Core Glossary
Nahum — Core Glossary (Hmong Language Package)
This glossary catalogs every load-bearing term identified in analysis/07_semantic_analysis.md, drawn from all three chapters of Nahum. Where a term already carries a permanent rendering in the Romans Hmong baseline (assets/translation_memory.json), that exact rendering is reused and marked [REUSED]; all other entries are [NEW] candidate terms proposed for this curriculum, pending formal TM-revision review per the Romans package’s own governance rule (§2.4 of 12_ai_translation_requirements.md).
Risk tier definitions (inherited unchanged from the Romans baseline registry):
- Critical — doctrinally load-bearing term with a strong, specific collision with Hmong traditional religion that could invert or neutralize the doctrine if unaddressed.
- High — real potential for confusion with a specific traditional-religious concept/practice; manageable with a documented disambiguating strategy.
- Medium — partial semantic mismatch, register gap, or comprehension gap with no direct collision with a competing religious system.
- Low — already-stable, safe rendering with minimal ambiguity.
Doctrine key: D1 = Justice and Wrath of God against Oppressors · D2 = God’s Sovereignty over Nineveh and Assyria · D3 = Comfort for the Oppressed · D4 = God as Slow to Anger yet Just
A. Divine Names, Titles, and Attributes
| # | English Term | Hebrew Original | Transliteration | Hmong Rendering | Risk | Doctrine(s) | Chapters | Status / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | God | אֵל | El | Vajtswv | Low | D1-D4 | 1 | [REUSED] from Romans baseline god. |
| 2 | LORD (covenant name) | יְהוָה | YHWH | tus Tswv | Low | D1-D4 | 1-3 | [REUSED] from Romans baseline lord. Hmong RPA cannot mirror the English small-caps LORD/Lord distinction; handle editorially, not lexically. |
| 3 | LORD of Hosts | יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת | YHWH Tzeva’ot | tus Tswv uas Kav Cov Tub Rog Saum Ntuj Ceeb Tsheej | High | D2, D1 | 2, 3 | [NEW]. Collides with shamanic invocation of spirit-armies/spirit-soldiers by a txiv neeb; must be taught as unique sovereign command over all heavenly/created power, not a stronger version of shamanic spirit-army command. |
| 4 | Jealous (of God) | קַנּוֹא | qanno’ | Vajtswv yog tus khib (rau nws tib leeg lub koob meej thiab kev pe hawm) | High | D1, D4 | 1 | [NEW]. Collides with capricious territorial/ancestral spirit “jealousy” requiring ritual appeasement in Hmong traditional religion; mandatory qualifier required at every occurrence. |
| 5 | Avenge / Vengeance | נֹקֵם / נָקָם | noqem / naqam | kev pauj taub (raws li Vajtswv txoj kev ncaj ncees) | High | D1 | 1 | [NEW]. Collides with Hmong clan/honor-based retaliation custom; must be anchored as exclusively divine, judicial vengeance, never validating personal/clan revenge. |
| 6 | Wrath / Fury / Indignation / Fierce Anger | חֵמָה / זַעַם / חֲרוֹן אַף | chemah / za’am / charon aph | kev npau taws ntawm Vajtswv | High | D1, D4 | 1 | [REUSED] from Romans baseline wrath_of_god. Applies to the entire wrath-word-cluster in Nahum 1:2,6. |
| 7 | Slow to Anger | אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם | erek appayim | Vajtswv ua siab ntev, tsis ceev npau taws | Medium | D4 | 1 | [NEW], idiom built on the Romans baseline endurance root (kev ua siab ntev) but logged as a distinct entry (different source word). Must always co-occur with #8 below. |
| 8 | Will By No Means Clear the Guilty | וְנַקֵּה לֹא יְנַקֶּה | ve-naqeh lo yenaqeh | Vajtswv yeej yuav tsis zam txim rau tus muaj txim | Critical | D4, D1 | 1 | [NEW]. The doctrinal hinge of “slow to anger yet just” — must never be dropped or softened; always taught paired with #7. |
| 9 | Great in Power | גְּדָל־כֹּחַ | gadol koach | Vajtswv hwjchim (loj kawg nkaus) | High | D2, D4 | 1 | [REUSED] from Romans baseline power; mandatory qualifier “Vajtswv hwjchim” applies. |
| 10 | Good | טוֹב | tov | zoo | Low | D3, D4 | 1 | [NEW]. Pivot-term of 1:7; teach as continuous with, not contradicting, the wrath-cluster of 1:2-6. |
| 11 | Rebuke | גּוֹעֵר | ga’ar | ntuas | Low | D2 | 1 | [NEW]. |
| 12 | Know (relationally) | יֹדֵעַ | yoda | paub | Low-Medium | D3 | 1 | [NEW]. Relational/covenantal sense, not mere cognition. |
| 13 | I Am Against You (judgment formula) | הִנְנִי אֵלַיִךְ | hineni elayikh | Kuv tawm tsam koj lawm | Critical | D1, D2 | 2, 3 | [NEW]. Personal divine opposition formula; must never be softened to a mere prediction. |
B. Justice, Wrath, and Judgment Vocabulary
| # | English Term | Hebrew Original | Transliteration | Hmong Rendering | Risk | Doctrine(s) | Chapters | Status / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | Whirlwind / Storm | סוּפָה / שְׂעָרָה | suphah / se’arah | cua daj cua dub | Low-Medium | D2 | 1 | [NEW]. Theophany imagery. |
| 15 | Wrath Poured Out Like Fire | חֲמָתוֹ נִתְּכָה כָאֵשׁ | chamato nittekhah ka-esh | nws txoj kev npau taws nchuav los zoo li nplaim taws | High | D1, D4 | 1 | [NEW] (imagery extension of #6). Must be taught as unappeasable by ritual, unlike a spirit’s curse removable by sacrifice. |
