Zechariah — Phase 1 Semantic Analysis (Hmong Language Package)

§0. Methodology Note: Source-Language Correction

Zechariah is written in Biblical Hebrew (with the Hebrew term “Yawmsaub”-style tetragrammaton YHWH throughout), not Koine Greek — the New Testament corpus (Romans) that anchors the baseline package is Greek, but the Old Testament book assigned to this curriculum is Hebrew. This analysis therefore treats the Masoretic Hebrew text as the original for every load-bearing term, transliterating with standard academic conventions. Where the Septuagint (LXX) Greek translation of a term is doctrinally relevant — chiefly because the New Testament quotes Zechariah directly from the LXX (Zech 9:9 → Matt 21:5/John 12:15; Zech 12:10 → John 19:37/Rev 1:7; Zech 13:7 → Matt 26:31) — the LXX Greek form is noted alongside the Hebrew, since it is the bridge that justifies reusing several fixed Romans-package Hmong renderings (e.g., εἰρήνη/שָׁלוֹם both render as kev thaj yeeb; ἔθνη/גּוֹיִם both render as lwm Haiv Neeg).

Governing rule: Every term already fixed in assets/translation_memory.json (Romans baseline) is reused verbatim below wherever the same referent occurs in Zechariah. New terms unique to Zechariah’s prophetic-apocalyptic register (visions, oracles, priestly/royal offices, agrarian and pastoral imagery) are proposed here as candidate TM entries, flagged [NEW — pending TM-revision review], per the escalation rule in 12_ai_translation_requirements.md §9.

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§1. Core Passage — Zechariah 9:9-10 (Verse-by-Verse)

Zechariah 9:9

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.”

a. “Rejoice greatly” / “shout”

• Hebrew: גִּילִי מְאֹד … הָרִיעִי (gili me’od … hari’i), from roots גיל (gil, “exult, spin with joy”) and רוע (rua, “shout aloud,” used elsewhere for a battle-alarm or a shout of triumph).
• Literal meaning: an imperative double-call to violent, exultant joy — not quiet contentment.
• Semantic range: gil = whirling/leaping joy; rua = a loud triumphant cry, often at a king’s coronation or military victory (cf. 1 Sam 10:24).
• English variants: “rejoice greatly / rejoice exceedingly,” “shout / shout aloud / cry out.”
• Contextual theological meaning: Zion is summoned to a coronation-acclamation, the joy owed to a victorious, arriving king — deliberately setting up the ironic contrast with the humble, unwarlike manner of his actual arrival (v.9c-f).
• Hmong rendering: zoo siab kawg nkaus … qw nrov nrov (rejoice exceedingly … cry out loudly). Risk: Low. No competing traditional-religion referent; standard celebratory vocabulary, distinct from cultic pehawm (worship) verbs.

b. “Daughter of Zion” / “daughter of Jerusalem”

• Hebrew: בַּת־צִיּוֹן / בַּת יְרוּשָׁלַםִ (bat-Tsiyyon / bat Yerushalayim).
• Literal meaning: “daughter of Zion/Jerusalem” — a Hebrew idiom personifying the city and its covenant people as a woman/daughter.
• Semantic range: covers the city, its inhabitants, and by extension the whole covenant community.
• English variants: “daughter of Zion,” “people of Zion,” “Zion” (personified).
• Contextual theological meaning: the personified covenant people addressed as the object of the King’s coming; connects directly to Doctrine 5, “God’s Zeal for Zion.”
• Hmong rendering: tus ntxhais Xi-oo / tus ntxhais Yeluxalees. Risk: Low-Medium. Transliteration of Zion (Xi-oo) and Jerusalem (Yeluxalees, already established) is stable; the personification-as-”daughter” idiom requires a first-use footnote for Hmong readers unfamiliar with this figure of speech, but there is no collision with traditional religion.

c. “Thy King cometh unto thee”

• Hebrew: הִנֵּה מַלְכְּךָ יָבוֹא לָךְ (hinneh malkekha yavo lakh), from מֶלֶךְ (melekh, “king”) and בוא (bo, “come, arrive”).
• Literal meaning: “Behold, your king is coming to you.”
• Semantic range: melekh denotes a reigning sovereign with legitimate royal authority (contrasted with usurpers or foreign overlords).
• English variants: “your king,” “your sovereign.”
• Contextual theological meaning: this is the central Messianic King announcement of Doctrine 1. The king belongs to Zion (“thy king”) and personally comes (“cometh unto thee”) — an advent, not a summons to travel to him. Quoted directly in Matt 21:5 and John 12:15 of Jesus’s Palm Sunday entry.
• Hmong rendering: koj tus Huab Tais tabtom los rau ntawm koj [NEW — pending TM-revision review]. Risk: High. “Huab Tais” (king/emperor) is the standard Hmong word for royalty but carries strong association with the historical Hmong clan-kingship narratives and with earthly, martial kingship; must be paired at first occurrence with a teaching note anchoring this King to the promised Davidic Messianic line (2 Sam 7) and to lub Nceeg Vaj ntawm Vajtswv (Kingdom of God, reused from Romans TM), to prevent a purely nationalistic/political reading.

