Semantic Analysis — Hebrews (Koine Greek) for Japanese Translation

Scope and Method

This document analyzes the entire book of Hebrews in the original Koine Greek, chapter 1 through chapter 13, in preparation for a Japanese-language Bible study curriculum. Per PRD Phase 1 Step 1:

• Part A treats the core passage, Hebrews 9:11–28, verse by verse. Every load-bearing term is given: original Greek word, transliteration, literal meaning, semantic range, English translation variants, contextual theological meaning in Hebrews, and a Japanese destination-language rendering risk assessment.
• Part B treats every chapter of Hebrews (1–13) in canonical order, surfacing load-bearing theological vocabulary with the same fields. Terms already analyzed in the core passage or in an earlier chapter are cross-referenced rather than re-derived from scratch. Chapters that introduce no new load-bearing vocabulary beyond what has already been catalogued say so explicitly.
• Baseline compliance: any term already recorded in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json (e.g., 神, キリスト, 信仰, 恵み, 契約, 聖霊, 律法, 義, 栄光, 召し, とりなし, 勧める) reuses that exact Japanese rendering here. This document does not re-litigate those baseline decisions; it only notes where Hebrews’ usage adds a new nuance, sense, or collision risk not present in Romans.
• New terms proposed here are candidates for the Hebrews-specific extension of translation memory (to be finalized in later curriculum-glossary steps) and follow the same Critical/High/Medium/Low risk-tier conventions as the baseline.

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PART A — Core Passage: Hebrews 9:11–28 (Verse-by-Verse)

Hebrews 9:11

Greek: Χριστὸς δὲ παραγενόμενος ἀρχιερεὺς τῶν γενομένων ἀγαθῶν διὰ τῆς μείζονος καὶ τελειοτέρας σκηνῆς οὐ χειροποιήτου, τοῦτ᾽ ἔστιν οὐ ταύτης τῆς κτίσεως, English (representative): “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation)…”

Terms	Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
Χριστός Christos ”Anointed One”	Title/proper name for Jesus as Messiah Christ	Baseline term; reused exactly.	Reuse baseline キリスト. No change.
ἀρχιερεύς archiereus ”chief/first priest”	The high priest, head of the Levitical cultic system; in Hebrews, applied uniquely to Christ high priest	Central Hebrews Christological title: Christ is the singular, superior, permanent High Priest who fulfills and surpasses the Aaronic office.	Critical. Japan has no functional equivalent office; nearest cultural anchors are the Shinto 神主/宮司 (kannushi/gūji, shrine priest) or Buddhist 僧侶 (sōryo, monk), both of which perform repeated, often fee-based ritual mediation for parishioners. Render 大祭司 (daisaishi), the established Japanese Bible term, but every occurrence in doctrinal exposition must clarify that Christ’s priesthood is unique, once-enacted, and requires no repeated ritual re-performance — the opposite operational logic of shrine/temple priestly service familiar to Japanese readers.
ἀγαθά (γενομένων ἀγαθῶν) agatha (genomenōn agathōn) “good things that have come/happened”	The eschatological blessings inaugurated by Christ good things to come, good things now realized	The new-covenant realities (forgiveness, access, inheritance) now present in Christ, contrasted with the old covenant’s anticipatory shadows.	Low. Render descriptively (良い/実現した恵み); no forbidden-term risk, but must not be flattened to generic secular “good things” (幸せなこと) — tie explicitly to what follows in ch. 8–10.
σκηνή skēnē ”tent, tabernacle”	The wilderness Tabernacle; by extension any sacred tent-sanctuary; metaphorically, the heavenly sanctuary tabernacle, tent	The “greater and more perfect tabernacle” is the heavenly sanctuary itself (or Christ’s own body/ministry), superior to the earthly Mosaic tent.	Medium. Render 幕屋 (makuya), the established Japanese OT term. Primary risk is comprehension, not collision: secular, biblically illiterate readers have no referent for “tabernacle” at all and will need a first-occurrence gloss (移動式の聖所, “portable sanctuary”), not a false concept to unlearn.
χειροποίητος (οὐ χειροποιήτου) cheiropoiētos ”made by hand”	Man-made, of human construction made with hands / man-made	Denies that the heavenly sanctuary is a human artifact — it is not a superior version of the same kind of thing Moses built, but a different order of reality altogether.	Medium. Render 人の手で造られた…ではない. No existing collision; keep literal and plain.
κτίσις (ταύτης τῆς κτίσεως) ktisis ”creation, created order”	The created cosmos; a created thing this creation, this world	The heavenly tent is not part of the created order at all — it transcends creation itself, reinforcing Christ’s superiority over every created thing (echoing ch. 1’s angel argument).	Low-Medium. Render 創造されたもの/この世界. No major risk, but connect back to ch.1’s angel argument for narrative coherence.

Hebrews 9:12

Greek: οὐδὲ διὰ αἵματος τράγων καὶ μόσχων διὰ δὲ τοῦ ἰδίου αἵματος, εἰσῆλθεν ἅπαξ εἰς τὰ ἅγια, αἰωνίαν λύτρωσιν εὑράμενος. English: “…he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.”

Terms	Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
αἷμα (τράγων καὶ μόσχων / τοῦ ἰδίου αἵματος) haima ”blood”	Literal blood; by extension, sacrificial life poured out, the means of atonement blood	Blood is the God-appointed means of atonement throughout Hebrews 9; Christ’s own blood (not an animal substitute’s) is what accomplishes what Levitical blood could only foreshadow.	Critical. Render 血 (chi). This is the single highest cultural collision-risk term unique to Hebrews (not flagged in the Romans baseline, which does not dwell on sacrificial blood). Traditional Japanese purity codes (Shinto kegare, ritual pollution) treat blood — especially blood associated with death and menstruation (血の穢れ, chi no kegare) — as a primary source of ritual defilement requiring purification and exclusion from sacred space (historically formalized in practices such as ubuya/taboo huts and shrine blood-taboos). Hebrews’ theology runs in the opposite direction: blood does not defile sacred space here, it grants access to it and purifies the worshiper. This inversion must be actively taught, not assumed; without explicit framing, readers steeped in this cultural backdrop may instinctively process blood-sacrifice language as ritually unclean rather than salvific.
ἅπαξ hapax ”once, one time”	A single, non-repeated occurrence once, once for all	The first of Hebrews’ keyword uses of ἅπαξ/ἐφάπαξ (see also 9:26, 9:28, 10:10): Christ’s priestly entry and sacrifice happened one single time, never to be repeated, in decisive contrast to the Levitical high priest’s annual repetition (v.25).	Critical. Render 一度限り (ichido kagiri) or ただ一度 (tada ichido), conveying finality, not merely “once” in a neutral counting sense. This is the central rhetorical hinge of the whole doctrine of the once-for-all atonement, and it collides directly with Japan’s deeply embedded culture of repeated, cyclical religious observance — annual Shinto festivals (matsuri), the multi-stage Buddhist memorial-service calendar for the dead (初七日, 四十九日, 一周忌, 三回忌, and further anniversary rites for years or decades), and household altar devotions performed on a recurring schedule. To a reader formed by this pattern, a religious act performed only once and never repeated may read as incomplete or insufficient rather than triumphantly final. Teaching materials must make this contrast explicit rather than assume the Japanese word alone conveys finality.
τὰ ἅγια ta hagia ”the holy places”	The sanctuary; in Hebrews 9 typically the Holy of Holies / heavenly sanctuary the holy places, the Holy Place, the sanctuary	The place of God’s presence, now entered by Christ once, permanently, on believers’ behalf.	High. Render 聖所 (seisho) / at the Holy-of-Holies sense, 至聖所 (shiseisho). Reinforce with 聖い (baseline “holy”) qualifiers; avoid any suggestion this is a Shinto-style shrine precinct (境内) requiring ongoing ritual visitation (お参り).
λύτρωσις (αἰωνίαν λύτρωσιν) lytrōsis ”redemption, ransoming”	Release secured by payment of a price; deliverance redemption	Christ’s blood secures a permanent, eternal redemption — not a temporary ritual remedy needing renewal, unlike Levitical sacrifices.	High. New term for Hebrews (not in Romans baseline TM). Render 贖い (shukui). Must be distinguished from generic compensation/reparation (弁償, benshō, “making amends” for a wrong) and must not be diluted into a self-help “liberation” sense; anchor to the price-paid, substitutionary sense established in ch. 9 as a whole. Pair consistently with αἰώνιος.
αἰώνιος aiōnios ”eternal, age-long”	Everlasting; belonging to the age to come eternal, everlasting	Modifies “redemption” here (also “inheritance” v.15, “Spirit” v.14, “salvation” 5:9, “judgment” 6:2): the finality and permanence of Christ’s accomplished work, contrasted with the Levitical system’s built-in temporariness.	Medium. Render 永遠の (eien no). No major collision, but should be actively paired with ἅπαξ passages to reinforce the finality argument together.

Hebrews 9:13

Greek: εἰ γὰρ τὸ αἷμα τράγων καὶ ταύρων καὶ σποδὸς δαμάλεως ῥαντίζουσα τοὺς κεκοινωμένους ἁγιάζει πρὸς τὴν τῆς σαρκὸς καθαρότητα, English: “For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh…”

Terms	Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
ῥαντίζω rhantizō ”to sprinkle”	Ritual sprinkling of blood, water, or ashes for cleansing sprinkle	The Levitical ritual-cleansing action (cf. Numbers 19’s red heifer rite), a repeated external rite contrasted with Christ’s once-for-all internal cleansing (v.14).	Medium. Render 振りかける/注ぎかける. No forbidden-term risk; keep it visibly ceremonial/OT-flavored so it reads as background ritual, not the main theological point.
κοινόω (κεκοινωμένους) koinoō ”to make common/defile”	To render ritually impure/unclean defiled persons, those who are unclean	Those rendered ceremonially unfit for worship under the old covenant system.	Medium. Render 汚れた者たち/身を汚した人々. Same semantic root reappears with heightened doctrinal weight at 10:29 (see Ch.10 below) where treating Christ’s blood as κοινός becomes the paradigm apostasy sin — flag that connection for translators.
ἁγιάζω hagiazō ”to sanctify, make holy”	To set apart, consecrate, purify for sacred use sanctify	Here, ritual/ceremonial sanctification effective only for “the purity of the flesh” — an external, limited cleansing, set up as the lesser counterpart to v.14’s cleansing of the conscience.	High. Baseline reuse: same root family as 聖化 (sanctification, High risk in baseline) and 聖い (holy, Medium risk in baseline). Reuse 聖める/聖くする consistently. The verse’s argument depends on the reader perceiving this as a real but limited category of holiness, inferior to what Christ accomplishes in v.14 — do not let the translation erase that comparative gradient.
καθαρότης (τῆς σαρκός) katharotēs ”purity, cleanness”	Physical/ceremonial cleanness purification, cleanness	Limited to bodily/ceremonial purity — the old covenant’s outer-level effect, explicitly contrasted with the conscience-level cleansing in v.14.	High. Render 清め/清さ. This is the first of several purification terms in this passage (see also v.14, v.22, v.23) that directly intersect Shinto ritual-purification vocabulary — misogi (禊) and harae (お祓い) — which likewise cleanse kegare (ritual pollution) at an external, ceremonial level. This is actually a productive parallel for teaching (the passage itself argues from a lesser, external purification to a greater, internal one), but translators must make the analogy explicit and controlled rather than letting readers assume Christian purification is simply a superior harae ritual of the same kind.

