Semantic Analysis
Semantic Analysis — Gospel of John (Koine Greek → Japanese)
Scope and Method
This analysis covers the entire Gospel of John, chapters 1–21, in the original Koine Greek (NA28/UBS text represented in transliteration for readability). The core passage, John 3:1–21, receives full verse-by-verse treatment. Every other chapter receives a chapter-level treatment of its load-bearing theological terms with the same analytical fields. Terms already fixed in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json (神, イエス, キリスト, 主, 聖霊, 神の子, 恵み, 信仰, 救い, 罪, 栄光, 神の国, 復活, 平安, 使徒, 律法, 父, 異邦人, 選び, 摂理, 契約, etc.) are reused exactly and marked “Reuse (baseline)” rather than re-derived. New terms required by John’s distinct vocabulary (Logos, born again, eternal life, Paraclete, the seven “I Am” statements, etc.) are analyzed in full and proposed for addition to the Language Package in 08_core_glossary.md.
Fields used for each load-bearing term: Original (Greek), Transliteration, Literal meaning, Semantic range, English variants (as they appear across common English translations), Contextual theological meaning (in John), and Destination-language rendering risk (Japanese).
PART A — Core Passage: John 3:1–21, Verse by Verse
John 3:1
Greek (key phrase): Ἦν δὲ ἄνθρωπος ἐκ τῶν Φαρισαίων, Νικόδημος ὄνομα αὐτῷ, ἄρχων τῶν Ἰουδαίων.
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pharisee Φαρισαῖος Pharisaios ”separated one” | Jewish religious-legal party emphasizing Torah observance and oral tradition Pharisee | Establishes Nicodemus’s religious credentials; sets up a “religious insider comes seeking” narrative pattern | ファリサイ人 (Farisai-jin). Low risk; standard transliterated proper term, no native religious-group collision. |
| ruler (of the Jews) ἄρχων archōn one who begins/leads, a ruler | civic or religious authority figure; here likely Sanhedrin member ruler, leader, member of the Council | Signals Nicodemus’s high social/religious status — heightens the contrast with the humble, non-negotiable nature of the new birth Jesus demands of him | 指導者 (shidousha) / ユダヤ人の指導者. Low risk; note the contrast with 罪 (baseline) — status does not exempt from need for new birth. |
John 3:2
Greek: οὗτος ἦλθεν πρὸς αὐτὸν νυκτὸς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· Ῥαββί, οἴδαμεν ὅτι ἀπὸ θεοῦ ἐλήλυθας διδάσκαλος· οὐδεὶς γὰρ δύναται ταῦτα τὰ σημεῖα ποιεῖν ἃ σὺ ποιεῖς, ἐὰν μὴ ᾗ ὁ θεὸς μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ.
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rabbi Ῥαββί Rabbi ”my great one/teacher” | Honorific address to a Jewish teacher Rabbi, Teacher | Nicodemus addresses Jesus with respect but categorizes him only within a human teacher framework | ラビ (Rabi). Low risk; transliterated loanword, widely recognized in Japan via popular culture even among the non-religious, but must not be allowed to cap Jesus’ identity at “esteemed teacher” — the chapter’s argument moves him far beyond this category. |
| sign(s) σημεῖον (pl. σημεῖα) sēmeion a mark, token, indicator | A miracle understood as a pointer to a deeper spiritual reality/identity, not mere spectacle sign(s), miracle(s), miraculous sign(s) | John’s signs (beginning ch. 2) authenticate Jesus’ identity and provoke a decision of belief or unbelief | しるし (shirushi). Medium risk: しるし can be flattened to mean simply “proof of power” (like a magic trick or celebrity feat); teaching must retain John’s usage as a revelatory pointer toward Jesus’ identity, tied to belief (see πιστεύω below). |
John 3:3
Greek: ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· Ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω σοι, ἐὰν μή τις γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν, οὐ δύναται ἰδεῖν τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ.
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amen, amen (solemn formula) Ἀμὴν ἀμὴν Amēn amēn ”truly, truly” | A unique Johannine double affirmation marking an authoritative, weighty pronouncement Truly, truly / Verily, verily / I tell you the truth | Marks the New Birth statement as a non-negotiable divine pronouncement, not a suggestion | アーメン、アーメン (Aamen, Aamen), commonly rendered in Shinkaiyaku as まことに、まことに (makoto ni, makoto ni, “truly, truly”). Low risk transliteration form; recommend まことに、まことに for flow in exposition, consistent with established liturgical form. |
| born again / born from above γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν gennēthē anōthen ”be born/begotten” + “from above / again / from the top” | ἄνωθεν carries a genuine double sense in Greek: (1) temporal — “again, anew,” and (2) spatial/source — “from above, from heaven.” Both senses are simultaneously active; the narrative exploits Nicodemus’s hearing only sense (1) born again, born anew, born from above | CRITICAL — the doctrinal anchor of the entire curriculum’s “New Birth and Regeneration” theme. A birth that originates from God/heaven, not a repeatable biological or self-improvement event | 新しく生まれる (aratani umareru, “born anew”), the established Shinkaiyaku 2017 rendering. CRITICAL RISK: (1) Japanese has no single word spanning both “again” and “from above” senses simultaneously, so the deliberate Greek double-entendre that drives Nicodemus’s confusion (vv. 4–6) is not automatically visible in Japanese and must be explained rather than merely translated; (2) 新しく生まれる risks being heard as a secular self-renewal idiom (cf. 心を入れ替える, “turn over a new leaf,” a common New Year’s-resolution-style expression) rather than a sovereign act of God the Spirit creating new spiritual life the person could not achieve themselves; (3) must be kept doctrinally distinct from 輪廻転生 (reincarnation, already forbidden under baseline “resurrection”) even though both involve a “new” life — the new birth is a single, permanent spiritual transformation in this life, not a cycle of successive lives. |
| kingdom of God βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ basileia tou theou reign/rule of God | God’s sovereign reign kingdom of God, kingdom of heaven | Only the spiritually reborn can perceive/enter God’s reign | 神の国 (Kami no Kuni). Reuse (baseline, High risk) — retain baseline’s required doctrinal anchoring given the pre-1945 State Shinto ultranationalist association (神国日本); anchor clearly to spiritual rebirth here, not a political or territorial kingdom. |
John 3:4
Greek: λέγει πρὸς αὐτὸν [ὁ] Νικόδημος· Πῶς δύναται ἄνθρωπος γεννηθῆναι γέρων ὤν; μὴ δύναται εἰς τὴν κοιλίαν τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ δεύτερον εἰσελθεῖν καὶ γεννηθῆναι;
No new load-bearing theological term; Nicodemus’s response demonstrates the literalizing misunderstanding of ἄνωθεν discussed at 3:3 (γέρων, “old man”; κοιλία, “womb” — ordinary vocabulary, not technical terms). Pedagogically important: this verse is the hinge that proves the wordplay must be explained to Japanese readers, since without explicit teaching a reader may share Nicodemus’s confusion rather than the reader’s intended vantage point of dramatic irony.
John 3:5
Greek: ἀπεκρίθη [ὁ] Ἰησοῦς· Ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω σοι, ἐὰν μή τις γεννηθῇ ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ πνεύματος, οὐ δύναται εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ.
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| water ὕδωρ hydōr water | Literal water; here evokes both John’s baptism and OT cleansing/renewal imagery (Ezek. 36:25–27) water | Paired with Spirit, signifies the cleansing and Spirit-wrought origin of the new birth | 水 (mizu). Low risk on its own, but see combined risk below. |
| Spirit πνεῦμα pneuma wind, breath, spirit | Ranges across ordinary “wind/breath” and personal “Spirit” (divine); the same word covers both, unlike English or Japanese Spirit, spirit | The Holy Spirit as the divine agent of the new birth | HIGH RISK — baseline mandates 聖霊 (never bare 霊) for the Holy Spirit. Shinkaiyaku 2017 renders this verse’s πνεῦμα as 御霊 (mitama, an honorific classical form for the Spirit), not the full compound 聖霊. Flag for review: 御霊 is not “bare 霊” in the sense baseline forbids (it carries the honorific 御 marking reverence/personhood), but it also does not carry the explicit 聖 (“holy”) qualifier baseline requires for doctrinal statements. Recommendation: retain 御霊 only where directly quoting established Shinkaiyaku wording, but require accompanying teaching material to state explicitly “御霊 here refers to 聖霊, the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity” at first occurrence, per baseline’s Critical-risk qualifying-language rule for God-language. |
John 3:6
Greek: τὸ γεγεννημένον ἐκ τῆς σαρκὸς σάρξ ἐστιν, καὶ τὸ γεγεννημένον ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος πνεῦμά ἐστιν.
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| flesh σάρξ sarx flesh, meat, body-tissue | Ranges from neutral “physical body” (John 1:14, of Christ) to the negative theological sense of fallen human nature/origin, opposed to Spirit (here) flesh, human nature, the flesh | Natural human birth produces only what is naturally human; it cannot of itself produce spiritual life | 肉 (niku). HIGH RISK: 肉 in everyday Japanese means literal meat/body tissue (and appears in idioms like 肉欲, “fleshly desire/lust”). The same Greek word (σάρξ) is used positively of the incarnation in John 1:14 (“the Word became flesh,” 受肉 as doctrinal term) and negatively here of fallen human origin — translators must not let the negative valence in 3:6 bleed backward into 1:14’s affirmation of Christ’s full, good humanity, nor let 1:14’s positive sense soften 3:6’s point that natural human birth alone cannot enter the kingdom. |
John 3:7
No new load-bearing term beyond γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν (see 3:3), reinforced by the term δεῖ (dei, “it is necessary/must”) signaling divine necessity rather than optional advice — relevant to teaching tone; render with 〜なければならない to preserve the imperative force, not a softened suggestion.
