Core Glossary
Core Glossary — 2 Peter (English → Japanese)
This glossary extends the baseline Romans translation_memory.json. Terms marked Reused carry forward the baseline rendering unchanged and must never be altered. Terms marked New are proposed additions for 2 Peter and must be added to translation_memory.json with full risk documentation before Phase 2 segment translation begins. Risk tiers follow the baseline’s definitions (Critical / High / Medium / Low).
A. Baseline Terms Reused Without Change
| English Term | Japanese | Transliteration | Risk (baseline) | 2 Peter Occurrences | Note for 2 Peter Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| God | 神 | Kami | Critical | 1:1, 1:2, 1:17, 1:21, 2:4, 3:5, etc. | Retain qualifier 唯一のまことの神 at first doctrinal occurrence (1:1–2) per baseline rule. |
| Jesus | イエス | Iesu | Critical | throughout | No change. |
| Lord | 主 | Shu | Critical | throughout; esp. 1:16, 3:8-10, 3:15 | ”Day of the Lord” (3:10) builds directly on this term — see new entry below. |
| Son of God | 神の子 | Kami no Ko | Critical | 1:17 (as “beloved Son”) | Directly reinforced by the Transfiguration voice; never equate with 現人神. |
| Holy Spirit | 聖霊 | Seirei | Critical | 1:21 | The doctrinal anchor verse for inspiration; extra caution required (see new entry φερόμενοι below). |
| Salvation | 救い | Sukui | Critical | 3:15 | Never 解脱; God’s patience serves the goal of salvation. |
| Grace | 恵み | Megumi | Critical | 1:2, 3:18 | Growth in grace, not repayment of an on-giri debt. |
| Faith | 信仰 | Shinkou | High | 1:1, 1:5 | The shared, equally precious faith of all believers. |
| Righteousness | 義 | Gi | Critical | 1:1, 2:5, 2:7-8, 2:21, 3:13 | Flag Bushido-virtue distinction per baseline note at every occurrence. |
| Holy | 聖い | Kiyoi | High | 1:18, 3:11 | Distinguish from Shinto ritual purity/sacred-mountain veneration (see 08.C below). |
| Called / Calling | 召された／召し | Mesareta / Meshi | High | 1:3, 1:10 | Personal, relational summons; not fate. |
| Election | 選び | Erabi | High | 1:10 | Sovereign, gracious choice; not competitive selection. |
| Apostle | 使徒 | Shito | Low | 1:1, 3:2 | Standard. |
| Peace | 平安 | Heian | Medium | 1:2 | Relational peace, not generic wellness. |
| Glory | 栄光 | Eikou | Medium | 1:3, 1:17 (x2), 3:18 | God’s radiant honor, distinguished from 名誉. |
| Prophecy | 預言 | Yogen | Medium | 1:19, 1:20, 1:21, 3:2 | Verify 預 kanji throughout — heightened risk in this book given the false-prophet terminology in ch. 2. |
| Prophet | 預言者 | Yogensha | Low | 1:19, 1:21, 2:16, 3:2 | Same kanji caution. |
| Power of God | 神の力 | Kami no Chikara | Medium | 1:3, related to 1:16 | Avoid パワー loanword. |
| Fellowship | 交わり | Majiwari | Low | (conceptually related to κοινωνός, 1:4) | See new entry below for the specific 1:4 usage. |
| Kingdom of God | 神の国 | Kami no Kuni | High | (conceptually related to αἰώνιος βασιλεία, 1:11) | See new entry below. |
B. New Terms Introduced by 2 Peter
| English Term | Greek / Transliteration | Japanese Rendering | Risk | Doctrine | Passages | Rejected Alternatives | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coming / Parousia | παρουσία / parousia | 来臨 (rairin) [teaching alias: 再臨 sairin] | High | The Certainty of Christ’s Return | 1:16, 3:4, 3:12 | 訪問 (mere “visit”) | Biblical-illiteracy risk: secular readers have no prior framework for this technical eschatological term. Requires explanatory teaching, not just correct word choice. |
| Myths | μῦθος / mythos | 作り話 (tsukuribanashi) | Medium | Reliability and Inspiration of Scripture | 1:16 | 伝説 (densetsu, “legend”) — NEVER use, risks sympathetic resonance with Japan’s own founding mythology (Kojiki/Nihon Shoki). | Contrasts fabrication with eyewitness fact. |
| Eyewitnesses | ἐπόπτης / epoptēs | 目撃者 (mokugekisha) | Low | Reliability and Inspiration of Scripture | 1:16 | — | Standard. |
| Majesty | μεγαλειότης / megaleiotēs | 威光 (ikou) | Medium | Certainty of Christ’s Return / Deity of Christ | 1:16 | — | Pair with baseline 栄光 in teaching. |
| Majestic Glory (title for God) | μεγαλοπρεπὴς δόξα / megaloprepēs doxa | 荘厳な栄光 (sougen na eikou) | Medium | Deity of Christ | 1:17 | — | A reverential title for God, not a decorative adjective. |
| Well-pleased | εὐδοκέω / eudokeō | 心にかなう (kokoro ni kanau) | Medium | Sonship of Christ | 1:17 | — | Relational delight, not mere approval. |
| Carried along (by the Spirit) | φέρω (φερόμενοι) / pherō (pheromenoi) | 導かれて (michikarete) | Critical | Reliability and Inspiration of Scripture | 1:21 | Any rendering suggesting trance/possession | NEVER allow resonance with 神懸り (kamigakari, Shinto trance spirit-possession) or itako/miko spirit-mediumship. Human authors’ faculties remain fully active; God superintends, does not possess. Mandatory theologian review every occurrence. |
| Interpretation (private) | ἐπίλυσις / epilysis | 解釈 (kaishaku); full phrase 私的な解釈 | High | Reliability and Inspiration of Scripture | 1:20 | — | Addresses prophecy’s origin, not modern reader-interpretation freedom; do not conflate the two questions. |
| More sure / confirmed | βεβαιότερος / bebaioteros | いっそう確かな (issou tashika na) | Medium | Reliability and Inspiration of Scripture | 1:19 | — | Comparative “further confirmed,” not “previously uncertain.” |
| Morning star | φωσφόρος / phōsphoros | 明けの明星 (ake no myoujou) | High | Certainty of Christ’s Return | 1:19 | — | Avoid astrological/horoscope (星占い) association; not the unrelated “Lucifer” tradition of Isa 14:12. |
| Holy mountain | ἅγιον ὄρος / hagion oros | 聖い山 (kiyoi yama) | Medium-High | Reliability and Inspiration of Scripture | 1:18 | — | Holiness is event-specific (God’s presence), not inherent sacred-mountain veneration (山岳信仰). |
| Savior | σωτήρ / sōtēr | 救い主 (sukuinushi) | Medium | Certainty of Christ’s Return / Salvation | 1:1, 1:11, 2:20, 3:2, 3:18 | — | Keep identical across all five occurrences (structural refrain). |
