives: under-teaching this as a minor exception rather than a major doctrinal statement — rejected
NEW ENTRY. Isa 56:3-8; cf. 19:19-25. A major Salvation-to-Nations proof text explicitly including foreigners and eunuchs; strong positive resonance with Hmong clan-inclusion/adoption custom (see inherited adoption_as_sons entry).
Comfort Covenant Restoration
Approved rendering: Nplig…lub siab
Transliteration: nacham
Doctrine: Comfort and Restoration for God’s People
Rejected alternatives: rendering as merely emotional/psychological comfort — rejected; must be covenant-restoration comfort grounded explicitly in forgiveness (40:2) and coming glory
NEW ENTRY. 40:1, 49:13, 51:3,12,19, 52:9, 61:2, 66:13. Forms an inclusio between 40:1 and 66:13, framing the entire second half of the book.
Leviathan Rahab
Approved rendering: tus tsov txhu loj hauv hiav txwv uas ua li tus zaj (marked descriptive paraphrase, mandatory footnote)
Transliteration: Leviatan / Rahab
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over the Nations; The New Heavens and New Earth
Rejected alternatives: ordinary unqualified Hmong water-dragon-spirit word (‘zaj’) — rejected, risks affirming the being’s independent reality as a genuine cosmic rival to God, transliteration — rejected, opaque and unteachable
NEW ENTRY, surfaced in linguistic gap analysis. Isa 27:1, 51:9. Hmong traditional cosmology includes water-dwelling serpent/dragon spirits (dab dej, zaj) actively propitiated in some highland traditions; mandatory footnote must clarify this is poetic imagery for God’s total, already-accomplished sovereignty over all chaos and evil. [TRANSLATOR REVIEW NEEDED] pending formal theologian review.
Day Star Son Of Morning
Approved rendering: koj, tus vajntxwv uas xav ua tus ci tshaj plaws tom ntej kaj ntug (descriptive, addressed to the human king)
Transliteration: heilel ben-shachar
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over the Nations
Rejected alternatives: supplying a proper spirit-name (‘Lucifer’) as the primary rendering — rejected; naming a spirit-being functions almost as an invocation in Hmong traditional religion, importing an extra-biblical angelology (Satan’s-fall reading) into the primary translation — rejected; reserve for an explicit, clearly labeled secondary/typological footnote only
NEW ENTRY, surfaced in linguistic gap analysis. Isa 14:12-15; primary Isaianic context is a taunt-song against the human king of Babylon. [TRANSLATOR REVIEW NEEDED: typological reading] pending formal theologian review.
Medium Risk Terms
Faith Believe
Approved rendering: kev ntseeg / ntseeg
Transliteration: pistis / he’emin
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
Inherited from Romans package. Isa 53:1 (‘who has believed our report?’) directly quoted Rom 10:16; also 7:9, 28:16, 30:15, 43:10. Anchoring rule applies.
Redemption
Approved rendering: kev txhiv
Transliteration: apolytrōsis / pedut, ge’ulah
Doctrine: Comfort and Restoration for God’s People; The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
Inherited from Romans package. Root of the new redeemer_goel title entry; very high frequency: 41:14, 43:1,14, 44:6,22-24, 47:4, 48:17,20, 49:7,26, 51:10-11, 52:3,9, 54:5,8, 59:20, 60:16, 62:12, 63:9,16.
Hardening
Approved rendering: lub siab tawv
Transliteration: pōrōsis / (hashmen lev)
Doctrine: Holiness and Majesty of God; The Sovereignty of God over the Nations
Inherited from Romans package. Isa 6:9-10 is the earliest OT occurrence of this motif in Scripture, quoted at Rom 11:8 via 29:10; also 63:17.
Will Of God
Approved rendering: Vajtswv lub siab nyiam
Transliteration: thelēma theou / chephets YHWH
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
Inherited from Romans package. Isa 53:10 (‘it pleased the LORD to bruise him’) is the doctrinally weightiest single occurrence in the book — must be taught as purposeful, loving, redemptive will, never softened to ‘merely allowed’ nor read as capricious/punitive spirit-anger (contrast wrath_of_god); also 44:28, 46:10, 48:14, 55:11.