Hebrews 9:14

Greek: πόσῳ μᾶλλον τὸ αἷμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὃς διὰ Πνεύματος αἰωνίου ἑαυτὸν προσήνεγκεν ἄμωμον τῷ θεῷ, καθαριεῖ τὴν συνείδησιν ἡμῶν ἀπὸ νεκρῶν ἔργων εἰς τὸ λατρεύειν θεῷ ζῶντι. English: “…how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”

Terms	Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
Πνεῦμα αἰώνιον Pneuma aiōnion ”eternal Spirit”	Most likely the Holy Spirit, by whose eternal power Christ offered himself eternal Spirit, his eternal spirit	The Trinitarian dimension of the atonement: Christ’s self-offering was itself Spirit-empowered.	Critical. Baseline reuse required: 聖霊 (never 霊 alone, per baseline’s Critical Holy Spirit rule). Some English versions read “his own eternal spirit” (Christ’s human/divine spirit) rather than the Holy Spirit; flag this ambiguity for theologian review per baseline ambiguity-handling rules, but default to 聖霊 unless context strongly favors the alternative, and never allow 霊 unqualified given Japan’s vivid folk spirit-world (see baseline note).
προσφέρω (προσήνεγκεν) prospherō ”to offer, bring to”	The technical verb for presenting a sacrifice offered	Christ is both priest and sacrifice — he offered himself (contrast the Levitical priest who offers another creature).	High. New term for Hebrews. Render 供える/差し出す (of the specific priestly-offering sense) or いけにえとしてささげる when paired with θυσία. Distinguish consistently from the secularized, dilution-prone 犠牲 (gisei), which in modern Japanese commonly means generic “sacrifice” in a non-cultic sense (self-sacrifice for one’s company, wartime casualties, a baseball “sacrifice bunt”). Reserve いけにえ/ささげる for the specific cultic-priestly sense throughout Hebrews.
ἄμωμος amōmos ”without blemish, unblemished”	Ritually flawless, fit for sacrifice; morally spotless without blemish, spotless, unblemished	Applies the OT standard for an acceptable sacrificial animal (Lev. 22:21) to Christ himself — his sinless perfection qualifies him as the acceptable, final sacrifice.	High. Render 傷のない/汚れのない. No forbidden-term collision; ensure it is read as fitness-for-sacrifice language, not merely general moral praise.
συνείδησις syneidēsis ”conscience, moral awareness”	The inner faculty of moral self-judgment conscience	What Christ’s blood cleanses — not merely outward ritual status (v.13) but the inner moral consciousness of guilt before God.	High. New term for Hebrews. Render 良心 (ryōshin), the standard modern Japanese word for “conscience.” This intersects directly with the baseline’s High-risk note on 罪 (sin): Japan’s culture is frequently characterized as shame-oriented (恥, haji) rather than guilt-oriented, and 良心 in ordinary secular use often functions as an internalized social conscience (concern about causing others 迷惑 or losing face) rather than a moral court answerable to a personal, holy God. Hebrews 9:14 must be taught as cleansing guilt before God specifically, not merely quieting social unease.
νεκρὰ ἔργα nekra erga ”dead works”	Actions that cannot produce spiritual life; futile ritual or moral effort dead works	Works done under the old, ineffective system (or apart from faith generally) that cannot themselves purify; contrasted with the living service that follows cleansing.	Medium. Render 死んだ行い. Watch for resonance with Japan’s ascetic/merit-earning religious vocabulary (修行, kudoku 功徳 — both already flagged as forbidden substitutions for grace/salvation in the baseline); “dead works” should if anything reinforce, not blur, that distinction: religious effort apart from Christ’s blood is “dead,” i.e., ineffective, echoing the baseline’s warning against 功徳-style merit accumulation.
λατρεύω latreuō ”to serve, render cultic worship”	Priestly/cultic service; worship serve, worship	The purpose of the cleansing: freed access to render true worship/service to the one living God.	Medium. Render 仕える/礼拝する. No major collision.
θεῷ ζῶντι theō zōnti ”to the living God”	God as personally alive and active, contrasted with lifeless idols the living God	A recurring Hebrews formula (3:12; 10:31; 12:22) emphasizing God’s active, personal reality against dead ritual and, implicitly, lifeless idols.	High. Render 生きておられる神/生けるまことの神. Combine with baseline’s Critical qualifier convention for 神 (唯一のまことの神) since this phrase is precisely the kind of doctrinally weighty statement the baseline requires be qualified — a personal living God stands in maximal contrast to the vast, impersonal, or ancestral kami of Japanese folk religion.

Hebrews 9:15

Greek: Καὶ διὰ τοῦτο διαθήκης καινῆς μεσίτης ἐστίν, ὅπως θανάτου γενομένου εἰς ἀπολύτρωσιν τῶν ἐπὶ τῇ πρώτῃ διαθήκῃ παραβάσεων τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν λάβωσιν οἱ κεκλημένοι τῆς αἰωνίου κληρονομίας. English: “Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.”

Terms	Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
μεσίτης mesitēs ”one who stands in the middle; go-between”	Mediator, intermediary, arbitrator mediator	Christ personally mediates the new covenant between God and humanity — a role Hebrews also assigns him in 8:6 and 12:24.	Critical. New term for Hebrews, distinct from and more central than anything in the Romans baseline. Render 仲介者 (chūkaisha). This is a major collision-risk term: Japanese religious practice is thick with human/ritual intermediary figures — Shinto priests (神主) performing rites on a family’s behalf, Buddhist priests (僧侶) chanting sutras for the deceased at funerals and memorial services, and ancestor-veneration practices in which deceased relatives are sometimes treated as intercessors. Teaching materials must state plainly that Christ’s mediatorship is singular, sufficient, and exclusive (cf. 1 Tim. 2:5, echoed by Hebrews’ whole argument) — he does not join a class of ongoing ritual intermediaries; he permanently replaces the need for any other.
διαθήκη καινή diathēkē kainē ”new covenant”	The covenant inaugurated by Christ’s death, replacing the Mosaic covenant new covenant	The central theme of Hebrews 8–10: superior, final, effective where the old covenant could only foreshadow.	High. Baseline reuse: 契約 (covenant) is already established (High risk, commercial-contract dilution per baseline). Render 新しい契約. Reinforce actively against the everyday secular sense of 契約 as a negotiated business agreement between equal parties — Hebrews’ new covenant is God’s own gracious, unilateral provision, sealed not by mutual negotiation but by Christ’s death.
διαθήκη (πρώτη διαθήκη) diathēkē (prōtē diathēkē) “first covenant”	The Mosaic/Sinai covenant the first covenant, the old covenant	The covenant Hebrews consistently presents as provisional, foreshadowing, and now “obsolete” (8:13) in light of the new.	High. Same term/rendering as above (契約); the “first” vs. “new” contrast must remain crisp and consistent throughout chs. 8–10.
ἀπολύτρωσις apolytrōsis ”redemption, ransom”	Full release secured by a ransom price redemption	Reinforces λύτρωσις (v.12) with the intensified compound form; the death that ransoms people specifically from the guilt of transgressions committed under the old covenant.	High. Same treatment as λύτρωσις above; render 贖い. Keep the two Greek forms (λύτρωσις/ἀπολύτρωσις) mapped to the same Japanese term for consistency, noting in translator notes that Greek uses two related forms Japanese cannot distinguish.
παράβασις parabasis ”transgression, overstepping”	Violation of a known law/boundary transgression, trespass	Specifically sins committed under the first covenant that could not be finally dealt with by its own sacrificial system — only Christ’s death retroactively and fully redeems from them.	Medium. Render 違反/罪過. No major collision; keep distinct from the general term 罪 (sin, baseline High risk) where the text specifically means law-code violation.
κεκλημένοι keklēmenoi ”the ones having been called”	Those summoned by God those who are called	Baseline reuse: 召された (called), already High risk in baseline (Divine Calling doctrine). Those effectually summoned by God receive the promised inheritance.	High. Reuse baseline 召された exactly; do not substitute 選ばれた or other synonyms.
ἐπαγγελία epangelia ”promise”	A formal pledge/promise, especially God’s covenant promises promise	The inheritance is not earned but promised — received by faith, consistent with Hebrews 11’s promise-and-faith theme.	Medium. Render 約束. No major collision, but keep distinct from ordinary secular “promise” (usually fine) — theological weight comes from context, not the word itself.
κληρονομία (αἰώνιος κληρονομία) klēronomia ”inheritance”	That which is inherited; an heir’s portion inheritance	The eternal inheritance secured for those called — echoing Hebrews’ repeated inheritance language (1:14; 6:12,17; 9:15; 11:8; 12:17).	Medium. New standalone entry for Hebrews (related to, but not identical with, the baseline’s 子とされること/“adoption” entry). Render 相続 (sōzoku)/相続人 (sōzokunin, heir). As with baseline’s adoption note, Japan’s long-established practice of formal heir designation (養子縁組, still common in business succession) is a helpful cultural bridge here, not primarily a liability: it already carries the sense of full, legally secured inheritance rights transferred to a chosen heir. Ensure teaching draws on this positive resonance rather than assuming a Western nuclear-family inheritance framework the Japanese reader may not share.

Hebrews 9:16–17

Greek (v.16): ὅπου γὰρ διαθήκη, θάνατον ἀνάγκη φέρεσθαι τοῦ διαθεμένου· Greek (v.17): διαθήκη γὰρ ἐπὶ νεκροῖς βεβαία, ἐπεὶ μήποτε ἰσχύει ὅτε ζῇ ὁ διαθέμενος. English: “For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive.”

Terms	Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
διαθήκη (in the sense “will/testament”) diathēkē ”a disposition, arrangement”	Ranges across “covenant” (relational divine promise) AND “last will/testament” (a legal document taking effect at death) — the same Greek word covers both senses, and Hebrews 9:16–17 deliberately plays on this double meaning to argue that a covenant, like a will, required a death to take effect. covenant / will, testament	The wordplay is the argument: because διαθήκη can mean “will,” the author argues that the “covenant-maker’s” death (Christ’s) is what activates the inheritance, just as a testator’s death activates a will.	Critical — untranslatable wordplay requiring a translator’s note. Japanese has no single word spanning both senses: 契約 (keiyaku) means covenant/contract, while 遺言 (yuigon) means a last will/testament — two entirely distinct words with no lexical overlap. The established Japanese Bible tradition (consistent with Shinkaiyaku 2017) resolves this by shifting vocabulary within vv.16–17 to convey the will/testament sense (遺言/遺言をした人, “the one who made the will”) before returning to 契約 in v.18 onward. This resolves readability but completely hides the Greek wordplay from the Japanese reader. A [TRANSLATOR NOTE] is mandatory at this passage explaining that the single Greek word διαθήκη underlies both the “covenant” language used throughout Hebrews 8–10 and the “will/testament” logic of these two verses specifically — otherwise the argument’s connective logic (why does a covenant need a death at all?) will appear to readers as a non-sequitur or an odd tangent rather than the wordplay-driven argument Paul… [author of Hebrews] intends.
θάνατος thanatos ”death”	Physical death death	The death required both to activate a will (ordinary human legal custom) and, typologically, to inaugurate the new covenant (Christ’s death).	Low. Render 死. No major risk.
διατίθεμαι (ὁ διαθέμενος) diatithemai ”to arrange, dispose, make a will”	The one who establishes a covenant/makes a will the one who made it, the testator	The covenant-maker/testator figure — applied typologically to Christ, whose death “activates” the inheritance for the called.	High. Cover under the translator’s-note treatment above; render descriptively (契約を結んだ方/遺言をした人) depending on which sense is active in a given clause.

