Core Glossary
Core Glossary — Hebrews (Japanese)
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing theological term surfaced in analysis/07_semantic_analysis.md, drawn from the entire book of Hebrews (chapters 1–13). It is organized in two parts:
- Part 1 — Baseline Terms Reused from Romans. These terms are already recorded in the baseline
translation_memory.jsonandbible_term_registry.json. Their Japanese renderings and risk tiers are reused exactly, per the hard rule that established term renderings must not be altered. Notes here record only Hebrews-specific usage context, not new decisions. - Part 2 — New Terms Introduced by Hebrews. These terms do not appear in the Romans baseline and are proposed here, following the same risk-tier framework (Critical/High/Medium/Low) and the same grounded, culture-specific reasoning standard the baseline established. These are candidates for formal addition to translation memory in Phase 2 preparation.
Risk tier definitions (per baseline doctrine_risk_registry.json): Critical = mistranslation destroys essential doctrine, human theologian review required every occurrence. High = significant confusion/syncretism risk, human theologian review required. Medium = reduces clarity but preserves meaning, native speaker review recommended. Low = minor imprecision, automated review sufficient.
Part 1 — Baseline Terms Reused in Hebrews (No Change to Rendering)
| Term (EN) | Greek | Japanese (baseline) | Risk (baseline) | Hebrews Citations | Hebrews-Specific Usage Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| God | θεός | 神 | Critical | 1:1,8-9; 2:9,17; 3:12; 4:14; 9:14; 12:22-23,29 | Reinforce baseline’s 唯一のまことの神 qualifier especially at “the living God” occurrences (3:12; 9:14; 12:22). |
| Jesus | Ἰησοῦς | イエス | Critical | 2:9; 3:1; 4:14; 6:20; 7:22; 10:19; 12:2,24; 13:8,12,20 | Standard; used slightly more often alone (without “Christ”) than in Romans — no change to rendering. |
| Christ | Χριστός | キリスト | High | 3:6,14; 5:5; 6:1; 9:11,14,24,28; 11:26; 13:8,21 | Standard. |
| Lord | κύριος | 主 | Critical | 1:10; 2:3; 7:14,21; 8:2,8-11; 12:6,14; 13:6,20 | Multiple OT quotations retain 主 for YHWH per Shinkaiyaku convention. |
| Holy Spirit | πνεῦμα ἅγιον | 聖霊 | Critical | 2:4; 3:7; 6:4; 9:8,14; 10:15 | Never render 霊 alone; see semantic analysis 9:14 note on the “eternal Spirit” ambiguity. |
| faith | πίστις | 信仰 | High | throughout, esp. ch. 11; 4:2; 6:1,12; 10:22-23,38-39; 12:2; 13:7 | Hebrews 11’s extended definition/illustration requires this rendering to remain identical to Romans usage for cross-curriculum coherence. |
| grace | χάρις | 恵み | Critical | 2:9; 4:16; 10:29; 12:15,28; 13:9,25 | Reinforce baseline’s non-transactional (anti-on-giri) clarification, especially at 4:16 (“throne of grace”) and 12:28. |
| covenant | διαθήκη | 契約 | High | 7:22; 8:6-10,13; 9:4,15-20; 10:16,29; 12:24; 13:20 | See new-term entries below for the 9:16-17 “will/testament” double-sense, which is a Hebrews-specific extension of this baseline risk. |
| law | νόμος | 律法 | Medium | 7:5,12,16,19,28; 8:4,10; 9:19,22; 10:1,8,28 | Central to the “New Covenant versus the Old” doctrine; consistent with Romans usage. |
| righteousness | δικαιοσύνη | 義 | Critical | 1:9; 5:13; 7:2; 11:7,33; 12:11 | Less central than in Romans, but 7:2’s etymological note (“Melchizedek” = “king of righteousness”) and 12:11’s “fruit of righteousness” both require the same Bushido-virtue distinguishing note as baseline. |
| glory | δόξα | 栄光 | Medium | 1:3; 2:7,10; 3:3; 9:5 (κερουβὶν δόξης, “cherubim of glory”) | Standard; reinforce distinction from 名誉 (secular honor) per baseline. |
| holy | ἅγιος | 聖い | High | 3:1; 6:10; 9:2-3,8,12-13,24-25; 10:10,14,19,29; 13:11-12,24 (as “saints,” see below) | Extremely frequent in Hebrews given the tabernacle/priesthood subject matter; every occurrence should be checked against the baseline’s Shinto ritual-purity distinguishing note. |
| sanctification | ἁγιασμός / ἁγιάζω | 聖化 / 聖める | High | 2:11; 9:13; 10:10,14,29; 12:14; 13:12 | Central to Hebrews’ argument that Christ’s sacrifice, unlike Levitical rites, sanctifies permanently and internally (conscience), not just externally (flesh). |
| saints | ἅγιοι | 聖徒 | High | 6:10; 13:24 | Corporate designation for believers; reuse exactly, never 菩薩/聖者. |
| called / calling | κλητός / κλῆσις (conceptually, κεκλημένοι) | 召された / 召し | High | 3:1 (“holy brothers, who share in a heavenly calling”); 9:15 | Reuse exactly; see 9:15 full treatment in semantic analysis. |
| kingdom of God | βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ (βασιλεία alone in 1:8; 12:28) | 神の国 | High | 1:8; 12:28 | The baseline’s State-Shinto-era (神国日本) caution applies with equal or greater force at 12:28’s “unshakable kingdom” — see new-term entry below for the compound phrase. |
| peace | εἰρήνη | 平安 | Medium | 7:2 (Melchizedek, “king of peace”); 12:14; 13:20 | Standard; 12:14’s “pursue peace with everyone” carries a horizontal-relational sense alongside the baseline’s vertical peace-with-God sense — flag the distinction for teaching. |