John 3:8
Greek: τὸ πνεῦμα ὅπου θέλει πνεῖ, καὶ τὴν φωνὴν αὐτοῦ ἀκούεις, ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ οἶδας πόθεν ἔρχεται καὶ ποῦ ὑπάγει· οὕτως ἐστὶν πᾶς ὁ γεγεννημένος ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος.
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| wind / Spirit (wordplay) πνεῦμα pneuma wind, breath, spirit | Deliberate double reference: the illustration (wind) and the referent (Spirit) share one Greek word, paralleling Hebrew רוּח (ruach) wind, Spirit | The Spirit’s sovereign, invisible-but-perceptible work in regeneration is illustrated by the wind’s own untraceable movement | MEDIUM-HIGH RISK, translation-mechanics: Japanese splits this single Greek word into two distinct words — 風 (kaze, wind) for the illustration clause and 御霊/聖霊 for “born of the Spirit.” This is unavoidable (no Japanese word covers both senses) but it destroys the compact wordplay of the Greek original. Shinkaiyaku’s practice (風 … 御霊) should be followed, but teaching material MUST explicitly explain that one Greek word underlies both halves of the verse, since the pun — and its theological point that the Spirit’s work, like wind, is sovereign and untraceable yet really perceived — is otherwise invisible to a Japanese reader. |
John 3:9
No new load-bearing term; Nicodemus’s question (Πῶς δύναται ταῦτα γενέσθαι, “How can these things be?”) repeats his uncomprehending posture established at 3:4.
John 3:10
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| teacher διδάσκαλος didaskalos teacher, instructor | A recognized Jewish teaching office teacher, master | Jesus rebukes Nicodemus’s failure to grasp what should be recoverable from the OT (cf. Ezek. 36) despite his professional expertise | 教師 (kyoushi) / イスラエルの教師. Low risk. |
John 3:11
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| testify / testimony μαρτυρέω / μαρτυρία martyreō / martyria to bear witness (as in a legal proceeding) / a witness’s testimony | Forensic, courtroom-rooted term; John structures the whole Gospel as a trial in which various witnesses testify to Jesus’ identity testify, bear witness, witness, testimony | Jesus’ teaching rests on personal, eyewitness-level authority (“what we have seen”), not secondhand religious speculation | 証しする (shoushi suru) / 証言する (shougen suru); noun 証し / 証言. HIGH RISK, new term for the Language Package: modern Japanese 証言 carries strong legal/courtroom connotations (a good match for John’s usage) but casual 証し can be flattened toward a customer “testimonial” or personal-experience share (a common evangelical-loanword usage in Japanese church culture, “証し” as one’s personal conversion story) that is narrower than John’s full forensic sense of witness borne to Christ’s identity before the world. Recommend 証しする for verb, retaining awareness of both registers in context. |
John 3:12
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japenese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| believe πιστεύω pisteuō to trust, have faith in, believe | Personal trust/reliance on a specific person or the acceptance of a testimony as true; the verb form corresponding to the baseline noun 信仰 (faith) believe, have faith, trust | The pivotal Johannine verb (used ~98 times in this Gospel); belief in Jesus’ testimony is the constant dividing line throughout the book, culminating in the purpose statement of 20:31 | 信じる (shinjiru). HIGH RISK, new term required for Language Package, directly paired with baseline’s 信仰 (faith): must carry the same “personal trust in Christ specifically” sense baseline assigns to 信仰, not generic religious sentiment or mere intellectual assent to a proposition; John’s Gospel makes this verb do more theological work than any other Gospel, so consistency across all 98 occurrences is essential. |
| earthly things / heavenly things ἐπίγεια / ἐπουράνια epigeia / epourania things upon the earth / things above the heavens | Contrast pair; note the argument from lesser (earthly examples, like the birth analogy) to greater (heavenly realities) earthly things, things on earth / heavenly things, things above | Establishes Jesus’ authority to speak of heavenly realities, grounding v. 13’s descent-from-heaven claim | 地上のこと / 天上のこと. Low risk, transparent contrast pair. |
John 3:13
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Son of Man υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου huios tou anthrōpou ”son of man” | Messianic self-designation drawn from Daniel 7:13’s heavenly figure who receives everlasting dominion; in John consistently tied to descent from heaven, glorification, and being “lifted up” Son of Man | Establishes Christ’s heavenly pre-existence and unique authority to reveal heavenly things — “no one has ascended… except he who descended” | 人の子 (Hito no Ko). HIGH RISK, new term for Language Package: the literal Japanese (as in English) reads as simply “a human being,” risking total loss of the Danielic apocalyptic-authority sense; in John this title is specifically bound up with the Deity and Pre-existence of Christ doctrine (descending from heaven, v. 13) — requires active contextual teaching, not word choice alone, parallel to baseline’s treatment of “Messiah” as a biblical-illiteracy risk rather than a false-concept-import risk. |
John 3:14
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| lifted up ὑψωθῆναι (< ὑψόω) hypsōthēnai to be raised high, exalted | Deliberate Johannine double meaning: (1) physically raised up on the cross, (2) exalted/glorified — the two are the same event in John’s theology lifted up, raised up, exalted | Anchors Christ’s Substitutionary Death directly to his glorification — the cross itself is the “lifting up” and the moment of glory, not merely a prelude to later glory | 上げられる (agerareru) / 高く上げられる (takaku agerareru). CRITICAL RISK: a Japanese reader may register only the literal physical sense (being physically raised on a cross, an unmistakable and historically vivid image) and entirely miss the simultaneous exaltation/glory sense that is central to John’s cross-theology (also in 8:28, 12:32–34). Requires explicit teaching that this one Greek verb intentionally carries both meanings at once; do not split it into two separate Japanese words in exposition without noting the connection. |
| serpent (typology) ὄφις ophis serpent, snake | Reference to Numbers 21:8–9’s bronze serpent raised on a pole for healing/deliverance from the plague of serpents serpent, snake | Establishes an OT type: as Israel looked upon the raised serpent for physical deliverance, so all who look to the raised Son of Man receive eternal deliverance | 蛇 (hebi). Low risk on the word itself; note that serpent imagery is not a culturally loaded negative symbol requiring correction in the way it might be in some target cultures, but the Numbers 21 background must be explained since biblical-illiteracy is assumed for the audience (per AI Translation Requirements’ reading-level guidance). |
John 3:15
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| eternal life ζωὴ αἰώνιος zōē aiōnios ”life” + “age-long/eternal” | ζωή ranges from mere biological existence to the fuller Johannine sense of God’s own quality of life shared with believers (cf. 17:3, defined as knowing God); αἰώνιος modifies it as belonging to the age to come, without end eternal life, everlasting life | The immediate, present possession (not merely a future reward) of all who believe in the lifted-up Son of Man — a CORE doctrinal anchor of this curriculum | 永遠のいのち (eien no inochi). CRITICAL RISK: risk of assimilation to 不老不死 (furoushi, “eternal youth and immortality”), a Daoist-derived alchemical/immortality concept familiar in Japan through classical Chinese literature and widespread modern pop-culture use (anime, fantasy fiction) — a purely biological, unending physical existence achieved through effort/elixir. Biblical eternal life is a qualitative, relational, God-given life (knowing God through Christ, John 17:3) that begins now, by faith, not an unending extension of natural biological life earned or discovered. Must be actively distinguished in teaching. |
John 3:16
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| loved ἠγάπησεν (< ἀγαπάω) ēgapēsen to love (with self-giving, willed love) | ἀγάπη/ἀγαπάω denotes willed, self-giving love, as distinct from ἔρος (romantic desire) or mere φιλία (affection/friendship, though φιλέω and ἀγαπάω overlap significantly in John, cf. ch. 21) loved | God’s own initiating, sacrificial love for a hostile/fallen world — the theological ground of the entire Gospel | 愛する (ai suru) / 愛された. HIGH RISK, new term required for Language Package: pre-modern Japanese lacked a native equivalent for unconditional self-giving love; 愛 historically carried the Buddhist connotation of 愛着 (aijaku), clinging attachment identified as a root cause of suffering to be overcome, before 19th-century Meiji-era Bible translators repurposed the character for Christian ἀγάπη. In contemporary usage 愛する/愛 is now dominated by romantic-love contexts (J-pop, dorama, “I love you” as a romantic declaration) — risk of God’s self-giving, sacrificial love being unconsciously read through a romantic-attachment lens rather than as willed, costly, other-directed love culminating in the gift of the Son. |