| 16 | Full End / Complete Destruction | כָּלָה | kalah | ua kom puas tsuaj tag nrho, tsis tshuav dab tsi seem | Critical | D1, D3 | 1 | [NEW]. Must never be softened; grounds both the justice claim (D1) and the comfort claim (D3). |
| 17 | Darkness Pursues Enemies | וְאֹיְבָיו יְרַדֶּף חֹשֶׁךְ | ve-oyevav yeradeph choshekh | kev tsaus ntuj yuav caum nws cov yeeb ncuab mus | Low-Medium | D1 | 1 | [NEW]. |
| 18 | Plots Evil Against the LORD | חֹשֵׁב עַל־יְהוָה רָעָה | choshev al-YHWH ra’ah | npaj tswv yim phem tawm tsam Vajtswv | Medium | D1 | 1 | [NEW]. |
| 19 | Carved Image / Idol | פֶּסֶל וּמַסֵּכָה | pesel u-massekhah | dab mlom | High | D1, D2 | 1 | [REUSED] from Romans baseline idol. |
| 20 | Bloody City (woe oracle) | הוֹי עִיר דָּמִים | hoy ir damim | Txom nyem lauj, lub nroog puv nrog kev tua neeg thiab ntshav | Medium | D1 | 3 | [NEW]. |
| 21 | Harlot (political-military metaphor) | זוֹנָה | zonah | poj muag cev | Medium | D1 | 3 | [NEW]. Metaphorical, not a literal claim about individuals; requires teaching note. |
| 22 | Sorceries / Witchcraft | כְּשָׁפִים | keshaphim | kev ua yaig | Critical | D1 | 3 | [NEW — TRANSLATOR REVIEW NEEDED]. Must be carefully distinguished from txiv neeb/ua neeb (respected Hmong shamanic-healing role); requires joint human theologian + native-speaker review before finalization. |
| 23 | No Healing for the Wound | אֵין כֵּהָה לְשִׁבְרֵךְ נַחְלָה מַכָּתֵךְ | ein kehah le-shivrekh nachlah makkatekh | Tsis muaj kev kho rau qhov mob no lawm; qhov txhaum yog qhov puas tsuaj tas li | Critical | D1 | 3 | [NEW]. Closing-verdict parallel to #16; must retain absolute finality. |
| 24 | Your Continual/Unceasing Evil | רָעָתְךָ תָמִיד | ra’atkha tamid | koj txoj kev limhiam uas tsis paub tas | Medium-High | D1 | 3 | [NEW]. Ground of judgment is habitual, unrepented oppression specifically — do not collapse into a universal-guilt statement (that is Romans’ distinct doctrinal territory). |
| 25 | Clap Hands (at downfall) | תָּקְעוּ כַף | taqe’u khaph | npuaj tes zoo siab | Medium | D3, D1 | 3 | [NEW]. Requires pastoral teaching note distinguishing righteous vindication-joy from personal vengeful gloating. |
| 26 | Exile / Captivity (literal) | גָּלוּת / שֶׁבִי | golah / shevi | raug ntes coj mus rau lwm tebchaws ua qhev | Low-Medium | D1, D2 | 3 | [NEW], deliberately reuses qhev from Romans baseline servant_slave_doulos for its literal historical meaning — the opposite framing-direction from the Romans metaphorical usage; do not confuse the two contexts. |
C. Refuge, Comfort, and Deliverance Vocabulary
| # | English Term | Hebrew Original | Transliteration | Hmong Rendering | Risk | Doctrine(s) | Chapters | Status / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | Stronghold / Refuge | מָעוֹז | ma’oz | lub chaw ruaj khov | High | D3 | 1 | [NEW]. Collides with protective amulets/charms (khawv koob) and guardian-spirit invocation; must always be explicitly anchored: “tus Tswv yog peb lub chaw ruaj khov.” |
| 28 | Take Refuge / Trust | חֹסֵי (חסה) | chosei (chasah) | cov uas cawm siab rau nws | High | D3 | 1 | [NEW]. Deliberately NOT mapped onto Romans baseline salvation_save (kev cawm dim) due to that entry’s mandatory Christological anchor; see semantic analysis §3 for rationale. [TRANSLATOR REVIEW NEEDED] for cross-Testament TM policy. |
| 29 | Day of Trouble | יוֹם צָרָה | yom tsarah | hnub muaj kev txom nyem | Low-Medium | D3 | 1 | [NEW]. |
| 30 | Comforters (absence of, for Nineveh) | מְנַחֲמִים | menachamim | cov uas yuav nplig siab | Medium | D3 | 3 | [NEW]. Ironic contrast with 1:7’s promise of refuge for those who trust God — Nineveh, the oppressor, finds none. |
| 31 | Yoke / Bonds (broken, liberation) | מוֹטֵהוּ / מוֹסְרֹתָיִךְ | mot(ehu) / mosrotayikh | lub quab / txoj hlua khi | Medium | D3 | 1 | [NEW]. Positive agrarian bridge-image; conceptually related to Romans baseline redemption (kev txhiv), not lexically identical. |
| 32 | Good News / Peace (herald formula) | מְבַשֵּׂר מַשְׁמִיעַ שָׁלוֹם | mevaser mashmia shalom | tus qhia Txoj Moo Zoo thiab tshaj tawm kev thaj yeeb | Low | D3 | 1 | [REUSED] — Txoj Moo Zoo and kev thaj yeeb both reused exactly from the Romans baseline. High doctrinal/intertextual value: parallels Isaiah 52:7 and Romans 10:15. |
| 33 | Vows (to God) | נְדָרָיִךְ | nedarayikh | koj tej lus cog tseg rau Vajtswv | Low-Medium | D3 | 1 | [NEW]. Shares surface phrasing with Romans baseline promise (lus cog tseg) but reversed direction (human→God, not God→human); flag the distinction in teaching. |
| 34 | Restore Majesty/Glory (of Jacob) | שָׁב יְהוָה אֶת־גְּאוֹן יַעֲקֹב | shav YHWH et ge’own Ya’akov | tus Tswv yuav rov qab pub lub yeeb koob rau Yakhauj | Low-Medium | D3, D2 | 2 | [NEW], stylistically echoes but is lexically distinct from Romans baseline glory (doxa/lub yeeb koob). |
D. Creation, Theophany, and Cosmic-Power Imagery
| # | English Term | Hebrew Original | Transliteration | Hmong Rendering | Risk | Doctrine(s) | Chapters | Status / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | Sea / Rivers (dried up) | יָם / נְהָרוֹת | yam / naharot | hiav txwv / cov dej ntws | Low | D2 | 1 | [NEW]. |