| intercession | ἐντυγχάνω (verbal form) | とりなし | Medium | 7:25 | Reuse exactly; reinforces Christ’s permanent (not repeated) intercessory ministry. |
| exhort / encourage | παρακαλέω | 勧める | Low | 3:13; 10:25; 13:19,22 | Reuse exactly; 10:25’s “encouraging one another” is a key mutual-edification proof-text. |
| resurrection | ἀνάστασις (conceptually; ἀναγαγών at 13:20) | 復活 | High | 6:2; 11:35; 13:20 | Reuse exactly; reinforce baseline’s caution against pop-culture “comeback” dilution, especially at 13:20’s closing benediction. |
| church | ἐκκλησία | 教会 | Medium | 2:12 (quoting Ps 22, “in the midst of the congregation/church I will sing your praise”); 12:23 | See new-term entry below for 12:23’s unusual heavenly-assembly sense. |
| David | Δαυίδ | ダビデ | Medium | (not directly named, but Davidic/messianic background assumed in ch.1 and 7) | No direct citation in Hebrews text itself; retained for cross-curriculum consistency where teaching materials draw the connection. |
| Israel | Ἰσραήλ | イスラエル | Medium | 8:8,10; 11:22 | Standard; central to the Jeremiah 31 new covenant quotation (ch. 8). |
| Moses | Μωϋσῆς | モーセ | Medium (per baseline transliteration standard; doctrinal risk elevated in Hebrews, see new-term entry below) | 3:2-16; 7:14; 8:5; 9:19; 10:28; 11:23-24; 12:21 | See “superiority over Moses” doctrine, ch.3; retain established transliteration. |
| father | πατήρ | 父 | Medium | 1:5; 12:7,9-10 | 12:7-10’s extended “discipline” passage is a strong opportunity to build the relational-fatherly-warmth sense the baseline flags as culturally under-supplied in Japan. |
| thanksgiving | εὐχαριστία (conceptually; cf. θυσία αἰνέσεως, “sacrifice of praise,” 13:15) | 感謝 | Low | 12:28 (“let us be thankful”); 13:15 | Standard; 13:15 replaces literal sacrifice with ongoing verbal praise/thanksgiving — reinforce the once-for-all argument. |
| power of God | δύναμις (of God/the age to come) | 神の力 | Medium | 1:3 (Christ “upholds the universe by the word of his power”); 6:5; 7:16 | Reuse exactly; 7:16’s “power of an indestructible life” is a distinctive Hebrews extension worth noting in teaching. |
Part 2 — New Terms Introduced by Hebrews (Proposed for Translation Memory Extension)
| Term (EN) | Greek | Transliteration | Japanese Rendering | Risk Tier | Doctrine | Hebrews Citations | Collision Risk / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| high priest | ἀρχιερεύς | archiereus | 大祭司 | Critical | Christ as the Great High Priest | 2:17; 3:1; 4:14-15; 5:1,5,10; 6:20; 7:26-28; 8:1,3; 9:7,11,25 | No Japanese equivalent office; nearest cultural anchors (Shinto kannushi, Buddhist priest) perform repeated, ongoing ritual mediation — must clarify Christ’s priesthood as singular, permanent, requiring no repetition. |
| mediator | μεσίτης | mesitēs | 仲介者 | Critical | New Covenant versus the Old; Access to God through Christ’s Blood | 8:6; 9:15; 12:24 | Japan’s religious landscape includes many human/ritual intermediary figures (shrine priests, Buddhist funerary priests, ancestor-intercession practices); must teach Christ’s mediatorship as exclusive and sufficient, not one intermediary among others. |
| propitiation / to make atonement | ἱλάσκομαι | hilaskomai | 宥めをする | Critical | Christ as the Great High Priest; The Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice | 2:17 | Collides with Japanese folk-religious appeasement vocabulary (宥める used for pacifying an angry kami or vengeful spirit/tatari); must teach that God himself graciously provides the satisfaction of his own justice, not a human ritual technique to placate an unpredictable deity. |
| mercy seat / place of atonement | ἱλαστήριον | hilastērion | 贖いの蓋 | High | The Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice | 9:5 | Same Greek word underlies Romans 3:25 (there applied typologically to Christ); flag intertextual connection for cross-curriculum translator’s note. |
| blood | αἷμα | haima | 血 | Critical | The Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice; Access to God through Christ’s Blood | 9:7,12-14,18-22,25; 10:4,19,29; 11:28; 12:24; 13:11-12,20 | Highest-severity new collision in the Hebrews glossary: traditional Japanese purity codes (Shinto ketsu-kegare, blood-defilement taboo) treat blood as a source of ritual pollution requiring purification/exclusion, the theological inverse of Hebrews’ claim that Christ’s blood purifies and grants access to the holy place. Must be actively taught, not assumed. |
| shedding of blood | αἱματεκχυσία | haimatekchysia | 血を流すこと | High | The Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice | 9:22 | Rare, formal Greek compound; render plainly. Reinforces the blood-collision risk above; do not soften the verse’s blunt claim that forgiveness requires bloodshed. |