Mercy
Approved rendering: txoj kev khuv leej
Transliteration: eleos / rachamim
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over the Nations; Comfort and Restoration for God’s People
Rejected alternatives: txiaj ntsim (grace) used interchangeably for mercy — rejected, kept distinct
Inherited from Romans package. 54:7-8, 55:7, 60:10; paired with the new covenant_loyalty_chesed nuance without being replaced by it.
No Condemnation
Approved rendering: kev raug txiav txim rau kev puas tsuaj
Transliteration: katakrima / (mi-yarshi’eni, 50:9)
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
Inherited from Romans package. Isa 50:9 (‘who is he that shall condemn me?’) is the typological anchor for the NT doctrine (Rom 8:1).
Adoption As Sons
Approved rendering: raug muab coj los ua me tub (ntawm Vajtswv)
Transliteration: huiothesia
Doctrine: Salvation Extended to the Nations
Inherited from Romans package. Cited as the positive cultural-bridge concept underlying Isa 56:3-8’s welcome of foreigners into covenant identity (see foreigner_joined_to_the_lord); strong resonance with Hmong clan-adoption custom.
Cyrus Anointed Instrumental
Approved rendering: tus uas Vajtswv tau xaiv thiab pleev roj tsa
Transliteration: meshicho
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over the Nations
Rejected alternatives: using the same unqualified ‘Anointed One’ language reserved for the ultimate Messiah — rejected, would confuse a one-time historical-instrumental anointing with the eternal Messianic office
NEW ENTRY. Isa 45:1; must be explicitly taught as distinct from the ultimate Anointed One of chs. 7, 9, 11, 53, 61. See fencing rule against conflation with servant_spirit_anointed_gospel_commission.
Man Of Sorrows
Approved rendering: tus txivneej uas nyob hauv kev mob siab thiab kev txom nyem
Transliteration: ish makh’ovot
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
Rejected alternatives: reading as a merely pitiable figure — rejected, must be taught as purposeful, vicarious suffering
NEW ENTRY. Isa 53:3 (core passage).
Fear Not Comfort Refrain
Approved rendering: Tsis txhob ntshai
Transliteration: al-tira
Doctrine: Comfort and Restoration for God’s People
Rejected alternatives: treating as generic reassurance with no contrast to the Hmong spirit-fear backdrop — rejected as under-taught
NEW ENTRY. 41:10,13-14; 43:1,5; 44:2,8; 54:4. Major positive-apologetic point: explicit contrast should be drawn in teaching with the ongoing fear of provoking ancestral/nature spirits central to Hmong traditional religion. Must never be lexically merged with fear_of_the_lord_reverence.
Covenant Loyalty Chesed
Approved rendering: kev hlub ncaj ncees ntawm kev cog lus
Transliteration: chesed
Doctrine: Comfort and Restoration for God’s People
Rejected alternatives: flattening into the existing inherited ‘mercy’ entry with no distinct nuance — rejected as an oversimplification
NEW ENTRY. 54:8,10, 55:3. Hebrew chesed (steadfast covenant love/loyalty) is broader than the Greek eleos mercy-sense already fixed for mercy; use only where the Hebrew is chesed, do not backfill into general mercy contexts.
Transgression Rebellion Pesha
Approved rendering: kev fav xeeb
Transliteration: pesha
Doctrine: Judgment on Israel’s Idolatry and Injustice; The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
Rejected alternatives: flattening into the general sin_act_and_condition entry with no distinction from ‘iniquity’ (avon) or ‘sin’ — rejected as an oversimplification
NEW ENTRY. 1:2, 53:5,8,12, 59:12, 65:2 (quoted Rom 10:20-21). Recommend pairing with, never replacing, sin_act_and_condition; specifically denotes willful revolt against covenant authority. Part of the mandatory sin-vocabulary triad fencing rule with sin_act_and_condition and unrighteousness.
Justice Mishpat
Approved rendering: kev txiav txim ncaj
Transliteration: mishpat
Doctrine: Judgment on Israel’s Idolatry and Injustice
Rejected alternatives: collapsing into the existing righteousness_of_god_righteous entry with no distinct term — rejected; Isaiah consistently yokes mishpat and tsedaqah as a deliberate word-pair
NEW ENTRY. 1:17,21,27, 5:7,16, 9:7, 30:18, 32:1,16, 33:5, 42:1,3-4, 51:4, 56:1, 59:8-9,11,14-15, 61:8. Always present as a paired formula with righteousness_of_god_righteous where the source text pairs them; never substitute one for the other.