| Full/deeper knowledge | ἐπίγνωσις / epignōsis | 知識 (chishiki) | Medium | Growing in Christian Virtue | 1:2, 1:3, 1:8, 2:20 | — | Lexical-flattening risk vs. γνῶσις (below); use intensifying modifier (深い知識) where the distinction matters. |
| Knowledge | γνῶσις / gnōsis | 知識 (chishiki) | Medium | Growing in Christian Virtue | 1:5, 3:18 | 悟り (satori) — NEVER use | Not self-attained Buddhist enlightenment; received, grown by grace. |
| Godliness | εὐσέβεια / eusebeia | 敬虔 (keiken) | High | Growing in Christian Virtue | 1:3, 1:6, 1:7, 3:11 | — | Distinguish from generic Shinto ritual reverence (拝礼). |
| Virtue | ἀρετή / aretē | 徳 (toku) | Critical | Growing in Christian Virtue | 1:3, 1:5 | — | Confucian/Bushido self-cultivated-character collision, structurally parallel to baseline’s 義 flag. Must be taught as Spirit-empowered fruit, never self-earned moral achievement. Mandatory theologian review. |
| Divine nature | θεία φύσις / theia physis | 神の性質 (Kami no seishitsu) | Critical | Divine Nature and Escaping Corruption | 1:4 | — | NEVER conflate with Buddhist buddha-nature (仏性) or Shinto human-to-kami deification. Relational/moral participation, not ontological merger. Mandatory theologian review. |
| Partaker | κοινωνός / koinōnos | あずかる者 (azukaru mono) | High | Divine Nature and Escaping Corruption | 1:4 | — | Read together with θεία φύσις above. |
| Corruption | φθορά / phthora | 腐敗 (fuhai) | Medium | Divine Nature and Escaping Corruption | 1:4, 2:12, 2:19 | — | Moral-spiritual decay, not mere physical spoilage. |
| Desire (sinful) | ἐπιθυμία / epithymia | 欲望 (yokubou) | Low-Medium | Divine Nature and Escaping Corruption | 1:4, 2:10, 2:18, 3:3 | — | Standard. |
| Self-control | ἐγκράτεια / egkrateia | 自制 (jisei) | Medium | Growing in Christian Virtue | 1:6 | — | May bridge to 克己 (jikko) but is Spirit-enabled, not stoic self-discipline. |
| Steadfastness / Endurance | ὑπομονή / hypomonē | 忍耐 (nintai) | Medium | Growing in Christian Virtue | 1:6 | — | Lexical overlap with μακροθυμία (below) in Japanese; clarify per-context. |
| Brotherly love | φιλαδελφία / philadelphia | 兄弟愛 (kyoudai ai) | Low | Growing in Christian Virtue | 1:7 | — | Standard. |
| Love | ἀγάπη / agapē | 愛 (ai) | Low | Growing in Christian Virtue | 1:7 | — | Standard Christian term. |
| Cleansing | καθαρισμός / katharismos | 清め (kiyome) | High | Growing in Christian Virtue | 1:9 | — | Moral-forensic cleansing via Christ, not Shinto ritual purification (祓い/清め). |
| Eternal kingdom | αἰώνιος βασιλεία / aiōnios basileia | 永遠の御国 (eien no mikuni) | Medium | (related to Kingdom of God) | 1:11 | — | Anchor to baseline kingdom_of_god doctrinal sense; avoid State Shinto political resonance. |
| False prophet | ψευδοπροφήτης / pseudoprophētēs | 偽預言者 (nise-yogensha) | High | False Teachers and Their Judgment | 2:1 | — | Verify 預 kanji (not 予) — homophone-risk compounded here. |
| False teacher | ψευδοδιδάσκαλος / pseudodidaskalos | 偽教師 (nise-kyoushi) | High | False Teachers and Their Judgment | 2:1 | — | Mandatory theologian review. |
| Heresy / destructive opinion | αἵρεσις / hairesis | 異端 (itan) | Medium-High | False Teachers and Their Judgment | 2:1 | — | Distinguish from a neutral Buddhist “sect” (宗派). |
| Destruction / perdition | ἀπώλεια / apōleia | 滅び (horobi) | Medium | False Teachers and Their Judgment | 2:1, 2:3, 3:7, 3:16 | — | Antonym of 救い. |
| Master / Sovereign Owner | δεσπότης / despotēs | 君主 (kunshu) | Medium-High | Lordship of Christ (2 Peter-specific nuance) | 2:1 | 主人 (shujin) — NEVER use, per baseline’s existing κύριος-family prohibition (modern “husband” sense) | Preserves absolute-ownership nuance without collision. |
| Sensuality | ἀσέλγεια / aselgeia | 淫乱 (inran) | Medium | False Teachers and Their Judgment | 2:2, 2:7, 2:18 | — | Standard. |
| Greed | πλεονεξία / pleonexia | 貪欲 (donyoku) | Medium | False Teachers and Their Judgment | 2:3, 2:14 | — | May bridge to Buddhist “three poisons” (三毒) but is sin against a personal God. |
| Judgment | κρίμα / κρίσις / krima / krisis | 裁き (sabaki) | High | False Teachers and Their Judgment / Day of the Lord | 2:3-9, 2:11, 3:7 | — | NEVER flatten into 因果応報 (karmic retribution). Personal judicial verdict. Mandatory theologian review. |
| Angel | ἄγγελος / angelos | 天使 (tenshi) | Low-Medium | False Teachers and Their Judgment | 2:4, 2:11 | — | Standard. |
| Hell / Tartarus | ταρταρόω / tartaroō | 地獄 (jigoku) | High | False Teachers and Their Judgment | 2:4 | — | Distinguish from Buddhist naraka hell-realms within samsara; a place of confinement awaiting final judgment, not a stage in reincarnation. |
| Flood | κατακλυσμός / kataklysmos | 大洪水 (dai kouzui) | Low | Day of the Lord | 2:5, 3:6 | — | Standard. |
| Kept / reserved (for judgment) | τηρέω / tēreō | 取っておかれる (totte okareru) | Medium | False Teachers and Their Judgment / Day of the Lord | 2:4, 2:9, 2:17, 3:7 | — | Purposeful divine reservation, not passive storage. |
| Dominion / Authority (celestial) | κυριότης / kyriotēs | 権威 (ken’i) | Low-Medium | False Teachers and Their Judgment | 2:10 | — | Standard. |
| Glorious ones (angelic beings) | δόξαι / doxai | 栄光ある者たち (eikou aru monotachi) | Medium | False Teachers and Their Judgment | 2:10 | — | Distinct from God’s own 栄光; created beings, not objects of worship. |
| Wages of unrighteousness | μισθὸς ἀδικίας / misthos adikias | 不義の報酬 (fugi no houshuu) | Low-Medium | False Teachers and Their Judgment | 2:15 | — | Standard. |
| Freedom / liberty (false promise) | ἐλευθερία / eleutheria | 自由 (jiyuu) | Medium | False Teachers and Their Judgment | 2:19 | — | Distinguish true freedom from sin vs. false teachers’ promised license. |
| Scoffer / mocker | ἐμπαίκτης / empaiktēs | 嘲る者 (azakeru mono) | Medium-High | Certainty of Christ’s Return | 3:3 | — | Deliberate scornful unbelief, not honest doubt. |
| Day of the Lord | ἡμέρα κυρίου / hēmera kyriou | 主の日 (Shu no Hi) | High | The Day of the Lord and Final Judgment | 3:10 | — | Anchor to OT prophetic Day-of-the-LORD concept; guard against secular apocalypse-pop-culture dilution. Mandatory theologian review. |
