Core Glossary
Joel — Core Glossary (Hmong Language Package, Phase 1)
Legend — Status: INHERITED = fixed Romans TM rendering, reused verbatim, no alternate permitted. NEW = Joel-specific term proposed in this analysis; candidate rendering given, pending TM-revision ratification.
Legend — Risk: Critical / High / Medium / Low, per the risk-tier definitions in assets/bible_term_registry.json §registry_metadata (reused unchanged from the Romans baseline).
| # | English Term | Hebrew / LXX Greek | Transliteration | Hmong Rendering | Status | Risk | Doctrine(s) | Chapters | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | God | אֱלֹהִים / θεός | Elohim / theos | Vajtswv | INHERITED | Low | General / Cross-cutting | all | Reused exactly from Romans TM god. |
| 2 | LORD (YHWH) | יְהוָה / κύριος | YHWH / kyrios | tus Tswv | INHERITED | Low (Critical in context of Joel 2:32 / Rom 10:13 link) | Day of the Lord; Outpouring of the Spirit | all | Reused exactly from Romans TM lord. Joel’s YHWH-speech throughout must render tus Tswv, never a divine-name transliteration (Yehauvas forbidden per Romans §3.1), preserving the Jesus=YHWH identification later made explicit at Romans 10:13. |
| 3 | Holy Spirit / My Spirit | רוּחִי / τὸ πνεῦμά μου | ruchi / pneuma mou | Vaj Ntsuj Plig | INHERITED | Critical | The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit | 2 (core passage) | Reused exactly from Romans TM holy_spirit. Mandatory “Vaj” prefix at every occurrence, never bare ntsuj plig. |
| 4 | pour out (the Spirit) | שָׁפַךְ / ἐκχέω | shaphak / ekcheō | nchuav | NEW | Critical | The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit | 2:28-29 | Collides with Hmong libation-offering practice (pouring liquor for spirits/ancestors); must be paired with Vaj Ntsuj Plig and taught as sovereign divine self-giving, never ritual libation. |
| 5 | all flesh (neutral, inclusive humanity) | כָּל־בָּשָׂר / πᾶσαν σάρκα | kol basar / pasan sarka | lub cev nqaij tawv | INHERITED | Critical | The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit | 2:28 | Reused exactly from Romans TM flesh_neutral_descent_body. Must NOT use the moral-sense periphrasis (flesh_moral_sinful_nature) here. |
| 6 | prophesy | נָבָא / προφητεύω | naba / prophēteuō | cev Vajtswv Lus | NEW | High | The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit | 2:28 | Must be distinguished from shamanic (txiv neeb) trance-speech attributed to a spirit-guide. |
| 7 | dream(s) | חֲלוֹם / ἐνύπνιον | chalom / enypnion | npau suav | NEW | Critical | The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit | 2:28 | Collides with the Hmong belief that dreams are a primary ancestor/spirit-communication channel; must anchor source explicitly to the Holy Spirit. |
| 8 | vision(s) | חָזוֹן / ὅρασις | chazon / horasis | yog pom zaj yeeb yaj kiab | NEW | High | The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit | 2:28 | Same collision class as dreams (#7); descriptive phrase, no stable single Hmong Christian lexeme yet. |
| 9 | servant/bondservant (male) | עֶבֶד / δοῦλος | eved / doulos | qhev | INHERITED | High | The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit | 2:29 | Reused exactly from Romans TM servant_slave_doulos. Doctrinal point (Spirit crosses social-status lines) depends on NOT softening this term. |
| 10 | maidservant (female) | שִׁפְחָה / δούλη | shifchah / doulē | tus qhev poj niam / cov qhev | NEW (feminine form of #9) | High | The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit | 2:29 | Same risk/rationale as #9; feminine referent not separately entered in Romans TM. |
| 11 | wonders/signs (cosmic) | אוֹת / τέρας | ot / teras | tej cim tseem ceeb | NEW | High | Day of the Lord; Outpouring of the Spirit | 2:30 | Risk of assimilation into Hmong nature-omen divination; must be taught as self-interpreting, sovereign divine acts. |
| 12 | blood, fire, pillars of smoke | דָּם / אֵשׁ / תִימְרוֹת עָשָׁן | dam / esh / timrot ashan | ntshav, hluav taws, pa taws | NEW | Low-Medium | Day of the Lord | 2:30 | Concrete apocalyptic imagery; comprehension-level only. |
| 13 | sun turned to darkness / moon to blood | הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ…/ הַיָּרֵחַ… | hashemesh / hayareach | lub hnub tsaus nti / lub hli liab li ntshav | NEW | Medium | Day of the Lord | 2:31; 3:15 | Must render identically at both occurrences (2:31 and 3:15) to preserve the book’s internal structural cross-reference. |
| 14 | the Day of the LORD (great and terrible/awesome) | יוֹם יְהוָה הַגָּדוֹל וְהַנּוֹרָא | yom YHWH haggadol vehannora’ | Hnub Loj thiab Txaus Ntshai ntawm Tus Tswv | NEW | Critical | The Day of the Lord | 1:15; 2:1-11, 31; 3:14 | HIGHEST-PRIORITY new term. Direct collision with the Hmong almanac/shaman auspicious-day (hnub zoo/hnub phem) divinatory day-system. Full phrase mandatory at every occurrence; never bare hnub. |