Hebrews 9:18–21

Greek (v.18): ὅθεν οὐδὲ ἡ πρώτη χωρὶς αἵματος ἐγκεκαίνισται· Greek (v.19): λαληθείσης γὰρ πάσης ἐντολῆς κατὰ τὸν νόμον ὑπὸ Μωϋσέως παντὶ τῷ λαῷ, λαβὼν τὸ αἷμα τῶν μόσχων καὶ τῶν τράγων μετὰ ὕδατος καὶ ἐρίου κοκκίνου καὶ ὑσσώπου, αὐτό τε τὸ βιβλίον καὶ πάντα τὸν λαὸν ἐράντισεν, Greek (v.20): λέγων, Τοῦτο τὸ αἷμα τῆς διαθήκης ἧς ἐνετείλατο πρὸς ὑμᾶς ὁ θεός· Greek (v.21): καὶ τὴν σκηνὴν δὲ καὶ πάντα τὰ σκεύη τῆς λειτουργίας τῷ αἵματι ὁμοίως ἐράντισεν. English: “Thus even the first covenant was not ratified without blood… ‘This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.’ And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship.”

Terms	Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
ἐγκαινίζω (ἐγκεκαίνισται) egkainizō ”to inaugurate, dedicate, ratify”	To formally inaugurate a covenant or consecrate an object for use ratified, inaugurated, dedicated	The Mosaic covenant itself required a blood-ratification ceremony (Exod. 24:8), establishing the pattern the whole chapter argues Christ fulfills and surpasses.	Medium. Render 効力を持たせる/制定する. No major collision.
Μωϋσῆς Mōusēs proper name	Moses, mediator of the Sinai covenant Moses	Central figure in Hebrews’ “superiority over Moses” doctrine (see also ch. 3). Here, the human mediator of the old covenant, contrasted implicitly with Christ, mediator of the new (v.15).	Medium. Transliteration standard: モーセ (Mōse), per the baseline’s established proper-name conventions document. No collision risk as a name, but the doctrinal contrast (Christ > Moses) must be preserved in surrounding exposition.
ῥάντισμα / ῥαντίζω (ἐράντισεν) rhantisma / rhantizō ”to sprinkle”	see v.13 above sprinkled	The literal ratification-ritual of Exodus 24, sprinkling blood on the book of the covenant, the people, the tabernacle, and its vessels — establishing the pervasive OT pattern of blood as the means of consecration.	Medium. Same treatment as v.13; render 振りかける.
αἷμα τῆς διαθήκης haima tēs diathēkēs ”blood of the covenant”	The specific ratifying blood of the Sinai covenant (quoting Exod. 24:8) blood of the covenant	This exact phrase is echoed by Jesus at the Last Supper (“this is my blood of the covenant,” Matt. 26:28) and again in Hebrews 13:20 (implicitly) — establishing deep continuity between old and new covenant blood-ratification.	Critical (by extension of αἷμα, above). Render 契約の血. Flag for cross-reference consistency with any Lord’s Supper/communion teaching materials elsewhere in the curriculum, since the phrase is theologically load-bearing across both Testaments.
λειτουργία (σκεύη τῆς λειτουργίας) leitourgia ”service, ministry” (often specifically cultic/priestly service)	Public/priestly service; the root of English “liturgy” worship, ministry, service	The vessels used in the tabernacle’s priestly service — a technical cultic term.	Low-Medium. Render 礼拝の道具/奉仕の器具. No major collision.

Hebrews 9:22

Greek: καὶ σχεδὸν ἐν αἵματι πάντα καθαρίζεται κατὰ τὸν νόμον, καὶ χωρὶς αἱματεκχυσίας οὐ γίνεται ἄφεσις. English: “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”

Terms	Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
καθαρίζω katharizō ”to cleanse, purify”	see v.13-14 above purified	The summary principle of the entire Levitical system: cleansing is achieved through blood, not water or other agents alone.	High (see v.13/v.14 treatment above — same Shinto ritual-purification collision risk applies here at the level of general principle, not just individual rites).
αἱματεκχυσία haimatekchysia ”the pouring/shedding out of blood”	A rare, almost technical compound coined for this kind of theological statement — the act of bloodshed itself as the required precondition shedding of blood, bloodshed	States as a categorical principle (not merely a ritual detail) that God’s forgiveness is inseparably tied to a life poured out in death — foreshadowing Christ’s own bloodshed as the ultimate fulfillment.	High. Render 血を流すこと. A rare and formal compound in Greek; render plainly rather than seeking an equally rare Japanese compound. Note for teaching: this verse’s blunt insistence that forgiveness requires bloodshed will strike secular modern readers (and collide, per the note on αἷμα above, with a purity culture that treats blood as defiling) as viscerally foreign; do not soften it, but do actively bridge it with explanatory teaching.
ἄφεσις aphesis ”release, forgiveness, remission”	Legal/relational release from a debt or bond; forgiveness of sin forgiveness, remission	The result secured only through bloodshed: the removal/release of the guilt of sin.	High. Render 赦し (yurushi) — the standard Japanese Bible term for divine forgiveness (distinct from the more general 許し, which can mean simple permission; ensure the 赦 kanji, associated specifically with forgiveness of an offense/sin, is used, paralleling the baseline’s 預言/予言 homophone-kanji-precision principle).

Hebrews 9:23

Greek: Ἀνάγκη οὖν τὰ μὲν ὑποδείγματα τῶν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς τούτοις καθαρίζεσθαι, αὐτὰ δὲ τὰ ἐπουράνια κρείττοσι θυσίαις παρὰ ταύτας. English: “Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves need better sacrifices than these.”

Terms	Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
ὑπόδειγμα hypodeigma ”example, pattern, copy”	A model or copy corresponding to a heavenly original copy, pattern, example	The earthly tabernacle system is only a copy/model of heavenly realities (cf. 8:5’s “shadow” language and Exodus 25:40’s “pattern” shown to Moses).	Medium. Render 写し/模型. No forbidden-term collision; pairs conceptually with σκιά (shadow, ch. 10) and ἀντίτυπα (v.24).
θυσία (κρείττοσι θυσίαις) thysia ”sacrifice”	A cultic offering sacrifice	The “better sacrifice” needed to cleanse heavenly realities themselves — fulfilled by Christ’s singular self-offering.	High. New term for Hebrews. Render いけにえ (ikenie), the established Japanese OT sacrificial-offering term — distinct from the secularized 犠牲 (gisei), which in modern usage commonly means generic self-sacrifice (for one’s company, in war, in sport) rather than a cultic offering to God. Reserve いけにえ for cultic/theological contexts throughout Hebrews.
κρείττων / κρείσσων kreittōn / kreissōn ”better, superior”	Comparative adjective: of greater quality, excellence, or effectiveness better, superior, greater	The single most repeated rhetorical-theological word in Hebrews (better angels 1:4; better hope 7:19; better covenant 7:22/8:6; better promises 8:6; better sacrifices 9:23; better country 11:16; better resurrection 11:35; better things 11:40, 12:24). It is the book’s core argumentative keyword: Christ and the new covenant are not incrementally improved versions of the old but categorically superior.	Medium-High (elevated from a plain comparative because of its argumentative centrality). Render まさっている/より優れた/優れた. Primary risk: modern Japanese commercial/competitive culture (product comparison advertising, ranked school/university prestige, corporate performance benchmarking) may cause this word to land as “10% better” incremental-improvement language, flattening what Hebrews intends as a categorical, order-of-magnitude superiority (a wholly different and greater kind of reality, not a marginally upgraded version of the same kind). Teaching materials should make this qualitative, not merely comparative, sense explicit at first occurrence (1:4) and reinforce it at each recurrence.

Hebrews 9:24

Greek: οὐ γὰρ εἰς χειροποίητα ἅγια εἰσῆλθεν Χριστός, ἀντίτυπα τῶν ἀληθινῶν, ἀλλ᾽ εἰς αὐτὸν τὸν οὐρανόν, νῦν ἐμφανισθῆναι τῷ προσώπῳ τοῦ θεοῦ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν· English: “For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.”

Terms	Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
ἀντίτυπος (ἀντίτυπα) antitypos ”corresponding pattern, copy, counterpart”	A copy corresponding to (and derivative of) an original type copies, antitype, counterpart	The earthly Holy of Holies is merely a copy corresponding to the real, heavenly sanctuary Christ actually entered.	Medium. Render 写し/対応するもの. No forbidden-term collision; conceptually parallel to ὑπόδειγμα (v.23) and σκιά (ch.10).
ἀληθινός (τῶν ἀληθινῶν) alēthinos ”true, real, genuine”	The real thing as opposed to a copy or symbol the true things	The heavenly realities of which the earthly tabernacle system was only ever a copy.	Low. Render 真実の/本物の. No major risk.
ἐμφανίζω (ἐμφανισθῆναι) emphanizō ”to appear, manifest, present oneself”	To become visible, to appear before someone to appear	Christ’s ongoing heavenly ministry: he now appears before God’s presence on our behalf — a present, continuing intercessory ministry distinct from the once-for-all sacrifice itself.	Medium. Render 神の御前に現れる. Note the theological nuance for teaching: this is Christ’s continuing (not repeated-sacrifice) heavenly presence and advocacy, distinct from the ἅπαξ sacrificial event itself — do not blur the two.
ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν hyper hēmōn ”on behalf of us, for us”	Substitutionary/representative benefit on our behalf, for us	Christ’s heavenly appearance and priestly ministry benefit believers directly and personally.	Low. Render 私たちのために. No major risk.

Hebrews 9:25

Greek: οὐδ᾽ ἵνα πολλάκις προσφέρῃ ἑαυτόν, ὥσπερ ὁ ἀρχιερεὺς εἰσέρχεται εἰς τὰ ἅγια κατ᾽ ἐνιαυτὸν ἐν αἵματι ἀλλοτρίῳ, English: “Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own…”

Terms	Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
πολλάκις pollakis ”often, many times, repeatedly”	Repetition often, repeatedly, many times	The direct antonym-concept to ἅπαξ (v.12/26/28): the very thing Christ’s sacrifice is not — a repeated event, unlike the Levitical high priest’s yearly repetition on the Day of Atonement.	High. Render 何度も/繰り返し. This term functions as the rhetorical foil to ἅπαξ; the two should always be taught as a matched contrast pair, and translators should ensure the Japanese vocabulary for each stays visually/aurally distinct so the contrast is not lost in reading aloud.
κατ᾽ ἐνιαυτόν kat’ eniauton ”according to the year, yearly”	Annual recurrence year by year, annually	Describes the Levitical high priest’s annual Day-of-Atonement entry into the Holy of Holies (Lev. 16) — the very repetitive pattern Christ’s ἅπαξ sacrifice brings to an end.	Medium. Render 毎年. Reinforces the once-for-all vs. annual-repetition contrast; connect explicitly (in teaching notes) to Japan’s own annual religious-observance calendar (see ἅπαξ note above) as the cultural point requiring active bridging.
αἷμα ἀλλότριον haima allotrion ”blood not one’s own, another’s blood”	Blood belonging to a different party (the sacrificial animal, not the priest) blood not his own	The Levitical priest always offers blood belonging to another creature; Christ, uniquely, offers his own blood — priest and victim are the same person.	High (extension of αἷμα, above). Render 自分自身のものではない血/他のものの血. This single phrase crystallizes the whole chapter’s Christ-as-priest-and-victim argument; ensure it is rendered with enough clarity that the priest/victim identity distinction (Christ offering himself, not a substitute animal on his own priestly account) is unmistakable.