Trust Rely On Batach
Approved rendering: vam khom / tso siab rau
Transliteration: batach
Doctrine: Judgment on Israel’s Idolatry and Injustice; The Sovereignty of God over the Nations
Rejected alternatives: merging into the general faith_believe entry with no distinction — rejected; Isaiah’s polemic specifically concerns misplaced reliance on human/political power
NEW ENTRY. 30:12, 31:1, 36:4-9. Useful disambiguation term for the ‘trust Egypt vs. trust the LORD’ oracles.
Branch Root Of Jesse
Approved rendering: Tus Ceg / Tus Cag ntawm Yexi
Transliteration: choter, netser (11:1); tsemach YHWH (4:2)
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
NEW ENTRY. Isa 4:2 (‘Branch of the LORD’), 11:1,10 (directly quoted Rom 15:12). Botanical metaphor comparable to the Romans-baseline olive-tree note; needs an illustrative fruit/root-shoot analogy for a highland-agrarian Hmong audience.
Peaceable Kingdom Imagery
Approved rendering: tsiaj qus thiab tsiaj ncaws yuav nyob ua ke thaj yeeb
Transliteration: (11:6-9; 65:25)
Doctrine: The New Heavens and New Earth; The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
NEW ENTRY. Isa 11:6-9, 65:25. Eschatological peace/new-creation imagery; ties the Messianic-kingdom doctrine forward to the New Heavens/New Earth doctrine.
Wash Cleanse Repentance
Approved rendering: ntxuav kom huv
Transliteration: rachats
Doctrine: Judgment on Israel’s Idolatry and Injustice
Rejected alternatives: treating as ritual purification rather than moral repentance — rejected, parallels the folk ritual-washing collision already flagged for baptism
NEW ENTRY. Isa 1:16 (‘wash you, make you clean’); must be taught as moral repentance, not repeatable ritual purification.
Harlot Unfaithful City
Approved rendering: poj muam nkauj/tsis ncaj rau tus txiv (figurative covenant-unfaithfulness image)
Transliteration: zonah
Doctrine: Judgment on Israel’s Idolatry and Injustice
NEW ENTRY. Isa 1:21 (‘how is the faithful city become a harlot’); must be taught as a covenant-infidelity metaphor, not a literal accusation.
Sabbath Shabbat
Approved rendering: Hnub Xanpiv (transliterated)
Transliteration: shabbat
Doctrine: Salvation Extended to the Nations
NEW ENTRY. Isa 56:2,4,6, 66:23. Comprehension gap only (no native Hmong weekly-rest-day concept), not a collision.
Latter Days Eschatological Horizon
Approved rendering: hnub tim tsum yuav los / lub sijhawm kawg
Transliteration: acharit hayamim
Doctrine: Salvation Extended to the Nations
NEW ENTRY. Isa 2:2; ties directly to the nations_gentiles entry.
Low Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: Vajtswv
Transliteration: theos / Elohim
Doctrine: General / Cross-cutting
Rejected alternatives: Ntuj (impersonal sky/heaven) — rejected, lacks personal deity sense, dab (spirit) — rejected, denotes false/lesser spirit
Inherited from Romans package. Stable throughout Isaiah; renders Elohim with no collision.
Lord
Approved rendering: tus Tswv
Transliteration: kyrios / Adonai, YHWH
Doctrine: General / Cross-cutting
Rejected alternatives: ‘Yehauvas’ divine-name substitution — PERMANENTLY FORBIDDEN, sectarian NWT pattern
Inherited from Romans package. Renders both Adonai and, in construct titles, the tetragrammaton (see lord_of_hosts for the distinct qualified form).
Son Of God
Approved rendering: Leej Tub ntawm Vajtswv
Transliteration: huios theou (typological)
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
Rejected alternatives: diminished-sonship renderings — rejected, must preserve full deity
Inherited from Romans package. Applied typologically to Isa 7:14, 9:6, 11:1-2 pending NT fulfillment; must never diminish the full-deity force of 9:6’s ‘Mighty God’ title.
Father God
Approved rendering: Leej Txiv
Transliteration: patēr
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
Inherited from Romans package. Used in the mandatory Trinity-persons teaching note for the ‘Everlasting Father’ title (9:6); paired with ‘Leej Tub’.