| 15 | call on the name of the LORD | קָרָא בְּשֵׁם יְהוָה / ἐπικαλέσηται τὸ ὄνομα Κυρίου | qara’ beshem YHWH / epikalesētai to onoma kyriou | hu thov npe tus Tswv thiab cia siab rau nws | NEW (extends Romans §3.1 ruling) | Critical | Day of the Lord; (bridges to Justification/Salvation doctrine via Rom 10:13) | 2:32 | This is the Hebrew/LXX source text for Romans 10:13; the Romans baseline’s forbidden hu-alone substitution ruling applies here without modification. Never leave the verb hu bare. |
| 16 | be delivered / saved | מָלַט / σῴζω | malat / sōzō | kev cawm dim / cawm | INHERITED | High | Day of the Lord | 2:32 | Reused exactly from Romans TM salvation_save. In Joel, anchor explicitly to tus Tswv (YHWH); add forward cross-reference note to Romans 10:13’s application to Yexus Khetos. |
| 17 | Mount Zion / Jerusalem | הַר־צִיּוֹן / יְרוּשָׁלַםִ | Har-Tsiyon / Yerushalayim | Roob Xi-oo / Yeluxalees | NEW (proper nouns; established Hmong Bible-tradition transliterations) | Low | Day of the Lord; Restoration | 2:32; 3 (throughout) | Comprehension-level only. |
| 18 | remnant / survivors | שְׂרִידִים / פְלֵיטָה | seridim / peleitah | cov seem | INHERITED | Low | Day of the Lord; Restoration | 2:32 | Reused exactly from Romans TM remnant. Cross-links to the Romans 9-11 remnant doctrine. |
| 19 | word of the LORD | דְּבַר־יְהוָה | devar YHWH | Vajtswv Txoj Lus | NEW (established general Hmong Bible-tradition phrase) | Low | General / Cross-cutting | 1:1 | No collision. |
| 20 | four locust-names (cutting/swarming/hopping/consuming) | גָּזָם / אַרְבֶּה / יֶלֶק / חָסִיל | gazam / arbeh / yeleq / chasil | plaub pab kooj txiav qoob loo tuaj ib pab zuj zus | NEW | High | The Locust Plague as Divine Judgment | 1:4; 2:25 | Descriptive phrase (no four distinct Hmong lexemes exist); must be taught as an instrument of God’s moral judgment, not evidence of unappeased spirits requiring shamanic ritual response. |
| 21 | lament / wail | אֱלִי / יְלֵל | elu / yelal | quaj nyiav, quaj ntsuag | NEW | Low-Medium | The Locust Plague as Divine Judgment; Repentance | 1:5, 8, 13 | Positive comprehension bridge via existing Hmong funeral-mourning vocabulary; not a collision. |
| 22 | sackcloth | שַׂק | saq | tsoos khaub ncaws ntsuag | NEW | Medium | Repentance and Return to God | 1:8, 13 | Comprehension gap; sets up the anti-ritualism payoff at 2:13. |
| 23 | priests / ministers of the altar | הַכֹּהֲנִים / מְשָׁרְתֵי | kohanim / mesharetei | tus ua haujlwm pab Vajtswv | INHERITED | Medium | The Locust Plague as Divine Judgment | 1:9, 13; 2:17 | Reused exactly from Romans TM priestly_minister. No txiv neeb (shaman) vocabulary. |
| 24 | sanctify a fast / solemn assembly | קַדְּשׁוּ־צוֹם / קִרְאוּ עֲצָרָה | qaddesh tsom / qara atsarah | muab kev yoo mov cais ua dawb huv, hu sawvdaws tuaj ua ke pehawm Vajtswv | NEW | Medium-High | Repentance and Return to God | 1:14; 2:15-16 | Reuses dawb huv (Romans sanctification collision) and pehawm (Romans worship_serve_cultic collision, object-anchoring mandatory). |
| 25 | trumpet / alarm | שׁוֹפָר | shophar | raj xyu | NEW | Low | The Day of the Lord | 2:1, 15 | Concrete instrument-image; no collision. |
| 26 | locust-army (“a great and mighty people”) | עַם רַב וְעָצוּם | am rav ve’atsum | tub rog loj thiab muaj zog | NEW | High | The Locust Plague as Divine Judgment; Day of the Lord | 2:2-11 | Same collision family as #20; must be taught as YHWH’s own commanded army, not independent calamity. |
| 27 | return (repent) | שׁוּב | shuv | tig rov qab los cuag Vajtswv, hloov siab lees txim | NEW | High | Repentance and Return to God | 2:12-13 (also 1:13-14 implicitly) | Risk of assimilation to Hmong ritual-repair-of-relationship-with-spirits custom; safeguarded by 2:13’s own explicit anti-ritualism (see #28). |
| 28 | rend your heart, not your garments | קִרְעוּ לְבַבְכֶם וְאַל־בִּגְדֵיכֶם | qir’u levavkhem ve’al-bigdeikhem | muab lub siab dua tawg, tsis yog muab lub tsho dua tawg xwb | NEW | Medium | Repentance and Return to God | 2:13 | Functions as the text’s own safeguard against ritual-technique misreading of #27; teach together. |
| 29 | gracious, merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love | חַנּוּן וְרַחוּם אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם וְרַב־חֶסֶד | channun, rachum, erekh appayim, rav-chesed | muaj txoj kev khuv leej, hlub, ua siab ntev, thiab muaj txiaj ntsim ntau | INHERITED (mercy, grace) + NEW (chesed nuance) | Medium | Repentance and Return to God | 2:13 | Combines Romans TM mercy (txoj kev khuv leej) and grace (txiaj ntsim), kept distinct per Romans baseline ruling; chesed (covenant-loyal love) is a genuine third nuance requiring its own teaching note. |
| 30 | spare… inheritance | חוּסָה… נַחְלָה | chusah, nachalah | tsis txhob cia nws qub txeeg qub teg raug luag thuam | NEW | Low-Medium | Restoration and Blessing after Repentance | 2:17-18 | Loosely parallels Romans TM heir entry; low risk. |
| 31 | grain, new wine, and oil | דָּגָן, תִּירוֹשׁ, יִצְהָר | dagan, tirosh, yitshar | qoob loo, kua txiv hmab tshiab, roj txiv ntoo | NEW | Low | Restoration and Blessing after Repentance | 2:19, 24; 3:18 | Agrarian imagery transfers cleanly to rice/highland-farming Hmong context. |