| once (for all) | ἅπαξ / ἐφάπαξ | hapax / ephapax | 一度限り (or ただ一度で) | Critical | The Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice | 6:4; 9:7,26-28; 10:2; 12:26-27 (κατάπαυσις context); parallel ἐφάπαξ at 7:27; 9:12; 10:10 | Central rhetorical-theological keyword of the entire book. Collides with Japan’s culture of repeated, cyclical ritual observance (annual festivals, staged Buddhist memorial-service calendar for the dead); a non-repeated religious act may read as incomplete rather than triumphantly final unless actively taught. Must render identically at every occurrence. |
| repeatedly / often | πολλάκις | pollakis | 何度も / 繰り返し | High | The Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice | 9:25-26; 10:1,11 | Direct rhetorical foil to ἅπαξ; keep visually/aurally distinct in Japanese so the once-for-all vs. repeated contrast is not lost. |
| to perfect / perfection | τελειόω / τέλειος | teleioō / teleios | 完全にする / 全うする | Critical | Christ as the Great High Priest; The Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice | 2:10; 5:9,14; 6:1; 7:11,19,28; 9:9; 10:1,14; 11:40; 12:2,23 | Direct structural parallel to the baseline’s Critical caution on 義/義と認められること: risks collapsing into either the Bushido-virtue sense of self-perfected moral character or the Buddhist sense of self-cultivated enlightenment/completion (悟りを完成させる). Hebrews’ “perfecting” is Christ’s objective, completed, applied work — never an attainment achieved through the believer’s own ascetic effort or spiritual training (修行). |
| conscience | συνείδησις | syneidēsis | 良心 | High | The Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice; Universal Human Accountability (cross-ref. baseline “sin”) | 9:9,14; 10:2,22; 13:18 | Extends the baseline’s shame-vs-guilt caution on 罪 (sin): 良心 in ordinary secular Japanese usage often functions as internalized social conscience (concern for causing others 迷惑 or losing face) rather than a moral court answerable to a personal, holy God. |
| judgment | κρίσις | krisis | 裁き | High | The Danger of Apostasy and Warning Passages | 9:27; 10:27 | Directly confronts folk-Buddhist karmic cause-and-effect thinking (因果応報) and reincarnation-adjacent frameworks in which consequences unfold cyclically across multiple existences; Hebrews presents a linear one-death-then-one-judgment structure. |
| covenant / will (wordplay) | διαθήκη (dual sense) | diathēkē | 契約 (covenant sense) / 遺言 (will/testament sense) | Critical — untranslatable wordplay | New Covenant versus the Old; The Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice | 9:16-17 | Japanese has no single word spanning both “covenant” and “last will/testament”; a mandatory [TRANSLATOR NOTE] must explain that a single Greek word underlies both senses, since the Japanese text necessarily shifts vocabulary and the underlying wordplay-argument becomes invisible without explicit teaching. |
| redemption | λύτρωσις / ἀπολύτρωσις | lytrōsis / apolytrōsis | 贖い | High | The Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice | 9:12,15 | New standalone term for Hebrews (absent from Romans baseline TM); distinguish from generic compensation/reparation (弁償) and self-help “liberation” senses; anchor to the ransom-price sense established in ch. 9. |
| sacrifice | θυσία | thysia | いけにえ | High | The Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice | 5:1; 7:27; 9:9,23,26; 10:1,5,8,11-12,26; 11:4; 13:15-16 | Reserve いけにえ (cultic/theological sense) throughout; distinguish from secularized 犠牲 (gisei), the common modern word for generic self-sacrifice (for one’s company, in war, in sport) which would flatten the specific cultic meaning. |
| to offer (a sacrifice) | προσφέρω | prospherō | 供える / ささげる | High | The Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice; Christ as the Great High Priest | 5:1,3; 7:27; 8:3-4; 9:7,9,14,25,28; 10:1-2,8,11-12; 11:4,17 | Technical priestly-offering verb; keep distinct from generic “give” (与える) so the cultic dimension is not lost. |
| better / superior | κρείττων / κρείσσων | kreittōn / kreissōn | まさっている / より優れた | Medium-High | The Superiority of Christ over Angels, Moses, and the Levitical Priesthood (book-wide) | 1:4; 6:9; 7:7,19,22; 8:6; 9:23; 10:34; 11:16,35,40; 12:24 | The book’s single most repeated argumentative keyword. Risk of flattening into Japan’s commercial/competitive comparative-ranking register (“10% better product”) rather than conveying the categorical, order-of-magnitude superiority Hebrews intends. |
| angel | ἄγγελος | angelos | 御使い | Medium | The Superiority of Christ over Angels | 1:4-7,13; 2:2,5,7,9,16; 12:22; 13:2 | Established Japanese Bible term; watch for resonance with Shinto kami’s animal tsukai (messengers, e.g., Inari’s foxes) via the shared 使い root — clarify biblical angels are servants of the one true God, not a kami-messenger category. |
| the Son (absolute title) | υἱός (used alone, “the Son”) | huios | 御子 | Critical/High — homophone risk | Sonship of Christ; Superiority of Christ over Angels | 1:2,5,8; 3:6; 5:8; 7:28 | 御子 (miko, “the Son”) is a homophone of 巫女 (miko, Shinto shrine maiden/medium). Purely orthographic/auditory risk, same class as the baseline’s flagged 預言者/予言者 homophone. Always verify kanji in writing; disambiguate explicitly in spoken/oral teaching contexts. |