| Elements | στοιχεῖα / stoicheia | 元素 (genso) | Low | Day of the Lord and Final Judgment | 3:10, 3:12 | — | Standard cosmological term. |
| New heavens and new earth | καινοὶ οὐρανοὶ καὶ γῆ καινή / kainoi ouranoi kai gē kainē | 新しい天と新しい地 (atarashii ten to atarashii chi) | Medium-High | Day of the Lord and Final Judgment | 3:13 | — | Renewed physical creation; caution parallel to baseline’s Pure Land (極楽往生) note under salvation — never present as equivalent. |
| Spotless and blameless | ἄσπιλος καὶ ἀμώμητος / aspilos kai amōmētos | 傷やしみのない (kizu ya shimi no nai) | Low | Growing in Christian Virtue | 3:14 | — | Sacrificial-purity echo; doctrinally sound. |
| Patience (God’s) | μακροθυμία / makrothymia | 忍耐 (nintai) | High | Patience of God’s Timing | 3:9, 3:15 | — | Lexical overlap with ὑπομονή (ch.1); must be explicitly clarified as God’s forbearance delaying judgment, not a human virtue. Mandatory theologian review. |
| Repentance | μετάνοια / metanoia | 悔い改め (kuiaratame) | High | Patience of God’s Timing | 3:9 | 懺悔 (sange) — avoid, Buddhist ritual-confession association; 謝罪 (shazai) — avoid, mere secular apology | New foundational term for the whole curriculum; not present in the Romans baseline. Mandatory theologian review; add to translation memory as Critical/High. |
| Scripture / writing | γραφή / graphē | 聖書 (seisho) | Low | Reliability and Inspiration of Scripture | 1:20, 3:16 | — | Standard. |
| Wisdom | σοφία / sophia | 知恵 (chie) — verify this kanji | Medium | Reliability and Inspiration of Scripture | 3:15 | 智慧 (chie, Buddhist prajñā) — do not substitute kanji | Homophone risk parallel to baseline’s 預言/予言 caution. |
| Twist / distort (Scripture) | στρεβλόω / streblō | 曲解する (kyokai suru) | Medium | Reliability and Inspiration of Scripture | 3:16 | — | Distortion of a reliable, inspired text. |
| Hard to understand | δυσνόητος / dysnoētos | 理解しにくい (rikai shinikui) | Low | Reliability and Inspiration of Scripture | 3:16 | — | Standard. |
| Error / deception | πλάνη / planē | 誤り (ayamari) | Low-Medium | False Teachers and Their Judgment | 3:17 | — | Standard. |
| Firmness / steadfastness | στηριγμός / stērigmos | 確固 (kakko) | Low | Growing in Christian Virtue | 3:17 | — | Standard. |
| Servant / bondservant | δοῦλος / doulos | 僕 (shimobe) | Low-Medium | (Apostleship) | 1:1 | — | Full devotion/ownership sense. |
| Equal standing (faith) | ἰσότιμος / isotimos | 同じように尊い (onaji you ni toutoi) | Medium | Faith | 1:1 | — | Guard against senpai-kohai hierarchical reading. |
| Divine power | θεία δύναμις / theia dynamis | 神の力 (Kami no Chikara) | Low-Medium | (related to Power of God) | 1:3 | — | See baseline power_of_god. |
| Life | ζωή / zōē | 命 (inochi) | Low | Growing in Christian Virtue | 1:3 | — | Standard. |
| Reminder | ὑπόμνησις / hypomnēsis | 思い起こさせること (omoiokosaseru koto) | Low | (structural, letter purpose) | 1:12-13, 3:1 | — | Standard. |
| Tent / body (metaphor) | σκήνωμα / skēnōma | 幕屋 (makuya) | Low-Medium | (Certainty of Christ’s Return, context) | 1:13-14 | — | Clarify metaphorical body-sense. |
| Departure (death) | ἔξοδος / exodos | 死 (shi) | Low | (context) | 1:15 | — | Euphemistic “departure” 出発 as gloss. |
| Man’s will | θέλημα ἀνθρώπου / thelēma anthrōpou | 人の意志 (hito no ishi) | Low | Reliability and Inspiration of Scripture | 1:21 | — | Standard. |
| Beloved (address) | ἀγαπητοί / agapētoi | 愛する者たち (aisuru monotachi) | Low | (relational address) | 3:1, 3:8, 3:14, 3:17 | — | Standard. |
| Creation | κτίσις / ktisis | 創造 / 万物 (souzou / banbutsu) | Low-Medium | Day of the Lord and Final Judgment | 3:4 | — | Standard. |
| Thief (simile) | κλέπτης / kleptēs | 泥棒 (dorobou) | Low | Day of the Lord and Final Judgment | 3:10 | — | Standard simile. |
| Waiting expectantly | προσδοκάω / prosdokaō | 待ち望む (machinozomu) | Low-Medium | Certainty of Christ’s Return | 3:12, 3:13, 3:14 | — | Hope-filled, not passive/fatalistic. |
| Holy conduct | ἅγιαι ἀναστροφαί / hagiai anastrophai | 聖い行い (kiyoi okonai) | Low-Medium | Growing in Christian Virtue | 3:11 | — | Standard. |
| Will (God’s desire) | βούλομαι / boulomai | 望む (nozomu) | Low | Patience of God’s Timing | 3:9 | — | Standard. |
C. Cross-Cutting Japanese-Specific Risk Classes Introduced by 2 Peter
These risk patterns are new to this curriculum and should be documented in the doctrine risk registry alongside the terms above.
- Confucian/Bushido virtue-cultivation collision (ἀρετή / 徳). Structurally parallel to the baseline’s Critical flag on 義 (righteousness), but distinct: 徳 names a self-cultivated Confucian/Bushido character-virtue, whereas 2 Peter 1:3–5 grounds ἀρετή explicitly in divine power already given — virtue as empowered response, not self-achievement.
- Shamanic/animistic spirit-possession collision (φερόμενοι / 導かれて, and by extension 聖霊 in 1:21). Novel to this curriculum; not present in the Romans baseline in this specific form. Directly touches the doctrine of Scripture’s inspiration and requires the most careful teaching language in the entire book.
- Buddhist ontology collision (θεία φύσις / 神の性質, and 地獄/jigoku for Tartarus). Two related but distinct sub-risks: (a) buddha-nature (仏性) confusion at 1:4, and (b) samsaric hell-realm (naraka) confusion at 2:4. Both require explicit doctrinal anchoring distinguishing biblical cosmology from Buddhist rebirth cosmology.
- Karma-retribution flattening (κρίμα/κρίσις / 裁き). The folk-Buddhist idiom 因果応報 is deeply embedded in ordinary secular Japanese speech and risks silently substituting for the biblical concept of a personal God’s judicial verdict throughout chapters 2–3.
- Lexical flattening pairs unique to 2 Peter’s vocabulary: ἐπίγνωσις/γνῶσις (both 知識) and ὑπομονή/μακροθυμία (both 忍耐). Both pairs require context-sensitive teaching notes at every occurrence, since Japanese cannot distinguish them lexically the way Greek does.