| 32 | restore the years the locust has eaten | שִׁלַּמְתִּי אֶת־הַשָּׁנִים | shillamti et-hashanim | thim rov qab tej xyoo uas cov kooj tau noj lawm | NEW | Low-Medium | Restoration and Blessing after Repentance | 2:25 | Full-restitution nuance, not mere future blessing. |
| 33 | you shall know that I am the LORD, and there is no other | וִידַעְתֶּם כִּי־אֲנִי יְהוָה… וְאֵין עוֹד | veyeda’tem ki-ani YHWH… ve’ein od | nej yuav paub tias kuv yog tus Tswv… thiab tsis muaj lwm tus Vajtswv dua li | NEW | Low | Restoration and Blessing after Repentance | 2:27 | Positive anti-syncretism teaching point against Hmong multi-spirit cosmology. |
| 34 | Judah / Jerusalem (national restoration) | יְהוּדָה וִירוּשָׁלַםִ | Yehudah, Yerushalayim | cov Yudas thiab Yeluxalees | INHERITED (Yudas) + NEW (Yeluxalees) | Low | Restoration and Blessing after Repentance | 3:1 | cov Yudas reused from Romans TM jew; contextual sense here is national/territorial, not ethnic-identity — flag distinction in teaching. |
| 35 | Valley of Jehoshaphat / Valley of Decision | עֵמֶק יְהוֹשָׁפָט / עֵמֶק הֶחָרוּץ | Emeq Yehoshaphat, Emeq he-Charuts | Lub Hav uas Vajtswv Txiav Txim | NEW | Medium | The Day of the Lord | 3:2, 12, 14 | Symbolic judgment-scene; must not be taught as an ongoing literal pilgrimage site. |
| 36 | nations (gathered for judgment) | הַגּוֹיִם | haggoyim | lwm Haiv Neeg | INHERITED | Low-Medium | The Day of the Lord | 3:2, 9, 12 | Reused exactly from Romans TM nations_gentiles; flag the contextual shift (judgment-object here vs. missionary-object in Romans). |
| 37 | beat plowshares into swords | כֹּתּוּ אֵתֵּיכֶם לַחֲרָבוֹת | kottu ittekhem la-charavot | muab tej khoos laij teb ua ntaj rog | NEW | Low | The Day of the Lord | 3:9-10 | Ironic reversal of Isaiah 2:4/Micah 4:3; brief intertextual note recommended. |
| 38 | put in the sickle / tread the winepress (judgment-harvest) | שִׁלְחוּ מַגָּל / דָּרְכוּ הַגַּת | shilchu maggal / darkhu ha-gat | xuas riam khaws qoob, tsuab txiv hmab rau hauv lub qhov tsuab | NEW | Medium-High | The Day of the Lord | 3:13 | Deliberately repurposes ch.2’s agrarian-blessing vocabulary for judgment; teach the structural echo explicitly. |
| 39 | the sun and moon darkened, stars withdraw shining | הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ וְיָרֵחַ קָדָרוּ | hashemesh ve-yareach qadaru | (same as #13) | NEW | Medium | The Day of the Lord | 3:15 | Must match #13’s rendering exactly (cross-reference to 2:10, 2:31). |
| 40 | the LORD shall roar out of Zion | יְהוָה מִצִּיּוֹן יִשְׁאָג | YHWH mi-Tsiyon yish’ag | tus Tswv yuav quaj nrov nroo ib yam li tus tsov ntxhuav quaj tawm hauv Xi-oo tuaj | NEW | Medium | The Day of the Lord; Restoration | 3:16 | Lion unfamiliar in Hmong fauna; gloss the animal, do not substitute with tiger. |
| 41 | a fountain from the house of the LORD | מַעְיָן מִבֵּית יְהוָה | ma’yan mi-beit YHWH | ib lub qhov dej ntws tawm hauv Vajtswv lub tsev tuaj | NEW | Low | Restoration and Blessing after Repentance | 3:18 | Edenic/temple imagery, no collision. |
| 42 | Egypt / Edom | מִצְרַיִם / אֱדוֹם | Mitsrayim / Edom | Iyiv / Edoos | NEW (proper nouns) | Low | The Day of the Lord | 3:19 | Established/likely Hmong Bible-tradition transliterations. |
| 43 | cleanse/avenge blood(guilt); the LORD dwells in Zion | וְנִקֵּיתִי דָּמָם… וַיהוָה שֹׁכֵן בְּצִיּוֹן | venikeiti damam… va-YHWH shokhen be-Tsiyon | kuv yuav pauj tej ntshav… thiab tus Tswv nyob hauv Xi-oo | NEW | High | The Day of the Lord; Restoration and Blessing after Repentance | 3:21 | Wrath-half reuses Romans TM wrath_of_god judicial (not capricious-spirit) framing; dwelling-half bridges positively to the core passage’s Spirit-outpouring/indwelling-presence doctrine. |
Chapters Reviewed With No Additional New Theological Vocabulary
Per the full-book-coverage mandate, every chapter of Joel has been explicitly reviewed above (chapters 1, 2, and 3 — the entirety of the book in English/Hebrew versification). No chapter of Joel was found to be doctrinally “thin” or contributing zero new vocabulary; all three chapters contain load-bearing terms directly supporting one or more of the five assigned doctrines and are fully represented in the table above. This section is retained per the mandatory convention to explicitly confirm full coverage rather than silently omit any chapter-level finding.
Critical Risk Terms
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Vaj Ntsuj Plig
Transliteration: ruchi (Heb., ‘My Spirit’) / pneuma hagion (LXX)
Doctrine: The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit
Rejected alternatives: bare ntsuj plig (no Vaj prefix) — rejected, denotes an animistic wandering human soul
Inherited from Romans package, copied exactly. Mandatory ‘Vaj’ prefix at every occurrence, never bare, is the single most load-bearing lexical rule in Joel 2:28-29 (the core passage) and its echoes at 2:32, 3:18, 3:21. Joel’s outpouring passage never independently uses bare anthropological ‘ntsuj plig’ — the Romans-baseline fence is sufficient and requires no Joel-specific modification (see human_spirit_soul below for the contrast this fence protects).