| radiance / effulgence | ἀπαύγασμα | apaugasma | 栄光の輝き | Medium | Deity of Christ | 1:3 | Must convey co-essential radiance (light from the same source/nature), not a derivative reflection; guard against emanationist drift. |
| exact imprint / representation | χαρακτήρ | charaktēr | 本質の完全な現れ | Critical | Deity of Christ; Incarnation | 1:3 | Must not resemble honji suijaku theology (kami as local “traces”/manifestations of a Buddha), already flagged Critical under the baseline’s Incarnation entry (化身/権化 forbidden). Christ is God’s own exact, essential self-expression, not a manifestation or avatar. |
| divine substance/nature (1:3) vs. faith’s substance/assurance (11:1) | ὑπόστασις | hypostasis | 本質 (1:3) / 実質・確信 (11:1) | High | Deity of Christ (1:3); Faith of the Old Testament Saints (11:1) | 1:3; 11:1 | Same Greek word, two distinct senses requiring two different Japanese renderings; flag the polysemy with a cross-referencing translator’s note for teaching continuity. |
| inheritance / heir | κληρονομία / κληρονόμος | klēronomia / klēronomos | 相続 / 相続人 | Medium | Access to God through Christ’s Blood; general inheritance theme | 1:2,4,14; 6:12,17; 9:15; 11:7-8; 12:17 | Japan’s established adult-heir-designation practice (養子縁組, still common in business succession) is a helpful cultural bridge, paralleling the baseline’s positive framing of this same practice under “adoption.” |
| pioneer / founder | ἀρχηγός | archēgos | 創始者 | Medium | Christ as the Great High Priest; Perseverance and Assurance | 2:10; 12:2 | Risk of flattening into the secular corporate “company founder” (創業者) association; supplement with 先駆者 (trailblazer) in explanatory teaching where useful. |
| devil | διάβολος | diabolos | 悪魔 | Medium | Christ’s victory over sin and death | 2:14 | Risk is trivialization via anime/manga/tokusatsu “demon villain” pop-culture tropes rather than syncretism; teach as the real, personal, now-defeated enemy. |
| to fall away / apostatize | ἀφίστημι, παραπίπτω | aphistēmi, parapiptō | 神から離れ去る / 背教する | Critical | The Danger of Apostasy and Warning Passages | 3:12; 6:6 | Central to a named curriculum doctrine; must be taught with full seriousness as decisive, culpable defection from a professed faith community, neither overstated (implying trivial loss of salvation) nor understated (implying merely rhetorical warning). Automatic theologian-review flag. |
| unbelief | ἀπιστία | apistia | 不信仰 | High | Danger of Apostasy | 3:12,19 | Natural antonym-pairing with baseline’s 信仰; keep the pairing structurally visible in teaching materials. |
| rest | κατάπαυσις | katapausis | 安息 | Medium | (background to New Covenant/Old Covenant contrast) | 3:11,18; 4:1,3,5,8,10-11 | Watch for drift toward Buddhist nirvana-adjacent “cessation” imagery (impersonal extinguishing of desire/rebirth-cycle) rather than positive, relational rest in God’s presence. |
| word of God (living and active) | λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ | logos tou theou | 神の言葉 | Medium | Inspiration of Scripture (extension) | 4:12 | Risk of assimilation into the Shinto/folk kotodama (言霊, “word-spirit”) concept of inherently magical spoken words; clarify this is personal divine address/judgment, not word-magic. |
| boldness / confidence | παρρησία | parrēsia | 確信 / 大胆な態度 | Medium | Access to God through Christ’s Blood | 4:16; 10:19,35 | Tension with Japanese enryo (deferential restraint before a superior); must clarify this boldness is grace-given, not human self-assertion. |
| throne of grace | θρόνος τῆς χάριτος | thronos tēs charitos | 恵みの御座 | High | Access to God through Christ’s Blood | 4:16 | Compounds baseline’s Critical grace entry with the added weight of “throne” (a position one might otherwise “owe” deference/repayment to); reinforce non-transactional framing here specifically. |
| order (of Melchizedek) | τάξις | taxis | …の位 | Medium | Christ as the Great High Priest | 5:6,10; 6:20; 7:11,17 | Primarily a comprehension risk (OT background required for Melchizedek), not a syncretism risk. |
| Melchizedek | Μελχισέδεκ | Melchisedek | メルキゼデク | Low | Christ as the Great High Priest | 5:6,10; 6:20; 7:1-17 | Proper name; standard transliteration. |
| laying on of hands | ἐπίθεσις χειρῶν | epithesis cheirōn | 手を置くこと | Medium | (foundational church practice) | 6:2 | Mild collision with Japan’s alternative-medicine hands-on-healing culture (手当て, Reiki-style practice); brief clarifying context recommended. |
| anchor | ἄγκυρα | ankyra | 錨 | Low-Medium | Perseverance and Assurance | 6:19 | Transparent metaphor; connects to Holy of Holies imagery of ch. 9. |
| unchangeable / permanent | ἀμετάθετος / ἀπαράβατος | ametathetos / aparabatos | 変わることのない | Medium-High | Perseverance and Assurance; Christ as the Great High Priest | 6:17-18; 7:24 | Grounds assurance in God’s/Christ’s unchanging nature, not ongoing performance — contrast risk with on-giri obligation framework already flagged under baseline’s grace entry. |