Gospel
Approved rendering: Txoj Moo Zoo
Transliteration: euangelion / besorah
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant; Salvation Extended to the Nations
Inherited from Romans package. Isa 52:7 is the direct OT anchor quoted at Rom 10:15; also 40:9, 60:6 (implicit), 61:1.
Peace
Approved rendering: kev thaj yeeb
Transliteration: eirēnē / shalom
Doctrine: General / Cross-cutting
Inherited from Romans package. Embedded in the messianic title ‘Prince of Peace’ (9:6); also 26:3,12, 32:17, 48:18, 52:7, 54:10, 57:19, 66:12.
Promise
Approved rendering: lus cog tseg
Transliteration: epangelia
Doctrine: Comfort and Restoration for God’s People
Inherited from Romans package. Kept distinct from the new covenant_berith entry; used for the general promise-sense (9:6-7 implicit).
Nations Gentiles
Approved rendering: lwm Haiv Neeg
Transliteration: ethnē / goyim
Doctrine: Salvation Extended to the Nations
Inherited from Romans package. Extremely high frequency and central to this doctrine: 2:2-4, 9:1, 11:10, 19:19-25, 42:1,6, 49:6, 52:15, 55:5, 56:3-8, 60:1-3, 66:18-21.
Jew
Approved rendering: cov Yudas
Transliteration: Ioudaios / Yehudah
Doctrine: General / Cross-cutting
Inherited from Romans package. Low frequency as a distinct ethnonym in Isaiah; mostly ‘Israel/Judah’ used directly.
Truth
Approved rendering: qhov tseeb
Transliteration: alētheia / emet
Doctrine: General / Cross-cutting
Inherited from Romans package. 43:9, 45:19, 59:14-15, 65:16.
Unrighteousness
Approved rendering: kev tsis ncaj ncees
Transliteration: adikia / avon
Doctrine: Judgment on Israel’s Idolatry and Injustice
Inherited from Romans package. 59:2-3. Part of the mandatory sin-vocabulary triad fencing rule with sin_act_and_condition and transgression_rebellion_pesha.
Creation
Approved rendering: tej uas raug tsim los
Transliteration: ktisis / bara
Doctrine: The New Heavens and New Earth
Inherited from Romans package. Root morpheme deliberately reused for new_heavens_new_earth; 40:26,28, 42:5, 45:7,18, 65:17.
Death
Approved rendering: txoj kev tuag
Transliteration: thanatos / mavet
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant; The New Heavens and New Earth
Inherited from Romans package. Isa 25:8 (‘swallow up death forever’) and 26:19 (resurrection-hope) are key eschatological anchors, directly echoed at Rev 21:4; also 53:8-9,12.
Eternal Life
Approved rendering: txoj sia nyob mus ib txhis
Transliteration: zōē aiōnios / chayyim
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant; The New Heavens and New Earth
Inherited from Romans package, with new nuance flagged: used in Isaiah of God’s own eternality (40:28) and the Servant’s resurrection-life (53:10, ‘prolong his days’), not only of believers’ gift as in the Romans baseline; logged for future TM-revision review.
Glory
Approved rendering: lub yeeb koob
Transliteration: doxa / kavod
Doctrine: Holiness and Majesty of God
Inherited from Romans package. Very high frequency: 6:3, 24:23, 40:5, 42:8,12, 43:7, 52:13, 60:1-3, 66:18-19.
Remnant
Approved rendering: cov seem
Transliteration: hypoleimma / she’ar, peleitah
Doctrine: Judgment on Israel’s Idolatry and Injustice; Comfort and Restoration for God’s People
Inherited from Romans package. 1:9 and 10:22 directly quoted Rom 9:27-29; also 4:2-3, 11:11,16, 37:31-32, 46:3.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: lub Nceeg Vaj ntawm Vajtswv
Transliteration: basileia tou theou
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
Inherited from Romans package. Reused for the Messianic/Davidic kingdom motif: 9:7, 24:23, 33:22.
Scripture
Approved rendering: Vaj Lug Kub
Transliteration: graphē / sepher
Doctrine: General / Cross-cutting
Inherited from Romans package. 8:16,20, 34:16.
Witness
Approved rendering: tus timkhawv
Transliteration: martys / ed
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over the Nations
Inherited from Romans package. 43:10,12, 44:8, 55:4; ‘you are my witnesses’ is a key covenant-identity text useful as a contrast to impersonal hmoov.