Flesh Neutral Descent Body
Approved rendering: lub cev nqaij tawv
Transliteration: kol basar (Heb.) / pasan sarka (LXX)
Doctrine: The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit
Rejected alternatives: kev xav/kev ua raws li lub cev nqaij tawv (flesh_moral_sinful_nature periphrasis) — FORBIDDEN here, would wrongly suggest the Spirit is poured out ‘upon sinful human nature’ as an object of judgment rather than upon every category of person as an object of blessing
Inherited from Romans package, copied exactly. Joel 2:28’s ‘all flesh’ (kol basar) is the neutral, inclusive-humanity sense only — every human being without ethnic, gender, age, or social-class restriction, explicated by the following list (sons/daughters, old/young, servants/maidservants). Must never be rendered with the Romans TM moral-sense periphrasis reserved for sarx in its ch.6-8/13 sinful-nature sense.
Grace
Approved rendering: txiaj ntsim
Transliteration: channun (Heb., part of the fourfold divine-character formula)
Doctrine: Repentance and Return to God
Rejected alternatives: koob hmoov (fortune/blessing tied to fate and ritual correctness) — PERMANENTLY FORBIDDEN for this sense, per the Romans baseline ruling
Inherited from Romans package, copied exactly. Occurs in Joel 2:13’s divine-character formula. koob hmoov remains permanently forbidden for this sense in Joel exactly as in Romans; kept lexically distinct from mercy per the mandatory Romans mercy/grace distinction.
Pour Out Spirit
Approved rendering: nchuav
Transliteration: shaphak (Heb.) / ekcheō (LXX)
Doctrine: The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit
Rejected alternatives: no viable alternative verb exists in Hmong for ‘pour out’ a liquid; the risk is managed by mandatory co-text, not by lexical substitution
NEW ENTRY — Joel 2:28-29 (core passage). Collides with Hmong libation-offering practice (pouring rice-wine/liquor for ancestor or nature spirits, txhaws cawv rau dab). Must always co-occur with Vaj Ntsuj Plig as object and a mandatory teaching note: this is God pouring Himself out in sovereign, lavish generosity upon His people, never a ritual liquid-offering directed toward or performed for a spirit — the direction of the traditional act is reversed (here God gives; He is not given to).
Dream Revelatory
Approved rendering: npau suav
Transliteration: chalom (Heb.) / enypnion (LXX)
Doctrine: The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit
NEW ENTRY — Joel 2:28. Dreams are a primary channel through which Hmong tradition believes ancestors/spirits communicate warnings, requests, or omens, customarily interpreted by elders or a shaman and sometimes prompting ritual response. Mandatory teaching note: in Joel 2:28 the dream’s source is explicitly God’s own Spirit poured out on His people, never an ancestor/spirit; must never be assimilated into the existing ancestral dream-interpretation framework.
Day Of The Lord
Approved rendering: Hnub Loj thiab Txaus Ntshai ntawm Tus Tswv
Transliteration: yom YHWH haggadol vehannora’ (Heb.) / tēn hēmeran Kyriou tēn megalēn kai epiphanē (LXX)
Doctrine: The Day of the Lord
Rejected alternatives: bare hnub (‘a day’) — PERMANENTLY FORBIDDEN, collapses into the Hmong almanac/shaman auspicious-inauspicious day system (hnub zoo/hnub phem), any abbreviated or shortened form dropping ‘Loj thiab Txaus Ntshai’ or ‘ntawm Tus Tswv’ — forbidden in any context including headers, titles, or quiz options
NEW ENTRY — HIGHEST-PRIORITY term in the entire Joel Language Package. Occurs at Joel 1:15; 2:1-2, 11, 31; 3:14, 18 (echoed) — the book’s structuring theological category, recurring at the climax of every major section. Hmong culture actively consults an almanac or shaman to identify auspicious/inauspicious days for weddings, funerals, house-building, and travel — an impersonal, calendrical, ritually-manipulable fate system categorically unlike YHWH’s personal, moral, linear, once-for-all appointed Day. Full phrase mandatory at every occurrence without exception; mandatory first-occurrence contrast teaching naming the hnub zoo/hnub phem system explicitly required.
Call On The Name Of The Lord
Approved rendering: hu thov npe tus Tswv thiab cia siab rau nws
Transliteration: qara’ beshem YHWH (Heb.) / epikalesētai to onoma Kyriou (LXX)
Doctrine: The Day of the Lord
Rejected alternatives: bare hu (call/summon) left unqualified — PERMANENTLY FORBIDDEN, identical to the verb used for ritually ‘calling back’ a departed/wandering soul (hu plig) or summoning a spirit, per the Romans §3.1 forbidden-substitution ruling for this exact verse
NEW ENTRY — extends the Romans baseline’s Romans 10:13 ruling to its Hebrew/LXX Old Testament source text, Joel 2:32. Must always pair hu with explicit trust/appeal language (thiab cia siab rau nws / thiab ntseeg nws), never leave the bare verb to stand alone. Mandatory forward cross-reference to Romans 10:13’s application of this exact promise to Yexus Khetos, since Scripture identifies Jesus with tus Tswv — this cross-reference must not be omitted.
High Risk Terms
Human Spirit Soul
Approved rendering: ntsuj plig
Transliteration: pneuma (anthropological, by contrast only — not directly occurring in Joel’s core passage)
Doctrine: The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit
Rejected alternatives: Vaj Ntsuj Plig — forbidden for this referent, reserved exclusively for the Holy Spirit
Inherited from Romans package, copied exactly. Retained in this TM not because Joel’s text uses the bare anthropological term, but because it is the exact competing referent (the animistic multi-soul concept, ritually ‘called back’ via hu plig) that the mandatory Vaj-prefix fence on ‘Vaj Ntsuj Plig’ is designed to exclude at every occurrence in Joel 2:28-29, 2:32, 3:18, 3:21. Teaching notes on the Outpouring doctrine must name this contrast explicitly.
Servant Slave Doulos
Approved rendering: qhev
Transliteration: eved (Heb.) / doulos (LXX)
Doctrine: The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit
Rejected alternatives: koom tes (co-worker/partner) softening — rejected, would erase the total dishonored-ownership social category the doctrinal point of 2:29 depends on, generic ‘tus pab’ (helper) — rejected, understates the servile social status the verse explicitly names
Inherited from Romans package, copied exactly (male referent). In Joel 2:29 this is the same underlying social category as Paul’s self-designation at Romans 1:1 (LXX uses the identical word doulos), but here it names an actual servile-status person, not a metaphor. The doctrinal point — that the Spirit’s outpouring crosses every social-status boundary, even reaching those most associated with total, dishonored ownership — depends on NOT softening this word; pair with a teaching note that God’s Spirit-gift confers dignity rather than removing it.