- Homophone risk extended: the baseline’s 預言/予言 caution is inherited and intensified in 2 Peter 2 (ψευδοπροφήτης, “false prophet”) and further joined by a new homophone pair, 知恵 (chie, wisdom) vs. 智慧 (chie, Buddhist prajñā-wisdom), at 3:15.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: 神
Transliteration: Kami
Doctrine: Deity of Christ / God the Father
Rejected alternatives: 八百万の神の一柱としての神, 神様
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. In 2 Peter, occurs at 1:1-2, 1:17, 1:21, 2:4, 3:5, etc. Retain the baseline qualifier 唯一のまことの神 (‘the one and only true God’) at the first doctrinal occurrence (1:1-2) and at weighty statements. Same collision risk as baseline: generic kami among the countless Shinto deities.
Jesus
Approved rendering: イエス
Transliteration: Iesu
Doctrine: Deity of Christ / Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: ゼズス
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Use exclusively throughout 2 Peter’s five occurrences of the structural refrain ‘our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’ (1:1, 1:11, 2:20, 3:2, 3:18).
Lord
Approved rendering: 主
Transliteration: Shu
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 主君, ご主人様
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Foundational for this book’s new term 主の日 (Day of the Lord, 3:10) and for δεσπότης/君主 (2:1), which must never collapse into 主人 given its dominant modern meaning ‘husband’ — the same collision the baseline already bars.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: 神の子
Transliteration: Kami no Ko
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 現人神, 神の化身
Original: υἱὸς θεοῦ / ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Reinforced directly at 2 Peter 1:17, where the title is audibly declared by the Father’s own voice at the Transfiguration (‘This is my beloved Son’). NEVER equate with 現人神 (arahitogami, the pre-1946 living-god emperor doctrine renounced in Hirohito’s 1946 Humanity Declaration) — this is an eternal, unique Sonship, not a hereditary semi-divine office.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: 聖霊
Transliteration: Seirei
Doctrine: Reliability and Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: 霊, 幽霊
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. 2 Peter 1:21 (‘carried along by the Holy Spirit’) is this book’s doctrinal anchor verse for Scripture’s inspiration; the baseline’s animistic-collision caution applies with special force here since the verse directly concerns how the Spirit acted upon human authors. NEVER 霊 alone. See carried_along below.
Salvation
Approved rendering: 救い
Transliteration: Sukui
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: 解脱, 極楽往生
Original: σωτηρία
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. NEVER 解脱. 2 Peter 3:15: God’s patience is explicitly in service of salvation, giving time for repentance before certain judgment. Extreme care with 極楽往生 per baseline — never present as equivalent.
Grace
Approved rendering: 恵み
Transliteration: megumi
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: 恩返しが要る恵み, 功徳
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. 2 Peter 1:2 and 3:18 (the letter’s opening and closing) call believers to ‘grow in grace’ — must be taught as non-transactional growth in an ongoing gift, never repayment of an on-giri debt. NEVER 功徳.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: 義
Transliteration: gi
Doctrine: Salvation / Growing in Christian Virtue
Rejected alternatives: 道徳, 正義感
Original: δικαιοσύνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Occurs at 1:1 (God’s righteousness granting equal faith), 2:5-8 (Noah/Lot as ‘righteous’), 2:21, 3:13 (‘new earth in which righteousness dwells’). Flag the Bushido-virtue (Nitobe) distinction at every occurrence, exactly as in Romans.
Carried Along
Approved rendering: 導かれて
Transliteration: michikarete
Doctrine: Reliability and Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: 神懸りとなって, 取り憑かれて
Original: φέρω (φερόμενοι)
Category: Scripture
NEW term. CRITICAL: this is the doctrinal anchor verse (1:21) for the whole ‘Reliability and Inspiration of Scripture’ doctrine. Must be sharply distinguished from 神懸り (kamigakari, Shinto trance spirit-possession in which a person becomes a passive mouthpiece for a kami, still practiced by itako/miko mediums e.g. at Mt. Osore) and related mediumistic-possession tropes familiar from Japanese folk religion and horror pop-culture. If rendered too passively, this verse risks being processed as a familiar trance-possession trope rather than verbal-plenary inspiration, in which the human author’s own faculties remained fully engaged even as God sovereignly superintended the result. Mandatory theologian review at every occurrence.
Virtue
Approved rendering: 徳
Transliteration: toku
Doctrine: Growing in Christian Virtue
Original: ἀρετή
Category: Virtue
NEW term for ἀρετή (1:3, 1:5). CRITICAL: 徳 is a core Confucian and Bushido virtue-term (道徳 dōtoku, ‘morality’; 人徳 jintoku, ‘personal virtue/character’) deeply embedded in Japanese ethics as a self-cultivated achievement of personal character — structurally parallel to the baseline’s Critical flag on 義 (righteousness) as a Bushido virtue. Must always be taught as Spirit-empowered fruit flowing from divine power already granted (1:3), never as self-cultivated Confucian moral achievement earning standing before God. Mandatory theologian review at every occurrence.
Divine Nature
Approved rendering: 神の性質
Transliteration: Kami no seishitsu
Doctrine: Divine Nature and Escaping Corruption
Original: θεία φύσις
Category: Virtue
NEW term for θεία φύσις (1:4). CRITICAL: must NEVER be conflated with Buddhist buddha-nature (仏性, busshō — the doctrine that all sentient beings possess an inherent potential for enlightenment/Buddhahood) or the Shinto notion of humans becoming kami after death (ancestor deification) or possessing innate kami-derived generative power (産霊, musubi). ‘Partakers of the divine nature’ is relational and moral participation in God’s holy character through union with Christ, escaping corruption — NOT ontological absorption into divine essence, innate enlightenment-potential, or a pathway to becoming a deity oneself. Mandatory theologian review at every occurrence.
High Risk Terms
Faith
Approved rendering: 信仰
Transliteration: shinkou
Doctrine: Faith / Unity and Equal Standing of Faith
Rejected alternatives: 信心, 宗教心
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. 2 Peter 1:1 stresses all believers’ faith is ἰσότιμος (‘of equal standing’) — see equal_standing below for the associated senpai-kohai hierarchical-misreading risk this specific verse introduces.
Holy
Approved rendering: 聖い
Transliteration: kiyoi
Doctrine: Holy Living in Light of Judgment
Rejected alternatives: 清らか, 穢れがない
Original: ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package. Combines in 2 Peter with ‘mountain’ (1:18, see holy_mountain below) and ‘conduct’ (3:11, see holy_conduct below) — book-specific collision risks distinct from the baseline’s general Shinto ritual-purity caution.
Called
Approved rendering: 召された
Transliteration: mesareta
Doctrine: Divine Calling and Election
Rejected alternatives: 運命づけられた, 天職
Original: κλητός / κάλεσαντος
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. 2 Peter 1:3 grounds calling in Christ’s own glory and excellence; 1:10 exhorts believers to ‘confirm’ their calling. Must not read as 運命 or 天職.
Calling
Approved rendering: 召し
Transliteration: meshi
Doctrine: Divine Calling and Election
Rejected alternatives: 運命, 天職
Original: κλῆσις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Paired with 選び (election) at 1:10 in the exhortation to make one’s calling and election sure — a distinctly 2 Peter pastoral emphasis on confirming, not merely receiving, the summons.