| 36 | Wither (Bashan, Carmel, Lebanon) | אֻמְלַל | amlal | qhuav zog thiab tuag | Low | D2 | 1 | [NEW]. |
| 37 | Bashan / Carmel / Lebanon (proper nouns) | בָּשָׁן / כַּרְמֶל / לְבָנוֹן | Bashan / Carmel / Lebanon | Npasas / Kalemees / Lenpanoos | Low | D2 | 1 | [NEW proper nouns]. Comprehension gap; footnote recommended. |
| 38 | Mountains / Hills Quake and Melt | הָרִים רָעֲשׁוּ / גְּבָעוֹת הִתְמֹגָגוּ | harim ra’ashu / giv’ot hitmogagu | tej roob ua zog tshee / tej pov roob yaj mus | Low | D2 | 1 | [NEW]. |
| 39 | Earth (physical ground) | אֶרֶץ | erets | thaj av | Low | D2 | 1 | [NEW], deliberately distinguished from #40 (tevel) to preserve the verse’s Hebrew merism. |
| 40 | World (inhabited world) | תֵבֵל | tevel | lub ntiajteb | Low | D2 | 1 | [REUSED] from Romans baseline world, applied specifically to tevel not erets. |
| 41 | Rocks Broken | הַצֻּרִים נִתְּצוּ | ha-tzurim nittetzu | tej pob zeb tawg ua tej dhuas | Low | D2 | 1 | [NEW]. |
| 42 | Overflowing Flood (judgment) | שֶׁטֶף עֹבֵר | shetph over | dej nyab loj heev uas ntws dhau mus | Low-Medium | D1, D2 | 1 | [NEW]. |
| 43 | The Shatterer (besieging army) | מֵפִיץ | mephitz | tus tuaj ua rau puas tsuaj | Low-Medium | D2 | 2 | [NEW]. God’s instrument, a pagan army sovereignly directed. |
| 44 | Lion / Lions’ Den (Assyria as predator) | אֲרִי / כְּפִיר / מְעוֹן אֲרָיוֹת | ari / kephir / me’on arayot | tsov ntxhuav | Medium | D1, D2 | 2 | [NEW]. Comprehension gap (lions not native); bridge via Hmong tiger folklore recommended. |
| 45 | Devastation, Desolation, Destruction (triad) | בּוּקָה וּמְבוּקָה וּמְבֻלָּקָה | buqah u-mevuqah u-mevullaqah | kev puas tsuaj, kev nyob do cuas, kev raug rhuav tshem tag nrho | Low-Medium | D1 | 2 | [NEW]. Poetic-device loss only. |
E. Superscription, Proper Nouns, and Minor Vocabulary
| # | English Term | Hebrew Original | Transliteration | Hmong Rendering | Risk | Doctrine(s) | Chapters | Status / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 46 | Oracle / Burden | מַשָּׂא | massa | zaj lus hnyav txiav txim | Low-Medium | D1, D2 | 1 | [NEW]. |
| 47 | Vision | חָזוֹן | chazon | yog toog | Low | — | 1 | [NEW]. |
| 48 | Nahum (prophet’s name, “comfort”) | נַחוּם | Nachum | Nahoos | Low | D3 | 1 | [NEW proper noun]. Name’s meaning (“comfort”) is doctrinally significant; recommend first-use footnote. |
| 49 | Elkoshite (hometown) | הָאֶלְקֹשִׁי | ha-Elqoshi | tus Ekhauj | Low | — | 1 | [NEW proper noun]. |
| 50 | Nineveh | נִינְוֵה | Nineveh | Nineves | Low | D1, D2 | 1-3 | [NEW proper noun]. Log for confirmation against any existing Hmong OT tradition. |
| 51 | Assyria / King of Assyria | אַשּׁוּר | Ashshur | Axilias / vaj ntxwv ntawm Axilias | Low | D2 | 3 | [NEW proper noun]. |
| 52 | Worthless Counselor (Belial) | יוֹעֵץ בְּלִיָּעַל | yo’etz beliya’al | tus tuaj yeem npaj tswv yim phem, tsis muaj qabhau | Low-Medium | D1 | 1 | [NEW]. Rendered descriptively, not transliterated. |
| 53 | No-Amon (Thebes) / Cush / Put / Libya | נֹא אָמוֹן / כּוּשׁ / פּוּט / לוּבִים | No Amon / Kush / Put / Luvim | Nau-Amoos / Kushes / Puts / Linpias | Low | D2 | 3 | [NEW proper nouns]. Footnote recommended (unfamiliar ancient geography). |
| 54 | Jacob / Israel | יַעֲקֹב / יִשְׂרָאֵל | Ya’akov / Yisrael | Yakhauj / Yixalayees | Low | D3 | 2 | [NEW/REUSED]: Yixalayees [REUSED] exactly from Romans baseline nations_gentiles/jew context; Yakhauj [NEW], following the established Hmong Bible convention for “Jacob.” |
| 55 | Fig-Tree Fortress (first-ripe figs) | תְּאֵנִים עִם בִּכּוּרִים | te’enim im bikkurim | tsob txiv ncuab thawj phaus txiv | Medium | D1 | 3 | [NEW], conceptually adjacent to Romans baseline firstfruits (agricultural imagery), not lexically identical. |
| 56 | Locusts (multiply like) | אַרְבֶּה / יֶלֶק | arbeh / yeleq | kooj | Low-Medium | D1 | 3 | [NEW]. Agrarian pest, comprehension-accessible to rice-farming Hmong audience. |
| 57 | Shepherds Slumber (rulers of Assyria) | נָמוּ רֹעֶיךָ | namu ro’eikha | koj cov nom tswv (npua tsov npua yaj) tsaug zog lawm | Low-Medium | D1, D2 | 3 | [NEW]. Ruler-as-shepherd metaphor. |
Summary of Risk-Tier Distribution
| Risk Tier | Count | Representative Terms |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 5 | naqah lo yenaqeh (#8), kalah/full end (#16), hineni elayikh (#13), keshaphim/sorceries (#22), ein kehah/no healing (#23) |
| High | 8 | YHWH Tzeva'ot (#3), qanno'/jealous (#4), naqam/vengeance (#5), chemah/wrath (#6, reused), gadol koach/power (#9, reused), chamato nittekhah/wrath-fire (#15), pesel/idol (#19, reused), ma'oz/stronghold (#27), chasah/refuge (#28) |
| Medium / Medium-High | ~19 | see table rows above |
| Low / Low-Medium | ~25 | see table rows above |
Escalation note: per the Romans baseline’s routing convention, every Critical-tier term above requires mandatory human theologian review before publication; every High-tier term requires the same; #22 (sorceries/witchcraft) additionally requires joint native-speaker review given its unusually sensitive collision with the respected txiv neeb shamanic role, and is flagged [TRANSLATOR REVIEW NEEDED] rather than assigned a final permanent rendering in this Phase 1 document.