World
Approved rendering: lub ntiajteb
Transliteration: kosmos / tevel
Doctrine: General / Cross-cutting
Inherited from Romans package. 13:11, 14:17, 24:4, 27:6, 34:1.
Love
Approved rendering: kev hlub
Transliteration: agapē / ahavah
Doctrine: Comfort and Restoration for God’s People
Inherited from Romans package. Isa 63:9 (‘in His love and in His pity He redeemed them’).
Hope
Approved rendering: kev cia siab
Transliteration: elpis / qavah, yachal
Doctrine: Comfort and Restoration for God’s People
Inherited from Romans package. 40:31 (‘they that wait upon the LORD’), 51:5.
Woe Judgment Marker
Approved rendering: Txom nyem lauj
Transliteration: hoy
Doctrine: Judgment on Israel’s Idolatry and Injustice
NEW ENTRY. 5:8,11,18,20-22, 10:1,5, 28:1, 29:1,15, 30:1, 31:1, 33:1, 45:9-10. Recurring structural marker across the woe-oracle collections; logged once, reused by reference.
Fasting Tsom
Approved rendering: yoo mov
Transliteration: tsom
Doctrine: Judgment on Israel’s Idolatry and Injustice
NEW ENTRY. Isa 58:1-7; existing Hmong term for fasting/privation, no collision; must be taught, per the chapter’s own argument, as inseparable from justice-doing, not ritual performance alone.
Swords To Plowshares Peace Image
Approved rendering: ntaus rab ntaj ua rab thuas
Transliteration: (2:4)
Doctrine: Salvation Extended to the Nations
NEW ENTRY. Isa 2:4; vivid peace-image, transfers well to an agrarian Hmong audience.
Watchman Shomerim
Approved rendering: tus zov tsev/tus zov ntsa iav
Transliteration: shomerim
Doctrine: Comfort and Restoration for God’s People
NEW ENTRY. Isa 62:6.
Low-Medium Risk Terms
Stumbling Block
Approved rendering: qhov/pob zeb ua rau dawm ceg
Transliteration: proskomma / even negef
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant; Judgment on Israel’s Idolatry and Injustice
Inherited from Romans package. Both Isaiah occurrences (8:14, 28:16) directly quoted at Rom 9:33; 10:11; also 57:14. Must remain identical to the TM rendering.
Firstfruits
Approved rendering: thawj phaus qoob loo / cov ua ntej
Transliteration: aparchē
Doctrine: General / Cross-cutting
Inherited from Romans package. No direct Isaiah occurrence identified; retained here only for cross-book/curriculum consistency, no action required.
Potter And Clay
Approved rendering: tus puab av thiab peb cov av
Transliteration: (root yatsar; cf. 64:8)
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over the Nations
NEW ENTRY. Isa 64:8 (‘we are the clay, and You our potter’); sovereignty/creatureliness metaphor, transfers reasonably via the recognizable craft of pottery; reused conceptually at Rom 9:20-21.
Medium-High Risk Terms
Arm Of The Lord
Approved rendering: tus Tswv txhais npab (= Vajtswv lub hwjchim cawm neeg)
Transliteration: zeroa YHWH
Doctrine: The Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant
Rejected alternatives: literal-anatomy reading with no power/agency gloss — rejected
NEW ENTRY. Isa 53:1 (core passage); also 40:10-11, 51:9, 63:5. Anthropomorphism for God’s decisive saving power, paradoxically revealed through the Servant’s weakness and death; must be tied to the inherited power (Vajtswv hwjchim) qualifier convention.
Seraphim Class Term
Approved rendering: cov tub qhe muaj tis saum ntuj uas nyob ncig lub zwm txwv
Transliteration: seraphim
Doctrine: Holiness and Majesty of God
Rejected alternatives: transliterated loanword (‘Xelafi’) — rejected, doctrinally inert, bare ‘cov tim tswv’ (angels/messengers) with no distinguishing gloss — rejected, risks assimilation into Hmong folk winged-spirit/fire-spirit categories
NEW ENTRY, surfaced in linguistic gap analysis. Isa 6:2,6-7. Requires a footnote distinguishing this class of throne-attendant created being from any spirit that could be invoked, appeased, or negotiated with; the coal-touching act (6:6-7) must be paired with a note that this is a unique, one-time prophetic purification, not a repeatable ritual technique. [TRANSLATOR REVIEW NEEDED] pending formal theologian review.