Salvation Save
Approved rendering: kev cawm dim / cawm
Transliteration: yimmalet / malat (Heb.) / sōthēsetai / sōzō (LXX)
Doctrine: The Day of the Lord
Rejected alternatives: unanchored ‘dim’ (escape) parallel to shamanic ua neeb soul-rescue — rejected without explicit anchoring to tus Tswv as sole agent
Inherited from Romans package, copied exactly. Renders Joel 2:32’s ‘shall be delivered’ — the exact Hebrew/LXX source text Paul quotes at Romans 10:13. In Joel, must be anchored explicitly to tus Tswv (YHWH, the speaker throughout the book) as the OT referent, WITH a mandatory forward cross-reference explaining that Romans 10:13 applies this same promise to Yexus Khetos, since Scripture identifies Jesus with tus Tswv. Do not omit the cross-reference; it is Joel’s primary bridge to New Testament fulfillment doctrine.
Wrath Of God
Approved rendering: kev npau taws ntawm Vajtswv
Transliteration: yom YHWH (implicit, 1:15; 2:11) / venikeiti damam (3:21, explicit vindication)
Doctrine: The Day of the Lord
Rejected alternatives: unqualified ‘npau taws’ associated only with capricious spirit/ancestor anger — rejected without explicit contrast teaching
Inherited from Romans package, copied exactly. Underlies the implicit wrath of Joel 2:11 (‘the Day of the LORD is great and terrible; who can endure it?’) and the explicit blood-vindication language of 3:21. Must be taught as righteous, judicial, purposeful — not appeasable by ritual, not capricious — consistent with the Romans baseline ruling; risk is elevated in Joel because 3:21 is the book’s very last theological statement and shapes the reader’s final impression of God’s character.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: kev raug ua kom dawb huv
Transliteration: qaddeshu-tsom (Heb., ‘sanctify a fast’, 1:14; 2:15)
Doctrine: Repentance and Return to God
Rejected alternatives: treating dawb huv as a repeatable ritual-cleansing state — rejected
Inherited from Romans package, copied exactly. ‘Dawb huv’ reused in Joel’s ‘sanctify a fast / solemn assembly’ compound (see sanctify_fast_solemn_assembly below); shares vocabulary with folk ritual-purity from spirit-contamination and must be taught as consecration/setting-apart for corporate repentance, not a repeatable ritual-cleansing state, exactly as ruled in the Romans baseline.
Worship Serve Cultic
Approved rendering: pehawm / pab teev
Transliteration: qir’u atsarah (Heb., ‘call a solemn assembly’, component sense)
Doctrine: Repentance and Return to God
Rejected alternatives: bare, unanchored pehawm — FORBIDDEN, identical verb used for pehawm dab (ancestor/spirit veneration)
Inherited from Romans package, copied exactly. Component of Joel’s sanctify-a-fast/solemn-assembly compound (1:14; 2:15-16); object of pehawm must always be stated (‘pehawm Vajtswv’), never left bare, exactly as ruled in the Romans baseline.
Prophesy
Approved rendering: cev Vajtswv Lus
Transliteration: naba (Heb.) / prophēteuō (LXX)
Doctrine: The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit
NEW ENTRY — Joel 2:28. Established Hmong Christian idiom (‘to relay/carry forth God’s Word’). Hmong traditional religion has an analogous but theologically opposite phenomenon: the txiv neeb (shaman) entering trance and speaking with a voice attributed to a spirit-guide or ancestor. Mandatory teaching note distinguishing Spirit-given, rationally-accountable proclamation of the one true God from trance-channeling of an ancestral/nature spirit.
Vision Revelatory
Approved rendering: yog pom zaj yeeb yaj kiab
Transliteration: chazon (Heb.) / horasis (LXX)
Doctrine: The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit
NEW ENTRY — Joel 2:28. Descriptive phrase; no single stable Hmong Christian lexeme exists for ‘vision’ distinct from ‘dream’. Same collision class as dream_revelatory — waking revelatory sight risks assimilation into shamanic trance-vision; must be anchored explicitly to the Holy Spirit as source.
Maidservant Female Bondservant
Approved rendering: tus qhev poj niam / cov qhev
Transliteration: shifchah (Heb.) / doulē (LXX)
Doctrine: The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit
Rejected alternatives: any softened rendering distinct from qhev — rejected, would break the deliberate pairing with the male servant_slave_doulos term and weaken the radical-inclusion doctrinal point
NEW ENTRY — Joel 2:29. Feminine referent completing the servants/maidservants pair (paired with servant_slave_doulos above); not separately entered in the Romans TM since Romans’ doulos usage is self-referential/male. Same risk/rationale as servant_slave_doulos: the doctrinal point of the outpouring crossing every social boundary depends on retaining full servile force for both terms.
Cosmic Signs Wonders
Approved rendering: tej cim tseem ceeb
Transliteration: ot (Heb.) / teras (LXX)
Doctrine: The Day of the Lord
NEW ENTRY — Joel 2:30. Hmong traditional religion reads unusual natural phenomena (bird calls, animal behavior, sky events) as omens requiring shamanic interpretation and ritual response. Mandatory teaching note: these end-time cosmic signs are sovereign, self-interpreting divine acts announcing the Day of the LORD, not raw omens available for independent divination.
Four Locust Names
Approved rendering: plaub pab kooj txiav qoob loo tuaj ib pab zuj zus
Transliteration: gazam / arbeh / yeleq / chasil (Heb.)
Doctrine: The Locust Plague as Divine Judgment
Rejected alternatives: four separately-coined Hmong neologisms for each locust-stage — rejected, no matching Hmong four-stage insect taxonomy exists; would produce false entomological precision disproportionate to the doctrinal payload of cumulative totality
NEW ENTRY — Joel 1:4; recalled at 2:25. Descriptive escalating phrase (‘four successive swarms of locusts that cut down the crops, coming one wave after another’). Crop failure in Hmong belief is frequently attributed to an offended ancestral/nature spirit requiring ritual placation; mandatory teaching note: the locusts are tus Tswv’s own instrument of sovereign, moral judgment, not evidence of unappeased spirits — no shamanic ritual response is warranted, only repentance toward God.