Election
Approved rendering: 選び
Transliteration: erabi
Doctrine: Divine Calling and Election
Rejected alternatives: 合格, 選抜
Original: ἐκλογή
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. 2 Peter 1:10. Avoid the competitive-exam-selection framing (受験, 選抜) — God’s election is gracious, not earned, even though diligence is commanded in response.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: 神の国
Transliteration: Kami no Kuni
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission (background; extended by eternal_kingdom below)
Rejected alternatives: 神国日本
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ / αἰώνιος βασιλεία
Category: Kingdom
Inherited from Romans package. Extended in 2 Peter 1:11 with the modifier ‘eternal’ (see eternal_kingdom below). Anchor to the same doctrinal sense the baseline establishes at Romans 14:17; avoid State Shinto 神国日本 political resonance.
Parousia
Approved rendering: 来臨
Transliteration: rairin
Doctrine: The Certainty of Christ’s Return
Rejected alternatives: 訪問, 再臨（本文語としては不可、教材の説明用語としてのみ許可）
Original: παρουσία
Category: Eschatology
NEW term. Teaching alias 再臨 (sairin) permitted in explanatory material only, not as the primary running translation. Most secular readers have zero prior framework for this technical eschatological term and may default to the everyday ‘visit’ (訪問) sense; requires explicit doctrinal teaching at first occurrence (1:16), repeated identically at 3:4 and 3:12 where scoffers deny it. Render identically across all three occurrences (cross-document consistency rule).
Private Interpretation
Approved rendering: 私的な解釈
Transliteration: shiteki na kaishaku
Doctrine: Reliability and Inspiration of Scripture
Original: ἴδιος ἐπίλυσις
Category: Scripture
NEW term. Full phrase for ἴδιος ἐπίλυσις (1:20). Must be clearly framed as addressing prophecy’s origin/source (not any individual prophet’s own interpretive initiative), never conflated with the separate, modern question of a reader’s freedom to interpret Scripture personally — conflating the two produces real doctrinal confusion about biblical authority.
Morning Star
Approved rendering: 明けの明星
Transliteration: ake no myoujou
Doctrine: The Certainty of Christ’s Return
Original: φωσφόρος
Category: Eschatology
NEW term. Two collision risks at 1:19: (1) not the unrelated Western patristic ‘Lucifer’ tradition tied to Isaiah 14:12 — different referent entirely; (2) 明星 risks resonance with Japan’s popular commercial horoscope/star-divination culture (星占い, hoshi-uranai). Teach explicitly as a metaphor for Christ’s personal revelation dawning in the believer’s heart, not an astrological omen.
Holy Mountain
Approved rendering: 聖い山
Transliteration: kiyoi yama
Doctrine: Holy Living in Light of Judgment
Original: ἅγιον ὄρος
Category: Scripture
NEW term. The Transfiguration site (1:18), holy only derivatively because God’s glory was manifested there for one event. Must be distinguished from Japan’s own mountain-veneration tradition (山岳信仰, sangaku shinkō — Mt. Fuji, Mt. Ontake, Mt. Kōya, Shugendō ascetic practice), where mountains are venerated as intrinsically sacred kami-dwellings or pilgrimage-worthy power-sites. This mountain’s holiness is event-specific and derivative, not an inherent property to be venerated.
Godliness
Approved rendering: 敬虔
Transliteration: keiken
Doctrine: Growing in Christian Virtue
Original: εὐσέβεια
Category: Virtue
NEW term for εὐσέβεια (1:3, 1:6, 1:7, 3:11). Must be distinguished from generic Japanese ritual reverence toward any object of worship (e.g., Shinto shrine reverence, 拝礼, hairei) — biblical εὐσέβεια flows from personal relationship with the one true God, not ceremonial piety.
Partaker
Approved rendering: あずかる者
Transliteration: azukaru mono
Doctrine: Divine Nature and Escaping Corruption
Original: κοινωνός
Category: Virtue
NEW term for κοινωνός in its 1:4 sense. Must be read together with 神の性質 above; the participation is moral/relational sharing in holiness, not metaphysical merger with divine essence. Distinct from and not covered by the baseline’s 交わり (general fellowship).
Cleansing
Approved rendering: 清め
Transliteration: kiyome
Doctrine: Assurance through Confirmed Calling and Election
Original: καθαρισμός
Category: Sanctification
NEW term for καθαρισμός (1:9). Must be distinguished from Shinto ritual purification (清め/祓い, harae, misogi), which addresses ceremonial defilement (穢れ, kegare) rather than moral guilt before a holy God — parallel to the baseline’s existing caution on ‘holy.‘
False Prophet
Approved rendering: 偽預言者
Transliteration: nise-yogensha
Doctrine: False Teachers and Their Judgment
Original: ψευδοπροφήτης
Category: Judgment
NEW term for ψευδοπροφήτης (2:1). Verify 預 kanji (not 予) — the homophone risk is especially damaging here since confusion with 占い師 (fortune-teller) would undercut a passage specifically warning against false spiritual authorities.
False Teacher
Approved rendering: 偽教師
Transliteration: nise-kyoushi
Doctrine: False Teachers and Their Judgment
Original: ψευδοδιδάσκαλος
Category: Judgment
NEW term for ψευδοδιδάσκαλος (2:1), the letter’s central polemical target. Must convey doctrinal falsehood and moral corruption, not merely a differing opinion or minority theological school. Mandatory theologian review.
Heresy
Approved rendering: 異端
Transliteration: itan
Doctrine: False Teachers and Their Judgment
Original: αἵρεσις
Category: Judgment
NEW term for αἵρεσις (2:1). Distinguish from the neutral sense of a minority Buddhist doctrinal school (宗派, shūha) — this term denotes destructive, soul-endangering false doctrine, not simply an alternate legitimate tradition.
Judgment
Approved rendering: 裁き
Transliteration: sabaki
Doctrine: False Teachers and Their Judgment / The Day of the Lord and Final Judgment
Rejected alternatives: 因果応報
Original: κρίμα / κρίσις
Category: Judgment
NEW term for κρίμα / κρίσις (2:3-9, 2:11, 3:7). Must be taught as a personal God’s judicial verdict, historically prefigured (angels, flood, Sodom) and finally executed at the Day of the Lord — NEVER flattened into the household-familiar folk-Buddhist idiom 因果応報 (inga ōhō, ‘karmic retribution’), which would reduce judgment to automatic cosmic consequence rather than a personal Judge’s verdict. Mandatory theologian review at every occurrence.
Hell Tartarus
Approved rendering: 地獄
Transliteration: jigoku
Doctrine: Judgment of Fallen Angels
Rejected alternatives: タルタロス
Original: ταρταρόω (Τάρταρος)
Category: Judgment
NEW term for ταρταρόω/Τάρταρος (2:4). 地獄 is itself a Buddhist-derived term for hell (naraka) within a cosmology of multiple temporary hell-realms endured inside an ongoing cycle of rebirth (輪廻, already flagged Critical for ‘resurrection’ in the baseline). Biblical usage here denotes a place of confinement reserved for judged, rebellious angels awaiting one final divine judgment, not a temporary purgative stage before further reincarnation. A mythological transliteration (タルタロス) was rejected as carrying no biblical cosmological content and requiring its own explanatory apparatus for no doctrinal gain. Requires theologian review with an explicit clarifying note at first occurrence.
Scoffer
Approved rendering: 嘲る者
Transliteration: azakeru mono
Doctrine: The Certainty of Christ’s Return
Original: ἐμπαίκτης
Category: Eschatology
NEW term for ἐμπαίκτης (3:3). Must convey deliberate, scornful unbelief — not mere honest skepticism or intellectual doubt — since this doctrinal contrast is central to the certainty-of-return teaching.