d. “He is just”

• Hebrew: צַדִּיק (tsaddiq).
• Literal meaning: “righteous.”
• Semantic range: identical root behind Romans’ dikaios discussion.
• English variants: “just,” “righteous.”
• Contextual theological meaning: the King’s righteousness is a royal-messianic credential (cf. Isa 9:7, 11:4-5; Jer 23:5 “a righteous Branch”).
• Hmong rendering: tus ncaj ncees. REUSED EXACTLY from Romans TM (righteousness_of_god_righteous). Risk: Critical, per baseline — must not be read as an achieved moral quality; here it describes the King’s own righteous character/reign, consistent with, not contradicting, the forensic sense established for Romans.

e. “And having salvation”

• Hebrew: נוֹשָׁע (nosha), Niphal (passive/reflexive) participle of יָשַׁע (yasha, “to save, deliver”).
• Literal meaning: “one who has been saved / delivered” — grammatically passive, not active (“one who saves/gives salvation”).
• Semantic range: yasha covers deliverance from military, physical, or spiritual distress; the Niphal form specifically casts the king as the recipient of God’s saving action, not merely its dispenser.
• English variants: “having salvation” (KJV, giving an active-sounding gloss to a passive form), “victorious” (NIV), “triumphant” (ESV), “saved” (more literal).
• Contextual theological meaning: this is theologically dense — the coming King’s triumph is itself God-given, not self-achieved, reinforcing his humility (v.9f) rather than contradicting it. This nuance matters for Doctrine 1 (the Messianic King is exalted by the Father, cf. Phil 2:8-9, not a self-exalting conqueror).
• Hmong rendering: tau txais kev cawm dim (los ntawm Vajtswv), anchored explicitly to God as the agent who delivers/vindicates the King. Base term REUSED from Romans TM (salvation_save: kev cawm dim / cawm). Risk: High. If rendered with an active-sounding phrase (“muab kev cawm dim rau,” “he gives salvation”) without the passive/vindication nuance, the Niphal’s theological point — that even the King is the object of the Father’s saving action — is lost; [TRANSLATOR REVIEW NEEDED: confirm passive-voice teaching note is retained in every lesson using this verse].

f. “Lowly” / “humble”

• Hebrew: עָנִי (ani).
• Literal meaning: “poor, afflicted, humble, lowly.”
• Semantic range: covers economic poverty, social affliction, and humility of bearing; frequently paired with God’s special care for the ani (cf. Ps 34:6, 40:17).
• English variants: “lowly,” “humble,” “meek,” “afflicted.”
• Contextual theological meaning: directly anticipates the Messiah’s incarnational humility (cf. Phil 2:6-8; Matt 11:29 “I am meek and lowly”); reinforces that the King’s glory (v.9c-e) and his humility (v.9f) are held together, not opposed.
• Hmong rendering: kev txo hwjchim thiab pluag [NEW — pending TM-revision review]. Risk: Medium-High. Constructing this phrase on the root hwjchim (power) — already a flagged Critical/High term in the Romans TM requiring the mandatory qualifier “Vajtswv hwjchim” — risks bleeding shamanic-power connotations into a term meant to convey the opposite, self-lowering quality. Recommend an alternative periphrasis not built on the hwjchim root, e.g. tus uas txo nws tus kheej, ib tug pluag (“one who lowers himself, a poor/afflicted one”), to keep this humility-term lexically separate from the power-vocabulary domain. [TRANSLATOR REVIEW NEEDED: confirm final phrase avoids hwjchim root].

g. “Riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass”

• Hebrew: רֹכֵב עַל־חֲמוֹר וְעַל־עַיִר בֶּן־אֲתֹנוֹת (rokev al-chamor ve’al-ayir ben-atonot).
• Literal meaning: “riding on a donkey, and on a colt, son of she-donkeys.”
• Semantic range: חֲמוֹר (chamor, donkey) and עַיִר (ayir, young donkey/colt) together form a poetic doublet (common in Hebrew parallelism) rather than necessarily two separate animals; Matt 21:2-7 reads it as two animals for narrative purposes.
• English variants: “donkey,” “ass,” “colt,” “foal.”
• Contextual theological meaning: a donkey, not a war-horse (cf. v.10’s cutting-off of the horse/chariot), signals a peaceful royal entry, deliberately contrasting with the martial pomp expected of conquering kings (cf. 1 Kings 1:33, Solomon’s peaceable enthronement also uses a mule/donkey).
• Hmong rendering: caij ib tug neeg luav [NEW — pending TM-revision review]. Risk: Low-Medium. Donkeys are not a traditional Hmong highland pack/riding animal, producing a comprehension gap (not a doctrinal collision); a brief illustrative note explaining the ancient Near Eastern royal-donkey-versus-war-horse convention is recommended at first occurrence.