Critical Risk Terms
Election Choose
Approved rendering: kev xaiv (Vajtswv xaiv raws li nws lub siab nyiam)
Transliteration: eklogē/eklegomai (Romans); yoda (Hebrew, Nahum 1:7, referenced for teaching-parallel only, not directly reused)
Doctrine: Comfort for the Oppressed
Rejected alternatives: hmoov (impersonal fate/fortune) vocabulary — PERMANENTLY FORBIDDEN, per Romans baseline
Inherited from Romans package. Referenced here (not directly translated into Nahum) as a teaching-parallel for Nahum 1:7’s ‘yoda’ (he knows those who take refuge in him): both describe God’s personal, relational, non-fatalistic engagement with individuals, in contrast to impersonal hmoov/fate vocabulary. See new entry ‘know_relationally’ below for Nahum’s own rendering.
Will By No Means Clear The Guilty
Approved rendering: Vajtswv yeej yuav tsis zam txim rau tus muaj txim
Transliteration: ve-naqeh lo yenaqeh
Doctrine: God as Slow to Anger yet Just; The Justice and Wrath of God against Oppressors
Rejected alternatives: flat ‘Vajtswv rau txim’ (God punishes sin) without the emphatic ‘yeej yuav tsis zam txim’ frame — rejected, loses the Hebrew infinitive-absolute emphatic force and collapses the doctrine’s judicial certainty into generic moralism
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 1:3, and the single most doctrinally load-bearing phrase in the core passage. The adverb ‘yeej’ is the sole carrier of the Hebrew construction’s emphatic force and must be treated as structurally mandatory, never dropped as ‘optional intensifier language.’ MUST always be taught as a fixed pair with ‘slow_to_anger’ above — this is the doctrinal hinge of God as Slow to Anger yet Just.
I Am Against You
Approved rendering: Kuv tawm tsam koj lawm
Transliteration: hineni elayikh
Doctrine: The Justice and Wrath of God against Oppressors; God’s Sovereignty over Nineveh and Assyria
Rejected alternatives: softened to a mere prediction (‘bad things will happen to you’) — rejected, severs Sovereignty from Justice by removing the personal, active-opposition force
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 2:13, repeated 3:5. The most direct first-person divine opposition formula in the book; must never be flattened to impersonal prediction.
Full End Complete Destruction
Approved rendering: ua kom puas tsuaj tag nrho, tsis tshuav dab tsi seem
Transliteration: kalah
Doctrine: The Justice and Wrath of God against Oppressors; Comfort for the Oppressed
Rejected alternatives: generic ‘punish’ or ‘weaken’ — rejected, softens the totality that grounds the oppressed’s comfort
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 1:8-9. Must be taught alongside ‘stronghold_refuge’/‘take_refuge_trust’ (v.7) as one coherent act of justice (total end for enemies / secure refuge for those who trust him), and paired across the book with ‘no_healing_for_the_wound’ (3:19) as the finality bracket.
Sorceries Witchcraft
Approved rendering: kev ua yaig
Transliteration: keshaphim
Doctrine: The Justice and Wrath of God against Oppressors
Rejected alternatives: transliterated loanword — rejected, opaque and evades rather than resolves the collision, vocabulary directly overlapping with txiv neeb/ua neeb (the respected Hmong shamanic-healing role) — rejected, would imply blanket condemnation of all traditional Hmong spiritual practice
[TRANSLATOR REVIEW NEEDED — PROVISIONAL RENDERING, NOT YET PERMANENT]. Nahum 3:4. The single highest-priority ambiguity in this Language Package: condemns manipulative, nation-enslaving occult practice specifically, but the Hmong lexicon’s most natural words for ‘magic/spirit-power practice’ overlap heavily with vocabulary used for the socially respected txiv neeb role. Requires joint human theologian AND native-speaker review before any curriculum content is finalized; this rendering must not be treated as fixed until that review concludes.
No Healing For The Wound
Approved rendering: Tsis muaj kev kho rau qhov mob no lawm; qhov txhaum yog qhov puas tsuaj tas li
Transliteration: ein kehah le-shivrekh nachlah makkatekh
Doctrine: The Justice and Wrath of God against Oppressors
Rejected alternatives: ‘Nineveh will have a hard time’ or similar softened paraphrase — rejected, loses the absolute finality
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 3:19, the book’s closing verdict. Must be read alongside 1:7’s refuge/comfort promise: the same God who is healer/refuge for the oppressed is, for the unrepentant oppressor, beyond remedy. Paired across the book with ‘full_end_complete_destruction’ (1:8-9) as the finality bracket.
High Risk Terms
Wrath Of God
Approved rendering: kev npau taws ntawm Vajtswv
Transliteration: chemah / za’am / charon aph (Hebrew); orgē theou (LXX/Romans parallel)
Doctrine: The Justice and Wrath of God against Oppressors; God as Slow to Anger yet Just
Rejected alternatives: unqualified ‘npau taws’ associated only with capricious spirit/ancestor anger — rejected without explicit contrast teaching
Inherited from Romans package, reused exactly. Covers Nahum’s entire wrath-word-cluster (1:2 chemah, 1:6 za’am/charon aph, 1:6 ‘poured out like fire’). Must always be taught as righteous, judicial, and unappeasable by ritual sacrifice — never assimilated to a spirit’s curse removable by offering, per Nahum-specific escalation in doctrine_risk_registry.json id 1 and id 4.
Power
Approved rendering: hwjchim
Transliteration: koach (Hebrew, gadol koach); dynamis (LXX/Romans parallel)
Doctrine: God’s Sovereignty over Nineveh and Assyria
Rejected alternatives: bare, unqualified hwjchim — FORBIDDEN, identical to a shaman’s (txiv neeb) ritual power
Inherited from Romans package, reused exactly. Mandatory qualifier ‘Vajtswv hwjchim’ applies to Nahum 1:3’s gadol koach (‘great in power’) with identical enforcement rigor.
Idol
Approved rendering: dab mlom
Transliteration: pesel u-massekhah (Hebrew); eidōlon (LXX/Romans parallel)
Doctrine: The Justice and Wrath of God against Oppressors
Rejected alternatives: generic ‘statue’ softening — rejected, must not soften the term
Inherited from Romans package, reused exactly for Nahum 1:14’s ‘carved image and molten image’ (pesel u-massekhah), which God will personally destroy along with Assyria’s royal house.