Hebrews 9:26

Greek: ἐπεὶ ἔδει αὐτὸν πολλάκις παθεῖν ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου· νυνὶ δὲ ἅπαξ ἐπὶ συντελείᾳ τῶν αἰώνων εἰς ἀθέτησιν ἁμαρτίας διὰ τῆς θυσίας αὐτοῦ πεφανέρωται. English: “…for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.”

Terms	Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
καταβολὴ κόσμου katabolē kosmou ”founding/foundation of the world”	The moment of creation since the foundation of the world	Establishes the hypothetical absurdity of repeated atonement stretching back to creation itself — reinforcing by contrast the singular, historically located finality of Christ’s actual sacrifice.	Medium. Render 世界の基が置かれたとき/創造の時から. No collision risk; tie explicitly back to Genesis creation teaching elsewhere in the curriculum for coherence.
συντέλεια τῶν αἰώνων synteleia tōn aiōnōn ”the completion/consummation of the ages”	The climactic turning point of redemptive history the end of the age(s), the consummation of the ages	Christ’s sacrifice occurred at history’s decisive climax — not one event among many but the hinge-point of all ages.	Medium. Render 世々の終わり/時代の終わり. No major collision, but requires explanation for biblically illiterate readers unfamiliar with a linear, climactic view of history (as opposed to, e.g., a cyclical cosmological view more familiar from Buddhist kalpa-cycle cosmology).
ἀθέτησις (ἁμαρτίας) athetēsis ”annulment, setting aside, putting away”	Nullification, cancellation, removal to put away, to do away with, to abolish	Christ’s sacrifice does not merely cover sin temporarily (as Levitical sacrifices did, requiring annual repetition) but annuls/removes it decisively.	Medium-High. Render 取り除く/廃棄する. Connects directly to ἅπαξ’s finality argument — ensure consistent theological framing that sin is not managed but abolished.
θυσία αὐτοῦ thysia autou ”his sacrifice, the sacrifice of himself”	The specific, unique self-offering of Christ the sacrifice of himself	The climactic restatement of the chapter’s central claim: Christ himself is the sacrifice.	High (see θυσία, v.23). Render 彼自身のいけにえ/自分をいけにえとしてささげたこと.

Hebrews 9:27–28

Greek (v.27): καὶ καθ᾽ ὅσον ἀπόκειται τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἅπαξ ἀποθανεῖν, μετὰ δὲ τοῦτο κρίσις, Greek (v.28): οὕτως καὶ ὁ Χριστός, ἅπαξ προσενεχθεὶς εἰς τὸ πολλῶν ἀνενεγκεῖν ἁμαρτίας, ἐκ δευτέρου χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας ὀφθήσεται τοῖς αὐτὸν ἀπεκδεχομένοις εἰς σωτηρίαν. English: “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”

Terms	Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
ἀπόκειται apokeitai ”it is laid up, appointed, reserved”	A fixed, settled appointment/destiny it is appointed, it is destined	Death is fixed and universal for humanity — a single, unrepeated event for each person, mirroring (and grounding the analogy for) Christ’s own unrepeated death and appearing.	Medium. Render …と定められている. Distinguish carefully from impersonal fate/destiny vocabulary (運命, unmei) already flagged Critical/High in the baseline under “calling” and “providence” — human mortality here is a divine appointment, not blind fate, even though the surface vocabulary risk is similar.
κρίσις krisis ”judgment, decision, verdict”	A judicial verdict; the act of judging judgment	The single, final divine tribunal each person faces after death — a one-time, personal, moral reckoning before God.	High. New term for Hebrews (distinct from baseline’s “sin”/“universal human accountability” entries, though thematically linked). Render 裁き (sabaki). Significant risk: this verse’s logic (one death, then one judgment) directly confronts any residual folk-Buddhist framework of karmic cause-and-effect across multiple lives (因果応報, inga ōhō) or reincarnation-adjacent thinking, in which consequences are worked out cyclically over successive existences rather than settled once, personally, and finally. Teaching materials should make this contrast explicit: Hebrews presents a linear, one-time life → one-time judgment structure, not a cyclical karmic ledger.
ἅπαξ (προσενεχθείς) hapax (prosenechtheis) “having been offered once”	see v.12/v.26 offered once	The third and climactic use of ἅπαξ in this passage, directly paralleling human mortality’s “once to die” (v.27) with Christ’s “once offered” (v.28) — the analogy is the argument.	Critical (see v.12 treatment). Maintain identical Japanese rendering (一度限り/ただ一度) across all three occurrences in this passage (vv.26, 27, 28) for maximal rhetorical clarity.
ἀναφέρω (ἀνενεγκεῖν ἁμαρτίας) anapherō ”to carry/bear up, to bear away”	To bear or carry sins (as a sacrificial victim bears them away) to bear, to take away	Christ’s sacrifice bears/carries away the sins “of many” — sacrificial substitutionary language echoing Isaiah 53’s Suffering Servant.	High. Render 多くの人の罪を負う/取り除くために. Note the intertextual echo of Isaiah 53:12 (LXX) for teaching purposes — reinforces the “many” as intentionally broad/universal, connecting to the baseline’s “universal scope of the gospel” doctrine established in Romans.
ἐκ δευτέρου ek deuterou ”a second time”	Recurrence — but here, of Christ’s appearing, not his atoning sacrifice a second time	Christ’s return (the Second Coming) is explicitly distinguished here from his atoning work: he was offered once (sacrificially, never repeated) but will appear a second time (in glory, to consummate salvation) — two entirely different kinds of “occurring.”	High. Render 再び/二度目に. Care must be taken in exposition that this “second time” does not accidentally imply the sacrifice itself recurs — it is Christ’s appearing/return, not his atoning death, that is “second.” This distinction is easy to blur in translation if ἅπαξ and ἐκ δευτέροu are not kept sharply separated conceptually.
ἀπεκδέχομαι apekdechomai ”to await eagerly, to wait expectantly”	Confident, forward-looking expectation eagerly waiting for, awaiting	Believers’ posture toward Christ’s return: confident anticipation, not anxious uncertainty (contrast the warning passages’ anxious dread of judgment for the unfaithful).	Medium. Render 待ち望む. No major collision; pairs well with baseline’s “peace”/assurance vocabulary (平安, 8:1 assurance doctrine in Romans) — reinforce continuity of assurance themes across both curricula.
σωτηρία sōtēria ”salvation”	see baseline salvation	Baseline reuse: 救い, Critical risk per baseline. Here specifically the future, consummating aspect of salvation realized at Christ’s return.	Critical. Reuse baseline 救い exactly; do not substitute. Maintain the baseline’s warning against 解脱 (gedatsu) and caution around 極楽往生 framing.

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PART B — Whole-Book Chapter-by-Chapter Semantic Analysis

Chapter 1 — The Son Superior to the Angels

Hebrews opens by establishing Christ’s supremacy over the created order, especially the angels — the first stage of the book’s cascading superiority argument (over angels, ch.1–2; over Moses, ch.3; over the Aaronic priesthood, ch.4–10).

Terms	Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
υἱός (absolute, “the Son,” 1:2,5,8) huios ”son”	Christ’s unique, eternal divine Sonship, used here as a standalone title (“the Son”) rather than the full phrase “Son of God” the Son	Establishes Christ’s Sonship as the basis of his superiority to angels — he is not merely a superior angel but shares the divine identity as Son.	Critical/High. New homophone risk unique to this absolute-title usage. Established Japanese Bible tradition renders the standalone title “the Son” as 御子 (miko), an honorific form distinct from the fuller baseline phrase 神の子 (Son of God, already Critical in baseline). 御子 is a homophone of 巫女 (also read miko), the Shinto shrine maiden/ritual medium who performs ceremonial dances and, historically, oracular functions. This is a purely orthographic/auditory risk of the same class as the baseline’s flagged 預言者/予言者 homophone: in spoken teaching or furigana-less text, “miko” could be misheard or misconstrued as referencing a shrine maiden rather than the divine Son. Always verify the 御子 kanji is used in writing, and in oral/spoken-audience contexts, actively disambiguate (e.g., pairing with 神の子キリスト) to prevent mishearing.
ἀπαύγασμα apaugasma ”radiance, effulgence, outshining”	Light emanating from a source, sharing its very nature (not a mere reflection) radiance, brightness	Christ is the radiance of God’s glory — sharing, not merely reflecting, divine glory.	Medium. Render 栄光の輝き (baseline 栄光 + 輝き). Ensure teaching clarifies this is co-essential radiance (light from the same source, of the same nature), not a secondary, derivative shine — guard against any drift toward emanationist/avatar theology already flagged Critical under baseline’s incarnation entry (化身/権化 forbidden).
χαρακτήρ charaktēr ”exact imprint, stamp, representation”	The precise mark left by a die or seal, exactly reproducing the original exact imprint, representation, exact likeness	Christ is the exact representation of God’s very being (ὑπόστασις, below) — not a symbol or approximation but an exact, essential correspondence.	Critical. New term for Hebrews. Render 本質の完全な現れ (honshitsu no kanzen na araware, “the perfect manifestation of [God’s] essence”) or 神の本質を映す完全な姿. Must be sharply distinguished from any language resembling honji suijaku theology (the medieval Shinto-Buddhist teaching that kami are local “traces” or manifestations of a Buddha) already flagged Critical under the baseline’s Incarnation entry — Christ is not a manifestation/trace/avatar of God but God’s own exact, essential self-expression. Never use 化身/権化.
ὑπόστασις (1:3, “his [God’s] nature”) hypostasis ”substance, essential nature, real being”	The underlying real essence/being of a thing, as opposed to mere appearance nature, being, essence, substance	Christ perfectly represents God’s own essential being. Note: this same Greek word recurs in 11:1 with a related but distinct sense (the “substance/assurance” of faith) — a genuine intertextual word-study connection worth flagging for teaching continuity.	High. Render 本質 (honshitsu) in this 1:3 sense (distinct rendering from 11:1’s context, see Chapter 11 below). Track this word across both occurrences in teaching materials as a single Greek term doing double doctrinal duty.
κληρονομέω/κληρονόμος (1:2,4) klēronomeō/klēronomos ”to inherit / heir”	see 9:15 above heir, to inherit	Christ is appointed “heir of all things” — establishing the inheritance theme that runs through the whole book.	Medium (see full treatment at 9:15 above). Render 相続人/相続する.
θρόνος (1:8) thronos ”throne”	Seat of royal/divine authority throne	God the Father addresses the Son as God, with an eternal throne — a direct Christological affirmation of deity quoting Psalm 45.	Medium. Render 御座 (miza). No major collision; reinforce baseline’s Critical deity-of-Christ doctrine.
λειτουργικὰ πνεύματα (1:7,14) leitourgika pneumata ”ministering spirits”	Angels, described functionally as spirits who serve/minister ministering spirits	Describes angels as created, serving spirits — subordinate to the Son, in contrast to his throne and eternal deity.	High. New term. Render carefully as 仕える御使いたち (“ministering angels,” leaning on baseline’s established 御使い for “angel”), rather than a literal, unqualified 霊 (“spirits”). The baseline’s Critical rule that 聖霊 must never be shortened to unqualified 霊 (given Japan’s vivid folk spirit-world of ancestral and nature spirits) extends here by caution: even though these are angels, not the Holy Spirit, an unqualified “spirits” rendering risks folding them into the same animistic register. Prefer 御使い-based phrasing throughout.
ἄγγελος (throughout ch.1) angelos ”messenger”	Angelic beings, created servants of God angel	The entire chapter’s argument: Christ, the divine Son, is categorically superior to even the highest angels.	Medium. New standalone entry (Hebrews’ angel-Christology is far more developed than anything in Romans). Render 御使い (mitsukai), the established Japanese Bible term (distinct from the more generic loanword-adjacent 天使, tenshi, which is also acceptable in casual contexts but less consistent with Shinkaiyaku convention). Watch for a subtler collision: in Shinto folk religion, various kami have animal tsukai (使い, “messengers,” e.g., the fox messengers of Inari shrines) — the shared root 使い could create unintended resonance suggesting biblical angels are a category of kami-servant similar to these folk-messenger figures. Clarify in teaching that biblical angels are created servants of the one true God, not messengers of any of the many kami.