| world κόσμος kosmos the ordered universe; the inhabited world; humanity in its fallen state | Ranges from the neutral “created order” to the morally negative “world system in rebellion against God” (dominant sense elsewhere in John, e.g., 15:18–19) — here in 3:16 used positively as the object of God’s love despite its fallenness world, the world | The full scope of God’s love — not a narrow ethnic or elect-only love, but a love directed at the whole fallen human world | 世 (yo). HIGH RISK, new term required for Language Package, distinct from baseline’s 異邦人 (gentiles): κόσμος is not an ethnic category (unlike ἔθνη/gentiles) but the entire created/human order; must not be reduced to “everyone except us” (an uchi-soto insider/outsider echo, cf. baseline’s gentiles note) nor absorbed into the Buddhist sense of 世 as this transient, ultimately illusory realm of suffering (無常, mujō) to be escaped through detachment — God loves this actual world he made and sent his Son to save it (3:17), not to help humanity transcend or escape it. |
| only begotten / one and only μονογενής monogenēs ”only,” “one of a kind,” “unique” (from μόνος + γένος, not from γεννάω “beget,” despite the traditional English rendering) | Denotes uniqueness/one-of-a-kind status, not primarily birth-order or biological generation; used of Christ’s unique relationship to the Father only begotten, one and only, unique | Christ’s unique, eternal, non-created Sonship — no other being shares this relationship to the Father | ひとり子 (hitorigo). CRITICAL RISK — reuse pattern extending baseline’s 神の子 (Son of God): ひとり子/ひとりご also functions in ordinary modern Japanese as a plain demographic term for “an only child” in a family (ひとりっ子, hitorikko), a highly salient category in Japan’s low-birthrate context where many actual readers are only children. Risk of flattening a unique, eternal Christological claim into a simple sibling-count fact. Teaching must clarify: this is not about Jesus lacking siblings, but about his exclusive, uncreated, eternal relationship to the Father shared by no other being. |
| perish ἀπόλλυμι apollymi to destroy, to be lost/ruined | Ranges from ordinary loss (a lost coin/sheep) to final destruction/eternal ruin perish, be destroyed, be lost | The alternative to eternal life — final, personal ruin, not merely a general figure of speech | 滅びる (horobiru). Medium risk; must retain personal, final, and serious stakes rather than a poetic/figurative reading of “ruin.” |
John 3:17
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| sent ἀπέστειλεν (< ἀποστέλλω) apesteilen to send out with a commission | Sending with delegated purpose/authority; root of ἀπόστολος (apostle, baseline term) sent | The Father’s sending of the Son is the foundational missional pattern in John (repeated ~40 times), grounding the Holy Spirit’s sending (ch. 14–16) and the disciples’ sending (ch. 20) | 遣わす (tsukawasu). MEDIUM RISK, new term for Language Package: closely related to baseline’s 使徒 (apostle, “one sent”) and 宣教 (mission); must be kept relationally warm (a Father sending his own Son out of love, v. 16) rather than bureaucratic/administrative in register. |
| judge / condemn κρίνῃ (< κρίνω) krinē to judge, decide, discern | Ranges from neutral “evaluate” to the forensic sense of pronouncing a guilty verdict/condemnation judge, condemn | Christ’s first purpose in coming was not condemnation but salvation — judgment falls on those who reject him (v. 18), not as God’s primary intent | 裁く (sabaku). See fuller treatment at v. 18–19. |
| saved σωθῇ (< σῴζω) sōthē to save, rescue, deliver | Deliverance from peril/destruction to safety/wholeness saved | Reuse of baseline’s salvation vocabulary (救い) | 救われる. Reuse (baseline, Critical) — see baseline 救い/salvation entry; retain the same forbidden-substitution rules (never 解脱; caution with 極楽往生 bridge language). |
John 3:18
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| judged / condemned already κρίνεται / κέκριται (< κρίνω) krinetai / kekritai is judged / has been judged (perfect tense — a settled, present state) | Forensic verdict language is judged / is condemned / stands condemned already | The verdict is not future-only but already in effect based on present unbelief — belief/unbelief is itself the deciding factor, not a separate future evaluation of works | 裁かれる / すでに罪に定められている. HIGH RISK, new term for Language Package: risk of collapsing into 因果応報 (ingahōō), the popular Buddhist-derived folk concept of automatic karmic retribution (“what goes around comes around”), an impersonal cause-and-effect cosmic mechanism. Biblical judgment in John is a personal God’s forensic verdict specifically tied to one’s response to his Son, not an impersonal moral ledger balancing itself out. |
| name ὄνομα onoma name | The name as bearer of a person’s full identity and authority, not a mere label name | Believing “in the name” of the only Son means trusting his full revealed identity and authority | 名 (na) / 御名 (mina, honorific for divine names). Medium risk; standard usage, low collision, but note the honorific 御 prefix convention already used for divine referents in Japanese liturgical style. |
John 3:19
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| judgment (this is the verdict) κρίσις krisis a judging, a decision, a verdict | Noun form of κρίνω; here functioning almost as “this is the crisis/verdict-point” judgment, verdict, this is the verdict | Defines judgment concretely: the light has come, and people’s response to it (love or hate) is itself the judgment in action | 裁き (sabaki). HIGH RISK, new term for Language Package, doctrine “Judgment and Belief/Unbelief” — see v. 18 note on avoiding 因果応報 framing. |
| light / darkness φῶς / σκότος phōs / skotos light / darkness | A pervasive Johannine dualism: φῶς as revelation, truth, and moral purity in God/Christ; σκότος/σκοτία as ignorance, moral corruption, and opposition to God light / darkness | Christ’s coming as light exposes the moral state of the human heart; people’s preference for darkness over light reveals, rather than causes, their condition | 光 (hikari) / 闇 (yami). MEDIUM RISK: the words themselves are transparent, but note Japan’s aesthetic tradition (e.g., Tanizaki’s In’ei Raisan, “In Praise of Shadows”) that treats 闇/陰翳 as beautiful, restful, even spiritually positive — a purely aesthetic association that could soften the moral-spiritual gravity John assigns to darkness as active opposition to God. Teaching should clarify this is a moral, not aesthetic, contrast. |
| evil / works πονηρά / ἔργα ponēra / erga wicked, evil / works, deeds | Moral evaluation of one’s deeds evil deeds, evil works | The root reason for preferring darkness — not merely intellectual doubt but a moral preference to keep sinful deeds hidden | 悪い行い (warui okonai). Low risk, transparent moral vocabulary. |
John 3:20
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| hate μισέω miseō to hate, detest | Strong aversion; here directed at “the light” itself hates | Willful avoidance of exposure — the evildoer’s active resistance to the light, not passive ignorance | 憎む (nikumu). Low risk. |
| exposed / convicted ἐλεγχθῇ (< ἐλέγχω) elegchthē to expose, bring to light, convict/reprove | Legal/forensic sense of cross-examination exposing wrongdoing, alongside a more general “bring to light” sense exposed, reproved, convicted | Fear of the light’s exposing power as the motive for avoiding Christ | 明らかにされる (akiraka ni sareru) / 責められる. Medium risk; retain the exposing (not merely illuminating) sense — being shown for what one truly is, not simply being “seen.” |
John 3:21
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| doing the truth ὁ ποιῶν τὴν ἀλήθειαν ho poiōn tēn alētheian ”the one doing the truth” | A Hebraic idiom (cf. 1 John 1:6) meaning to live/act in accordance with God’s truth, not merely to intellectually affirm correct propositions the one who does what is true / lives by the truth / practices the truth | Genuine faith-response is not mere intellectual assent but a lived orientation toward God that welcomes exposure by the light | 真理を行う (shinri o okonau). HIGH RISK, new term for Language Package (see also ἀλήθεια/truth, treated fully at John 14): 真理 risks assimilation to an abstract, impersonal cosmic principle or universal law (as in some Buddhist/Confucian philosophical usage) rather than truth embodied in, and lived in relationship with, a personal God/Christ (cf. 14:6, “I am… the truth”). The idiom “doing the truth” itself is unfamiliar in ordinary Japanese and requires explanation as living in step with God’s revealed reality, not performing correct ritual or moral technique. |
| manifest / revealed φανερωθῇ (< φανερόω) phanerōthē to make visible, manifest, reveal | To bring what was hidden into open visibility manifest, revealed, clearly shown | The believer’s deeds, done in dependence on God, are shown to be what they truly are — done “in God” | 明らかにされる (akiraka ni sareru). Low-medium risk; consistent with v. 20’s ἐλέγχω but here in a positive sense (welcomed exposure rather than feared exposure). |
PART B — Chapter-by-Chapter Analysis of the Whole Book
Chapter 1 — Prologue, John the Baptist’s Witness, First Disciples