Zechariah 9:10

“And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.”

a. “I will cut off the chariot … horse … battle bow”

• Hebrew: וְהִכְרַתִּי־רֶכֶב מֵאֶפְרַיִם וְסוּס מִירוּשָׁלַםִ וְנִכְרְתָה קֶשֶׁת מִלְחָמָה (vehikratti-rekhev me’Ephrayim vesus miYerushalayim venikhretah qeshet milchamah), from כרת (karat, “to cut off, cut down, eliminate”).
• Literal meaning: chariot (rekhev), horse (sus), and “bow of war” (qeshet milchamah) — the standard implements of ancient warfare — are decisively eliminated.
• Semantic range: karat is the same root used for covenant-cutting (karat berith), giving an ironic undertone: the cutting-off of war-instruments accompanies the (implied) cutting/establishing of a peace-covenant.
• English variants: “cut off / remove / do away with.”
• Contextual theological meaning: this is a disarmament oracle — the Messianic King’s reign inaugurates the end of both Israel’s own war machinery (“from Ephraim,” “from Jerusalem”) and warfare generally, consistent with the peaceable-donkey imagery of v.9.
• Hmong rendering: kuv yuav rho tawm tsheb nees rog, nees rog, thiab hneev xub ua rog [NEW — pending TM-revision review]. Risk: Low. Concrete military-disarmament imagery transfers cleanly; no collision with traditional religion.

b. “He shall speak peace unto the heathen [nations]”

• Hebrew: וְדִבֶּר שָׁלוֹם לַגּוֹיִם (vedibber shalom lagoyim).
• LXX Greek: καὶ λαλήσει εἰρήνην ἔθνεσιν (lalēsei eirēnēn ethnesin).
• Literal meaning: “and he will speak peace to the nations.”
• Semantic range: שָׁלוֹם (shalom) = wholeness, well-being, right relationship, cessation of hostility; גּוֹיִם (goyim) = the nations/Gentile peoples.
• English variants: “heathen” (KJV, archaic), “nations,” “Gentiles.”
• Contextual theological meaning: the Messianic King’s peace-proclamation is universal in scope, extending beyond Israel to the goyim — directly anticipating Rom 15:9-12’s Gentile-inclusion argument.
• Hmong rendering: hais kev thaj yeeb rau lwm Haiv Neeg. Both peace (kev thaj yeeb) and nations/Gentiles (lwm Haiv Neeg) are REUSED EXACTLY from Romans TM. Risk: Low, inherited from the stable Romans baseline entries; this is a strong, clean cross-Testament reuse.

c. “His dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth”

• Hebrew: וּמָשְׁלוֹ מִיָּם עַד־יָם וּמִנָּהָר עַד־אַפְסֵי־אָרֶץ (umoshlo miyam ad-yam uminnahar ad-afsei-aretz), from מָשַׁל (mashal, “to rule, exercise dominion”).
• Literal meaning: “and his rule [shall be] from sea to sea, and from the River [Euphrates] to the ends of the earth.”
• Semantic range: mashal denotes sovereign governance, distinct from the accounting/“reckon” sense of the homophonous root used elsewhere; here it is royal dominion.
• English variants: “dominion,” “rule,” “reign.”
• Contextual theological meaning: universal, global kingship — echoing Ps 72:8 almost verbatim — establishing that the Messianic King’s reign is not confined to Israel’s borders but extends to “the ends of the earth,” directly supporting Doctrine 1 and cohering with Doctrine 3 (Visions of God’s Sovereign Plan).
• Hmong rendering: nws txoj kev kav yuav ncua txij ntug hiav txwv mus rau ntug hiav txwv, thiab txij tus Dej Loj mus rau qhov kawg ntawm lub ntiajteb [NEW — pending TM-revision review]. Risk: Low-Medium. Should be taught alongside lub Nceeg Vaj ntawm Vajtswv (kingdom_of_god, reused from Romans TM) to connect this universal dominion explicitly to the in-breaking Kingdom of God rather than to a merely political empire.

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§2. Chapter-by-Chapter Study (Full Book)