Chapter 2 — The Superiority of Christ’s Salvation; His Solidarity with Humanity

Terms	Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
σωτηρία (2:3,10) sōtēria ”salvation”	see baseline salvation	Baseline reuse: 救い, Critical. Introduces the warning theme (2:1-4, “how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation”) that recurs through the book’s warning passages.	Critical — reuse baseline exactly.
ἀρχηγός (2:10; also 12:2) archēgos ”leader, originator, pioneer”	One who leads the way, founder/pioneer, sometimes with connotations of a champion who goes first into battle or hardship on others’ behalf pioneer, founder, captain, author	Christ as the “pioneer” or “founder” of salvation — the one who goes first through suffering to open the way for others (2:10), and, in 12:2, the “founder and perfecter” of faith.	Medium. New term for Hebrews. Render 創始者 (sōshisha). Risk: in contemporary Japanese, 創始者 (and its near-synonym 創業者) most commonly denotes a company/organization’s business founder — a strong secular commercial association that could flatten Christ’s pioneering, suffering-servant leadership into a corporate-founder image. Consider supplementing with 先駆者 (senkusha, “trailblazer/pioneer,” which carries a personal-courage-and-precedent connotation closer to the Greek sense) in explanatory teaching, while retaining 創始者 as the consistent glossary term.
ἀδελφός (2:11-12,17) adelphos ”brother”	Sibling; by extension, fellow believer brother, brothers and sisters	Christ is not ashamed to call believers “brothers” — establishing intimate familial solidarity, reinforcing the baseline’s adoption doctrine (子とされること).	Low-Medium. Render 兄弟. No major collision; connect explicitly to the baseline’s Adoption entry for doctrinal coherence.
διάβολος (2:14) diabolos ”slanderer, accuser”	Satan, the devil the devil	Christ’s death defeats “him who has the power of death, that is, the devil” — a decisive, once-for-all victory over the personal enemy.	Medium. New term for Hebrews. Render 悪魔 (akuma), the standard Japanese Bible term. Primary risk is trivialization rather than syncretism: Japan’s heavy manga/anime/tokusatsu pop culture saturates 悪魔 with generic “demon villain” character tropes (akuma as a genre stock-character, from folklore-horror media to card games), risking the reader processing this as a fictional trope rather than the real, personal, now-defeated enemy Hebrews describes.
πάθημα / πάσχω (2:9-10,18) pathēma / paschō ”suffering”	Suffering, especially unto death suffering	Christ’s suffering qualifies him to be a merciful, sympathetic high priest (developed further in 4:15; 5:7-9) — his solidarity with human suffering is doctrinally essential, not incidental.	Medium. Render 苦しみ. No major collision; this becomes an important teaching bridge (see 4:15 below) for readers whose culture (per baseline’s father-figure note) may already feel distanced from warm relational imagery — Christ’s experienced suffering offers a strong relational anchor point.
ἱλάσκομαι (ἱλάσκεσθαι, 2:17) hilaskomai ”to propitiate, to make atonement for”	To turn away wrath, to make an offering that satisfies/appeases to make propitiation, to make atonement	Christ, as merciful and faithful high priest, makes propitiation for the sins of the people — the first explicit propitiation-vocabulary occurrence in Hebrews, developed at length in ch. 9.	Critical. New term for Hebrews (not present in the Romans baseline TM, though the doctrine risk registry’s escalation rules already flag “atonement/propitiation language” generally). Render 宥めをする (nadame o suru) or 罪の宥めをする. This is a genuine and serious collision risk: 宥める (nadameru, “to appease, pacify, soothe”) is common vocabulary in Japanese folk religion for placating an angry or dangerous kami or spirit through ritual offerings (e.g., appeasement rites for a tatari, a vengeful spirit’s curse, or offerings to pacify a kami whose favor has been lost). Without careful framing, ἱλάσκομαι risks being read as “performing a ritual technique to calm down an unpredictable, capricious deity” rather than the biblical sense: God himself, in holy justice and settled love, provides the very sacrifice that satisfies his own righteous requirement against sin. This must always be taught with the clarification that propitiation is God’s own gracious initiative, not a human ritual technique to manage a temperamental deity.
ἐλεήμων/πιστός ἀρχιερεύς (2:17) eleēmōn / pistos archiereus ”merciful and faithful high priest”	see ἀρχιερεύς (9:11) merciful and faithful high priest	Introduces the “Christ as Great High Priest” doctrine that will be developed at length in chs. 4-10.	High (see ἀρχιερεύς treatment above).

Chapter 3 — Christ Superior to Moses; Warning Against Unbelief

Terms	Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
Μωϋσῆς (throughout) Mōusēs proper name	see 9:19 above Moses	Christ is compared to and shown superior to Moses — faithful as a son over the house, not merely a faithful servant within it.	Medium (see treatment at 9:19).
οἶκος (3:2-6) oikos ”house, household”	God’s household/people, sometimes the literal tabernacle-house house, household	The people of God as God’s “house,” over which Christ (as Son) presides, in contrast to Moses (a faithful servant within it).	Low-Medium. Render 家/家族. No major collision, but connects productively to Japan’s strong extended-household concept (家, ie) — potentially a helpful bridge for corporate/family-of-God imagery, similar to the baseline’s positive framing of adoption via 養子縁組.
ἀφίστημι (ἀποστῆναι, 3:12) aphistēmi ”to depart, fall away, apostatize”	To withdraw allegiance, defect, abandon to fall away, to depart from	The first explicit apostasy-warning term in Hebrews: “an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.” Foundational to the “Danger of Apostasy” doctrine developed further in chs. 6 and 10.	High. New term for Hebrews, central to a named curriculum doctrine. Render 神から離れ去る (Kami kara hanare saru). No major syncretism collision, but the doctrinal stakes are high: this must be taught as a real, serious danger of decisive unbelief/abandonment, not softened into a merely emotional “drifting” or a private personal struggle without communal and eternal consequence — the warning passages in Hebrews are addressed to a professing community, paralleling contemporary concern about nominal/cultural Japanese Christian identity without genuine, persevering faith.
ἀπιστία (3:12,19) apistia ”unbelief, faithlessness”	The negative counterpart to πίστις (faith) unbelief	The Israelite wilderness generation’s unbelief, held up as the negative paradigm the audience must not repeat.	High. Baseline-adjacent term: render 不信仰, the natural negation of baseline’s established 信仰 (faith). Keep the antonym pairing visually/structurally clear for teaching (信仰 vs. 不信仰).
σκληρύνω (σκληρύνητε, 3:8,13,15) sklērynō ”to harden”	To make hard, unresponsive, resistant to harden (one’s heart)	The repeated exhortation (“do not harden your hearts,” quoting Psalm 95) — a call to daily, communal vigilance against gradual, hardening unbelief.	Medium. Render 心を硬くする/かたくなにする. No major collision.
σήμερον (3:13,15; also 4:7) sēmeron ”today”	The present moment of decision today	The urgent, repeated “today” of decision — faith/unbelief is decided in the present, not merely a past commitment or a future intention.	Low. Render 今日. No major risk, but useful for emphasizing urgency in exposition.

Chapter 4 — The Promised Rest; the Living Word; the Sympathetic High Priest

Terms	Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
κατάπαυσις (throughout 3:11–4:11) katapausis ”rest, cessation”	A settled, final resting-place; here, both Canaan-rest typologically and the ultimate eschatological rest of God rest	God’s promised rest — first typified in Canaan, ultimately fulfilled in the eschatological rest believers enter by faith, distinct from the wilderness generation’s unbelief-forfeited rest.	Medium. New term for Hebrews. Render 安息 (ansoku), the established Japanese Bible term (cf. Sabbath, 安息日). Watch for a subtle but real collision: Japanese religious vocabulary for “rest from striving/cycle” can evoke Buddhist nirvana (涅槃, nehan) imagery — the cessation of craving and the wheel of rebirth — which is a fundamentally different concept (impersonal cessation vs. Hebrews’ personal, relational, positive fellowship-rest with the living God). Clarify that this “rest” is entering into God’s own presence and finished work, not an impersonal extinguishing of desire or existence.
λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ (4:12) logos tou theou ”the word of God”	God’s spoken/written communication; here personified as “living and active” the word of God	Scripture is described as living, active, and penetrating — a personal, piercing divine communication, not an inert text.	Medium. New emphasis for Hebrews (baseline covers “Inspiration of Scripture” generally but not this specific “living and active” personification). Render 神の言葉 (Kami no Kotoba). A genuinely interesting cultural collision worth flagging: Japanese folk tradition includes the concept of kotodama (言霊, “word-spirit”), the belief that spoken words themselves carry inherent mystical/spiritual power capable of effecting change in reality. Hebrews 4:12’s “living and active” word could be unintentionally assimilated into this kotodama framework (a magically potent utterance) rather than understood as the personal, judging, self-revealing communication of a personal God who examines “the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Teaching should clarify the difference: this is not word-magic but personal divine address and judgment.
παρρησία (4:16; also 10:19,35) parrēsia ”boldness, confidence, freedom of speech”	Confident, unashamed access/speech, especially before a superior confidence, boldness	Believers may “draw near with confidence” to the throne of grace — direct, bold access to God through Christ, a major theme also developed at 10:19.	Medium. New term for Hebrews. Render 確信/大胆な態度. A genuine cultural-register risk: Japanese social culture places high value on enryo (遠慮, deferential restraint/reticence) especially before someone of higher status — approaching a superior with unreserved boldness can register as presumptuous or disrespectful within ordinary social norms. Teaching must make clear that this boldness is not human self-assertion or disrespect but a grace-given right of access secured entirely by Christ’s blood (10:19) — the boldness is warranted precisely because of who grants it, not because of the petitioner’s own social standing or audacity.
θρόνος τῆς χάριτος (4:16) thronos tēs charitos ”throne of grace”	God’s throne, characterized by grace, approachable by believers throne of grace	Combines θρόνος (1:8) and baseline’s Critical-risk term 恵み (grace) — reinforce baseline’s non-transactional framing of grace even at God’s own throne of authority.	High (via 恵み, Critical in baseline). Render 恵みの御座; maintain baseline’s on-giri clarification here specifically, since approaching a throne (a position of authority one might otherwise “owe” something to) heightens the transactional-misreading risk.
συμπαθέω (4:15) sympatheō ”to sympathize, to suffer with”	To feel/experience alongside another to sympathize with, to feel for	Christ, having been tempted in every way, sympathizes with human weakness — grounding the “sympathetic high priest” facet of the Christ-as-High-Priest doctrine.	Medium. Render 同情する/共に苦しむ. Good relational-warmth teaching opportunity (per the baseline’s note on Japan’s culturally distant father-figure associations, this term offers another relational-intimacy anchor point alongside Abba, Father in Romans 8).