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Word λόγος logos word, speech, discourse, reason/account | In Greek philosophy (Stoic/Philonic usage), an impersonal ordering rational principle of the universe; John transforms it into the title of a personal, pre-existent, divine Person the Word, the Logos | Christ’s eternal pre-existence and full deity, prior to and distinct from the incarnation (1:14) — the doctrinal anchor for “The Deity and Pre-existence of Christ” | ことば (kotoba), the established Shinkaiyaku convention (written plainly, functioning as a proper title rather than the ordinary word 言葉/話). CRITICAL RISK, new term for Language Package: risk of resonance with 言霊 (kotodama), a native Japanese Shinto/folk belief that words themselves carry inherent mystical spiritual power — an impersonal force residing in language, not a divine Person. Teaching must clarify the Logos is not a mystical property of speech but a co-eternal, personal divine Being who was “with God” and “was God” (1:1) and who “became flesh” (1:14, 受肉, baseline incarnation term). |
| life ζωή zōē life | Ranges from mere biological existence to the fuller Johannine sense of divine, God-given life (cf. eternal life, ch. 3) life | ”In him was life” — the Logos as the source of all life, both physical and spiritual | いのち (inochi). HIGH RISK, foundational for the whole book’s “eternal life” theme (see John 3:15). Establish early and consistently. |
| light / darkness φῶς / σκοτία phōs / skotia light / darkness | See full treatment at John 3:19 light / darkness | The Logos as light shining in, and not overcome by, darkness | 光 / 闇. See John 3:19 risk note. |
| grace χάρις charis favor, grace | Unmerited favor grace | ”Grace upon grace,” “full of grace and truth” — the Logos’s own character | 恵み. Reuse (baseline, Critical) — see baseline’s on-giri/恩 reciprocity risk note; applies identically here. |
| truth ἀλήθεια alētheia truth, reality | Reality as it actually is, ultimately grounded in and identified with God/Christ truth | Christ as “full of grace and truth” — truth is a personal quality embodied in him, not merely an abstract proposition | 真理 (shinri). HIGH RISK, new term — see full treatment at John 3:21 and John 14. |
| only begotten / one and only μονογενής monogenēs one of a kind, unique | See John 3:16 only begotten, one and only | ”The glory as of the only Son from the Father” | ひとり子. Reuse of core term established at John 3:16 — see Critical risk note there. |
| glory δόξα doxa radiance, honor, splendor | God’s own radiant, visible splendor and honor glory | The disciples “saw his glory” in the incarnate Logos | 栄光. Reuse (baseline, Medium/High) — elevated importance in John given the deity-of-Christ doctrine; do not collapse into 名誉 (secular honor), per baseline note. |
| flesh σάρξ sarx flesh, body | Here in its positive, incarnational sense: full, genuine human nature taken on by the eternal Logos flesh | ”The Word became flesh” — 受肉 (incarnation, baseline Critical term) | 肉. CRITICAL, cross-reference to baseline’s 受肉 (incarnation) — see full note under John 3:6 on the positive/negative valence contrast within the same Gospel. |
| Lamb of God ὁ ἀμνὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ho amnos tou theou the lamb of God | Sacrificial imagery drawing on Passover lamb (Exod. 12) and/or the Suffering Servant (Isa. 53:7) typology Lamb of God | John the Baptist’s identification of Jesus as the one who “takes away the sin of the world” — foundational to “Christ’s Substitutionary Death” doctrine | 神の子羊 (Kami no Kohitsuji). HIGH RISK, new term for Language Package: requires OT Passover-lamb background teaching (biblical illiteracy risk, not syncretism); must not be diluted to a generic gentleness/innocence metaphor (as 子羊, “little lamb,” can function in casual Japanese as a term of endearment) — retain the specific sacrificial, sin-bearing, substitutionary sense. |
| Son of God υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ huios tou theou Son of God | See baseline entry Son of God | John the Baptist’s testimony, “This is the Son of God” | 神の子. Reuse (baseline, Critical). |
| Rabbi / Messiah / Christ Ῥαββί / Μεσσίας / Χριστός Rabbi / Messias / Christos teacher / anointed one / anointed one | See baseline entries Rabbi, Messiah, Christ | Early titles applied to Jesus by the first disciples | ラビ / メシア(まれ) / キリスト. Reuse (baseline) for Christ; メシア is a transliterated variant occasionally used alongside キリスト — retain キリスト as primary per baseline; メシア only when the Hebrew term is explicitly in view (1:41). |
| Son of Man υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου huios tou anthrōpou Son of Man | See John 3:13 Son of Man | Jesus’ own self-designation (1:51) | 人の子. See full risk note at John 3:13. |
Doctrines touched: Deity and Pre-existence of Christ (Critical anchor), Christ’s Substitutionary Death (Lamb of God), Sonship/Son of God.
Chapter 2 — Wedding at Cana; Temple Cleansing
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| sign σημεῖον sēmeion mark, indicator | See John 3:2 sign | The Cana miracle is the “first of his signs,” revealing his glory and producing belief in the disciples (2:11) | しるし. Reuse, established at John 3:2 — this chapter is the term’s first narrative occurrence in the book (precedes the core passage in canonical order); Language Package entry should cite 2:11 as first occurrence. |
| hour ὥρα hōra hour, time | Ordinary “hour/time,” but John repeatedly uses it in a special theological sense of Christ’s appointed hour of glorification/death (cf. “my hour has not yet come,” 2:4) hour, time, my time | Establishes a running motif tracking the approach of the cross across the book (culminating “the hour has come,” 12:23, 17:1) | 時 (toki). MEDIUM RISK, new term for Language Package: ordinary word for “time,” easily read as casual/incidental unless flagged as a technical, book-spanning motif tied to divine appointment (cf. baseline’s note on 摂理/providence as unfamiliar formal theological vocabulary requiring active teaching, not a false-concept-import risk). |
Doctrines touched: minor anticipatory notes toward Christ’s Substitutionary Death (via the “hour” motif); no Critical doctrine introduced.
Chapter 3 — Nicodemus (Core Passage, vv. 1–21 treated fully above); vv. 22–36
Verses 1–21 receive full verse-by-verse treatment in Part A above. Verses 22–36 (John the Baptist’s continued testimony) introduce:
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| bridegroom νυμφίος nymphios bridegroom | OT marriage-covenant imagery (Christ as bridegroom, the church/Israel as bride) bridegroom | John the Baptist casts himself as “the friend of the bridegroom,” subordinate to Christ | 花婿 (hanamuko). Low risk; a natural, positive, transparent metaphor in Japanese wedding vocabulary. |
| wrath of God ὀργὴ τοῦ θεοῦ orgē tou theou anger, wrath | God’s settled, righteous opposition to sin, not a fickle emotional outburst wrath of God, God’s wrath | ”Whoever does not obey the Son… the wrath of God remains on him” (3:36) — the negative counterpart to eternal life, doctrine of “Judgment and Belief/Unbelief” | 神の怒り (Kami no Ikari). MEDIUM-HIGH RISK, new term for Language Package: risk of being heard as an impersonal, transient, humanlike outburst of temper (as 怒り ordinarily denotes) rather than God’s settled, holy, judicial opposition to sin; also risk of assimilation to the wrathful/vengeful kami figures of Shinto mythology (e.g., 荒神, aragami, “rough/wrathful deities” appeased through ritual) — must be taught as consistent with, not contrary to, God’s love (3:16) and justice together. |
Chapter 4 — The Samaritan Woman
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| living water ὕδωρ ζῶν hydōr zōn living/flowing water | Water that flows/springs, contrasted with stagnant well water; symbol of the Spirit’s life-giving, ever-satisfying provision (cf. 7:38–39) living water | Christ offers a satisfaction that permanently quenches spiritual thirst, in contrast to repeated, temporary physical provision | 生きた水 (ikita mizu) / 命の水 (inochi no mizu). HIGH RISK, new term for Language Package: risk of confusion with お神水 (o-shinsui), sacred water drawn from Shinto shrine wells (e.g., at Meiji Jingu) believed to carry purifying or healing power through ritual means — a genuine, concrete Japanese religious-practice parallel. Must clarify: this is not ritually-empowered water but a symbol for the Spirit/eternal satisfaction Christ himself gives, received by faith, not obtained through a ritual site or object. |
| worship in spirit and truth προσκυνέω… ἐν πνεύματι καὶ ἀληθείᾳ proskyneō… en pneumati kai alētheia to worship/bow down… in spirit and truth | True worship is no longer tied to a specific geographic sanctuary (Jerusalem or Samaria) but is a matter of the Spirit-enabled heart aligned with God’s revealed truth worship in spirit and truth | Christ redefines worship away from location/ritual toward Spirit-enabled, truth-grounded relationship with God | 霊とまことによる礼拝 (rei to makoto ni yoru reihai). MEDIUM RISK: note the bare 霊 here (not 聖霊) — in this phrase πνεῦμα refers to the human spirit enabled by God, or possibly the Holy Spirit’s enabling presence in worship (interpreters differ); flag for human theologian review to determine whether 聖霊 should be inserted explicitly or the ambiguity preserved, consistent with baseline’s ambiguity-handling protocol. |
| Savior of the world ὁ σωτὴρ τοῦ κόσμου ho sōtēr tou kosmou savior of the world | Universal scope of salvation, echoing 3:16–17 Savior of the world | The Samaritans’ confession extends salvation beyond Israel to the whole (Gentile-inclusive) world | 世の救い主 (Yo no Sukuinushi). HIGH RISK: combines baseline’s 救い (salvation) with the newly-established 世 (world, John 3:16) — reinforce doctrine of universal gospel scope (cf. baseline’s “universal_scope_of_gospel” doctrine from Romans) and resist any uchi-soto (insider/outsider) narrowing. |
Doctrines touched: God’s Love for the World (universal scope), Eternal Life through Faith.