Locust Army
Approved rendering: tub rog loj thiab muaj zog
Transliteration: am rav ve’atsum (Heb., ‘a great and mighty people’)
Doctrine: The Locust Plague as Divine Judgment
NEW ENTRY — Joel 2:2-11. The locust swarm of ch.1 re-described in explicitly military terms as YHWH’s own commanded army (‘the LORD gives voice before his army,’ 2:11). Same collision family as four_locust_names; must be taught as a purposeful, commanded military-style judgment, not an independent calamity requiring shamanic appeasement.
Return Repent
Approved rendering: tig rov qab los cuag Vajtswv, hloov siab lees txim
Transliteration: shuv (Heb.)
Doctrine: Repentance and Return to God
NEW ENTRY — Joel 1:13-14 (implicit); 2:12-13 (explicit, the doctrine’s primary load-bearing section). Hmong customary ‘repair’ of a broken relationship with offended ancestors/spirits typically involves prescribed ritual offerings believed effective by correct performance. Mandatory teaching note, reinforced by the text’s own next verse (2:13): the disaster is reversible through genuine INWARD repentance, not ritual technique alone. Must always be taught in the same unit as rend_heart_not_garments, never presented alone.
Cleanse Blood Lord Dwells Zion
Approved rendering: kuv yuav pauj tej ntshav uas kuv tsis tau pauj… thiab tus Tswv nyob hauv Xi-oo
Transliteration: venikeiti damam lo-nikeiti… va-YHWH shokhen be-Tsiyon (Heb.)
Doctrine: Restoration and Blessing after Repentance
NEW ENTRY — Joel 3:21, the book’s closing verse. The wrath/vindication half reuses the inherited Romans TM wrath_of_god collision class (judicial, not capricious spirit-anger). The dwelling/presence half is a positive doctrinal bridge to the core passage’s Spirit-outpouring/indwelling-presence doctrine (holy_spirit, pour_out_spirit) and should be taught TOGETHER with it as the book’s unifying final image: the same God who judges also chooses permanently to dwell with His repentant, restored people. Never smoothed into an unqualified ‘happy ending’ that drops the judgment component.
Medium Risk Terms
Priestly Minister
Approved rendering: tus ua haujlwm pab Vajtswv
Transliteration: kohanim / mesharetei (Heb.) / hoi hiereis / leitourgountes (LXX)
Doctrine: The Locust Plague as Divine Judgment
Rejected alternatives: txiv neeb (shaman) vocabulary — forbidden, would conflate Israel’s priestly office with shamanism
Inherited from Romans package, copied exactly. In Joel this renders the priests/ministers of the altar summoned to lead national lament and repentance (1:9, 1:13; 2:17). Cultic-priestly nuance deliberately muted per the original baseline note; no txiv neeb vocabulary permitted, consistent with the Romans ruling.
Mercy
Approved rendering: txoj kev khuv leej
Transliteration: rachum (Heb., part of the fourfold divine-character formula)
Doctrine: Repentance and Return to God
Rejected alternatives: txiaj ntsim (grace) used interchangeably for mercy — rejected, mercy (compassion toward the miserable) and grace (unmerited favor) are distinct emphases and must not be flattened
Inherited from Romans package, copied exactly. Occurs in Joel 2:13’s divine-character formula (‘gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness/steadfast love’), grounding the call to repent in God’s own compassionate character. Kept lexically distinct from grace per the Romans baseline ruling; see divine_character_formula for the compound Joel-specific treatment including the additional chesed (covenant-loyal love) nuance.
Sun Moon Darkened
Approved rendering: lub hnub tsaus nti, lub hli liab ib yam li ntshav
Transliteration: hashemesh yehafekh le-choshekh ve-hayareach le-dam (Heb.)
Doctrine: The Day of the Lord
NEW ENTRY — Joel 2:31, repeated verbatim at 3:15. Must be rendered IDENTICALLY at both occurrences to preserve the book’s internal structural cross-reference (also quoted at Acts 2:20). Lower risk than cosmic_signs_wonders since these specific images are less tied to a particular Hmong divinatory practice.
Sackcloth
Approved rendering: tsoos khaub ncaws ntsuag
Transliteration: saq (Heb.) / sakkos (LXX)
Doctrine: Repentance and Return to God
NEW ENTRY — Joel 1:8, 13. No native Hmong sackcloth-equivalent garment exists; comprehension gap requiring descriptive gloss. Sets up the anti-ritualism payoff at 2:13 (see rend_heart_not_garments) — flag for that forward link at first occurrence.
Rend Heart Not Garments
Approved rendering: muab lub siab dua tawg, tsis yog muab lub tsho dua tawg xwb
Transliteration: qir’u levavkhem ve’al-bigdeikhem (Heb.)
Doctrine: Repentance and Return to God
NEW ENTRY — Joel 2:13. Functions as the text’s own built-in safeguard against a ritual-technique misreading of return_repent; must be taught together with it as explicit anti-ritualism — God desires genuine inward contrition over correctly-performed outward mourning custom (sackcloth).
Divine Character Formula
Approved rendering: muaj txoj kev khuv leej, hlub, ua siab ntev, thiab muaj txiaj ntsim ntau
Transliteration: channun ve-rachum, erekh appayim, ve-rav-chesed (Heb.)
Doctrine: Repentance and Return to God
Rejected alternatives: flattening chesed into either mercy or grace alone — rejected, chesed (covenant-loyal love) is a genuine third nuance
NEW ENTRY — Joel 2:13, echoing Exodus 34:6-7. Combines Romans TM mercy (txoj kev khuv leej) and grace (txiaj ntsim), kept lexically distinct per the mandatory Romans baseline mercy/grace ruling; chesed (covenant-loyal love, rav-chesed) requires its own teaching note so it is not silently absorbed into either mercy or grace. Grounds the call to repent in God’s own compassionate character, not merely fear of punishment.