Chapter 5 — Qualifications of a High Priest; Christ after the Order of Melchizedek; Spiritual Immaturity

Terms	Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
τάξις (κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισέδεκ, 5:6,10; developed in ch.7) taxis ”order, rank, arrangement”	A category or class defined by a founding pattern order (as in “order of Melchizedek”)	Christ’s priesthood belongs to a different category/order entirely from the Levitical (Aaronic) priesthood — grounding the whole “Christ as Great High Priest” argument in a non-Levitical, superior pattern.	Medium. New term for Hebrews, central to a named curriculum doctrine. Render …の位 (…no kurai) — メルキゼデクの位に従って. Primary risk is comprehension: secular readers with zero OT narrative literacy will have no context for Melchizedek (Gen. 14) at all; this requires substantial first-occurrence background teaching, not a doctrinal-collision correction.
Μελχισέδεκ Melchisedek proper name (Hebrew: “king of righteousness”)	The mysterious priest-king of Salem (Gen. 14:18-20; Ps. 110:4) Melchizedek	A typological figure whose priesthood (without recorded genealogy, without successor) prefigures Christ’s own eternal, non-hereditary priesthood.	Low (proper name). Render メルキゼデク. No collision; needs background explanation, not risk correction.
ἀπαίδευτος/νήπιος imagery: γάλα / βρῶμα (5:12-14) gala / brōma ”milk / solid food”	Metaphor for elementary vs. mature Christian teaching milk, solid food	A rebuke: the audience should be mature enough for solid theological teaching (the Melchizedek priesthood, etc.) but remain spiritually infantile.	Low. Render 乳/固い食物. Standard, transparent metaphor; no collision risk.
αἰσθητήριον (γεγυμνασμένα, 5:14) aisthētērion ”faculty of perception, sense”	Trained spiritual discernment powers of discernment, senses	Maturity is marked by trained moral/spiritual discernment (“to distinguish good from evil”) through practice.	Low-Medium. Render 訓練された感覚/判断力. No major collision.
μανθάνω/ὑπακοή (ἔμαθεν … ὑπακοήν, 5:8) manthanō / hypakoē ”to learn / obedience”	Christ “learned obedience through what he suffered” learned obedience	A carefully qualified statement about the incarnate Son’s human experience of obedience through suffering — must not be read as implying any deficiency or moral growth in his divine nature.	High. Render 従順を学ばれた. Flag for theologian review: this verse requires careful Christological framing (the human experiential dimension of the eternal Son’s obedience) to avoid implying that Christ’s deity was somehow incomplete or morally developing — connects to baseline’s Critical Incarnation/Deity-of-Christ cautions.

Chapter 6 — The Peril of Falling Away; the Anchor of Hope

Terms	Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
θεμέλιος (6:1) themelios ”foundation”	The basic, foundational elements of teaching foundation, elementary doctrine	The “elementary doctrines” as a foundation to build beyond, not to keep relaying.	Low. Render 基礎/基. No major collision.
ἐπίθεσις χειρῶν (6:2) epithesis cheirōn ”laying on of hands”	An early-church commissioning/blessing practice laying on of hands	Listed among foundational teachings/practices of the early church.	Medium. New term for Hebrews. Render 手を置くこと. A mild collision-watch: Japan’s contemporary alternative-medicine/wellness culture includes hands-on healing practices (手当て, teate, or imported Reiki-style practice) that could color a reader’s first impression of “laying on hands” as an energy-healing technique rather than a commissioning/blessing act rooted in apostolic practice. Brief clarifying context is advisable at first occurrence.
παραπίπτω (παραπεσόντας, 6:6) parapiptō ”to fall away, to fall beside/aside”	A decisive, culpable falling away from a previously held position to fall away, to commit apostasy	The sober warning that those who have “tasted” the heavenly gift and then decisively fall away face a severe, unrepeatable loss — the most intense apostasy-warning language in the book.	Critical. New term central to the “Danger of Apostasy” curriculum doctrine. Render 離れ落ちる/背教する (haikyō suru, “to apostatize”). This passage (6:4-6) is among the most theologically debated in Hebrews (the nature and scope of the described experience, and whether true, final apostasy by a genuinely regenerate believer is in view) — flag automatically for human theologian review per doctrine-risk conventions, and ensure the Japanese rendering neither overstates (implying easy, casual loss of salvation for minor lapses) nor understates (implying the warning is merely rhetorical/hypothetical) the passage’s severity.
ἄγκυρα (6:19) ankyra ”anchor”	A ship’s anchor; metaphor for secure hope anchor	Hope in Christ described as a sure and steadfast anchor for the soul, entering “the inner place behind the curtain” — connecting the anchor metaphor directly to the Holy of Holies imagery developed fully in ch. 9.	Low-Medium. Render 錨 (ikari). Transparent metaphor, no collision risk; strong natural bridge for a maritime-adjacent culture.
ὅρκος (6:13,16-17) horkos ”oath”	A solemn, binding sworn statement oath	God’s oath to Abraham, guaranteeing his promise beyond even his own already-certain word — grounding the certainty of the promised inheritance (connects to κληρονομία).	Medium. Render 誓い. No major collision.
ἀμετάθετος (6:17-18; also implied in 7:24 ἀπαράβατος) ametathetos ”unchangeable, immutable”	Fixed, unable to be altered unchangeable	God’s purpose and oath are unchangeable — grounding believers’ assurance not in their own steadfastness but in God’s.	Medium-High. Render 変わることのない. Connects directly to the “Perseverance and Assurance” doctrine — the ground of assurance is explicitly God’s own unchanging character, not an ongoing performance-based standing (contrast risk with Japan’s on-giri obligation framework, per baseline’s grace entry).

Chapter 7 — Melchizedek and the Superiority of Christ’s Priesthood over the Levitical System

Terms	Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
Λευιτικός/Λευίτης (7:5,11) Leuitikos/Leuitēs ”Levitical/Levite”	Pertaining to the tribe of Levi, the priestly tribe Levitical, Levite	The Levitical priesthood — genealogically restricted, repeatedly officiated, and (per Hebrews’ argument) ultimately unable to perfect worshipers, hence needing replacement by a superior priesthood.	Medium. New term for Hebrews, central to a named curriculum doctrine (“Superiority of Christ over…the Levitical Priesthood”). Render レビ族の祭司職 (Levi-zoku no saishishoku). Primarily a comprehension risk (background explanation required for biblically illiterate readers, similar to Melchizedek) rather than a syncretism risk.
ἱερωσύνη (7:11-12,24) hierōsynē ”priesthood, priestly office”	The office/institution of priesthood priesthood	Christ holds a permanent, unchangeable priesthood (7:24, ἀπαράβατον) superior in kind, not just degree, to the Levitical office.	High. Render 祭司職. Reinforce with ἀπαράβατος/permanence language; connects to the core-passage argument about Christ’s singular, non-repeated priestly act.
ἀπαράβατος (7:24) aparabatos ”permanent, unchangeable, without successor”	That which does not pass to a successor permanent, unchangeable	Christ’s priesthood, unlike the Levitical line (which required constant succession due to priests’ deaths), is permanent because he lives forever.	High. Render 変わることのない/決して他の者に移らない. No major collision; reinforces the “indestructible life” (7:16) argument central to the once-for-all doctrine.
ἔγγυος (7:22) engyos ”guarantor, surety”	One who legally guarantees another’s obligation guarantee, surety	Christ is the “guarantee” of a better covenant — a legal/financial metaphor applied to his covenant-securing role.	Medium. New term for Hebrews. Render 保証人 (hoshōnin), the standard modern Japanese term for a loan/contract guarantor. Risk parallels the baseline’s “covenant” dilution risk: 保証人 in contemporary Japan carries strong secular financial connotations (loan guarantors, apartment-lease guarantors) that could reduce Christ’s covenant-guarantee to a mundane legal cosigning role rather than a personal, sacrificial, life-and-death guarantee of the new covenant’s certainty.
ἐντυγχάνω (ἐντυγχάνειν, 7:25) entynchanō ”to appeal to, plead with, intercede”	To approach someone on another’s behalf to intercede	Baseline reuse: とりなし (intercession), Medium risk per baseline. Christ’s permanent, living intercession on believers’ behalf, grounded in his eternal priesthood.	Medium — reuse baseline とりなし exactly; note the reinforcing connection to his permanent (not repeated/temporary) priesthood.

Chapter 8 — The New Covenant Announced

Terms	Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
διαθήκη καινή/κρείττων διαθήκη (8:6-13) diathēkē kainē / kreittōn diathēkē ”new covenant / better covenant”	see 9:15 above and κρείττων above new covenant, better covenant	Extended quotation of Jeremiah 31:31-34 announcing a covenant written on the heart, superior to the Sinai covenant, which the author declares “obsolete” (8:13).	High (see full treatment at 9:15).
μεσίτης (8:6) mesitēs ”mediator”	see 9:15 above mediator	First occurrence of the mediator title, developed further in the core passage (9:15) and again at 12:24.	Critical (see full treatment at 9:15).
παλαιόω (πεπαλαίωκεν, 8:13) palaioō ”to make old, render obsolete”	To age, make outdated to make obsolete, to render old	The old covenant is declared “growing old” and “ready to vanish away” in light of the new — a strong supersession claim requiring careful, non-antisemitic theological framing.	High. Render 古びさせる/廃れさせる. Flag for theologian review: teaching must handle covenant-supersession language carefully alongside Hebrews’ and the broader canon’s continued affirmation of God’s faithfulness to Israel (cf. Romans 9-11’s “Unity of Jews and Gentiles” doctrine, already baseline-flagged High), avoiding any framing that could read as triumphalist replacement-theology divorced from that continuity.
σκιά/ὑπόδειγμα (8:5) skia/hypodeigma ”shadow/copy”	see full treatment at 9:23, and ch.10 below shadow, copy, pattern	The earthly tabernacle is a “shadow” of heavenly things shown to Moses on the pattern (τύπος) — foundational to the whole “shadow vs. reality” argument of chs. 8-10.	Medium (see 9:23 above).

Chapter 9 — The Earthly Sanctuary and the Heavenly Reality (vv. 1–10; vv. 11–28 treated in Part A above)

Hebrews 9:1-10 describes the furnishings and regulations of the earthly tabernacle before the core passage (9:11-28) presents Christ’s superior priestly work. All terms in 9:11-28 receive full verse-by-verse treatment in Part A above; this section covers the additional load-bearing terms found only in 9:1-10.