| Levitical (priesthood) | Λευιτικός | Leuitikos | レビ族の祭司職 | Medium | Superiority of Christ over the Levitical Priesthood | 7:5,11 | Comprehension risk (OT background) rather than syncretism risk. |
| priesthood | ἱερωσύνη | hierōsynē | 祭司職 | High | Christ as the Great High Priest | 7:11-12,24 | Reinforce with permanence/non-succession language distinguishing Christ’s office from the Levitical line. |
| guarantor / surety | ἔγγυος | engyos | 保証人 | Medium | New Covenant versus the Old | 7:22 | Risk of flattening into the mundane modern Japanese loan/lease-guarantor role; Christ’s guarantee is personal and sacrificial, not a routine legal cosigning. |
| to render obsolete | παλαιόω | palaioō | 古びさせる / 廃れさせる | High | New Covenant versus the Old | 8:13 | Requires careful framing alongside continued affirmation of God’s faithfulness to Israel (cf. baseline’s “Unity of Jews and Gentiles,” High risk) to avoid triumphalist replacement-theology overtones. |
| shadow / copy / pattern | σκιά / ὑπόδειγμα / ἀντίτυπος / εἰκών | skia / hypodeigma / antitypos / eikōn | 影 / 写し / 型 / 本体 | Medium | New Covenant versus the Old | 8:5; 9:9,23-24; 10:1 | Coherent metaphor family; no forbidden-term collision, but requires careful internal consistency across four related but distinct Greek terms. |
| ark of the covenant | κιβωτὸς τῆς διαθήκης | kibōtos tēs diathēkēs | 契約の箱 | Medium | (background to Access to God through Christ’s Blood) | 9:4 | Established OT term; comprehension risk only. |
| purify / purification | καθαρίζω / καθαρότης / καθαρισμός | katharizō / katharotēs | 清める / 清め | High | The Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice; Access to God through Christ’s Blood | 9:13-14,22-23; 10:2 | Direct extension of the baseline’s “holy” entry’s Shinto ritual-purity caution, now applied specifically and repeatedly to blood-based purification language — the passage’s own lesser-to-greater argument (external to internal cleansing) can be a productive teaching bridge if handled explicitly. |
| dead works | νεκρὰ ἔργα | nekra erga | 死んだ行い | Medium | The Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice | 6:1; 9:14 | Should reinforce, not blur, the baseline’s forbidden-substitution caution against merit-earning vocabulary (功徳, 修行). |
| the living God | θεὸς ζῶν | theos zōn | 生けるまことの神 / 生きておられる神 | High | (extends baseline “God” entry) | 3:12; 9:14; 10:31; 12:22 | Apply baseline’s Critical 神-qualification rule; maximal contrast with impersonal or ancestral kami concepts. |
| new covenant | διαθήκη καινή | diathēkē kainē | 新しい契約 | High | New Covenant versus the Old | 8:8,13; 9:15; 12:24 | See covenant entry in Part 1; reinforce contrast with old/first covenant (πρώτη διαθήκη) throughout chs. 8-10. |
| transgression | παράβασις | parabasis | 違反 / 罪過 | Medium | New Covenant versus the Old | 2:2; 9:15 | Distinct from general 罪 (sin); keep to law-code-violation sense where the Greek specifically means this. |
| forgiveness | ἄφεσις | aphesis | 赦し | High | The Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice | 9:22; 10:18 | Verify the 赦 kanji (forgiveness of an offense) is used, not the more general 許 (mere permission) — a kanji-precision risk parallel to baseline’s 預言者/予言者 caution. |
| common / unholy | κοινός | koinos | 汚れたもの / 俗なもの | High | The Danger of Apostasy and Warning Passages | 10:29 (cf. κοινόω, 9:13) | Describes the apostate’s sin of treating Christ’s sacred, purifying blood as ritually unremarkable — intersects the same purity-language field as the “holy” entry’s Shinto kegare caution, here in an inverted, blasphemous sense. |
| to sin deliberately | ἑκουσίως ἁμαρτάνειν | hekousiōs hamartanein | 意図的に罪を犯し続ける | Critical | The Danger of Apostasy and Warning Passages | 10:26 | Automatic theologian-review flag; must be distinguished from ordinary believers’ struggle with ongoing sin. |
| to trample underfoot | καταπατέω | katapateō | 踏みつける | High | The Danger of Apostasy and Warning Passages | 10:29 | Vivid contempt-imagery; do not soften in translation. |
| endurance / perseverance | ὑπομονή | hypomonē | 忍耐 | Medium | Perseverance and Assurance | 10:36; 12:1 | Distinguish from the culturally prized stoic-endurance virtue of 我慢 (gaman); biblical endurance is hope-and-relationship-grounded, not self-reliant stoicism. |
| assurance / substance of faith | ὑπόστασις (11:1 sense) | hypostasis | 実質 / 確信 | High | Faith of the Old Testament Saints | 11:1 | See ὑπόστασις entry above (1:3 sense); track the polysemy across the book. |
| evidence / conviction | ἔλεγχος | elenchos | 証拠 / 確証 | Medium | Faith of the Old Testament Saints | 11:1 | Clarifies biblical faith as well-grounded conviction, not credulity without evidence. |
| cloud of witnesses | νέφος μαρτύρων | nephos martyrōn | 証人の群れ | Medium | Faith of the Old Testament Saints; Perseverance and Assurance | 12:1 (cf. μαρτυρέω, ch.11) | Frames OT saints as present, encouraging witnesses, not merely historical examples. |
| discipline / training | παιδεία | paideia | 訓練 / 懲らしめ | Medium | Perseverance and Assurance | 12:5-11 | Productive bridge to Japan’s structured-training culture (school clubs, dojo, corporate 研修), but must retain the passage’s explicit fatherly-love framing, not collapse into impersonal performance-discipline. |