Chapter 1 — Call to Return; Night Vision of the Horsemen

• “Return to me” / repentance — Heb. שׁוּבוּ אֵלַי (shuvu elai), from שׁוב (shuv, “turn, return”). Contextual meaning: covenant-relational repentance, not merely moral improvement. Hmong: tig rov qab rau kuv [NEW]. Risk: Low, standard Hmong Christian conversion/repentance vocabulary already used broadly.
• “LORD of hosts” (YHWH Tsebaoth) — Heb. יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת. Literal: “LORD of armies.” Semantic range: heavenly/angelic armies, not merely Israel’s earthly military. Hmong: tus TSWV uas Kav Cov Tub Rog Saum Ntuj [NEW — pending TM-revision review]. Risk: Medium-High. Requires teaching note that “hosts” = heavenly/angelic armies under God’s command, to avoid a militaristic-nationalist misreading; the divine-name convention “tus TSWV” (full-caps, extending Romans TM’s kyrios rendering “tus Tswv”) is used throughout this package for YHWH — must never be replaced with a transliterated form (e.g. “Yehauvas”), consistent with the Romans package’s forbidden-substitution precedent against NWT-style divine-name substitution (§3.1).
• God’s zeal/jealousy for Zion — Heb. קִנְאָה (qinah, 1:14). Literal: “jealousy, zeal.” Contextual meaning: God’s fierce, protective covenant love for His people, provoked by their affliction — the anchor term for Doctrine 5. Hmong: kev khib siab rau Xi-oo (Vajtswv txoj kev hlub uas ceev thiab tiv thaiv nws haiv neeg) [NEW — pending TM-revision review]. Risk: Critical. Khib siab (“jealousy”) in ordinary Hmong usage denotes petty, sinful envy or a jealous spouse; if left unqualified, God’s righteous zeal for Zion collapses into a capricious human emotion, parallel to the existing Romans-TM caution on wrath_of_god. Mandatory qualifier required at every occurrence, modeled directly on the wrath_of_god pattern: never bare “kev khib siab,” always the full explanatory phrase.
• Angel of the LORD — Heb. מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה (mal’akh YHWH). Hmong: tus Tim Tswv ntawm tus TSWV [NEW]. Risk: Medium. Standard Hmong Christian term for “angel” (tim tswv) exists; flag comprehension-level risk of confusion with ancestral-spirit messengers if the divine-agency qualifier is dropped.
• Horns that scattered Judah — descriptive military-power metaphor; no separate lexical risk beyond reused nations vocabulary.
• Measuring line — Heb. חֶבֶל מִדָּה (chevel middah). Hmong: hlua ntsuas. Risk: Low, concrete surveying image, no collision.

Chapter 2 — The Measuring Line; God’s Glory in Zion’s Midst

• Wall of fire / glory in her midst — Heb. חוֹמַת אֵשׁ (chomat esh) and כָּבוֹד (kavod, “glory”). Glory REUSED EXACTLY from Romans TM (glory: lub yeeb koob). Risk: Low, inherited stable rendering.
• “Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD” — reuses nations (lwm Haiv Neeg, REUSED) and anticipates Doctrine 3’s sovereign-plan-for-all-peoples theme. Risk: Low.
• Inheritance/dwelling in the land — Heb. נָחַל (nachal, “inherit, possess”). Hmong: qub txeeg qub teg — note conceptual link to Romans TM heir (tus qub txeeg qub teg), though here used of the land, not a person. Risk: Low.

Chapter 3 — Joshua the High Priest; the Branch

• Satan / the Accuser — Heb. הַשָּׂטָן (ha-satan, “the accuser/adversary,” with definite article marking an office/role, not yet fully a proper name). Hmong: dab Ntxwg Nyoog (established Hmong Christian term for the Devil/Satan). Risk: Medium. Shares the root dab (“spirit”) with animistic vocabulary generally, but the compound dab Ntxwg Nyoog is already a settled, distinguishing Hmong Christian designation; note structural parallel to the Vaj Ntsuj Plig / ntsuj plig disambiguation pattern — this modifier must never be dropped when referring to Satan specifically.
• High Priest — Heb. כֹּהֵן הַגָּדוֹל (kohen ha-gadol). Hmong: tus Tuam Povthawj [NEW — pending TM-revision review]. Risk: High. The Old Testament cultic priestly office risks assimilation to the Hmong shamanic office (txiv neeb), the very collision the Romans package deliberately avoided by choosing a non-priestly euphemism for leitourgos (Rom 15). Since Zechariah’s narrative requires an actual priestly office-term (Joshua’s priestly garments, cleansing, and mediatorial role are central to the chapter), this package must introduce the term but with mandatory contrast-teaching: Joshua’s priesthood is a divinely instituted, sacrificial-system office pointing forward to Christ’s priesthood (cf. Heb 4-10), categorically distinct from shamanic spirit-mediation.
• Filthy garments removed / iniquity taken away — Heb. עָוֹן (avon, “iniquity, guilt”). REUSES Romans TM sin_act_and_condition (txhaum / kev txhaum) for the underlying guilt-concept. Risk: High, inherited — same guilt-as-reparable-social-fault collision documented in the Romans baseline applies here.
• The Branch (tsemach) — Heb. צֶמַח (tsemach, “sprout, shoot, branch”), a fixed Messianic title (cf. Isa 11:1, Jer 23:5, 33:15). Hmong: tus Ceg Ntoo [NEW — pending TM-revision review]. Risk: High. This is a technical Messianic title, not a botanical reference; if rendered as ordinary “ceg ntoo” (tree branch) without a mandatory Messianic-title teaching note and a fixed capitalization/naming convention, hearers will miss its typological, kingly-priestly significance (Doctrine 1). Must be flagged identically at every occurrence (3:8; 6:12).
• Stone with seven eyes — apocalyptic-symbolic imagery; no lexical collision, flagged only for a comprehension-level teaching note on the number seven (completeness) and “eyes” (God’s omniscient oversight, cf. 4:10).