Terms	Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
ἅγια ἁγίων (9:3) hagia hagiōn ”holy of holies”	The innermost, most sacred chamber of the tabernacle/temple the Holy of Holies, the Most Holy Place	The innermost sanctuary, entered only once a year by the high priest — the space Christ’s superior priestly work (9:11-28) permanently transcends.	High (see τὰ ἅγια, 9:12 above). Render 至聖所 (shiseisho), established term.
κιβωτὸς τῆς διαθήκης (9:4) kibōtos tēs diathēkēs ”ark of the covenant”	The sacred chest housing the covenant tablets, manna, and Aaron’s staff the ark of the covenant	The central OT symbol of God’s covenant presence among his people — background furniture for the chapter’s larger typological argument.	Medium. Render 契約の箱 (established OT Bible term). Comprehension risk (background explanation needed) rather than collision risk.
ἱλαστήριον (9:5) hilastērion ”mercy seat, place of atonement” (the ark’s golden cover, over which the cherubim stood, where the high priest sprinkled blood on the Day of Atonement)	The specific atonement-cover object; by extension in Romans 3:25, applied typologically to Christ himself mercy seat, place of atonement	The literal object where OT atonement blood was applied — establishing, alongside Romans 3:25 (same Greek word, applied there to Christ as the “propitiation”/mercy seat), a direct typological link between this furniture and Christ’s own atoning work developed in 9:11-28.	High. New term for Hebrews (not in the Romans baseline TM as a standalone entry, though its underlying concept, propitiation, is referenced in the baseline’s escalation rules). Render 贖いの蓋 (shukui no futa, “the atonement cover/lid”), the established Japanese Bible rendering for the literal ark-furniture object. Flag the intertextual connection for theologian review: the same Greek word describes both this physical object (Heb 9:5) and, in Romans 3:25, Christ’s own atoning work — worth a cross-curriculum translator’s note connecting the Romans and Hebrews materials.
χρυσοῦν θυμιατήριον / στάμνος χρυσῆ (9:4) chrysoun thymiatērion / stamnos chrysē ”golden altar of incense / golden urn”	Tabernacle furnishings (golden incense altar, golden jar containing manna) golden altar of incense, golden urn holding the manna	Background descriptive furnishings; establish the literal richness and holiness of the earthly type.	Low. Render descriptively (金の香壇/金の壺). No collision risk; background comprehension only.
λατρεία (9:1,6) latreia ”service, worship”	see λατρεύω (9:14) above worship, service	The regulations “for worship” performed in the tabernacle — the noun form of the verb treated at 9:14.	Medium (see λατρεύω, 9:14).

Chapter 10 — The Once-for-All Sacrifice Contrasted with Repeated Sacrifices; Exhortation and Warning

Terms	Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
σκιά (10:1) skia ”shadow”	An outline/silhouette lacking the substance of the real thing shadow	”The law has but a shadow of the good things to come” — the definitive statement of the shadow/reality typology running through chs. 8-10.	Medium (see ὑπόδειγμα/ἀντίτυπος treatment at 9:23-24 above). Render 影 (kage).
εἰκών (10:1, contrasted with σκιά) eikōn ”image, form, likeness” (here: the true form/substance, contrasted with mere shadow)	The substantial reality itself, as opposed to its shadow-outline the true form, the actual image	The heavenly realities themselves, of which the law’s sacrifices were only a shadow — reinforcing the whole shadow/substance argument.	Medium. Render 本体/実体. No major collision.
ἐφάπαξ (10:10) ephapax ”once for all” (intensified form of ἅπαξ)	see ἅπαξ above once for all	”We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” — the doctrinal climax of the once-for-all argument, now stated in terms of the believer’s sanctified standing, not merely Christ’s historical act.	Critical (identical treatment to ἅπαξ, 9:12/26/28 above). Render identically (一度限り/ただ一度で) for full-book consistency.
θέλημα (θελήματι, 10:10) thelēma ”will”	God’s will/purpose will	Believers are sanctified “by the will of God” through Christ’s offering — grounding sanctification in God’s sovereign purpose, not human effort.	Low-Medium. Render 御心/意志. No collision; baseline reuse note: connects to baseline’s 聖化 (sanctification, High risk).
ἑκουσίως ἁμαρτάνειν (10:26) hekousiōs hamartanein ”to sin willingly/deliberately”	Deliberate, willful, ongoing sin as opposed to sins of weakness to sin deliberately, to go on sinning willfully	Describes the decisive, willful rejection at the heart of the apostasy the passage warns against — distinguished carefully (per most theological traditions) from ordinary struggles with sin common to genuine believers.	Critical. New term for Hebrews, central to the “Danger of Apostasy” doctrine, closely related to παραπίπτω (ch.6). Render 意図的に罪を犯し続ける/故意に罪を犯す. Flag automatically for theologian review (same routing as ch.6’s απαρασίπτω passage): must be taught with precision to avoid either terrifying genuine believers struggling with ongoing sin, or softening the passage’s real warning against decisive, willful apostasy.
καταπατέω (καταπατήσας, 10:29) katapateō ”to trample underfoot”	To treat with contempt, to despise through action to trample underfoot	The apostate’s sin described as trampling the Son of God underfoot — visceral contempt-language for rejecting Christ after having known the truth.	High. Render 踏みつける. Vivid, forceful imagery; no collision risk, but ensure the force of the image is not softened in translation.
κοινός (κοινὸν ἡγησάμενος, 10:29) koinos ”common, ordinary, unholy”	Ritually/religiously unremarkable, profane (contrast ἅγιος, holy) common, unholy, unclean	The apostate treats “the blood of the covenant” (Christ’s atoning blood) as κοινός — ordinary, unholy, unremarkable — the ultimate insult to the once-for-all sacrifice.	High. Directly connects to κοινόω (9:13) above — same root, now describing the apostate’s blasphemous devaluation of Christ’s blood specifically. Render 汚れたもの/俗なものとみなす. This intersects the same purity-language field as the Shinto kegare/holy distinction noted at 9:13 — here the sin is treating the sacred, purifying blood as if it belonged to the common/unclean category, essentially inverting the passage’s entire argument about what that blood accomplishes.
θέλημα-adjacent: ὑπομονή (10:36; developed fully in 12:1) hypomonē ”endurance, patient perseverance”	Steadfast endurance under pressure endurance, patience, perseverance	Introduces the “Perseverance and Assurance” doctrine’s key term, developed at length in the “cloud of witnesses” passage of ch.12.	Medium (see full treatment at ch.12 below).
πίστις (10:38-39, quoting Habakkuk 2:4) pistis ”faith”	see baseline faith	”My righteous one shall live by faith… we are… those who have faith and preserve their souls” — the same Habakkuk 2:4 citation Paul uses in Romans 1:17, forming a direct cross-curriculum bridge.	High. Baseline reuse: 信仰, exactly as in Romans. Flag for cross-curriculum consistency: since the Romans package already treats this precise citation as thesis-level (Rom 1:17), ensure the Hebrews rendering of Habakkuk 2:4 here matches word-for-word with the Romans curriculum’s rendering per the baseline’s cross-document consistency rules.

Chapter 11 — The Faith of the Old Testament Saints

The great “Hall of Faith” chapter, foundational to the “Faith of the Old Testament Saints” curriculum doctrine, structured as a repeated refrain (“by faith…”) surveying the OT narrative.

Terms	Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
πίστις (11:1, defined) pistis ”faith”	see baseline; here given the closest thing to a definition anywhere in the NT faith	”Faith is the ὑπόστασις of things hoped for, the ἔλεγχος of things not seen” — establishing faith’s forward-looking, unseen-grounding character, illustrated through the entire OT narrative that follows.	High. Baseline reuse: 信仰, exactly as in Romans; this chapter is where “faith” receives its most extensive OT narrative illustration in the whole Bible, making consistency with the baseline term essential for cross-curriculum coherence.
ὑπόστασις (11:1, “assurance/substance” sense) hypostasis ”underlying reality, substantial guarantee, ground of confidence”	see 1:3 above for the related but distinct “essential nature” sense assurance, substance, conviction, reality	Here the word shifts sense from 1:3’s “God’s own essential being” to “the ground/substance that faith gives to things hoped for” — a genuine polysemy within the same book worth tracking for teaching continuity.	High. Render 実質/確信 (distinct from 1:3’s 本質) — a translator’s note connecting the two occurrences of the same Greek word across the book is recommended, since Japanese requires two different words for the two senses where Greek uses one.
ἔλεγχος (11:1) elenchos ”proof, evidence, conviction”	Evidence that convicts/demonstrates evidence, conviction	Faith provides a settled conviction/evidence of unseen realities — not blind credulity but a well-grounded confidence.	Medium. Render 証拠/確証. No major collision; useful to clarify against any stereotype (secular or otherwise) that biblical faith means believing without evidence.
μαρτυρέω/μαρτυρία (11:2,4,5,39) martyreō/martyria ”to testify, bear witness / testimony”	Attestation, witness-bearing to be commended, to bear witness, testimony	The OT saints “were commended” (literally “were witnessed/testified about”) for their faith — links directly to the “cloud of witnesses” (μαρτύρων) of 12:1.	Medium. Render 証しされる/証言. Track the connection to 12:1’s νέφος μαρτύρων for narrative coherence between chapters 11 and 12.
ἐπαγγελία (throughout ch.11, e.g., 11:9,13,17,33,39) epangelia ”promise”	see 9:15 above promise	The OT saints lived and died in faith toward promises not yet fully received in their lifetimes — reinforcing that faith operates ahead of, not merely in response to, visible fulfillment.	Medium (see 9:15 treatment).
πατριάρχαι/proper names (Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, etc.) — —	The OT narrative figures surveyed (proper names)	Establishes deep continuity between the OT saints’ faith and the NT audience’s own — Hebrews’ argument depends on the readers recognizing themselves within, not apart from, this OT lineage of faith.	Medium (background/comprehension risk). Use established Shinkaiyaku transliterated forms for all proper names (アベル, エノク, ノア, アブラハム, サラ, イサク, ヤコブ, ヨセフ, モーセ, ラハブ, ギデオン, etc.), consistent with the baseline’s transliteration-standards conventions; flag the section overall as requiring substantial OT-narrative background teaching given near-zero assumed biblical literacy among the target audience.