Servant Slave Doulos
Approved rendering: qhev
Transliteration: golah / shevi (Hebrew, Nahum’s literal usage); doulos (Romans, metaphorical usage)
Doctrine: The Justice and Wrath of God against Oppressors; God’s Sovereignty over Nineveh and Assyria
Rejected alternatives: applying Romans’ ‘honored voluntary bondservice’ framing to Nahum’s literal war-captives — rejected, opposite framing-direction
Inherited from Romans package (the word ‘qhev’ itself), but flagged for a STANDING CROSS-BOOK CAUTION: Nahum 3:10 uses ‘qhev’ for the literal, tragic, involuntary enslavement of Thebes’s war-captives (golah/shevi) — this is precisely the connotation the Romans baseline flagged as a RISK to be managed for Paul’s positive devotional metaphor (doulos, Romans 1:1, 6). In Nahum, the harsh literal sense is doctrinally correct and must NOT be softened; curriculum writers must never cross-apply Romans’ ‘honored bondservice’ teaching note to Nahum 3:10, nor vice versa.
Salvation Save
Approved rendering: kev cawm dim / cawm
Transliteration: chasah / chosei (Hebrew, Nahum’s refuge-vocabulary); sōtēria / sōzō (Romans, Christologically-anchored)
Doctrine: Comfort for the Oppressed
Rejected alternatives: merging Nahum’s ‘take refuge in YHWH’ (chasah) directly into this fixed, Christologically-anchored Romans entry — rejected; see new entry ‘take_refuge_trust’ below
Inherited from Romans package, NOT reused directly for Nahum’s refuge vocabulary. This entry’s mandatory qualifier requires anchoring to Yexus Khetos as the New Testament agent of salvation — a Christological anchor inappropriate to impose retroactively on Nahum’s pre-incarnation text without dedicated typological teaching. Nahum’s refuge-language is instead assigned its own new entry (‘take_refuge_trust’), anchored to ‘tus Tswv’ (YHWH). [TRANSLATOR REVIEW NEEDED: formal cross-Testament TM policy for whether/how to typologically connect the two entries in teaching notes, per analysis/06_linguistic_gap_analysis.md §4.3.]
Lord Of Hosts
Approved rendering: tus Tswv uas Kav Cov Tub Rog Saum Ntuj Ceeb Tsheej
Transliteration: YHWH Tzeva’ot
Doctrine: God’s Sovereignty over Nineveh and Assyria
Rejected alternatives: transliterated loanword for ‘Tzeva’ot’ — rejected, would be an unglossed loanword with zero existing Hmong Christian usage and would fail to trigger necessary contrast-teaching
NEW ENTRY. Descriptive-compound rendering of the divine military title (Nahum 2:13, 3:5). Direct collision risk with Hmong shamanic practice, in which a txiv neeb ritually summons and commands spirit-soldiers/spirit-armies. Must always carry explicit contrast-teaching: God does not summon an army the way a shaman does; the ‘hosts’ are already, eternally, his own — a categorical, not comparative, difference.
Jealous God
Approved rendering: Vajtswv yog tus khib (khib rau nws tib leeg lub koob meej thiab kev pe hawm, tsis yog ib qho kev khib phem zoo li tib neeg)
Transliteration: qanno’
Doctrine: The Justice and Wrath of God against Oppressors; God as Slow to Anger yet Just
Rejected alternatives: bare ‘Vajtswv yog tus khib’ without the parenthetical qualifier — rejected, collapses into capricious territorial/ancestral spirit jealousy
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 1:2. The parenthetical qualifier is structurally mandatory at every occurrence, enforced identically to the Romans TM’s ‘Vajtswv hwjchim’ atomic-unit rule. Without it, hearers may assume God behaves like a dab requiring ritual appeasement rather than a morally consistent covenant God jealous for his own glory and worship alone.
Vengeance Avenge
Approved rendering: kev pauj taub (raws li Vajtswv txoj kev ncaj ncees, tsis yog kev sib pauj ntawm tib neeg lossis ib tsev neeg)
Transliteration: noqem / naqam
Doctrine: The Justice and Wrath of God against Oppressors
Rejected alternatives: bare ‘pauj’ or ‘pauj taub’ without the qualifying clause — rejected, risks validating clan/honor-based blood-feud retaliation as continuous with divine justice
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 1:2. This is a genuinely new collision category not previously encountered in the Romans baseline: Hmong clan-honor culture recognizes legitimate retaliatory ‘pauj’ for injury/insult. The qualifying clause is a mandatory atomic unit, never optional, never truncated for space (headers, quiz stems).
Wrath Poured Out Like Fire
Approved rendering: nws txoj kev npau taws nchuav los zoo li nplaim taws
Transliteration: chamato nittekhah ka-esh
Doctrine: The Justice and Wrath of God against Oppressors; God as Slow to Anger yet Just
Rejected alternatives: metaphor softened to mere displeasure — rejected, this is total, consuming judgment
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 1:6, extension of the wrath cluster. Same collision family as the inherited ‘wrath_of_god’ entry: must be taught as unappeasable by ritual, never assimilated to a spirit’s fire-based curse removable by sacrifice.
Stronghold Refuge
Approved rendering: lub chaw ruaj khov
Transliteration: ma’oz
Doctrine: Comfort for the Oppressed
Rejected alternatives: bare noun phrase with no God-anchoring — rejected, collides with protective amulets (khawv koob) and guardian-spirit invocation
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 1:7. Must always be rendered as a full anchored sentence — ‘tus Tswv yog peb lub chaw ruaj khov’ (the LORD is our stronghold) — never a bare noun phrase standing alone in a list or heading, to prevent assimilation into the existing catalogue of Hmong protective-ritual resources.
Take Refuge Trust
Approved rendering: cov uas cawm siab rau nws
Transliteration: chosei (chasah)
Doctrine: Comfort for the Oppressed
Rejected alternatives: merging directly into the inherited Romans ‘salvation_save’ entry (kev cawm dim) — rejected, that entry’s mandatory Christological qualifier is inappropriate to impose retroactively on this pre-incarnation text without dedicated typological teaching
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 1:7. Deliberately built on the ‘cawm’ root shared with the inherited Romans ‘salvation_save’ entry for lexical family-consistency, but kept structurally and doctrinally distinct. Must always be anchored explicitly to ‘tus Tswv’ (the LORD), never a bare unanchored verb of trust. [TRANSLATOR REVIEW NEEDED: formal cross-Testament TM policy per ‘salvation_save’ entry above.]