Chapter 4 — The Lampstand and the Two Olive Trees

• “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit” — Heb. לֹא בְחַיִל וְלֹא בְכֹחַ כִּי בְרוּחִי (lo bechayil velo bechoach ki beruchi). “Might” (chayil) and “power” (koach) both denote military/physical strength; “my Spirit” (ruchi) is רוּחַ (ruach) referring here to the Spirit of God. Power REUSED from Romans TM (power: hwjchim, mandatory qualifier “Vajtswv hwjchim”); Spirit REUSED from Romans TM (holy_spirit: Vaj Ntsuj Plig, mandatory “Vaj” prefix). Risk: Critical, inherited on both counts — this verse is a direct, load-bearing collision point: it explicitly contrasts raw hwjchim-type power with the Spirit’s enablement, so both mandatory qualifiers must appear together and the contrastive “not by … but by” structure must be visibly preserved in translation, not smoothed away.
• Zerubbabel / capstone (“head stone”) — historical figure and construction imagery; Hmong: lub pob zeb saum toj kawg [NEW]. Risk: Low, comprehension-level only.
• The two anointed ones (“sons of oil”) — Heb. בְּנֵי הַיִּצְהָר (bene hayitshar, lit. “sons of the oil/fresh oil”), idiom for “the two anointed ones” (priest and king/governor). Hmong: ob tug uas raug pleev roj tsa cia [NEW]. Risk: Medium. Comprehension gap (anointing-with-oil is not a native Hmong installation-rite) requiring an explanatory note; connects typologically to Doctrine 1’s King-Priest convergence (cf. ch. 6).
• Seven eyes of the LORD — reprise of 3:9’s imagery; no new lexical item.

Chapter 5 — The Flying Scroll and the Woman in the Basket

• Flying scroll / curse — Heb. מְגִלָּה עָפָה (megillah afah, “flying scroll”) and אָלָה (alah, “curse, oath of judgment”). Hmong: phau ntawv ya nyob saum nruab ntug and lus foom tsis zoo [NEW]. Risk: Low-Medium, apocalyptic imagery, comprehension-level only; no traditional-religion collision (Hmong curse-vocabulary exists but is not being borrowed here — the concept is judicial, from God).
• The ephah / woman named “Wickedness” — Heb. אֵיפָה (eifah, a dry-measure unit) and רִשְׁעָה (rish’ah, “wickedness,” personified). Hmong: lub thoob ntsuas qoob loo and Kev Phem (personified) [NEW]. Risk: Low, comprehension gap on the measure-unit only.

Chapter 6 — The Four Chariots; the Crowning of the Branch

• Four chariots / four spirits (winds) of heaven — Heb. אַרְבַּע רוּחוֹת הַשָּׁמָיִם (arba ruchot hashamayim), “four winds/spirits of heaven.” Hmong: plaub tug cua saum ntuj [NEW — pending TM-revision review]. Risk: Medium-High. Hebrew ruach is the identical root behind both “wind” and “Spirit” (cf. ch.4, 12:10); this passage’s angelic/creaturely “four winds” must never be rendered with the Vaj Ntsuj Plig collocation reserved for the Holy Spirit — a disambiguation gap parallel to the Romans TM’s human_spirit_soul/Holy Spirit distinction, now extended to a third category (creaturely wind-spirits/agents). [TRANSLATOR REVIEW NEEDED: confirm no bleed of "Vaj" prefix into this context].
• The Branch crowned; priest and king united — reuses tus Ceg Ntoo (Branch, established ch.3) plus huab tais (king) and tus Tuam Povthawj (high priest), now explicitly combined in one figure. Contextual theological meaning: direct typological anticipation of Christ’s simultaneous royal and priestly offices (Heb 7). Risk: High, inherited from both source terms; requires a dedicated teaching note on the King-Priest union, since no ordinary Hmong social role combines these two offices in one person.

Chapter 7 — True Justice, Not Empty Fasting

• Fasting — Heb. צוֹם (tsom). Hmong: kev yoo mov [NEW]. Risk: Low, existing Hmong Christian term.
• True justice / judge with truth — Heb. מִשְׁפַּט אֱמֶת (mishpat emet). Hmong: kev txiav txim ncaj ncees [NEW], built on the Romans TM righteousness root (ncaj ncees) for internal consistency. Risk: Low-Medium.
• Kindness/mercy (chesed) — Heb. חֶסֶד (chesed, “steadfast covenant loyalty/love,” broader than pity). Contextual theological meaning: chesed denotes God’s (and the required human) covenant-faithful loving-kindness, not mere emotional compassion. Hmong: REUSES Romans TM mercy (txoj kev khuv leej), with a flagged nuance note. Risk: Medium. Khuv leej (compassion/pity toward the miserable) captures chesed’s compassionate dimension but under-conveys its covenant-loyalty dimension; teaching note should distinguish chesed (steadfast covenant love) from the Romans-established eleos/mercy sense, without introducing a competing lexical rendering.
• Stubborn shoulder / heart of stone — Heb. כָּתֵף סֹרֶרֶת (katef sorreret) and לֵב שָׁמִיר (lev shamir, “heart like flint/adamant”). REUSES Romans TM hardening (lub siab tawv) for the heart-hardness image. Risk: Medium, inherited stable idiom.
• Widow, orphan, stranger, poor — standard social-justice quartet; Hmong: poj ntsuam, tub ntsuag, qhua txawv teb chaws, thiab cov pluag [NEW]. Risk: Low.