Chapter 5 — Healing at Bethesda; Christ’s Equality with the Father
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| equal with God ἴσος τῷ θεῷ isos tō theō equal to/with God | Full ontological equality, not mere similarity or delegated honor equal with God, making himself equal to God | The Jewish leaders’ (accurate) perception that calling God “his own Father” was itself a claim to divine equality (5:18) — CRITICAL Deity of Christ passage | 神と等しい (Kami to hitoshii) / 神と同等. CRITICAL RISK, new term for Language Package: this is one of the most direct Deity-of-Christ statements in the book; must not be softened toward “a very close, favored relationship with God” (which would reduce a full-equality claim to a merely honorific one) — the surrounding narrative confirms this is exactly the (correctly perceived, not misunderstood) claim that provoked the charge of blasphemy. |
| resurrection of life / resurrection of judgment ἀνάστασις ζωῆς / ἀνάστασις κρίσεως anastasis zōēs / anastasis kriseōs resurrection of life / resurrection of judgment | Combines baseline 復活 (resurrection) with いのち (life) and 裁き (judgment) into a final-judgment framework for all humanity, not only believers resurrection of life / resurrection of judgment | All will be bodily raised; the outcome (life or judgment) depends on one’s response to the Son during life | 復活/いのちの復活/裁きの復活. Reuse of established components (復活 baseline, いのち, 裁き); combination requires care to avoid implying two different resurrection events rather than one general resurrection with two different outcomes. |
Doctrines touched: Deity of Christ (Critical), Judgment and Belief/Unbelief.
Chapter 6 — Feeding the Five Thousand; Bread of Life Discourse
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| I am the bread of life ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ἄρτος τῆς ζωῆς egō eimi ho artos tēs zōēs I am the bread of life | The first of the seven Johannine “I Am” predicate statements; ἐγώ εἰμι (“I am”) echoes the divine self-naming of Exodus 3:14 LXX I am the bread of life | Christ as the sole, sufficient, permanently satisfying source of spiritual life, contrasted with manna that only sustained physically and temporarily | わたしはいのちのパンです (Watashi wa inochi no pan desu). CRITICAL RISK, new term for Language Package — anchor for “The Seven ‘I Am’ Statements” doctrine: the ἐγώ εἰμι formula’s divine-name resonance (see full treatment at John 8:58) is grammatically invisible in ordinary Japanese predicate sentences (“watashi wa X desu” is an unremarkable sentence pattern for any speaker); this specific instance’s deity claim rests on content (Christ replacing manna, the OT bread from heaven) rather than grammar alone, and requires teaching to draw out. Bread imagery itself requires background explanation for readers unfamiliar with agrarian staple-food symbolism, though this is a biblical-illiteracy risk, not a syncretism risk. |
| eat my flesh / drink my blood φάγητε τὴν σάρκα… πίητε τὸ αἷμα phagēte tēn sarka… piēte to haima eat the flesh… drink the blood | Sacramental/eucharistic language anticipating the Lord’s Supper and pointing to the necessity of appropriating Christ’s substitutionary death by faith eat my flesh, drink my blood | Provocative language forcing a decision: full, personal reliance on Christ’s sacrificial death for life, not literal cannibalism (which many hearers wrongly assumed, v. 60ff.) | わたしの肉を食べ、わたしの血を飲む. HIGH RISK: risk of being heard through a folk-horror/taboo lens (cannibalism) exactly as some of Jesus’ first hearers did (6:52,60) — this reaction is part of the narrative itself and should be preserved, not smoothed over, but teaching must clarify the metaphorical, faith-appropriation sense pointing to Christ’s Substitutionary Death, not a literal or magical rite. |
| draw ἕλκω helkō to draw, drag, pull | Sovereign, effectual drawing (cf. baseline’s “effectual calling,” Romans doctrine registry) draw, drag | ”No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (6:44) — grounds faith in God’s prior sovereign initiative | 引く (hiku) / 引き寄せる (hikiyoseru). MEDIUM RISK: parallels baseline’s “election” risk (must not sound like Japan’s competitive merit-based selection culture, 選抜) — this is God’s sovereign initiative drawing a person to Christ, not the person’s own effort earning access. |
Doctrines touched: Eternal Life through Faith, Christ’s Substitutionary Death (anticipatory), The Seven “I Am” Statements (#1).
Chapter 7 — Feast of Tabernacles; Rivers of Living Water
No new load-bearing terms beyond reuse of established vocabulary: 生きた水/命の水 (living water, ch. 4) — here extended as “rivers of living water” flowing from the believer, explicitly identified with the Spirit not yet given until Christ is glorified (7:38–39, reuse 栄光/glory, 聖霊/Holy Spirit). Chapter also reuses しるし (sign), κρίνω/裁く (judge), and introduces minor narrative vocabulary (σχίσμα, “division/schism,” 7:43) of low theological weight, translated 分裂 (bunretsu), Low risk.
Doctrines touched: The Holy Spirit as Counselor (anticipatory — Spirit given only after glorification).
Chapter 8 — Light of the World; “Before Abraham Was, I Am”
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| I am the light of the world ἐγώ εἰμι τὸ φῶς τοῦ κόσμου egō eimi to phōs tou kosmou I am the light of the world | Second “I Am” statement, combining ἐγώ εἰμι with the light/darkness dualism established in ch. 1 and 3 I am the light of the world | Christ as the sole source of spiritual illumination for the whole world (κόσμος, reuse), not one light among many religious options | わたしは世の光です (Watashi wa yo no hikari desu). CRITICAL — reuse of established 光 (light) and 世 (world) components combined into the second “I Am” statement; see John 3:16/19 risk notes. |
| truth will set you free ἡ ἀλήθεια ἐλευθερώσει ὑμᾶς hē alētheia eleutherōsei hymas the truth will free/liberate you | Freedom from bondage to sin (8:34, “everyone who sins is a slave to sin”), not political or social liberation as some hearers assumed (8:33) the truth will set you free | True freedom is freedom from sin’s mastery, granted through abiding in Christ’s word/truth | 真理はあなたたちを自由にします. HIGH RISK: risk of being co-opted into a purely political/social liberation reading (as the original hearers themselves misapplied it, citing descent from Abraham as guaranteeing freedom, 8:33) or a generic self-actualization/personal-freedom concept (自分らしく生きる, a common contemporary Japanese aspirational phrase) rather than freedom specifically from sin’s bondage. |
| slave to sin δοῦλός… τῆς ἁμαρτίας doulos… tēs hamartias slave/bondservant of sin | Total, unwilled bondage to sin’s mastery over the unregenerate person slave of sin, slave to sin | Establishes the need for the Son’s liberating action (8:36) | 罪の奴隷 (tsumi no dorei). Medium risk; reuse of baseline 罪 (sin) combined with 奴隷 (slave) — 奴隷 carries strong historical slavery connotations in Japanese (transliterated Western-history term) which is an appropriately weighty rendering, low collision risk. |
| before Abraham was, I am πρὶν Ἀβραὰμ γενέσθαι ἐγὼ εἰμί prin Abraam genesthai egō eimi before Abraham came to be, I am | The absolute, unqualified use of ἐγώ εἰμι (without a predicate noun), echoing God’s self-revelation to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM” (Exod. 3:14 LXX: ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν) before Abraham was, I am | The most direct pre-existence/deity claim in the book outside the Prologue — provoked an immediate attempt to stone Jesus for blasphemy (8:59), confirming his hearers understood it as a divine-name claim | アブラハムが生まれる前から、わたしはあるのです (Aburahamu ga umareru mae kara, watashi wa aru no desu). CRITICAL RISK, new term — anchor for both “Deity and Pre-existence of Christ” AND the “I Am” doctrine: the Japanese Old Testament (Shinkaiyaku, Exodus 3:14) renders God’s self-name as わたしはある, という者だ (“I am the One who is”), giving this phrase in John 8:58 a genuine, traceable echo of the divine name in Japanese as well as Greek — this parallel should be actively taught, since it is one of the few places where the deity-claim resonance largely survives translation, unlike the flatter grammatical “I am X” predicate statements elsewhere. |
| devil / father of lies διάβολος… πατὴρ… τοῦ ψεύδους diabolos… patēr… tou pseudous slanderer/accuser… father of the lie | Satan’s essential character as the originator and source of falsehood, opposed to Christ as “the truth” devil, father of lies | Roots unbelief and murderous hostility toward Christ in a spiritual paternity opposed to God (8:44) | 悪魔 (akuma) / 偽りの父 (itsuwari no chichi). Medium risk; 悪魔 is an established, standard Japanese Christian-vocabulary term (also used more loosely in popular culture for “devil/demon” characters) — teaching should retain the specific “father of lies” epithet’s connection to truth/falsehood rather than generic villain imagery. |
Doctrines touched: Deity and Pre-existence of Christ (Critical), The Seven “I Am” Statements (#2 and the absolute ἐγώ εἰμι).
Chapter 9 — Healing of the Man Born Blind
No new theological terms beyond reuse: 光/世の光 (light/light of the world, reuse ch. 8), 裁き (judgment, reuse ch. 3/5), 礫拝/worship (reuse ch. 4). The chapter’s central image — physical blindness/sight as a metaphor for spiritual blindness/perception — uses ordinary vocabulary (τυφλός, typhlos, “blind,” 盲目/めしい) without introducing new doctrinally load-bearing terminology; its theological weight lies in narrative structure (a sign provoking judgment/belief) rather than new vocabulary. Reviewed and confirmed: no new terms required for the Language Package from this chapter.