Medium Risk Terms
Slow To Anger
Approved rendering: Vajtswv ua siab ntev, tsis ceev npau taws
Transliteration: erek appayim
Doctrine: God as Slow to Anger yet Just
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 1:3, idiom built on the Romans baseline ‘endurance’ root (kev ua siab ntev) for stylistic consistency but logged as a distinct entry (different source word, different theological subject — God’s own forbearance, not human perseverance). MUST always be taught paired with ‘will_by_no_means_clear_the_guilty’ below as a single, inseparable teaching unit; never present one without the other.
Plots Evil Against The Lord
Approved rendering: npaj tswv yim phem tawm tsam Vajtswv
Transliteration: choshev al-YHWH ra’ah
Doctrine: The Justice and Wrath of God against Oppressors
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 1:9,11. Nineveh’s specific crime: active hostility toward God’s purposes, not generic wickedness — grounds this doctrine’s oppressor-specific focus.
Bloody City Woe Oracle
Approved rendering: Txom nyem lauj, lub nroog puv nrog kev tua neeg thiab ntshav
Transliteration: hoy ir damim
Doctrine: The Justice and Wrath of God against Oppressors
Rejected alternatives: colloquial exclamation — rejected, must preserve formal/literary register
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 3:1. Opens the specific indictment of chapter 3; ensure formal register is preserved.
Harlot Political Metaphor
Approved rendering: poj muag cev
Transliteration: zonah
Doctrine: The Justice and Wrath of God against Oppressors
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 3:4. Metaphor for Nineveh’s deceptive, seductive political-military domination of nations, NOT a literal claim about individuals; requires teaching note to avoid casual stigmatizing misapplication.
Clap Hands At Downfall
Approved rendering: npuaj tes zoo siab
Transliteration: taqe’u khaph
Doctrine: Comfort for the Oppressed; The Justice and Wrath of God against Oppressors
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 3:19. Requires a pastoral teaching note distinguishing righteous relief/vindication-joy (God has acted justly for the oppressed) from personal vengeful gloating or incitement to hatred; cross-reference the ‘vengeance_avenge’ entry’s caution that vengeance belongs to God alone.
Comforters Absence
Approved rendering: cov uas yuav nplig siab
Transliteration: menachamim
Doctrine: Comfort for the Oppressed
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 3:7. Ironic contrast with 1:7’s promise of comfort for those who trust God — Nineveh, the oppressor, finds none. Pair pedagogically with 1:7.
Yoke Bonds Broken
Approved rendering: lub quab / txoj hlua khi
Transliteration: mot(ehu) / mosrotayikh
Doctrine: Comfort for the Oppressed
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 1:13. Positive agrarian bridge-image (familiar Hmong farm yoke); risk is under-teaching the uniqueness of divine liberation versus ordinary farm-yoke imagery, not a collision. Conceptually related to, but not lexically identical with, the Romans ‘redemption’ entry.
Lion Lions Den Assyria
Approved rendering: tsov ntxhuav
Transliteration: ari / kephir / me’on arayot
Doctrine: The Justice and Wrath of God against Oppressors; God’s Sovereignty over Nineveh and Assyria
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 2:11-12. Comprehension gap — lions are not native to the Hmong homeland region; recommend an illustrative teaching note drawing on Hmong tiger (tsov) folklore as a cultural bridge for the ferocity/predation imagery.
Fig Tree Fortress Firstripe Figs
Approved rendering: tsob txiv ncuab thawj phaus txiv
Transliteration: te’enim im bikkurim
Doctrine: The Justice and Wrath of God against Oppressors
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 3:12. Conceptually adjacent to, but lexically distinct from, the Romans ‘firstfruits’ entry; agricultural imagery culturally accessible to an agrarian Hmong context.
Low Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: Vajtswv
Transliteration: El (Hebrew); 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, reused exactly. Applied to Nahum 1:2’s ‘El qanno’ (a jealous God).
Lord
Approved rendering: tus Tswv
Transliteration: YHWH (Hebrew); kyrios (LXX)
Doctrine: General / Cross-cutting
Rejected alternatives: Divine-name transliteration substitution (e.g. sectarian ‘Yehauvas’ pattern) — permanently forbidden per Romans baseline §4
Inherited from Romans package, reused exactly for YHWH throughout Nahum 1-3. Hmong RPA has no case-distinction mirroring the English small-caps LORD/Lord convention distinguishing YHWH from Adonai; handle editorially (footnote at first occurrence per chapter), never lexically.
Ashamed
Approved rendering: txaj muag
Transliteration: qalon (Hebrew); epaischynomai (LXX/Romans parallel)
Doctrine: The Justice and Wrath of God against Oppressors
Inherited from Romans package, reused exactly (partial reuse) for the ‘shame’ component of Nahum 3:5’s public-exposure judgment imagery (qalon).
World
Approved rendering: lub ntiajteb
Transliteration: tevel (Hebrew); kosmos (LXX/Romans parallel)
Doctrine: God’s Sovereignty over Nineveh and Assyria
Inherited from Romans package, reused exactly — but applied specifically to Nahum 1:5’s tevel (‘the inhabited world’), NOT to erets (‘the physical ground/earth’), which is rendered separately as ‘thaj av’ to preserve the Hebrew merism. Do not use ‘lub ntiajteb’ for erets.
Gospel
Approved rendering: Txoj Moo Zoo
Transliteration: besorah / mevaser (Hebrew); euangelion (LXX/Romans parallel)
Doctrine: Comfort for the Oppressed
Inherited from Romans package, reused exactly for the herald’s ‘good news’ in Nahum 1:15, which closely parallels Isaiah 52:7 and is echoed by Paul in Romans 10:15. High doctrinal/intertextual value — recommend explicit cross-reference teaching note connecting Nahum 1:15 to Romans 10:15.
Peace
Approved rendering: kev thaj yeeb
Transliteration: shalom (Hebrew); eirēnē (LXX/Romans parallel)
Doctrine: Comfort for the Oppressed
Inherited from Romans package, reused exactly for the herald’s proclamation of shalom in Nahum 1:15, paired with ‘gospel’ above.
Promise
Approved rendering: lus cog tseg
Transliteration: epangelia (Romans); nedarayikh (Hebrew, Nahum’s ‘vows’, direction-reversed)
Doctrine: Comfort for the Oppressed
Inherited from Romans package. Nahum 1:15’s ‘nedarayikh’ (vows) shares this exact surface phrasing but reverses the direction of address: a human vow TO God, not God’s promise TO humanity as in Romans. This direction-reversal must be flagged explicitly in any teaching note referencing both passages; see new entry ‘vows_to_god’ below.