Chapter 8 — Future Restoration and Joy of Zion

• God’s zeal for Zion (reprise) — reuses ch.1’s kev khib siab rau Xi-oo entry (8:2). Risk: Critical, inherited, same mandatory qualifier applies.
• Old men and children safely in the streets; feasts turned to joy — descriptive restoration imagery; reuses kev zoo siab (joy) and Yeluxalees. Risk: Low.
• Remnant — Heb. שְׁאֵרִית (she’erit). REUSED EXACTLY from Romans TM (remnant: cov seem). Risk: Low, inherited.
• “Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD” — reuses lwm Haiv Neeg (nations, REUSED). Contextual theological meaning: universal ingathering, cohering with Doctrine 3. Risk: Low.
• Truth and peace — reuses qhov tseeb (truth, REUSED from Romans TM) and kev thaj yeeb (peace, REUSED). Risk: Low.

Chapter 9 — The Coming King (vv.1-8, 11-17; core verses 9-10 treated fully in §1 above)

• Oracle against Tyre, Sidon, Philistia (vv.1-8) — historical-geopolitical judgment oracle; God “encamps” to defend “his house” (the Temple/land). Hmong renderings are place-name transliterations (Xolauv, Xidoos, Filixatees) with Low risk.
• “Prisoners of hope” (v.12) — Heb. אֲסִירֵי הַתִּקְוָה (asirei hatiqvah). Hope REUSED EXACTLY from Romans TM (hope: kev cia siab). Hmong: cov raug kaw uas muaj kev cia siab [NEW, built on reused term]. Risk: Low-Medium, inherited stability from the hope entry; comprehension-level note only on the “prisoner” metaphor for exile/affliction.
• Bow of war given to Judah and Ephraim (vv.13-14) — reuses war-implement vocabulary from v.10; note the deliberate tension between the disarmament of v.10 and the martial imagery of vv.13-15, requiring a teaching note that this describes a distinct, later phase of the vision (divine deliverance-in-battle) rather than contradicting the peaceable King of v.9-10. Risk: Medium (comprehension/coherence risk, not collision).

Chapter 10 — The LORD Will Care for His Flock

• Shepherd/flock — Heb. רָעָה (ra’ah, “shepherd, pastor”) and צֹאן (tson, “flock, sheep”). Hmong: tus yug yaj and pab yaj [NEW]. Risk: Low, agrarian/pastoral imagery accessible to the Hmong agrarian context, no collision.
• Cornerstone / tent peg (yated) — Heb. פִּנָּה (pinnah, “corner[stone]”) and יָתֵד (yated, “peg, pin, stake”). Hmong: pob zeb ntawm lub kaum tsev and ncej tsev [NEW]. Risk: Low-Medium. Note: must be kept lexically distinct from the Romans TM stumbling_block entry (pob zeb ua rau dawm ceg) — cornerstone and tent-peg imagery here connote structural strength and stability, the opposite rhetorical function of the “stumbling stone” of Rom 9:33; conflating the two images would invert the intended meaning.
• “I will save (yasha) the house of Joseph” — REUSES Romans TM salvation_save (kev cawm dim / cawm), anchored here to YHWH’s direct action rather than to Christ explicitly (a pre-Christological OT usage); risk Medium — teaching note should explain the term’s fuller Christ-anchored fulfillment without overriding the OT context.

Chapter 11 — The Rejected Shepherd; Thirty Pieces of Silver

• The worthless shepherd — contrasts with ch.10’s true Shepherd; Hmong: tus yug yaj tsis muaj nqis [NEW]. Risk: Low.
• Thirty pieces of silver — Heb. שְׁלֹשִׁים כֶּסֶף (shloshim kasef). Hmong: peb caug lub nyiaj [NEW]. Risk: Medium. Directly typologically fulfilled at Judas’s betrayal (Matt 26:15, 27:9-10); the numeric/monetary detail must be preserved precisely (not rounded or generalized) to protect this typological link for later New Testament teaching.
• The two staffs: “Favor” (No’am) and “Union/Bands” (Chovelim) — Heb. נֹעַם (no’am, “favor, pleasantness, delight”) and חֹבְלִים (chovelim, “union, binding-together”). Hmong: Kev Zoo Siab (Favor/Delight) and Kev Sib Koom (Union) [NEW — pending TM-revision review]. Risk: High. [TRANSLATOR REVIEW NEEDED / FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION FLAGGED]: although no’am (“favor/pleasantness”) is semantically adjacent to charis (grace), the Hmong Critical-tier term txiaj ntsim is permanently reserved for salvific grace per the Romans baseline; it must never be used to name this symbolic staff, to avoid diluting or doubling the Critical grace term with an unrelated prop-name.
• Breaking of the covenant with the peoples — reuses general covenant vocabulary (see ch.13 entry below for the fuller covenant-formula treatment).