Doctrines touched: Judgment and Belief/Unbelief (via the sign’s narrative function).
Chapter 10 — The Good Shepherd; “I and the Father Are One”
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| I am the good shepherd ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλός egō eimi ho poimēn ho kalos I am the good/noble shepherd | Third “I Am” statement; draws on OT shepherd-king imagery (Ezek. 34, Ps. 23) I am the good shepherd | Christ’s sacrificial care for his people, in contrast to the hired hand who abandons the sheep in danger | わたしは良い牧者です (Watashi wa yoi bokusha desu). CRITICAL — third “I Am” statement; requires background teaching on shepherding culture, low in modern urban Japan, a biblical-illiteracy risk rather than syncretism risk. |
| I am the door/gate ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ θύρα egō eimi hē thyra I am the door | Fourth “I Am” statement I am the door, I am the gate | The exclusive, sole means of entry into safety/salvation for the sheep | わたしは羊の門です (Watashi wa hitsuji no mon desu). CRITICAL — fourth “I Am” statement; exclusivity claim (“no one comes to the Father except through me,” cf. 14:6) must not be softened, consistent with AI Translation Requirements’ rule preserving all universality/exclusivity claims without qualification. |
| lay down his life for (the sheep) τίθησιν τὴν ψυχὴν… ὑπὲρ tithēsin tēn psychēn… hyper to lay down one’s life/soul… on behalf of/for | ὑπέρ (“on behalf of, for the sake of, in the place of”) is the key Greek substitutionary preposition throughout John’s death-of-Christ vocabulary lay down his life for | The Good Shepherd’s voluntary, substitutionary death specifically “for the sheep” — CRITICAL anchor for “Christ’s Substitutionary Death” doctrine | 羊のためにいのちを捨てる (hitsuji no tame ni inochi o suteru). CRITICAL RISK, new term — the preposition ὑπέρ (“for/on behalf of”) itself must be flagged wherever it recurs (10:11,15; 11:50–51; 13:37–38; 15:13; 17:19) as the grammatical marker of substitution: Japanese のために (no tame ni, “for the sake of”) is a fitting rendering, but is also used for ordinary self-sacrifice/altruism in secular Japanese (e.g., 家族のために, “for the sake of one’s family”) — teaching must clarify this is not generic altruism but a specific, unique, atoning substitution: one life given in the place of others to bear judgment they deserved. |
| I and the Father are one ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἕν ἐσμεν egō kai ho patēr hen esmen I and the Father, we are one | ἕν (neuter “one thing/one,” not masculine “one person”) — indicates unity of essence/nature, not identity of person; foundational for later Trinitarian formulation I and the Father are one | Provokes an immediate charge of blasphemy (10:33) confirming this was heard as a genuine deity/unity claim, not vague spiritual harmony | わたしと父とは一つです (Watashi to Chichi to wa hitotsu desu). CRITICAL RISK, new term — core anchor for “Unity of the Father and the Son” doctrine: 一つ (hitotsu, “one”) risks assimilation to Japan’s deeply valued social-harmony ideal 和 (wa) — a cooperative consensus/agreement among distinct, separate individuals working well together — rather than the ontological, essential oneness of nature within the Godhead that this verse (and John 17) actually asserts. Teaching must distinguish relational-functional agreement (which 和 well describes) from the unique, unrepeatable unity of divine essence shared uniquely by Father and Son (and Spirit). |
Doctrines touched: The Seven “I Am” Statements (#3, #4), Christ’s Substitutionary Death (Critical), Unity of the Father and the Son (Critical).
Chapter 11 — Raising of Lazarus; “I Am the Resurrection and the Life”
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| I am the resurrection and the life ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἀνάστασις καὶ ἡ ζωή egō eimi hē anastasis kai hē zōē I am the resurrection and the life | Fifth “I Am” statement, combining two already-established key terms (baseline 復活 + established いのち) into a single Christological identity claim I am the resurrection and the life | Christ does not merely grant resurrection and life as gifts he dispenses; he personally IS their source and embodiment | わたしは復活であり、いのちです (Watashi wa fukkatsu de ari, inochi desu). CRITICAL — fifth “I Am” statement; must actively counter 復活’s secular “comeback” dilution risk (already flagged in baseline for Romans) with special force here, since this is the single most direct identification of Christ’s person with resurrection life in the entire NT. |
| sleep (euphemism for death) κοιμᾶται (< κοιμάω) koimatai to sleep, fall asleep | Common NT euphemism for death among believers, implying temporariness/awakening fallen asleep, sleeping | Distinguishes the finality unbelievers assume about death from the temporary, reversible “sleep” it is for those with resurrection hope | 眠っている (nemutte iru). Low-medium risk; the euphemism functions similarly in Japanese and requires no special forbidden-term caution, though teaching should clarify it is not a claim of unconscious soul-sleep as a settled doctrine, but a rhetorical figure emphasizing resurrection certainty. |
Doctrines touched: Eternal Life through Faith (Critical), The Seven “I Am” Statements (#5), anticipates Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection.
Chapter 12 — Triumphal Entry; The Hour Has Come; A Grain of Wheat
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| a grain of wheat (dying to bear fruit) ὁ κόκκος τοῦ σίτου… ἀποθάνῃ ho kokkos tou sitou… apothanē the grain of wheat… dies | Agricultural metaphor: a single seed must die (be buried) to multiply into a harvest a grain of wheat falls… dies… bears much fruit | Christ’s death as the necessary, fruitful means to bring many into life — connects “hour” motif (ch. 2) to the cross | 一粒の麦 (hitotsubu no mugi). Medium risk; agricultural metaphor requires explanation for urban Japanese readers (biblical-illiteracy risk) but carries no competing false-concept collision. |
| ruler of this world ὁ ἄρχων τοῦ κόσμου τούτου ho archōn tou kosmou toutou the ruler of this world | Satan’s usurped, temporary authority over the fallen world-system (κόσμος, reuse) ruler of this world, prince of this world | ”Now will the ruler of this world be cast out” — the cross as the decisive defeat of Satan’s dominion | この世の支配者 (Kono yo no shihaisha). Medium risk; must be clearly distinguished from 神の国 (baseline Kingdom of God term) as its illegitimate, temporary counterfeit rather than a parallel legitimate authority — the contrast itself is theologically important and should be preserved, not blurred. |
Doctrines touched: Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection, Judgment and Belief/Unbelief, fulfillment of prophecy (reuse baseline doctrine, Isaiah citations 12:38–41).
Chapter 13 — Foot Washing; The New Commandment; Betrayal Predicted
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| a new commandment ἐντολὴν καινήν entolēn kainēn a new commandment | καινός (“new” in kind/quality, not merely chronologically recent) a new commandment | ”Love one another as I have loved you” — grounds Christian ethics in Christ’s own self-giving love (ἀγαπάω, reuse from ch. 3), not Mosaic legal obligation (baseline 律法) | 新しい戒め (atarashii okite). Medium risk; must be distinguished from baseline’s 律法 (Mosaic Law) as a Christ-modeled, grace-flowing ethic rather than an additional legal code; also distinguish from Japan’s social-harmony obligation systems (義理, on-giri reciprocity, already flagged under baseline’s grace entry) — love here flows from having received Christ’s self-giving love, not from social debt. |
Doctrines touched: Unity of the Father and the Son (implicit, via Christ’s self-revelation of servanthood), reuse of Christ’s Substitutionary Death (foot washing as enacted parable of his coming self-giving).
Chapter 14 — The Father’s House; The Way, Truth, and Life; The Paraclete Promised
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| I am the way, and the truth, and the life ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδὸς καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωή egō eimi hē hodos kai hē alētheia kai hē zōē I am the way and the truth and the life | Sixth “I Am” statement, triple-predicate; the most theologically comprehensive of the seven I am the way, the truth, and the life | Exclusive means of access to the Father — “no one comes to the Father except through me” | わたしが道であり、真理であり、いのちなのです (Watashi ga michi de ari, shinri de ari, inochi na no desu). CRITICAL — sixth “I Am” statement; the exclusivity clause must be preserved without softening (see AI Translation Requirements’ universality-preservation rule, applied here to an exclusivity claim rather than an inclusivity claim — both must be rendered without qualification). |
| Counselor / Advocate / Paraclete παράκλητος paraklētos one called alongside (to help, advise, or advocate for another) | Legal-advocate and comforting-helper senses both present; a distinct, personal divine Helper sent to be with the disciples after Christ’s departure Counselor, Comforter, Advocate, Helper, Paraclete | The Holy Spirit’s identity and role after Christ’s ascension — CRITICAL anchor for “The Holy Spirit as Counselor” doctrine | 助け主 (Tasukenushi), the established Shinkaiyaku term. CRITICAL RISK, new term for Language Package: 助け主 could be misheard as a subordinate “helper/assistant” role (肋ける, “to help/assist,” is a common ordinary verb) rather than a fully divine, personal, authoritative third Person of the Trinity who takes Christ’s own place among the disciples (“another Paraclete,” 14:16, implying Christ himself was the first). Teaching must clarify full divine personhood and authority, not a lesser assistant status. |
| Spirit of truth τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας to pneuma tēs alētheias the Spirit of truth | Identifies the Paraclete explicitly with the Holy Spirit and with truth (reuse ἀλήθεια, established ch. 1/3) Spirit of truth | The Spirit’s ministry of guiding disciples into all truth (16:13) | 真理の御霊 (Shinri no Mitama), per Shinkaiyaku. CRITICAL RISK — same 御霊-vs-聖霊 consistency flag raised at John 3:5: recommend explicit doctrinal-note anchoring 御霊 to 聖霊/Holy Spirit at first occurrence in teaching materials, consistent with baseline’s absolute-qualification rule for Holy-Spirit language. |
| the Father’s house ἡ οἰκία τοῦ πατρός hē oikia tou patros the house/household of the Father | Familial dwelling-place imagery, not merely a building; “many rooms” (μοναί, monai, “dwelling places/rooms,” not the King James “mansions”) Father’s house, my Father’s house | The promise of a permanent place prepared for believers with God, reuse of baseline’s Father/adoption-family imagery | 父の家 (Chichi no Ie). Low-medium risk; reuse of baseline’s 父 (Father) — retain the warm, relational-family register baseline requires (compensating for the “distant father” cultural risk baseline already flags), not a formal ancestral-household (家, ie) register with its historic patriarchal-authority connotations. |
Doctrines touched: The Seven “I Am” Statements (#6), The Holy Spirit as Counselor (Critical anchor), Unity of the Father and the Son (“if you know me, you will know my Father also,” 14:7).