| festal gathering | πανήγυρις | panēgyris | 祝いの集い | Medium | Access to God through Christ’s Blood (heavenly assembly imagery) | 12:22-23 | Potentially productive but risky resonance with Shinto matsuri (festival) culture; must clarify this is the joyful assembly of the redeemed before the one true God, not a kami-honoring festival. |
| judge | κριτής | kritēs | 審判者 / 裁く方 | Medium | (extends κρίσις entry) | 12:23 | Connects to κρίσις (9:27) entry above. |
| unshakable kingdom | ἀσάλευτος βασιλεία | asaleutos basileia | 揺るがない御国 | High | Kingdom-adjacent doctrine (extends baseline’s “Kingdom of God”) | 12:28 | Directly extends the baseline’s already-Critical/High caution on 神の国’s association with pre-1945 State Shinto’s 神国日本 ultranationalist slogan; anchor doctrinally with the same care the baseline mandates for Romans 14:17. |
| consuming fire | πῦρ καταναλίσκον | pyr katanaliskon | 焼き尽くす火 | Medium | (God’s holiness) | 12:29 | Reinforces baseline’s 聖い entry in a vivid, non-syncretistic image. |
| altar | θυσιαστήριον | thysiastērion | 祭壇 | Medium | The Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice | 13:10 | Collides with household Shinto/Buddhist altar practice (神棚, 仏壇) central to ordinary Japanese domestic religious life; clarify as metaphor for once-for-all access through Christ, not a physical object requiring ongoing ritual maintenance. |
| outside the gate | ἔξω τῆς πύλης | exō tēs pylēs | 門の外 | Medium-High | (identification with Christ’s rejection) | 13:12-13 | Positive theological use of voluntary outsider-identification with Christ; distinguish in teaching from the negative uchi-soto exclusion dynamic flagged elsewhere in the baseline (Gentiles, Universal Scope of the Gospel). |
| sacrifice of praise | θυσία αἰνέσεως | thysia aineseōs | 賛美のいけにえ | Medium | The Once-for-All Atoning Sacrifice | 13:15 | Fully metaphorical/spiritual use of いけにέ, reinforcing that no further literal sacrifice is needed. |
| great shepherd | ποιμὴν τῶν προβάτων ὁ μέγας | poimēn tōn probatōn ho megas | 羊の大牧者 | Low-Medium | (closing benediction Christology) | 13:20 | Standard, low-collision shepherd metaphor; paired with resurrection language (see baseline reuse note). |
Cross-Reference Notes for Phase 2
- Terms marked Critical above must be routed to human theologian review at every occurrence, per the same escalation logic as
doctrine_risk_registry.json. - The διαθήκη covenant/testament wordplay (9:16-17) and the ὑπόστασις polysemy (1:3 vs. 11:1) both require mandatory translator’s notes — these are structural features of the Greek text that Japanese cannot preserve lexically and must be bridged through explicit teaching commentary rather than word choice alone.
- The 御子/巫女 homophone risk (Part 2) should be added to the same class of orthographic-precision checks as the baseline’s existing 預言者/予言者 rule in
12_ai_translation_requirements.md’s validation table. - Recommend this glossary’s Part 2 entries be merged into an extended
translation_memory.json(version increment) before Phase 2 segment translation of Hebrews begins.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: 神
Transliteration: Kami
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 八百万の神の一柱としての神, 神様
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Baseline notes retained: highest-risk term in the package because 神 (kami) is the generic word for the countless Shinto deities; requires the qualifier 唯一のまことの神 at first occurrence and in doctrinally weighty statements. Hebrews-specific: reinforce this qualifier especially at every ‘the living God’ occurrence (3:12; 9:14; 10:31; 12:22), which pairs 神 with maximal personal/relational contrast to impersonal or ancestral kami concepts.
Jesus
Approved rendering: イエス
Transliteration: Iesu
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: ゼズス
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Hebrews-specific: used slightly more often alone (without キリスト) than in Romans, e.g., 2:9; 3:1; 4:14; 6:20; 7:22; 10:19; 12:2,24; 13:8,12,20 — no change to rendering is required for this stylistic difference.
Lord
Approved rendering: 主
Transliteration: shu
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 主君, ご主人様
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Hebrews-specific: multiple OT quotations retain 主 for YHWH per Shinkaiyaku convention (1:10; 7:14,21; 8:8-11); 12:14 and 13:20 must preserve the same exclusive sense established for Romans 10:9.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: 聖霊
Transliteration: Seirei
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: 霊, 幽霊
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly, never shortened to 霊 alone. Hebrews-specific: 9:14’s ‘eternal Spirit’ is ambiguous between the Holy Spirit and Christ’s own spirit — default to 聖霊 unless theologian review determines otherwise, given Japan’s vivid folk spirit-world of ancestral and nature spirits.