Valley Of Decision
Approved rendering: Lub Hav uas Vajtswv Txiav Txim
Transliteration: Emeq Yehoshaphat / Emeq he-Charuts (Heb.)
Doctrine: The Day of the Lord
Rejected alternatives: bare transliteration of ‘Jehoshaphat’ — rejected, the Hebrew proper noun is not independently meaningful to a Hmong reader and would obscure the text’s own parallel symbolic naming (‘Valley of Decision’)
NEW ENTRY — Joel 3:2, 12, 14. Descriptive-symbolic rendering (‘the Valley where God Renders Judgment’). Comprehension gap only; must be clearly marked as a symbolic judgment-scene, not taught as an ongoing literal pilgrimage site.
Lord Roars From Zion
Approved rendering: tus Tswv yuav quaj nrov nroo ib yam li tus tsov ntxhuav quaj tawm hauv Xi-oo tuaj, ua lub chaw cawmkhom rau nws haiv neeg
Transliteration: YHWH mi-Tsiyon yish’ag (Heb.)
Doctrine: The Day of the Lord
Rejected alternatives: substituting the culturally closer tiger (tsov) image for lion — rejected, would alter the specific biblical zoological referent and its ancient Near Eastern royal/danger connotations
NEW ENTRY — Joel 3:16. Dual-edged image: the same roar that terrifies enemy nations is refuge/strength for God’s own people. Lion (tsov ntxhuav) is unfamiliar in traditional highland Hmong fauna; a brief explanatory gloss identifying the animal is recommended — gloss, do not substitute.
Low Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: Vajtswv
Transliteration: Elohim (Heb.) / theos (LXX)
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, copied exactly. Applies throughout Joel (chs. 1-3) with no deviation; underlies the exclusivist self-identification formula at 2:27 (‘I am the LORD your God, and there is no other’), a positive anti-syncretism teaching opportunity against Hmong multi-spirit cosmology.
Lord
Approved rendering: tus Tswv
Transliteration: YHWH (Heb.) / kyrios (LXX)
Doctrine: General / Cross-cutting
Rejected alternatives: Yehauvas (divine-name transliteration, NWT-style) — PERMANENTLY FORBIDDEN, severs the Jesus=YHWH identification Paul relies on when quoting Joel 2:32 at Romans 10:13
Inherited from Romans package, copied exactly. General-use risk is Low, but becomes CRITICAL in Joel’s two most doctrinally load-bearing compound phrases: ‘the Day of the LORD’ (see day_of_the_lord) and ‘call on the name of the LORD’ (see call_on_the_name_of_the_lord). Renders YHWH throughout Joel’s oracles; never substitute a divine-name transliteration.
Remnant
Approved rendering: cov seem
Transliteration: seridim / peleitah (Heb.)
Doctrine: The Day of the Lord
Inherited from Romans package, copied exactly. Recurs at Joel 2:32 (‘the remnant whom the LORD shall call’); cross-links to the Romans 9-11 remnant doctrine, giving this verse additional canonical weight as an anchor-point. Flag for cross-curricular teaching linkage, not a new lexical risk.
Jew
Approved rendering: cov Yudas
Transliteration: Yehudah (Heb.)
Doctrine: Restoration and Blessing after Repentance
Inherited from Romans package, copied exactly. Used at Joel 3:1 (‘cov Yudas thiab Yeluxalees’) in a national/territorial restoration sense, not the ethnic-covenant-identity sense dominant in Romans 9-11; flag this contextual distinction explicitly in any teaching note reusing the term.
Heir
Approved rendering: tus qub txeeg qub teg
Transliteration: nachalah (Heb., ‘heritage/inheritance’, 2:17)
Doctrine: Restoration and Blessing after Repentance
Inherited from Romans package, copied exactly (root noun ‘qub txeeg qub teg’). Loosely parallels Joel 2:17-18’s priestly intercession (‘let not your heritage/inheritance be a reproach’); see spare_inheritance below for the full Joel-specific compound phrase built on this root.
Mount Zion Jerusalem
Approved rendering: Roob Xi-oo / Yeluxalees
Transliteration: Har-Tsiyon / Yerushalayim (Heb.)
Doctrine: The Day of the Lord
NEW ENTRY — Joel 2:32; recurs throughout ch.3. Established transliterations consistent with existing Hmong Bible tradition; comprehension-level only, no collision.
Word Of The Lord
Approved rendering: Vajtswv Txoj Lus
Transliteration: devar YHWH (Heb.) / logos Kyriou (LXX)
Doctrine: General / Cross-cutting
NEW ENTRY — Joel 1:1 (superscription). Established general Hmong Bible-tradition phrase establishing Joel’s oracle as God’s own speech, not human opinion. No collision. Distinct from Vaj Lug Kub (Scripture, the written canon) — this is the prophetic speech-event that initiates the book.
Trumpet Alarm
Approved rendering: raj xyu
Transliteration: shophar (Heb.)
Doctrine: The Day of the Lord
Rejected alternatives: transliterated loanword for ‘shophar’ — rejected, an existing functionally equivalent native Hmong instrument-term carries no competing ritual referent and needs no opaque loanword
NEW ENTRY — Joel 2:1, 15. Concrete instrument-image (ram’s-horn trumpet blast); no competing ritual referent in Hmong tradition.
Grain Wine Oil
Approved rendering: qoob loo, kua txiv hmab tshiab, thiab roj txiv ntoo
Transliteration: dagan, tirosh, yitshar (Heb.)
Doctrine: Restoration and Blessing after Repentance
NEW ENTRY — Joel 1:10; 2:19, 24; 3:18. Agrarian imagery transfers cleanly to a rice/highland-farming Hmong context; must be rendered IDENTICALLY at every occurrence so a Hmong reader can perceive the judgment-to-restoration structural echo (what the locusts destroyed in ch.1 is precisely what is restored in ch.2, then judgment-imagery is drawn from the same domain in ch.3 — see judgment_harvest_imagery).