Day Of The Lord
Approved rendering: 主の日
Transliteration: Shu no Hi
Doctrine: The Day of the Lord and Final Judgment
Original: ἡμέρα κυρίου
Category: Eschatology
NEW term for ἡμέρα κυρίου (3:10), built on the baseline’s established 主. Must be firmly anchored to the OT prophetic Day-of-the-LORD judgment/consummation concept, not merely absorbed into Japan’s saturated secular/pop-culture ‘world-ending’ apocalypse tropes (anime and manga apocalyptic fiction is extremely prevalent) — a dilution risk parallel to the baseline’s caution on 復活’s pop-culture ‘comeback’ deflation. Mandatory theologian review with explicit teaching anchoring.
New Heavens And New Earth
Approved rendering: 新しい天と新しい地
Transliteration: atarashii ten to atarashii chi
Doctrine: The Day of the Lord and Final Judgment / New Creation Hope
Original: καινοὶ οὐρανοὶ καὶ γῆ καινή
Category: Eschatology
NEW term for καινοὶ οὐρανοὶ καὶ γῆ καινή (3:13). Must be taught as a renewed, physical creation, not merely an immaterial afterlife. Use caution parallel to the baseline’s existing caution on Pure Land Buddhism’s 極楽往生 (rebirth into the Pure Land) under ‘salvation’ — must never be presented as equivalent to, or softened toward, a Pure-Land-style paradise-realm cosmology.
Patience Of God
Approved rendering: 忍耐
Transliteration: nintai
Doctrine: Patience of God’s Timing
Original: μακροθυμία
Category: God
NEW term for μακροθυμία (3:9, 3:15), God’s own forbearance in delaying judgment. Japanese Bible usage renders both this and ὑπομονή (ch.1’s believer’s endurance-virtue) as 忍耐 — a lexical overlap absent in Greek. Teaching materials must explicitly clarify this is specifically God’s own forbearance in delaying judgment for the sake of repentance, not a general human endurance-virtue. Mandatory theologian review.
Repentance
Approved rendering: 悔い改め
Transliteration: kuiaratame
Doctrine: Patience of God’s Timing / Repentance
Rejected alternatives: 懺悔, 謝罪
Original: μετάνοια
Category: Salvation
NEW foundational term, not present in the Romans baseline; recommended for promotion into all future curricula. Render 悔い改め, the established Japanese Protestant term (3:9). Must be kept distinct from generic secular apology/remorse (謝罪, shazai) and from the Buddhist-associated term 懺悔 (sange, a ritual confession/regret practice found in various Buddhist traditions). 悔い改め denotes a decisive, Spirit-enabled turning from sin toward God, not a ritual confession act or mere expression of regret. Mandatory theologian review at every occurrence.
Medium Risk Terms
Peace
Approved rendering: 平安
Transliteration: heian
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: 安心, 癒し
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. 1:2, part of the epistolary greeting formula shared with Romans-style greetings.
Glory
Approved rendering: 栄光
Transliteration: eikou
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 名誉
Original: δόξα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Occurs at 1:3, 1:17 (twice, including the compound ‘Majestic Glory’ — see majestic_glory below), and the closing doxology 3:18. Avoid collapse into 名誉.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: 預言
Transliteration: yogen
Doctrine: Reliability and Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: 予言, 占い
Original: προφητεία
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Verify 預 kanji, not 予 — heightened importance in 2 Peter given the false-prophet vocabulary of chapter 2 sitting immediately adjacent (see false_prophet below).
Power Of God
Approved rendering: 神の力
Transliteration: Kami no Chikara
Doctrine: The Certainty of Christ’s Return
Rejected alternatives: 気, パワー
Original: δύναμις θεοῦ / θεία δύναμις
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. 2 Peter 1:16’s δύναμις of Christ’s parousia and 1:3’s θεία δύναμις (see divine_power below) both draw on this baseline entry. Avoid パワー loanword and 気 per baseline.
Myths
Approved rendering: 作り話
Transliteration: tsukuribanashi
Doctrine: Apostolic Eyewitness Testimony
Rejected alternatives: 伝説
Original: μῦθος
Category: Scripture
NEW term. NEVER use 伝説 (densetsu, ‘legend’) — carries positive, culturally cherished associations with Japan’s own founding mythology (Kojiki/Nihon Shoki), which would create sympathetic resonance directly opposite to Peter’s fabrication-vs-eyewitness-fact contrast at 1:16.
Majesty
Approved rendering: 威光
Transliteration: ikou
Doctrine: The Certainty of Christ’s Return / Deity of Christ
Original: μεγαλειότης
Category: Christology
NEW term. Must be explicitly tied to Christ’s unique divine glory (pair with 栄光 in teaching); do not read as generic human impressiveness (1:16).
Majestic Glory
Approved rendering: 荘厳な栄光
Transliteration: sougen na eikou
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: μεγαλοπρεπὴς δόξα
Category: God
NEW term. A reverential circumlocution-title for God the Father himself at the Transfiguration (1:17); teach as a title (‘the Majesty on high’), not merely a decorative adjective modifying ‘glory.‘
Well Pleased
Approved rendering: 心にかなう
Transliteration: kokoro ni kanau
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Original: εὐδοκέω
Category: Christology
NEW term. Must convey the Father’s relational delight in the Son, not a mere approval rating or performance evaluation (1:17).
More Sure
Approved rendering: いっそう確かな
Transliteration: issou tashika na
Doctrine: Reliability and Inspiration of Scripture
Original: βεβαιότερος
Category: Scripture
NEW term. Must retain the comparative ‘further confirmed’ sense (1:19: the OT prophetic word, now further confirmed by apostolic eyewitness testimony); must not imply Scripture was previously uncertain.
Savior
Approved rendering: 救い主
Transliteration: sukuinushi
Doctrine: Salvation and the Savior Title
Original: σωτήρ
Category: Salvation
NEW term. Render identically across all five occurrences of the recurring title ‘our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’ (1:1, 1:11, 2:20, 3:2, 3:18) per the cross-document consistency rule — a structural refrain unique to this letter.
Deeper Knowledge
Approved rendering: 知識
Transliteration: chishiki
Doctrine: Growing in Christian Virtue
Original: ἐπίγνωσις
Category: Virtue
NEW term, for ἐπίγνωσις. Japanese lacks a lexical distinction paralleling ἐπίγνωσις vs. γνῶσις (both render 知識); supply the intensifying modifier 深い知識 (‘deep knowledge’) at key occurrences (1:2, 1:3, 1:8, 2:20) to preserve Peter’s rhetorical emphasis on deepening knowledge as a growth goal.
Knowledge
Approved rendering: 知識
Transliteration: chishiki
Doctrine: Growing in Christian Virtue
Rejected alternatives: 悟り
Original: γνῶσις
Category: Virtue
NEW term, for γνῶσις (1:5, 3:18). NEVER confuse with 悟り (satori, sudden Buddhist enlightenment attained through the knower’s own insight) — biblical γνῶσις is received knowledge of a personal Christ, grown through grace, not self-attained awakening.
Corruption
Approved rendering: 腐敗
Transliteration: fuhai
Doctrine: Divine Nature and Escaping Corruption
Original: φθορά
Category: Virtue
NEW term for φθορά (1:4, 2:12, 2:19). Must be taught as moral-spiritual decay and ruin, not merely physical spoilage, its dominant secular sense in Japanese.