Glory
Approved rendering: lub yeeb koob
Transliteration: doxa (Romans); ga’own (Hebrew, Nahum 2:2, lexically distinct)
Doctrine: Comfort for the Oppressed; God’s Sovereignty over Nineveh and Assyria
Inherited from Romans package. Nahum 2:2’s ‘ga’own’ (majesty/pride, restored to Jacob) is stylistically echoed by this rendering but is lexically and conceptually distinct (different underlying Hebrew word than doxa); logged as a related-but-distinct new entry, see ‘restore_majesty_glory_of_jacob’ below.
Endurance
Approved rendering: kev ua siab ntev
Transliteration: hypomonē (Romans); erek appayim (Hebrew, Nahum 1:3, distinct root, different theological subject)
Doctrine: God as Slow to Anger yet Just
Inherited from Romans package as the stylistic root borrowed for Nahum’s distinct new entry ‘slow_to_anger’ below. IMPORTANT distinction: the Romans entry describes HUMAN patient perseverance (hypomonē); Nahum’s related phrase describes GOD’s own forbearance (erek appayim) — different theological subject, different Hebrew source word. Do not conflate the two doctrines when teaching.
Good Tov
Approved rendering: zoo
Transliteration: tov
Doctrine: Comfort for the Oppressed; God as Slow to Anger yet Just
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 1:7 pivot-term. Structurally High-risk despite lexical simplicity: if taught in isolation from 1:2-6 (wrath) and 1:8 (destruction), hearers may conclude Nahum contains two incompatible gods. Mandatory literary-structure teaching note: 1:2-8 is a single unbroken theological unit; ‘zoo’ is continuous with, not a correction of, the wrath-cluster.
Rebuke Ga Ar
Approved rendering: ntuas
Transliteration: ga’ar
Doctrine: God’s Sovereignty over Nineveh and Assyria
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 1:4. God’s mere word subdues the sea, echoing Genesis 1 and the Exodus/Jordan crossings.
Good News Peace Herald
Approved rendering: tus qhia Txoj Moo Zoo thiab tshaj tawm kev thaj yeeb
Transliteration: mevaser mashmia shalom
Doctrine: Comfort for the Oppressed
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 1:15, combining the inherited ‘gospel’ and ‘peace’ entries into the fixed herald formula. Doctrinally high-value intertextual link to Isaiah 52:7 and Romans 10:15 — recommend explicit cross-reference teaching note.
Sea Rivers Dried
Approved rendering: hiav txwv / cov dej ntws
Transliteration: yam / naharot
Doctrine: God’s Sovereignty over Nineveh and Assyria
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 1:4. Symbolic of chaos/hostile nations subdued at God’s rebuke, echoing Exodus/creation imagery.
Wither Bashan Carmel Lebanon
Approved rendering: qhuav zog thiab tuag
Transliteration: amlal
Doctrine: God’s Sovereignty over Nineveh and Assyria
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 1:4. Even the most fertile, celebrated regions fail before God — no place of natural strength is exempt.
Bashan Carmel Lebanon Names
Approved rendering: Npasas / Kalemees / Lenpanoos
Transliteration: Bashan / Carmel / Lebanon
Doctrine: God’s Sovereignty over Nineveh and Assyria
NEW PROPER NOUNS, Nahum 1:4. Comprehension gap only; recommend first-occurrence footnote describing each as a famously fertile/forested region.
Mountains Hills Quake Melt
Approved rendering: tej roob ua zog tshee / tej pov roob yaj mus
Transliteration: harim ra’ashu / giv’ot hitmogagu
Doctrine: God’s Sovereignty over Nineveh and Assyria
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 1:5. Theophanic earthquake-and-melting imagery.
Earth Physical Ground
Approved rendering: thaj av
Transliteration: erets
Doctrine: God’s Sovereignty over Nineveh and Assyria
Rejected alternatives: lub ntiajteb (reserved for tevel) — rejected for this referent, would erase the Hebrew merism
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 1:5. Deliberately distinguished from the inherited ‘world’ entry (tevel) to preserve the merism (ground itself + everyone living on it).
Rocks Broken
Approved rendering: tej pob zeb tawg ua tej dhuas
Transliteration: ha-tzurim nittetzu
Doctrine: God’s Sovereignty over Nineveh and Assyria
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 1:6. Final intensification of the theophany before the turn to refuge-language in v.7.
Vision Chazon
Approved rendering: yog toog
Transliteration: chazon
Doctrine: General / Cross-cutting
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 1:1. Frames the book as revealed, not invented, content.
Nahum Prophet Name
Approved rendering: Nahoos
Transliteration: Nachum
Doctrine: Comfort for the Oppressed
NEW PROPER NOUN, Nahum 1:1. The prophet’s name means ‘comfort/consolation’ — doctrinally load-bearing for the Comfort-for-the-Oppressed doctrine before a single oracle is spoken. MANDATORY first-use footnote required across every curriculum module explaining the name’s meaning (same root Nahum later uses for ‘comforters,’ see ‘comforters_absence’ above), since this wordplay is invisible in transliteration alone.
Elkoshite Hometown
Approved rendering: tus Ekhauj
Transliteration: ha-Elqoshi
Doctrine: General / Cross-cutting
NEW PROPER NOUN, Nahum 1:1. Comprehension gap only (unidentified location); no doctrinal weight.
Nineveh Proper Noun
Approved rendering: Nineves
Transliteration: Nineveh
Doctrine: The Justice and Wrath of God against Oppressors; God’s Sovereignty over Nineveh and Assyria
NEW PROPER NOUN, Nahum 1:1 and throughout. Working transliteration; log for confirmation against any existing Hmong Old Testament translation tradition.
Assyria King Of Assyria
Approved rendering: Axilias / vaj ntxwv ntawm Axilias
Transliteration: Ashshur
Doctrine: God’s Sovereignty over Nineveh and Assyria
NEW PROPER NOUN, Nahum 3. Comprehension gap only; recommend a brief historical footnote.
No Amon Cush Put Libya
Approved rendering: Nau-Amoos / Kushes / Puts / Linpias
Transliteration: No Amon / Kush / Put / Luvim
Doctrine: God’s Sovereignty over Nineveh and Assyria
NEW PROPER NOUNS, Nahum 3:8-9. Historical precedent argument; comprehension gap (unfamiliar ancient geography/history) only, recommend a footnote.