No Other God Formula
Approved rendering: nej yuav paub tias kuv yog tus Tswv, nej tus Vajtswv, thiab tsis muaj lwm tus Vajtswv dua li
Transliteration: veyeda’tem ki ani YHWH eloheikhem, ve’ein od (Heb.)
Doctrine: Restoration and Blessing after Repentance
Rejected alternatives: comparative-superiority softening (‘the LORD also blesses’) — rejected, must retain full EXCLUSIVE, not merely comparative, force
NEW ENTRY — Joel 2:27. Covenant self-identification/exclusivist monotheistic formula; a direct positive anti-syncretism teaching opportunity against the Hmong multi-spirit cosmology and must be preserved with its full exclusive force.
Judah Jerusalem Restoration
Approved rendering: cov Yudas thiab Yeluxalees
Transliteration: Yehudah, Yerushalayim (Heb.)
Doctrine: Restoration and Blessing after Repentance
NEW ENTRY — Joel 3:1. Combines the inherited Romans TM ‘jew’ rendering (cov Yudas) with the newly transliterated Yeluxalees; national/territorial restoration sense, not ethnic-identity discourse.
Plowshares Into Swords
Approved rendering: muab tej khoos laij teb ua ntaj rog
Transliteration: kottu ittekhem la-charavot (Heb.)
Doctrine: The Day of the Lord
NEW ENTRY — Joel 3:9-10. Ironic mobilization summons, deliberately inverting the peace-oracle of Isaiah 2:4/Micah 4:3. Concrete agrarian/martial imagery transfers with a brief explanatory note on the ironic biblical intertext; no doctrinal collision.
Fountain From House Of The Lord
Approved rendering: ib lub qhov dej ntws tawm hauv Vajtswv lub tsev tuaj
Transliteration: uma’yan mi-beit YHWH yetse (Heb.)
Doctrine: Restoration and Blessing after Repentance
NEW ENTRY — Joel 3:18. Edenic/temple restoration imagery, echoed later in Ezekiel 47 and Revelation 22; positive climactic image, no collision.
Egypt Edom
Approved rendering: Iyiv / Edoos
Transliteration: Mitsrayim / Edom (Heb.)
Doctrine: The Day of the Lord
NEW ENTRY — Joel 3:19. Established/likely Hmong Bible-tradition transliterations for these historic enemy nations; proper nouns, comprehension-level only.
Low-Medium Risk Terms
Nations Gentiles
Approved rendering: lwm Haiv Neeg
Transliteration: haggoyim (Heb.) / ta ethnē (LXX)
Doctrine: The Day of the Lord
Inherited from Romans package, copied exactly. Lexically stable reuse in Joel 3:2, 9, 12, but the contextual framing shifts: Joel 3’s nations are the OBJECT of judgment for their treatment of God’s people and land, contrasted with Romans’ more missional framing of Gentiles as recipients of gospel invitation. Teaching notes must clarify this contextual shift so the identical Hmong phrase is not misread as identical doctrine across the two books.
Apocalyptic Imagery
Approved rendering: ntshav, hluav taws, thiab pa taws sawv ncig saum ntuj
Transliteration: dam va-esh ve-timrot ashan (Heb.)
Doctrine: The Day of the Lord
NEW ENTRY — Joel 2:30. Concrete apocalyptic-battle imagery (blood, fire, pillars of smoke); direct, concrete rendering, comprehension-level vividness only — no competing ritual referent exists in Hmong tradition for this specific image-cluster.
Lament Wail
Approved rendering: quaj nyiav, quaj ntsuag
Transliteration: elu / yelal (Heb.)
Doctrine: The Locust Plague as Divine Judgment
NEW ENTRY — Joel 1:5, 8, 13. Positive comprehension bridge via existing rich Hmong funeral public-wailing vocabulary; Joel uses it for genuine national grief over judgment, not a competing ritual system — register/intensity gap only, not a collision.
Spare Inheritance
Approved rendering: tsis txhob cia nws qub txeeg qub teg raug luag thuam
Transliteration: chusah… nachalah le-cherpah (Heb.)
Doctrine: Restoration and Blessing after Repentance
NEW ENTRY — Joel 2:17-18. Priestly intercessory appeal that God’s own inheritance (His people) not be shamed among the nations; loosely parallels the Romans TM heir/inheritance vocabulary, grounded in covenant relationship rather than a competing ritual system.
Restore Years Eaten
Approved rendering: thim rov qab tej xyoo uas cov kooj tau noj lawm
Transliteration: ve-shillamti lakhem et-hashanim (Heb.)
Doctrine: Restoration and Blessing after Repentance
NEW ENTRY — Joel 2:25. Full-restitution nuance (active repayment for past losses, not merely future blessing) should be preserved in teaching as grace responding to genuine repentance.
Medium-High Risk Terms
Sanctify Fast Solemn Assembly
Approved rendering: muab kev yoo mov cais ua dawb huv, hu sawvdaws tuaj ua ke pehawm Vajtswv
Transliteration: qaddeshu-tsom / qir’u atsarah (Heb.)
Doctrine: Repentance and Return to God
NEW ENTRY — Joel 1:14; 2:15-16. Compounds two Romans-baseline collisions in one phrase: dawb huv (sanctification entry, folk ritual-purity from spirit-contamination) and pehawm (worship_serve_cultic entry, exact verb for venerating ancestral/household spirits). Both mandatory qualifiers apply without exception: teach as consecration/setting-apart for corporate repentance (not repeatable ritual cleansing), and always state pehawm’s object (pehawm Vajtswv), never bare.
Judgment Harvest Imagery
Approved rendering: xuas riam khaws qoob, tsuab txiv hmab rau hauv lub qhov tsuab
Transliteration: shilchu maggal… darkhu ha-gat (Heb.)
Doctrine: Restoration and Blessing after Repentance
NEW ENTRY — Joel 3:13. Deliberately repurposes the identical agrarian-blessing vocabulary of ch.2’s restoration (grain_wine_oil) in a judgment sense against the nations. Must be explicitly taught as this deliberate positive/negative structural echo — blessing-imagery repurposed for wrath — or the book’s central Restoration/Judgment reversal-pattern is lost and the two occurrences read as unrelated agricultural mentions.