Chapter 15 — The True Vine; Friends, Not Servants
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| I am the true vine ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἄμπελος ἡ ἀληθινή egō eimi hē ampelos hē alēthinē I am the true vine | Seventh and final “I Am” statement; draws on OT Israel-as-vine/vineyard imagery (Isa. 5, Ps. 80), now fulfilled in Christ I am the true/real vine | Believers’ spiritual life and fruitfulness depend entirely on ongoing, organic union with Christ (“abide in me”) | わたしは真のぶどうの木です (Watashi wa shin no budō no ki desu). CRITICAL — seventh and final “I Am” statement, completing the set; agricultural vine/branch imagery requires background explanation for urban readers (biblical-illiteracy risk). |
| lay down his life for his friends τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ θῇ ὑπὲρ τῶν φίλων αὐτοῦ tēn psychēn autou thē hyper tōn philōn autou to lay down one’s life for one’s friends | Reuse of the substitutionary ὑπέρ construction established at John 10:11 greater love has no one than this… | Defines the greatest possible love, embodied in Christ’s coming death — direct anchor for Christ’s Substitutionary Death doctrine | 友のためにいのちを捨てる. Reuse of the CRITICAL ὑπέρ substitution pattern established at ch. 10 — see that entry’s risk note on distinguishing genuine substitution from generic altruism. |
| friends, not servants φίλοι… οὐκέτι δούλους philoi… ouketi doulous friends… no longer slaves/servants | Shift in relational status Christ grants his disciples through his self-revelation I no longer call you servants, but friends | Intimacy and shared knowledge replace mere hierarchical obedience as the basis of the disciples’ relationship with Christ | もう、しもべとは呼ばない。友と呼ぶ. Medium risk; note connection to baseline’s “obedience of faith” risk — Japan’s hierarchical seniority/loyalty culture (senpai-kohai, Bushido lord-loyalty ethics) could default this relationship back toward a superior-subordinate frame Christ explicitly says he is moving the disciples beyond; teaching should draw out the relational intimacy Christ grants. |
Doctrines touched: The Seven “I Am” Statements (#7, completing the set), Christ’s Substitutionary Death (Critical), The Holy Spirit as Counselor (Spirit of truth testifies, reuse ch. 14).
Chapter 16 — The Spirit’s Ministry; Sorrow Turned to Joy; “I Have Overcome the World”
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| I have overcome the world ἐγὼ νενίκηκα τὸν κόσμον egō nenikēka ton kosmon I have conquered/overcome the world | νικάω, victory/conquest language, perfect tense denoting an accomplished, settled victory I have overcome the world | Grounds the disciples’ courage amid coming tribulation in Christ’s already-secured victory over the hostile world-system (κόσμος, reuse) | わたしはすでに世に勝っています (Watashi wa sude ni yo ni katte imasu). MEDIUM-HIGH RISK, new term: 勝つ (katsu, “to win/conquer”) is common secular competition vocabulary (sports, games, business) — risk of flattening a cosmic, once-for-all spiritual victory over sin, death, and the world-system into a generic “winning” framed in competitive terms. Teaching should anchor this to the cross and resurrection specifically, not general perseverance/positive-thinking encouragement. |
Doctrines touched: The Holy Spirit as Counselor (continued, reuse), Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection (victory secured through the cross).
Chapter 17 — The High Priestly Prayer
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| eternal life (defined) αὕτη δέ ἐστιν ἡ αἰώνιος ζωή, ἵνα γινώσκωσίν σε hautē de estin hē aiōnios zōē, hina ginōskōsin se this is eternal life, that they may know you | Defines eternal life (reuse from ch. 3) not merely as unending duration but as relational, personal knowledge of God through Christ this is eternal life: to know you | Direct definitional anchor tying John 3:15’s “eternal life” to a relationship of knowledge, not mere longevity | 永遠のいのちとは、あなたを知ることです. Reuse/definitional deepening of the CRITICAL John 3:15 term — this verse is the single best textual tool for correcting the 不老不死 (immortality) collision risk flagged earlier, since it explicitly defines eternal life as relational knowledge of God, not unending biological existence; recommend citing 17:3 directly whenever teaching 3:15/3:16. |
| that they may be one ἵνα ὦσιν ἕν hina ōsin hen that they may be one | Extends the Father-Son unity (ἕν, reuse from ch. 10) to the unity Christ prays for among believers, patterned after (though not identical to) the Father-Son unity that they may be one, even as we are one | Core prayer for the unity of the church, modeled on, though categorically distinct from, the Father-Son ontological unity | 彼らが一つになるために. CRITICAL, reuse and extension of the ch. 10 一つ (one) term: must carefully distinguish two related but non-identical senses in the same chapter — (1) the Father-Son unity of divine essence (17:11, 21–22, reuse of ch. 10’s ontological claim) and (2) believers’ relational/missional unity modeled after but not equal to it; conflating the two would either divinize believers or reduce the Father-Son unity to mere social harmony (和) — the same risk flagged at ch. 10. |
| sanctify ἁγίασον (< ἁγιάζω) hagiason make holy, set apart, consecrate | Reuse of baseline’s sanctification root (聖化 as noun doctrine) but here as an imperative verb applied to believers “in the truth” sanctify, consecrate | ”Sanctify them in the truth” — God’s own act of setting the disciples apart for mission through his word | 聖め別ってください / 聖なるものとしてください. Reuse (baseline root, High) — verb form of baseline’s 聖化 (sanctification) and 聖い (holy); apply the same distinction from ascetic self-training (修行) that baseline requires. |
Doctrines touched: Eternal Life through Faith (Critical, definitional), Unity of the Father and the Son (Critical).
Chapter 18 — Betrayal, Arrest, and Trial Before Pilate
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| I am he (self-identification echoing the divine name) ἐγώ εἰμι egō eimi I am | The absolute ἐγώ εἰμι again (cf. John 8:58), here as Jesus identifies himself to the arresting soldiers, who visibly recoil/fall back (18:6) I am he, I am [Jesus] | A subtle but deliberate echo of the divine self-naming, dramatized by the soldiers’ physical reaction | わたしがそれです / わたしである. CRITICAL, reuse of the John 8:58 pattern: the soldiers falling backward at Jesus’ simple self-identification is best explained to Japanese readers by direct cross-reference to the Exodus 3:14 わたしはある echo already established at John 8:58 — without this cross-reference, the moment reads as merely a startled reaction to an unexpected voice in the dark, losing its theological weight. |
| my kingdom is not of this world ἡ βασιλεία ἡ ἐμὴ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου τούτου hē basileia hē emē ouk estin ek tou kosmou toutou my kingdom is not from/of this world | Contrasts Christ’s kingdom (reuse baseline 神の国 framework) with the political, territorial kingdoms Pilate would recognize my kingdom is not of this world | Clarifies before Rome’s representative that Christ’s kingship poses no political-territorial threat, while still being fully real and absolute in its own (spiritual) domain | わたしの国はこの世のものではありません. HIGH RISK, reuse-adjacent to baseline’s 神の国 flag: must be taught carefully alongside baseline’s existing caution about 神の国’s State-Shinto-era political resonance (神国日本) — this verse actually reinforces the necessary distinction, since Christ himself explicitly denies that his kingdom is a this-worldly political entity, which is a helpful clarifying resource rather than an added risk, but requires the same explicit doctrinal anchoring baseline already mandates. |
Doctrines touched: Deity and Pre-existence of Christ (Critical, via ἐγώ εἰμι reuse), Judgment and Belief/Unbelief (Pilate’s “What is truth?” as ironic unbelief, reuse ἀλήθεια/真理).