Chapter 12 — Mourning for the Pierced One

• “I will pour out the Spirit of grace and supplication” (v.10) — Heb. רוּחַ חֵן וְתַחֲנוּנִים (ruach chen vetachanunim). Spirit REUSED from Romans TM (Vaj Ntsuj Plig, mandatory “Vaj” prefix); grace REUSED from Romans TM (txiaj ntsim, permanently forbidding koob hmoov). Hmong: Vaj Ntsuj Plig uas coj txiaj ntsim thiab kev thov tuaj [NEW, built on two reused Critical terms]. Risk: Critical. This clause requires both mandatory qualifiers simultaneously (Vaj-prefix on the Spirit AND txiaj ntsim, never koob hmoov, for grace) in the same sentence — the single highest term-density risk point in the book outside 9:9-10.
• “They shall look upon me whom they have pierced” (v.10) — Heb. וְהִבִּיטוּ אֵלַי אֵת אֲשֶׁר־דָּקָרוּ (vehibbitu elai et asher-daqaru), from נבט (nabat, “look intently, gaze”) and דקר (daqar, “pierce, stab through with a sharp weapon”). Literal meaning: a violent, physical piercing — the same verb used of being run through with a sword/spear (Num 25:8; Judg 9:54). English variants: “pierced,” “stabbed through.” Contextual theological meaning: this is the anchor text for Doctrine 4, quoted directly regarding the crucifixion spear-wound in John 19:37 and echoed in Rev 1:7. The striking grammatical feature — the speaker is YHWH himself (“they have pierced me”) — carries enormous Christological weight (identifying the pierced one with the LORD who speaks). Hmong: raug xuas nkaug [NEW — pending TM-revision review]. Risk: Critical. Must never be softened to a generic “hurt,” “wound,” or metaphorical “reject/wrong” — the term must retain full concrete, physical, violent force, and the first-person divine-speech (“kuv,” me) must be preserved to keep the extraordinary you-have-pierced-God claim intact for later Christological teaching. [TRANSLATOR REVIEW NEEDED: theologian confirmation that the Hmong verb choice cannot be misread as mere emotional/relational hurt].
• Mourning (for Hadad-rimmon) — Heb. מִסְפֵּד (misped, “mourning, wailing/lamentation”). Hmong: quaj ntsuag [NEW]. Risk: Low, standard Hmong grief/lamentation vocabulary.
• House of David — reuses established transliteration Tsev Neeg Daviv [NEW, transliteration]. Risk: Low.

Chapter 13 — Cleansing Fountain; Refining the Remnant

• Fountain opened for sin and uncleanness (v.1) — Heb. מָקוֹר (maqor, “spring, fountain, source”). Hmong: lub qhov dej muaj kua dej ntws tsis tu [NEW]. Risk: Medium. Comprehension-level term transfers well (springs are familiar in the Hmong highland context), but the cleansing-from-sin function must be explicitly taught as pointing to Christ’s atoning blood (cf. Rom 3:25’s propitiation_atoning_sacrifice, qhov theej txhoj kev txhaum, REUSED concept-link), not to a repeatable ritual-purification rite — the same caution documented for baptism/sanctification in the Romans baseline.
• Idols cut off — REUSED EXACTLY from Romans TM (idol: dab mlom). Risk: High, inherited.
• False prophets / unclean spirit (v.2) — Heb. נָבִיא (navi, “prophet”) and רוּחַ הַטֻּמְאָה (ruach hatum’ah, “spirit of uncleanness”). Hmong: cov cev Vajtswv Lus dag (false prophets) and ntsuj plig qias neeg (unclean spirit) [NEW — pending TM-revision review]. Risk: Critical. This establishes a third category alongside the Romans baseline’s existing Vaj Ntsuj Plig / ntsuj plig distinction: an evil/unclean spirit must be marked ntsuj plig qias neeg (never Vaj-prefixed, and explicitly marked “qias neeg” / unclean, distinct from the neutral anthropological “ntsuj plig” for a human soul). All three forms share the base lexeme and must be kept rigorously distinct at every occurrence. Also: prophet (navi) requires explicit contrast-teaching against the Hmong shamanic diviner (txiv neeb), who likewise claims spirit-communication — a comprehension/collision risk parallel to the apostle/priest cautions already logged.
• Strike the shepherd, sheep scattered (v.7) — quoted in Matt 26:31; reuses shepherd/flock vocabulary from ch.10-11. Risk: Medium, typological weight requires a cross-reference note.
• Refined as silver/gold; two-thirds cut off, one-third remains (vv.8-9) — Heb. צָרַף (tsaraph, “smelt, refine [metal] by fire”). Hmong: muab ua kom huv raws li kub thiab nyiaj hauv cub thee [NEW]. Risk: Low-Medium, comprehension gap on the metallurgical process, no traditional-religion collision. The surviving “one-third” reuses the remnant concept (REUSED, cov seem).
• Covenant formula: “They are my people … The LORD is my God” / “call on my name” (v.9) — Heb. קָרָא בִשְׁמִי (qara bishmi, “call on/by my name”). [FORBIDDEN SUBSTITUTION — INHERITED FROM ROMANS §3.1]: this clause must apply the identical caution already documented for Rom 10:9-13 — the verb “call” must never be rendered with hu in its ritual-soul-summoning sense (as in hu plig, calling back a wandering soul); it must instead use descriptive phrasing anchored to trust and confession, e.g. thov hu Kuv lub npe, ntseeg thiab lees paub tias Kuv yog lawv tus Vajtswv. Risk: High, directly inherited.