Grace
Approved rendering: 恵み
Transliteration: megumi
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: 恩返しが要る恵み, 功徳
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Hebrews-specific: 4:16’s ‘throne of grace’ and 12:15’s ‘grace of God’ both require the baseline’s non-transactional (anti-on-giri) clarification; 10:29 makes despising this very grace the paradigm apostasy sin, heightening the stakes of preserving the non-repayable-gift sense.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: 義
Transliteration: gi
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: 道徳, 正義感
Original: δικαιοσύνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Hebrews-specific: appears at 1:9; 5:13; 7:2 (etymology of ‘Melchizedek’); 11:7,33; 12:11 — every occurrence in a faith/inheritance context must be flagged with the same Bushido-virtue distinguishing note as baseline, since 義 is a core samurai-ethics virtue in Nitobe’s Bushido.
Salvation
Approved rendering: 救い
Transliteration: sukui
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: 解脱, 極楽往生
Original: σωτηρία
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly, never 解脱. Hebrews-specific: introduced as ‘so great a salvation’ (2:3) and its future consummating aspect (9:28); use extreme care with any 極楽往生-adjacent bridging language per baseline.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: 神の子
Transliteration: Kami no Ko
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 現人神, 神の化身
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly; never 現人神. Hebrews-specific: works alongside the book’s new absolute-title rendering 御子 (‘the Son,’ see new term below); the two must be taught as referring to the same eternal, unique Sonship, with the 御子/巫女 homophone risk actively managed wherever the absolute title is used.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: 受肉
Transliteration: juniku
Doctrine: Incarnation
Rejected alternatives: 化身, 権化
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly; never 化身/権化. Hebrews-specific: 2:14 (‘partook of flesh and blood’) and 2:16-17 (‘had to be made like his brothers in every respect’) — must be taught as a permanent, unique assumption of humanity, not a repeatable manifestation in the honji suijaku pattern.
High Risk Terms
Messiah
Approved rendering: キリスト
Transliteration: Kirisuto
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Rejected alternatives: 救世主
Original: Χριστός
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Hebrews-specific: chapter 9 uses キリスト as the subject of priestly/sacrificial verbs (offered, entered, appeared, 9:11,14,24,28), requiring the same explanatory teaching baseline mandates, since secular readers know ‘Kirisuto’ chiefly as a foreign cultural brand disconnected from Jewish messianic-priestly fulfillment.
Faith
Approved rendering: 信仰
Transliteration: shinkou
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: 信心, 宗教心
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Hebrews-specific: 10:38-39 quotes Habakkuk 2:4, the same verse Romans 1:17 cites as its thesis statement — the rendering here must match the Romans curriculum word-for-word per cross-document consistency rules. Hebrews 11’s extended definition/illustration of faith requires this term to remain identical throughout.
Covenant
Approved rendering: 契約
Transliteration: keiyaku
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: διαθήκη
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly for the covenant sense. Hebrews-specific: 契約 is the central organizing category of chs. 8-10 contrasting old and new; see ‘covenant_will_wordplay’ below for the distinct 9:16-17 testament-sense complication unique to Hebrews, which this term alone cannot cover.
Holy
Approved rendering: 聖い
Transliteration: kiyoi
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: 清らか, 穢れがない
Original: ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Hebrews-specific: extremely frequent given the tabernacle/priesthood subject matter (3:1; 6:10; 9:2-3,8,12-13,24-25; 10:10,14,19,29; 13:11-12,24); every occurrence should be checked against the baseline’s Shinto ritual-purity distinguishing note.
Saints
Approved rendering: 聖徒
Transliteration: seito
Doctrine: Sainthood
Rejected alternatives: 聖者, 菩薩
Original: ἅγιοι
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Hebrews-specific: corporate designation (6:10; 13:24); never render 菩薩 or 聖者. Risk heightened by Hebrews’ dense surrounding priestly/holiness vocabulary, which could otherwise suggest an elevated achiever-class.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: 聖化
Transliteration: seika
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: 修行, 悟り
Original: ἁγιασμός / ἁγιάζω
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Hebrews-specific: 2:11; 9:13; 10:10,14,29; 12:14; 13:12 — Hebrews’ own lesser-to-greater argument (external ceremonial cleansing to internal conscience-cleansing) is a productive teaching bridge if made explicit rather than assumed.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: 復活
Transliteration: fukkatsu
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 輪廻転生, カムバック
Original: ἀνάστασις (conceptually; ἀναγαγών at 13:20)
Category: Eschatology
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Hebrews-specific: 6:2; 11:35; 13:20 — the closing-benediction mention (13:20) is brief and easy to skim past without actively restoring doctrinal weight against the pop-culture ‘comeback’ dilution the baseline flags.
Called
Approved rendering: 召された
Transliteration: mesareta
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: 運命づけられた, 天職
Original: κλητός (κεκλημένοι)
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly; never substitute 選ばれた. Hebrews-specific: 9:15’s ‘those who are called’ receiving the promised eternal inheritance.
Calling
Approved rendering: 召し
Transliteration: meshi
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: 運命, 天職
Original: κλῆσις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Hebrews-specific: 3:1’s ‘holy brothers, who share in a heavenly calling’ — must convey a personal, relational summons, not impersonal fate (運命).