Jacob Israel
Approved rendering: Yakhauj / Yixalayees
Transliteration: Ya’akov / Yisrael
Doctrine: Comfort for the Oppressed
NEW/PARTIALLY-REUSED PROPER NOUNS, Nahum 2:2. ‘Yixalayees’ reuses the Romans baseline naming convention for Israel exactly; ‘Yakhauj’ is a new proper-noun entry following the same established Hmong Bible naming convention.
Low-Medium Risk Terms
Know Relationally
Approved rendering: paub
Transliteration: yoda
Doctrine: Comfort for the Oppressed
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 1:7. Intimate, covenantal knowledge, not mere cognitive awareness. Teaching note should draw the same relational, non-fatalistic-will parallel documented for the Romans baseline ‘election_choose’ entry (see above).
Whirlwind Storm
Approved rendering: cua daj cua dub
Transliteration: suphah / se’arah
Doctrine: God’s Sovereignty over Nineveh and Assyria
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 1:3. Theophany imagery; comprehension-level only, storms are familiar in the Hmong highland agrarian context.
Darkness Pursues Enemies
Approved rendering: kev tsaus ntuj yuav caum nws cov yeeb ncuab mus
Transliteration: ve-oyevav yeradeph choshekh
Doctrine: The Justice and Wrath of God against Oppressors
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 1:8. Deliberate reversal-counterpart to the refuge promise of 1:7 — should be taught as such.
Exile Captivity Literal
Approved rendering: raug ntes coj mus rau lwm tebchaws ua qhev
Transliteration: golah / shevi
Doctrine: The Justice and Wrath of God against Oppressors; God’s Sovereignty over Nineveh and Assyria
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 3:10, describing Thebes’s historical fall as precedent for Nineveh’s coming end. Deliberately reuses ‘qhev’ from the inherited Romans entry for its literal historical meaning — see ‘servant_slave_doulos’ above for the mandatory cross-book caution against confusing this literal use with Romans’ honored-metaphor use.
Day Of Trouble
Approved rendering: hnub muaj kev txom nyem
Transliteration: yom tsarah
Doctrine: Comfort for the Oppressed
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 1:7. No independent collision beyond what ‘stronghold_refuge’/‘take_refuge_trust’ already flag.
Vows To God
Approved rendering: koj tej lus cog tseg rau Vajtswv
Transliteration: nedarayikh
Doctrine: Comfort for the Oppressed
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 1:15. Shares surface phrasing with the inherited Romans ‘promise’ entry but the direction is reversed (human vow TO God, not God’s promise TO humanity); flag explicitly in any teaching note referencing both.
Restore Majesty Glory Of Jacob
Approved rendering: tus Tswv yuav rov qab pub lub yeeb koob rau Yakhauj
Transliteration: shav YHWH et ge’own Ya’akov
Doctrine: Comfort for the Oppressed; God’s Sovereignty over Nineveh and Assyria
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 2:2. Stylistically echoes, but is lexically distinct from, the inherited Romans ‘glory’ entry (doxa); the underlying Hebrew word (ga’own, ‘majesty/pride’) differs.
Overflowing Flood Judgment
Approved rendering: dej nyab loj heev uas ntws dhau mus
Transliteration: shetph over
Doctrine: The Justice and Wrath of God against Oppressors; God’s Sovereignty over Nineveh and Assyria
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 1:8. Deliberately echoes v.4’s sea/rivers imagery; historically fulfilled in Nineveh’s 612 BC fall via river-flood breaching its walls.
The Shatterer Besieging Army
Approved rendering: tus tuaj ua rau puas tsuaj
Transliteration: mephitz
Doctrine: God’s Sovereignty over Nineveh and Assyria
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 2:1. God’s chosen historical instrument (the Medo-Babylonian coalition); reinforces sovereign direction of even pagan armies. Cross-reference conceptually, not lexically, to the Romans ‘governing_authority’ entry.
Devastation Desolation Destruction Triad
Approved rendering: kev puas tsuaj, kev nyob do cuas, kev raug rhuav tshem tag nrho
Transliteration: buqah u-mevuqah u-mevullaqah
Doctrine: The Justice and Wrath of God against Oppressors
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 2:10. Hmong lacks an equivalent triple-wordplay device; comprehension-level loss of poetic effect only, no doctrinal collision.
Oracle Burden
Approved rendering: zaj lus hnyav txiav txim
Transliteration: massa
Doctrine: The Justice and Wrath of God against Oppressors; God’s Sovereignty over Nineveh and Assyria
Rejected alternatives: transliterated loanword — rejected, no existing Hmong Christian usage to anchor it
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 1:1 superscription. Necessary paraphrase; Hmong has no single genre-word combining ‘oracle’ and ‘burden’ as Hebrew massa does. Accepted as permanent; poetic wordplay loss logged in a footnote.
Worthless Counselor Belial
Approved rendering: tus tuaj yeem npaj tswv yim phem, tsis muaj qabhau
Transliteration: yo’etz beliya’al
Doctrine: The Justice and Wrath of God against Oppressors
Rejected alternatives: transliteration of ‘Belial’ — rejected, term/name unfamiliar with no existing Hmong Christian anchor
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 1:11. Identifies Assyria’s leadership as morally bankrupt instigators; rendered descriptively.
Locusts Multiply
Approved rendering: kooj
Transliteration: arbeh / yeleq
Doctrine: The Justice and Wrath of God against Oppressors
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 3:15-17. Agrarian pest imagery, comprehension-accessible to a rice-farming Hmong audience.
Shepherds Slumber Rulers
Approved rendering: koj cov nom tswv (npua tsov npua yaj) tsaug zog lawm
Transliteration: namu ro’eikha
Doctrine: The Justice and Wrath of God against Oppressors; God’s Sovereignty over Nineveh and Assyria
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 3:18. Ruler-as-shepherd metaphor; comprehension-level nuance only.
Medium-High Risk Terms
Continual Unceasing Evil
Approved rendering: koj txoj kev limhiam uas tsis paub tas
Transliteration: ra’atkha tamid
Doctrine: The Justice and Wrath of God against Oppressors
Rejected alternatives: collapsing into a universal-guilt statement matching the Romans ‘sin_act_and_condition’ doctrine — rejected, Nahum’s guilt-ground is corporate, habitual, oppressor-specific wickedness, a distinct doctrinal category from Romans’ individual/inherited universal guilt
NEW ENTRY, Nahum 3:19. Final characterization of Nineveh’s guilt as an ongoing pattern, not an isolated act; teaching must preserve Nahum’s specific ‘against oppressors’ focus.