Chapter 12 — The Cloud of Witnesses; Discipline; the Unshakable Kingdom

Terms	Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
νέφος μαρτύρων (12:1) nephos martyrōn ”cloud of witnesses”	The great host of OT faith-exemplars surveyed in ch.11, now pictured as surrounding, encouraging witnesses cloud of witnesses	Frames the OT saints of ch.11 not merely as historical examples but as a present, encouraging “cloud” cheering the readers on in their own race of faith.	Medium (see μαρτυρέω, ch.11, above). Render 証人の群れ.
ἀγών (12:1) agōn ”contest, race, struggle”	An athletic contest, especially a race race, contest	The Christian life pictured as an endurance race requiring the same perseverance illustrated by ch.11’s saints.	Low-Medium. Render 競走/戦い. A generally positive cultural bridge given modern Japan’s strong marathon/endurance-sport culture; low collision risk.
ὑπομονή (12:1, developed from 10:36) hypomonē ”endurance, perseverance”	see 10:36 above endurance, perseverance	The central virtue of the “Perseverance and Assurance” doctrine: patient, faith-grounded endurance through the race/contest of the Christian life.	Medium. Render 忍耐. No major collision, but should be explicitly distinguished from mere stoic willpower or the culturally prized endurance-virtue of 我慢 (gaman, stoic, silent forbearance) — biblical endurance is grounded in hope and relationship with God, not self-reliant stoicism.
παιδεία (12:5-11) paideia ”discipline, training, correction” (often with the sense of a father’s formative correction of a child)	Formative, loving discipline/training, not merely punishment discipline, training	God’s discipline of believers as a loving father’s formative correction, proving genuine sonship rather than divine rejection.	Medium. New term for Hebrews. Render 訓練/懲らしめ (kunren/tashinamé, contextually paired). This intersects productively (and with some risk) with Japan’s strong cultural investment in formative discipline through structured training — school club activities (部活), martial arts dojo discipline, and corporate training regimens (研修) — a potentially helpful bridge for the training-toward-maturity sense, but a risk if it collapses into a merely performance-based, achievement-oriented framework detached from the passage’s explicit fatherly love framing (12:6-7). Teaching should lean on the father-son relational context (connecting to baseline’s 父/Abba entries) rather than allowing this to read as impersonal corporate/athletic discipline alone.
ῥίζα πικρίας (12:15) rhiza pikrias ”root of bitterness”	A destructive attitude that spreads corrupting influence root of bitterness	A warning against communal bitterness that could spread and cause others to fall short of grace — part of the practical outworking of the apostasy warnings.	Low. Render 苦い根. Transparent metaphor, no collision risk.
βέβηλος (12:16, of Esau) bebēlos ”profane, irreligious”	One who treats sacred things with contempt or indifference unholy, profane, godless	Esau, who traded his birthright for a meal, held up as a negative example of despising a sacred inheritance — directly relevant to the apostasy-warning and inheritance themes running through the book.	Medium. Render 神を軽んじる者/俗悪な. No major collision; reinforces κληρονομία (inheritance) themes by negative example.
Σιών (12:22) Siōn proper name	Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem Zion	The believer’s true destination/citizenship: not the earthly, terrifying Sinai (12:18-21) but the heavenly, joyful Zion.	Medium (proper name; comprehension risk). Render シオン, established transliteration.
πανήγυρις (12:22-23) panēgyris ”festal gathering, joyful assembly”	A joyous public festival-assembly festal gathering, joyful assembly	Part of the description of the heavenly assembly believers have already come to — a joyful, celebratory gathering of the redeemed.	Medium. New term for Hebrews. Render 祝いの集い/喜びの集会. Notable cultural collision to flag: this could evoke Japan’s rich matsuri (祭り) tradition — communal Shinto festival-gatherings honoring particular kami with processions, food, and communal celebration. This is a potentially productive teaching bridge for conveying communal joy and celebration, provided teaching materials make explicit that this is the joyful heavenly assembly of the redeemed before the one true God through Christ, not a festival honoring any of the many kami — otherwise the positive resonance could drift toward an unintended syncretistic reading.
ἐκκλησία πρωτοτόκων (12:23) ekklēsia prōtotokōn ”assembly/church of the firstborn”	The gathered company of God’s redeemed people, described with a birthright/inheritance term (πρωτότοκος, firstborn) church of the firstborn, assembly of the firstborn	Baseline reuse: 教会 (church), Medium risk in baseline, here in an unusual heavenly-assembly sense combined with “firstborn” inheritance language, reinforcing the whole book’s inheritance theme.	Medium. Render 長子たちの教会/集会. Reuse baseline 教会; note the unusual heavenly-assembly (not local congregation) sense specific to this verse.
κριτής (12:23) kritēs ”judge”	One who renders judicial verdicts judge	God described here as “judge of all” within the joyful heavenly-assembly scene — judgment and celebration held together, not in tension, for those who belong to the new covenant.	Medium (connects to κρίσις, 9:27, above). Render 審判者/裁く方.
αἷμα ῥαντισμοῦ (12:24) haima rhantismou ”blood of sprinkling”	Christ’s sprinkled, covenant-ratifying blood blood of sprinkling, sprinkled blood	Echoes the sprinkled covenant-blood imagery of 9:19-21, now applied to Christ’s own blood, which “speaks a better word” than Abel’s blood (i.e., grants mercy rather than crying out for vengeance, cf. Gen 4:10).	High (see full αἷμα treatment at 9:12 above). Render 血の注ぎかけ/振りかけられた血.
ἀσάλευτος βασιλεία (12:28) asaleutos basileia ”unshakable kingdom”	A kingdom that cannot be shaken/overthrown unshakable kingdom, kingdom that cannot be shaken	Believers are receiving an unshakable kingdom, in contrast to the shakable created order described in the preceding verses (12:26-27, quoting Haggai 2:6).	High. New term for Hebrews, but directly extends the baseline’s already-flagged High-risk “Kingdom of God” (神の国) entry. Render 揺るがない御国. The baseline’s existing caution fully applies and is reinforced here: 神の国-adjacent “kingdom” language carries the historical weight of pre-1945 State Shinto’s 神国日本 (“divine-nation Japan”) ultranationalist slogan. This “unshakable kingdom” language, combined with “consuming fire” imagery in the following verse, requires the same careful doctrinal anchoring (God’s sovereign, spiritual reign received by grace through Christ, not a this-worldly political-national entity) that the baseline mandates for Romans 14:17.
πῦρ καταναλίσκον (12:29) pyr katanaliskon ”consuming fire”	Quoting Deuteronomy 4:24: God’s holiness as an all-consuming fire consuming fire	Closes the chapter with a sobering reminder of God’s holy, consuming character — grounding both worshipful gratitude (12:28) and reverent fear (12:28-29) together.	Medium. Render 焼き尽くす火. No major collision; reinforces God’s holiness (baseline’s 聖い entry) in a vivid, non-syncretistic image.

Chapter 13 — Concluding Exhortations; the Great Shepherd; Benediction

Terms	Variants	Contextual Theological Meaning	Japanese Rendering Risk
φιλοξενία (13:2) philoxenia ”hospitality, love of strangers”	Welcoming and caring for strangers/travelers hospitality	A practical exhortation to hospitality, connected to the “brotherly love” (φιλαδελφία) that opens the chapter (13:1).	Low. Render 旅人をもてなすこと/親切にすること. No collision risk.
φιλαργυρία (13:5) philargyria ”love of money”	Greed, covetousness love of money	A warning against greed, grounded in God’s promised presence (“I will never leave you”) rather than material security.	Low. Render 金銭を愛すること/貪欲. No collision risk.
ἡγούμενοι (13:7,17,24) hēgoumenoi ”leaders, those who lead”	Church/community leaders leaders	Instructions to remember, obey, and submit to church leaders — practical ecclesiology closing out the book’s doctrinal argument.	Low-Medium. Render 指導者たち. Given Japan’s strong hierarchical-deference culture (already flagged under baseline’s “Obedience of Faith” entry), ensure this is taught as glad, faith-grounded submission to gospel leadership, not generic social-hierarchy compliance — connects directly to that existing baseline caution.
διδαχαὶ ξέναι (13:9) didachai xenai ”strange/foreign teachings”	Unfamiliar, deviant doctrines diverse and strange teachings	A warning against being led astray by novel teachings, in contrast to the settled, once-for-all doctrine grounded in Christ.	Medium. Render 異なった教え/異教. No major collision, though translators should avoid rendering “strange” with any term that could sound like it targets foreign religious traditions generically (given Japan’s own historical experience of Christianity itself being received as a foreign import, per baseline’s “mission” entry) — the contrast in view is doctrinal novelty/deviation, not ethnic/national foreignness.
θυσιαστήριον (13:10) thysiastērion ”altar”	A sacrificial altar altar	”We have an altar” — a metaphorical statement that believers’ true sacrificial access is through Christ, not any physical cultic altar.	Medium. New term for Hebrews. Render 祭壇 (saidan). Notable household-religious-practice collision to flag: 祭壇 is also the generic word applicable to household Shinto shelf-altars (神棚, kamidana) and Buddhist household altars (仏壇, butsudan) used for ongoing ancestor veneration and daily ritual observance — both deeply woven into ordinary Japanese domestic life. Teaching must clarify that “our altar” in 13:10 is not a physical object requiring maintenance or ongoing ritual offerings but a metaphor for once-for-all access to God secured entirely through Christ’s finished sacrifice (reinforcing the whole book’s ἅπαξ argument).
ἔξω τῆς πύλης (13:12-13) exō tēs pylēs ”outside the gate”	Outside the city gate — where Jesus was crucified, echoing the OT sin-offering disposed of outside the camp outside the gate, outside the camp	Believers are called to identify with Christ’s rejection and reproach by figuratively going out “outside the camp” with him — embracing marginalized, outsider status for his sake.	Medium-High. Render 門の外. Worth cross-referencing (with a different valence) the baseline’s uchi-soto (内・外, insider/outsider) cultural-sensitivity note already flagged under “Gentiles” and “Universal Scope of the Gospel”: there, the concern is not letting the gospel be falsely bounded by an insider/outsider framework; here, the exhortation is the believer’s voluntary, willing identification with Christ’s own outsider/rejected status, a positive theological use of outsiderness quite different from (and worth distinguishing from) the negative uchi-soto exclusion dynamic flagged elsewhere.
θυσία αἰνέσεως (13:15) thysia aineseōs ”sacrifice of praise”	A metaphorical sacrifice consisting of verbal praise/thanksgiving to God sacrifice of praise	The proper ongoing sacrificial response of believers, replacing the Levitical animal sacrifices entirely — “fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.”	Medium. Render 賛美のいけにえ. Reuses established いけにえ (see 9:23 above) in its now fully metaphorical/spiritual sense; reinforces the whole book’s once-for-all argument (no further literal sacrifice needed, only ongoing praise).
ποιμὴν τῶν προβάτων ὁ μέγας (13:20) poimēn tōn probatōn ho megas ”the great shepherd of the sheep”	A shepherd-flock metaphor applied to the risen Christ the great shepherd of the sheep	Closing benediction imagery: the resurrected Christ as the great shepherd who cares for and leads his people.	Low-Medium. Render 羊の大牧者. Standard, well-established Bible metaphor; low collision risk. Baseline reuse note: this verse also references Christ’s resurrection (ἀναγαγὼν ἐκ νεκρῶν, “who brought back from the dead”) — reuse baseline’s 復活-related vocabulary and its caution against secularized “comeback” overuse where resurrection language appears.
Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς χθὲς καὶ σήμερον ὁ αὐτὸς (13:8) Iēsous Christos chthes kai sēmeron ho autos ”Jesus Christ, yesterday and today, the same”	A statement of Christ’s changeless identity across time Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever	Christ’s changelessness grounds the entire book’s confidence that his once-for-all, superior priestly work never needs supplementing or repeating — a fitting summary statement for the whole epistle’s argument.	High. Render イエス・キリストは、昨日も今日も、いつまでも同じです。No forbidden-term collision, but flag for cross-reference consistency: this verse functions as something like Hebrews’ thesis-summary statement (parallel to how the baseline treats Romans 1:16-17 and 8:28 as fixed, must-match-everywhere renderings) and should be rendered identically wherever quoted across curriculum materials.

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Summary Notes for Phase 2 Preparation

1. Hebrews introduces at least 35 new load-bearing theological terms not present in the Romans baseline translation memory, several at Critical risk requiring immediate extension of the baseline conventions: ἀρχιερεύς (大祭司), μεσίτης (仲介者), ἱλάσκομαι (宥めをする), ἅπαξ/ἐφάπαξ (一度限り), τελειόω (see glossary), αἷμα (血), and the διαθήκη covenant/testament wordplay of 9:16-17.
2. Several risks are unique to Hebrews and not anticipated by the Romans baseline because Hebrews’ subject matter (blood sacrifice, priestly mediation, ritual purification, repeated vs. once-for-all religious action) intersects Japanese religious culture at points Romans does not: the Shinto blood-taboo/kegare tradition (αἷμα), the culture of repeated/cyclical ritual observance (ἅπαξ), household altars (θυσιαστήριον), festival culture (πανήγυρις), and the homophone risk of 御子/巫女 (miko).
3. All baseline-established terms (神, キリスト, イエス, 主, 信仰, 恵み, 契約, 聖霊, 律法, 義, 栄光, 召し/召された, 聖い, 聖化, 聖徒, とりなし, 勧める, 救い, 平安, 神の国) are reused exactly as recorded in the baseline and are not redefined here.
4. See analysis/08_core_glossary.md for the consolidated per-term glossary table covering all chapters, citations, and risk tiers.