Chapter 14 — The Day of the LORD; the King Over All the Earth

• Day of the LORD — Heb. יוֹם־יְהוָה (yom-YHWH). Hmong: Hnub ntawm tus TSWV [NEW — pending TM-revision review]. Risk: Medium-High. Requires a dedicated eschatological teaching note distinguishing this from ordinary calendar “hnub” (day) references and from Hmong New Year/harvest-festival associations; connects to Doctrine 3 (Sovereign Plan) as its consummation.
• Mount of Olives split (v.4) — reuses txiv aliv (olive) vocabulary already established in Romans TM (grafted_olive_tree: tsob ntoo txiv aliv). Hmong: Roob Txiv Aliv. Risk: Low, clean cross-reuse.
• Living waters (v.8) — Heb. מַיִם חַיִּים (mayim chayim). Hmong: dej muaj txoj sia [NEW, built on the eternal_life root txoj sia nyob mus ib txhis]. Risk: Low-Medium, comprehension-level, strong positive typological bridge to John 4/7.
• “The LORD shall be king over all the earth” (v.9) — reuses huab tais (king, established ch.9) and tus TSWV; the climactic universal-kingship statement of the book, directly cohering with Doctrine 1 and Zech 9:10’s global dominion. Risk: High, inherited from the King term’s teaching requirements.
• “Holy to the LORD” (inscribed on bells, v.20) — Heb. קֹדֶשׁ לַיהוָה (qodesh la-YHWH). REUSES Romans TM root sanctification (dawb huv). Hmong: Dawb Huv rau tus TSWV [NEW, built on reused root]. Risk: Medium. Must be taught as a declaration that all of life is consecrated to God (the sacred/secular distinction dissolving), not as a protective ritual-inscription/amulet formula — the same ritual-purity-versus-moral-consecration caution already logged for sanctification in the Romans baseline.
• Feast of Tabernacles/Booths (Sukkot, v.16) — Heb. חַג הַסֻּכּוֹת (chag hasukkot). Hmong: Kev Nyob Tsev Pheeb Suab [NEW — pending TM-revision review]. Risk: Medium. Comprehension gap (no direct Hmong ritual equivalent), though a positive cultural bridge may exist via Hmong harvest-season gathering customs (parallel in kind to the Romans TM’s firstfruits agricultural bridge) — flag for a possible illustrative note, but caution against syncretistic overreach.
• No more “Canaanite”/trader in the house of the LORD (v.21) — Heb. כְּנַעֲנִי (kena’ani), ambiguous between the ethnonym “Canaanite” and the idiomatic sense “merchant/trader” (since Canaanites were proverbially associated with commerce). Hmong: tus lag luam (merchant) [NEW]. Risk: Medium. Translator note required to flag the double meaning; the theological point (no commercializing/profaning of sacred space) must not be lost regardless of which sense is foregrounded.

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§3. Summary of Cross-Book Reuse from the Romans Baseline TM

The following Romans-package terms are reused exactly, without modification, because Zechariah’s Hebrew (or its LXX Greek equivalent) shares the identical referent: God (Vajtswv), Lord/YHWH-title root (tus Tswv → extended as tus TSWV for the divine name), peace (kev thaj yeeb), nations/Gentiles (lwm Haiv Neeg), righteousness/righteous (Vajtswv txoj kev ncaj ncees / tus ncaj ncees), salvation/save (kev cawm dim / cawm), power (hwjchim, mandatory Vajtswv-qualifier), glory (lub yeeb koob), Holy Spirit (Vaj Ntsuj Plig, mandatory Vaj-prefix), human spirit/soul (ntsuj plig, no Vaj-prefix), remnant (cov seem), hope (kev cia siab), mercy (txoj kev khuv leej), hardening (lub siab tawv), idol (dab mlom), sanctification root (dawb huv), sin/guilt (txhaum / kev txhaum), heir/inheritance root (qub txeeg qub teg), grace (txiaj ntsim, permanently forbidding koob hmoov), kingdom of God (lub Nceeg Vaj ntawm Vajtswv), truth (qhov tseeb), and the olive-tree grafting image (tsob ntoo txiv aliv). No Critical or High-risk Romans-TM rendering has been altered anywhere in this analysis.

Full-book coverage confirmation: All fourteen chapters of Zechariah have been reviewed above; no chapter was silently skipped. Every chapter contributed at least one load-bearing term requiring documentation.