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: 神の国
Transliteration: Kami no Kuni
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Rejected alternatives: 神国日本
Original: βασιλεία
Category: Kingdom
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Hebrews-specific: 1:8 and, in intensified form, 12:28’s ‘unshakable kingdom’ (see ‘unshakable_kingdom’ new term below) — the baseline’s pre-1945 State Shinto 神国日本 caution applies with equal or greater force at 12:28.
Sin
Approved rendering: 罪
Transliteration: tsumi
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: 恥, 迷惑をかけること
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Hebrews-specific: repeated pairing of sin with blood-sacrifice language intensifies the baseline’s shame-versus-guilt caution — 罪 must be taught as guilt before a holy God, not merely social shame or causing others 迷惑.
Medium Risk Terms
Law
Approved rendering: 律法
Transliteration: ritsuhou
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: 空気を読むこと, 法律
Original: νόμος
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Hebrews-specific: central to chs. 7-10’s argument that the law ‘made nothing perfect’ (7:19); never render as secular civil law (法律) or a generic social-harmony code.
Glory
Approved rendering: 栄光
Transliteration: eikou
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 名誉
Original: δόξα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Hebrews-specific: applied to Christ (1:3; 2:9) and to the tabernacle furnishings (‘cherubim of glory,’ 9:5); avoid collapsing into 名誉 (secular honor/reputation).
Peace
Approved rendering: 平安
Transliteration: heian
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: 安心, 癒し
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Hebrews-specific: 7:2 (Melchizedek, ‘king of peace’); 12:14’s ‘pursue peace with everyone’ carries a horizontal-relational sense alongside the baseline’s vertical peace-with-God sense — flag the distinction in teaching; 13:20 closing benediction.
Intercession
Approved rendering: とりなし
Transliteration: torinashi
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Original: ἐντυγχάνω
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Hebrews-specific: 7:25, Christ’s permanent, living intercession grounded in his eternal priesthood — reinforce that this is continuous and unrepeated, distinct from the once-for-all sacrifice itself.
Church
Approved rendering: 教会
Transliteration: kyoukai
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: 寺, 神社
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly; never 寺/神社. Hebrews-specific: 2:12 (quoting Psalm 22); 12:23’s unusual heavenly-assembly sense (‘church of the firstborn’) is distinct from the local-congregation sense and should be flagged as such in teaching.
David
Approved rendering: ダビデ
Transliteration: Dabide
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: Δαυίδ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Hebrews-specific: not directly named in the text, but Davidic/messianic background is assumed in chs. 1 and 7; retained for cross-curriculum consistency where teaching materials draw the connection.
Israel
Approved rendering: イスラエル
Transliteration: Isuraeru
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Original: Ἰσραήλ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Hebrews-specific: central to the Jeremiah 31 new covenant citation (8:8,10) and the Exodus narrative (11:22).
Power Of God
Approved rendering: 神の力
Transliteration: Kami no Chikara
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Rejected alternatives: 気, パワー
Original: δύναμις
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Hebrews-specific: 1:3 (Christ ‘upholds the universe by the word of his power’); 6:5; 7:16’s ‘power of an indestructible life’ is a distinctive Hebrews extension worth noting in teaching.
Father
Approved rendering: 父
Transliteration: chichi
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: 家長
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Hebrews-specific: 1:5; 12:7,9-10 — the extended fatherly-discipline passage (12:7-10) is a strong opportunity to build the relational-fatherly-warmth sense baseline flags as culturally under-supplied given Japan’s ‘absent salaryman father’ trope.
Low Risk Terms
Apostle
Approved rendering: 使徒
Transliteration: shito
Doctrine: Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: 教祖
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Hebrews-specific: unusual Christological application at 3:1 (‘the Apostle and High Priest of our confession’), distinct from Romans’ human-apostle usage; still avoid 教祖 per baseline caution.
Exhort
Approved rendering: 勧める
Transliteration: susumeru
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Original: παρακαλέω
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Hebrews-specific: 3:13; 10:25 (a key mutual-edification proof-text, ‘encouraging one another’); 13:19,22.
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: 感謝
Transliteration: kansha
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Original: εὐχαριστία (conceptually; cf. θυσία αἰνέσεως)
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Hebrews-specific: 12:28 (‘let us be thankful’); 13:15 replaces literal sacrifice with an ongoing verbal ‘sacrifice of praise’ (see new term below).
Fellowship
Approved rendering: 交わり
Transliteration: majiwari
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: 仲間意識
Original: κοινωνία / κοινωνέω
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Hebrews-specific: 2:14 (Christ sharing in flesh and blood) and 13:16 (sharing goods with others); distinguish from generic in-group solidarity (仲間意識).
Prophet
Approved rendering: 預言者
Transliteration: yogensha
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: 予言者, 占い師
Original: προφήτης
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Hebrews-specific: 1:1-2, God’s speech ‘by the prophets’ contrasted with his speech ‘by his Son.’ Verify the 預 kanji (not 予) — the homophone risk with 予言者 (fortune-teller) applies with equal force here.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: 預言
Transliteration: yogen
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: 予言, 占い
Original: προφητεία
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Hebrews-specific: background to 1:1’s ‘spoke to our fathers by the prophets.’ Same 預言/予言 homophone risk as ‘prophet.’
Referenced passages