Desire Sinful
Approved rendering: 欲望
Transliteration: yokubou
Doctrine: Divine Nature and Escaping Corruption
Original: ἐπιθυμία
Category: Sin
NEW term for ἐπιθυμία (1:4, 2:10, 2:18, 3:3). Standard term; ensure a moral, not merely appetitive, reading.
Self Control
Approved rendering: 自制
Transliteration: jisei
Doctrine: Growing in Christian Virtue
Original: ἐγκράτεια
Category: Virtue
NEW term for ἐγκράτεια (1:6). May bridge helpfully to the Confucian/Bushido virtue of self-mastery (克己, jikko), but must be clarified as Spirit-enabled fruit, not stoic self-willed discipline earning merit.
Steadfastness
Approved rendering: 忍耐
Transliteration: nintai
Doctrine: Growing in Christian Virtue
Original: ὑπομονή
Category: Virtue
NEW term for ὑπομονή (1:6), the believer’s own endurance-virtue. NOTE: Japanese Bible tradition also renders μακροθυμία (God’s own patience, ch. 3) as 忍耐 — a lexical overlap Greek does not have. Teaching materials must clarify at each occurrence whether the reference is the believer’s endurance-virtue (1:6) or God’s forbearance in delaying judgment (see patience_of_god below, 3:9, 3:15).
Eternal Kingdom
Approved rendering: 永遠の御国
Transliteration: eien no mikuni
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission (extension of 神の国)
Original: αἰώνιος βασιλεία
Category: Kingdom
NEW term for αἰώνιος βασιλεία (1:11). Anchor to the same doctrinal sense as the baseline’s 神の国; avoid any resonance with pre-1945 State Shinto ‘divine-nation’ political theology (神国日本).
Destruction
Approved rendering: 滅び
Transliteration: horobi
Doctrine: False Teachers and Their Judgment
Original: ἀπώλεια
Category: Judgment
NEW term for ἀπώλεια (2:1, 2:3, 3:7, 3:16). Direct antonym of 救い; keep the two terms in clear doctrinal contrast in teaching materials.
Despotes
Approved rendering: 君主
Transliteration: kunshu
Doctrine: False Teachers and Their Judgment
Rejected alternatives: 主人
Original: δεσπότης
Category: Christology
NEW term for δεσπότης (2:1), Christ’s absolute ownership-authority over the redeemed, denied by false teachers. NEVER render as 主人 (shujin) despite its literal ‘master/owner’ sense — the baseline already prohibits 主人 for κύριος-family terms due to its dominant modern meaning ‘husband’; the same collision risk applies here.
Sensuality
Approved rendering: 淫乱
Transliteration: inran
Doctrine: Moral Corruption of False Teachers
Original: ἀσέλγεια
Category: Sin
NEW term for ἀσέλγεια (2:2, 2:7, 2:18). Standard.
Greed
Approved rendering: 貪欲
Transliteration: donyoku
Doctrine: Moral Corruption of False Teachers
Original: πλεονεξία
Category: Sin
NEW term for πλεονεξία (2:3, 2:14). May bridge helpfully to the Buddhist ‘three poisons’ (三毒, sandoku) as a recognized vice-category, but must be clarified as sin against a personal God requiring judgment, not merely negative karma-generating attachment.
Angel
Approved rendering: 天使
Transliteration: tenshi
Doctrine: Judgment of Fallen Angels
Original: ἄγγελος
Category: Judgment
NEW term for ἄγγελος (2:4, 2:11). Distinguish from generic guardian-spirit folk concepts common in Japanese popular religion.
Kept Reserved
Approved rendering: 取っておかれる
Transliteration: totte okareru
Doctrine: Judgment of Fallen Angels / The Day of the Lord and Final Judgment
Original: τηρέω
Category: Judgment
NEW term for τηρέω (2:4, 2:9, 2:17, 3:7), a recurring structural term. Convey purposeful divine reservation toward a specific future judgment, not passive storage.
Glorious Ones
Approved rendering: 栄光ある者たち
Transliteration: eikou aru monotachi
Doctrine: Moral Corruption of False Teachers
Original: δόξαι
Category: Judgment
NEW term for δόξαι (2:10), a title for angelic/celestial beings. Clarify in context that this refers to created angelic beings, not God’s own glory, to avoid implying these beings merit worship or reverence.
Freedom
Approved rendering: 自由
Transliteration: jiyuu
Doctrine: Moral Corruption of False Teachers
Original: ἐλευθερία
Category: Judgment
NEW term for ἐλευθερία (2:19). Must distinguish true Christian freedom from sin from the false teachers’ promised license/antinomianism — a promise of freedom that is itself a form of slavery.
Wisdom
Approved rendering: 知恵
Transliteration: chie
Doctrine: Scripture Distortion by False Teachers
Rejected alternatives: 智慧
Original: σοφία
Category: Scripture
NEW term for σοφία (3:15), Paul’s Spirit-given wisdom placed alongside ‘the other Scriptures.’ Verify the 知恵 kanji specifically — homophone risk: 知恵 (common/secular wisdom, correct here) is pronounced identically to 智慧 (chie, the Buddhist term for prajñā, transcendent enlightenment-wisdom) but written with different kanji, a risk directly parallel to the baseline’s flagged 預言/予言 homophone caution.
Twist Distort
Approved rendering: 曲解する
Transliteration: kyokai suru
Doctrine: Scripture Distortion by False Teachers
Original: στρεβλόω
Category: Scripture
NEW term for στρεβλόω (3:16), false teachers’ distortion of Scripture including Paul’s letters. Must convey distortion of an inspired, reliable text, not mere differing interpretation.
Error Deception
Approved rendering: 誤り
Transliteration: ayamari
Doctrine: False Teachers and Their Judgment
Original: πλάνη
Category: Judgment
NEW term for πλάνη (3:17), the error of lawless people believers must guard against. Standard.
Servant
Approved rendering: 僕
Transliteration: shimobe
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Servanthood
Original: δοῦλος
Category: Church
NEW term for δοῦλος (1:1), Peter’s self-identification as Christ’s owned servant, grounding his apostolic authority in submission. Ensure it retains the full devotion/ownership sense rather than reading as mere ‘employee.‘
Equal Standing
Approved rendering: 同じように尊い
Transliteration: onaji you ni toutoi
Doctrine: Unity and Equal Standing of Faith
Original: ἰσότιμος
Category: Faith
NEW term for ἰσότιμος (1:1). Every believer’s faith has identical standing and value before God — no spiritual ‘insider’ tier. Guard against reading through Japan’s hierarchical seniority culture (senpai-kohai) as if some believers’ faith outranks others’.
Divine Power
Approved rendering: 神の力
Transliteration: Kami no Chikara
Doctrine: Growing in Christian Virtue
Original: θεία δύναμις
Category: God
NEW term for θεία δύναμις (1:3). Keep rendering identical to the baseline’s power_of_god entry across all occurrences.
Holy Conduct
Approved rendering: 聖い行い
Transliteration: kiyoi okonai
Doctrine: Holy Living in Light of Judgment
Original: ἅγιαι ἀναστροφαί
Category: Sanctification
NEW term for ἅγιαι ἀναστροφαί (3:11), morally pure conduct appropriate for believers awaiting the Day of the Lord. Built on the baseline’s 聖い; see holy_mountain for the related event-specific vs. inherent-sacredness distinction.