Chapter 19 — Crucifixion and Death
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| cross / crucify σταυρός / σταυρόω stauros / stauroō stake, execution post / to impale/fix to a stake | The Roman method of public capital execution; theologically transformed by the NT into the specific locus of Christ’s substitutionary atonement cross, crucify | The historical, physical instrument and event of Christ’s death — CRITICAL anchor term for “Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection,” connecting back to the “lifted up” (ὑψωθῆναι) motif of John 3:14, 8:28, 12:32 | 十字架 (jūjika) / 十字架につける (jūjika ni tsukeru). CRITICAL RISK, new term for Language Package (surprisingly not yet formally introduced despite being anticipated since John 3:14): 十字架 is an established, unambiguous Japanese Christian-vocabulary term (also recognizable via widespread secular use of cross-shaped jewelry/fashion accessories, itself a minor dilution risk parallel to baseline’s 復活/comeback note — the cross as fashion symbol vs. the cross as the specific place of atoning death for sin). Teaching must connect this concrete historical event explicitly back to the “lifted up” wordplay (3:14) to preserve the glory/exaltation dimension already established. |
| It is finished τετέλεσται (< τελέω) tetelestai it has been completed/accomplished/paid in full | Perfect tense denoting a completed, settled, sufficient accomplishment — commercial/legal usage of τελέω could denote a debt “paid in full” It is finished, it is accomplished, it is completed | Christ’s dying declaration that his atoning work is entirely sufficient and complete — nothing remains to be added by human effort | 完了した (kanryō shita) / 成し遂げられた, the established Shinkaiyaku rendering (“すべてが完了した”). CRITICAL RISK: risk that 完了した is heard only as a neutral task-completion statement (as in ordinary business/project vocabulary, 完了しました being a standard phrase for “task complete”) rather than the specific, sufficient, once-for-all completion of atonement for sin — must be taught as directly countering any works-based supplementation of Christ’s finished work, paralleling baseline’s justification-by-faith cautions (against 修行 and self-earned righteousness). |
| blood and water αἷμα καὶ ὕδωρ haima kai hydōr blood and water | Physical detail from the spear-thrust (19:34), understood by most interpreters as confirming Christ’s genuine physical death and/or carrying sacramental symbolism (cf. 1 John 5:6–8) blood and water | Confirms the reality and completeness of Christ’s physical death — humanity of Christ doctrine, reuse | 血と水 (chi to mizu). Low-medium risk; straightforward physical description, minor symbolic weight requiring explanatory teaching (biblical-illiteracy risk) rather than a competing false concept. |
| King of the Jews ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων ho basileus tōn Ioudaiōn the King of the Jews | The inscription placed on the cross by Pilate, ironically proclaiming in mockery what is actually true King of the Jews | Dramatic irony: the sign intended as mockery unwittingly declares Christ’s genuine messianic kingship at the very moment of his humiliation | ユダヤ人の王 (Yudaya-jin no Ō). Medium risk; requires the Davidic-covenant/messianic-kingship background (reuse baseline’s ダビデ契約 doctrine) to be legible as irony rather than a merely historical/political title. |
Doctrines touched: Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection (Critical anchor chapter).
Chapter 20 — Resurrection Appearances; “My Lord and My God”
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| My Lord and my God Ὁ κύριός μου καὶ ὁ θεός μου Ho kyrios mou kai ho theos mou My Lord and my God | Thomas’s direct address of the risen Christ using both baseline titles (主/Lord, 神/God) applied unambiguously to Jesus himself My Lord and my God! | The clearest single confession of Christ’s full deity in the book, placed deliberately at the narrative and theological climax | わが主、わが神 (Waga Shu, waga Kami), the established Shinkaiyaku rendering. CRITICAL, reuse of baseline 主 and 神, combined into a single direct confession: because baseline requires the qualifying phrase 唯一のまことの神 (“the one and only true God”) at doctrinally weighty statements about God, and this verse applies 神 directly and personally to Jesus, teaching material should explicitly draw the connection: Thomas is confessing that Jesus IS this one true God, not merely a venerated or god-like figure — reinforcing rather than contradicting baseline’s Critical 神 qualification rule. |
| receive the Holy Spirit / forgive sins λάβετε πνεῦμα ἅγιον… ἀφίενται (< ἀφίημι) labete pneuma hagion… aphientai receive Holy Spirit… are forgiven | ἀφίημι, “to release, let go, forgive” — the standard NT forgiveness verb receive the Holy Spirit; if you forgive… they are forgiven | Christ commissions the disciples with Spirit-empowered authority to declare forgiveness (proclamation of the gospel’s forgiving verdict, not a magical or independent priestly power) | 聖霊を受けなさい / 赦される (yurusareru). HIGH RISK, new term “forgive” for Language Package: risk of collapsing into Japan’s social-harmony reconciliation practices (許す, yurusu, used for interpersonal forgiveness/reconciliation in ordinary social contexts, e.g., apologizing to restore group harmony after a breach of 義理) rather than the specific declarative authority to proclaim God’s forgiveness of sin through the gospel message; note also the near-homophone risk between 赦す (theological/legal pardon, preferred here per Shinkaiyaku convention) and 許す (ordinary permission/interpersonal forgiveness) — verify the correct kanji 赦す is used consistently in doctrinal contexts, paralleling baseline’s existing 預言/予言 homophone-kanji caution. |
| that you may believe… and have life in his name ἵνα πιστεύ[σ]ητε… καὶ … ζωὴν ἔχητε ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ hina pisteusēte… kai… zōēn echēte en tō onomati autou that you may believe… and have life in his name | The Gospel’s own explicit purpose statement (20:31), tying together 信じる (believe, established John 3:12), いのち (life), and 名 (name, established John 3:18) that you may believe… and have life in his name | The stated authorial purpose of the entire book — the interpretive key for reading all preceding chapters | 信じて、その名によっていのちを得るために. Reuse of established components; CRITICAL as the book’s own stated interpretive key — recommend cross-referencing this verse explicitly in any curriculum introduction to John, given its role as the Gospel’s thesis statement (parallel to how baseline treats Romans 1:16–17 as that book’s thesis, requiring identical rendering across all documents). |
Doctrines touched: The Deity and Pre-existence of Christ (Critical, climactic confession), The Holy Spirit as Counselor, Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection, Eternal Life through Faith (purpose-statement anchor).
Chapter 21 — Epilogue: Restoration of Peter
| Terms | Variants | Contextual meaning | Japanese rendering & risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| do you love me? (ἀγαπάω vs. φιλέω) ἀγαπᾷς με; / φιλῶ σε agapas me? / philō se do you love [self-givingly] me? / I love [as a friend] you | Jesus twice asks using ἀγαπάω (the self-giving love of ch. 3/13); Peter twice answers using the more modest φιλέω (affectionate/friendship love); on the third question Jesus himself shifts to φιλεῖς με Do you love me? / I love you (variously rendered without distinction in many translations) | Whether intentional nuance or stylistic variation (scholars debate), the exchange dramatizes Peter’s humbled, honest self-assessment after his denial, and Christ’s gracious meeting of Peter where he is | 私を愛していますか / わたしはあなたを愛しています. HIGH RISK, new term — well-known exegetical subtlety with no clean Japanese equivalent: ordinary Japanese, like most modern languages, uses a single common verb (愛する, ai suru) for both ἀγαπάω and φιλέω, so the Greek text’s alternation is invisible without an explanatory footnote. Recommend flagging this passage for native-speaker/theologian review with a required translator’s note explaining the two underlying Greek verbs, rather than attempting an artificial two-word Japanese distinction not native to the language. |
| feed my sheep / tend my sheep βόσκε τὰ πρόβατά μου / ποίμαινε τὰ πρόβατά μου boske ta probata mou / poimaine ta probata mou feed/pasture my sheep / shepherd my sheep | Reuse of the Good Shepherd imagery (ch. 10), now extending shepherding responsibility to Peter as an under-shepherd feed my sheep, tend my sheep | Peter’s restoration to pastoral responsibility for Christ’s people, grounded in (not earning) Christ’s prior forgiving love | わたしの羊を養いなさい / 飼いなさい. Reuse of ch. 10 shepherd imagery — low additional risk beyond what is already flagged there. |
| follow me ἀκολούθει μοι akolouthei moi follow me | Discipleship-summons vocabulary, bracketing the whole book (cf. 1:43) follow me | Christ’s renewed personal call to Peter after restoration, extending even to the manner of his eventual martyrdom (21:18–19) | わたしについて来なさい (Watashi ni tsuite kinasai). Low-medium risk; connects to baseline’s “calling” (召し) doctrine — this is a personal, relational summons to costly discipleship, not a generic career/vocation choice, consistent with baseline’s caution against 天職-style secularization of calling language. |
Doctrines touched: God’s Love for the World (personal application to Peter), Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection (the risen Christ personally restoring a fallen disciple).
Summary Observation for Phase 2 Planning
The Gospel of John concentrates an unusually high density of Critical-risk terminology relative to Romans: the seven “I Am” statements alone (John 6, 8 [x2], 10 [x2], 11, 14, 15) constitute a distinct doctrine category not present in Romans and require a dedicated escalation rule in Phase 2 (see companion AI Translation Requirements update, Step 12). The Logos (ch. 1), the New Birth (ch. 3), the Paraclete (ch. 14), and the Father-Son unity language (ch. 10, 17) are the four highest-priority new Critical-risk terms for the Language Package, alongside the substitutionary preposition ὑπέρ (“for/on behalf of”) which recurs across chapters 10, 11, 15, and 17 as the grammatical marker of Christ’s Substitutionary Death doctrine.