Low Risk Terms
Apostle
Approved rendering: 使徒
Transliteration: shito
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Servanthood
Rejected alternatives: 教祖
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. 1:1, 3:2. Avoid 教祖 (post-Aum Shinrikyo negative associations), as in the baseline.
Prophet
Approved rendering: 預言者
Transliteration: yogensha
Doctrine: Reliability and Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: 予言者, 占い師
Original: προφήτης
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Same 預/予 homophone caution; see false_prophet below for the compounded risk when negated with 偽.
Fellowship
Approved rendering: 交わり
Transliteration: majiwari
Doctrine: Divine Nature and Escaping Corruption
Rejected alternatives: 仲間意識
Original: κοινωνός (root; cf. κοινωνία)
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Conceptually underlies κοινωνός at 1:4, but does NOT itself cover the specific ‘partaker of the divine nature’ sense — see partaker below, which is a distinct, higher-risk new term.
Eyewitnesses
Approved rendering: 目撃者
Transliteration: mokugekisha
Doctrine: Apostolic Eyewitness Testimony
Original: ἐπόπτης
Category: Scripture
NEW term. Standard, unambiguous. Grounds Scripture’s reliability in verified sensory eyewitness testimony (1:16).
Brotherly Love
Approved rendering: 兄弟愛
Transliteration: kyoudai ai
Doctrine: Growing in Christian Virtue
Original: φιλαδελφία
Category: Virtue
NEW term for φιλαδελφία (1:7). Standard.
Love
Approved rendering: 愛
Transliteration: ai
Doctrine: Growing in Christian Virtue
Original: ἀγάπη
Category: Virtue
NEW term for ἀγάπη (1:7), the culminating link of the virtue-chain. Standard Christian term.
Flood
Approved rendering: 大洪水
Transliteration: dai kouzui
Doctrine: Judgment of the Ancient World (Flood and Sodom)
Original: κατακλυσμός
Category: Judgment
NEW term for κατακλυσμός (2:5, 3:6). Standard; teach within the same personal-God judgment framework as the rest of chapter 2, not as isolated ancient legend akin to Japan’s own flood/disaster folklore.
Dominion Authority
Approved rendering: 権威
Transliteration: ken’i
Doctrine: Moral Corruption of False Teachers
Original: κυριότης
Category: Judgment
NEW term for κυριότης (2:10), rank/authority of celestial beings slandered by the false teachers. Standard.
Wages Of Unrighteousness
Approved rendering: 不義の報酬
Transliteration: fugi no houshuu
Doctrine: Moral Corruption of False Teachers
Original: μισθὸς ἀδικίας
Category: Judgment
NEW term for μισθὸς ἀδικίας (2:15), Balaam’s (and the false teachers’) ill-gotten reward. Standard.
Elements
Approved rendering: 元素
Transliteration: genso
Doctrine: The Day of the Lord and Final Judgment
Original: στοιχεῖα
Category: Eschatology
NEW term for στοιχεῖα (3:10, 3:12). Standard cosmological term.
Spotless And Blameless
Approved rendering: 傷やしみのない
Transliteration: kizu ya shimi no nai
Doctrine: New Creation Hope
Original: ἄσπιλος καὶ ἀμώμητος
Category: Virtue
NEW term for ἄσπιλος καὶ ἀμώμητος (3:14). Echoes OT unblemished-sacrifice imagery — a helpful, doctrinally sound resonance.
Scripture
Approved rendering: 聖書
Transliteration: seisho
Doctrine: Reliability and Inspiration of Scripture
Original: γραφή
Category: Scripture
NEW term for γραφή (1:20, 3:16). Standard.
Hard To Understand
Approved rendering: 理解しにくい
Transliteration: rikai shinikui
Doctrine: Scripture Distortion by False Teachers
Original: δυσνόητος
Category: Scripture
NEW term for δυσνόητος (3:16). Standard.
Firmness
Approved rendering: 確固
Transliteration: kakko
Doctrine: Growing in Christian Virtue
Original: στηριγμός
Category: Virtue
NEW term for στηριγμός (3:17), the stability believers already have. Standard.
Life
Approved rendering: 命
Transliteration: inochi
Doctrine: Growing in Christian Virtue
Original: ζωή
Category: Virtue
NEW term for ζωή (1:3), life in its fullness granted by divine power. Standard.
Reminder
Approved rendering: 思い起こさせること
Transliteration: omoiokosaseru koto
Doctrine: Reliability and Inspiration of Scripture (structural)
Original: ὑπόμνησις
Category: Scripture
NEW term for ὑπόμνησις (1:12-13, 3:1), Peter’s stated purpose in writing — to remind, not innovate. Standard.
Tent Body
Approved rendering: 幕屋
Transliteration: makuya
Doctrine: Apostolic Eyewitness Testimony (context)
Original: σκήνωμα
Category: Eschatology
NEW term for σκήνωμα (1:13-14), Peter’s body as a temporary ‘tent.’ Ensure the metaphorical body-sense is clear in context, not confused with the literal OT Tabernacle.
Departure
Approved rendering: 死
Transliteration: shi
Doctrine: Apostolic Eyewitness Testimony (context)
Original: ἔξοδος
Category: Eschatology
NEW term for ἔξοδος (1:15), Peter’s approaching death, with the euphemistic gloss 出発 (‘departure’) noted.
Mans Will
Approved rendering: 人の意志
Transliteration: hito no ishi
Doctrine: Reliability and Inspiration of Scripture
Original: θέλημα ἀνθρώπου
Category: Scripture
NEW term for θέλημα ἀνθρώπου (1:21), negating any human-initiated origin of prophecy. Standard.
Beloved Address
Approved rendering: 愛する者たち
Transliteration: aisuru monotachi
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship (relational address)
Original: ἀγαπητοί
Category: Church
NEW term for ἀγαπητοί (3:1, 3:8, 3:14, 3:17), Peter’s warm, repeated address to his readers. Standard.
Creation
Approved rendering: 創造
Transliteration: souzou
Doctrine: The Certainty of Christ’s Return
Original: κτίσις
Category: Eschatology
NEW term for κτίσις (3:4), the created order wrongly appealed to by scoffers. Standard; may also render 万物 (banbutsu, ‘all things’) where contextually preferable.
Thief Simile
Approved rendering: 泥棒
Transliteration: dorobou
Doctrine: The Day of the Lord and Final Judgment
Original: κλέπτης
Category: Eschatology
NEW term for κλέπτης (3:10), simile for the sudden, unannounced arrival of the Day of the Lord. Standard.
Waiting Expectantly
Approved rendering: 待ち望む
Transliteration: machinozomu
Doctrine: The Certainty of Christ’s Return
Original: προσδοκάω
Category: Eschatology
NEW term for προσδοκάω (3:12-14). Convey active, hope-filled anticipation, not passive or fatalistic resignation.
Gods Will Desire
Approved rendering: 望む
Transliteration: nozomu
Doctrine: Patience of God’s Timing
Original: βούλομαι
Category: Salvation
NEW term for βούλομαι (3:9), God’s settled desire that none should perish but all reach repentance — the motive behind his patience. Standard.
Referenced passages