Semantic Analysis

Semantic Analysis — Acts 1–28 (English → Korean)

Methodology

This document analyzes the Koine Greek text of Acts in full, chapter by chapter, first to last. The core passage (Acts 2:1–41, Pentecost) receives verse-by-verse (grouped by sense-unit) treatment of every load-bearing term. Every other chapter receives a chapter-level treatment of its load-bearing theological vocabulary using the same fields: Original word, Transliteration, Literal meaning, Semantic range, English variants, Contextual theological meaning, Korean rendering + risk.

Any term already fixed in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json is reused exactly — its Korean rendering is not re-derived, only flagged as “(baseline reuse)” with a pointer to any Acts-specific nuance. New terms required for Acts’ doctrines (The Holy Spirit and Pentecost; The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles; Repentance and Baptism; The Church as Community; Apostolic Authority and Miracles; Persecution and Bold Witness; Conversion of Paul; Justification apart from the Law; The Great Commission Fulfilled) are analyzed fresh, with Korean shamanistic (무속신앙), Confucian, and Buddhist collision risk assessed in the same spirit as the baseline package.

Korean Revised Version (개역개정) conventions are followed throughout for register, honorifics, and proper names.

PART 1 — Core Passage: Acts 2:1–41 (Pentecost, verse-by-verse)

Acts 2:1–4 — The Spirit Poured Out

Pentecost

Original: πεντηκοστή (pentēkostē)
Transliteration: pentēkostē
Literal meaning: “fiftieth [day]”
Semantic range: the Jewish Feast of Weeks (Shavuot), fifty days after Passover, celebrating the wheat harvest and (in later Jewish tradition) the giving of the Law at Sinai.
English variants: Pentecost, Feast of Weeks
Contextual theological meaning: The Spirit’s outpouring is deliberately timed to this pilgrim feast, guaranteeing an international Jewish audience (v.5–11) and typologically fulfilling Sinai (Law given) with a new giving — the Spirit.
Korean rendering: 오순절 (Osunjeol) — Risk: Low. Established KRV term, transparent, well-known in Korean church calendar (Korean Protestant churches observe 오순절 liturgically). No competing referent in Korean folk religion.

tongues of fire (distinct sense from “other tongues” below)

Original: γλῶσσαι ὡσεὶ πυρός (glōssai hōsei pyros — “tongues as of fire”)
Transliteration: glōssa (sg.)
Literal meaning: “tongue” (the bodily organ) used metaphorically for a flame-shape
Semantic range: physical tongue; flame-shaped visual phenomenon; (elsewhere) a language
English variants: tongues (of fire), flames
Contextual theological meaning: a visible, once-for-all theophany marking the Spirit’s arrival on each disciple individually — not a repeatable ritual sign.
Korean rendering: 불의 혀같이 갈라지는 것들 (bul-ui hyeo-gachi gallajineun geotdeul, “things dividing like tongues of fire”) — Risk: Low. Established KRV phrase; purely descriptive, no shamanistic fire-ritual (e.g., 불공, Buddhist fire offering) overlap need be assumed, but teaching should clarify this is a one-time historical sign, not a repeatable ritual fire.

filled with the Holy Spirit

Original: ἐπλήσθησαν … πνεύματος ἁγίου (eplēsthēsan pneumatos hagiou)
Transliteration: eplēsthēsan (from pimplēmi)
Literal meaning: “were filled/made full”
Semantic range: to fill a container completely; to be wholly taken over/controlled by an influence (fear, wrath, the Spirit)
English variants: filled, filled to overflowing
Contextual theological meaning: the Spirit’s personal indwelling and empowering presence taking full possession of the believer for witness — a recurring Acts phrase (also 4:8, 31; 9:17; 13:9).
Korean rendering: 성령 충만함을 받다/성령이 충만하다 (seongnyeong chungmanham-eul batda / seongnyeong-i chungmanhada), using baseline 성령 (Holy Spirit, Critical) — Risk: Critical. Must never be described using language resembling shamanistic spirit-possession (신들림, a mudang being entered/mounted by a spirit during 굿). 성령 충만 is the Spirit’s personal, willing indwelling of a believer already united to Christ, not an ecstatic trance-possession phenomenon sought for display. This distinction must be made explicit every time “filled with the Spirit” recurs across Acts.

other tongues (glossolalia sense)

Original: ἑτέραις γλώσσαις (heterais glōssais, v.4); also λαλεῖν γλώσσαις
Transliteration: glōssa
Literal meaning: “tongue” → “language”
Semantic range: (a) the bodily organ; (b) a known human language; (c) ecstatic Spirit-given speech (disputed sense elsewhere in NT, but Acts 2:6–11 explicitly identifies it as real known languages: “each one heard them speaking in his own language”)
English variants: tongues, other tongues, languages
Contextual theological meaning: the Spirit enables proclamation of “the mighty works of God” (v.11) across real linguistic barriers — a reversal-of-Babel sign confirming the gospel’s reach to every nation, foreshadowing Gentile inclusion.
Korean rendering: 방언 (bang-eon) — Risk: Critical. This is the single highest Acts-specific Korean risk term. Korean Pentecostal/charismatic practice (a large and influential segment of Korean Protestantism) uses 방언 heavily for ecstatic prayer-tongues, and Korean shamanism (무속신앙) similarly features a mudang’s trance-speech understood as channeled spirit-utterance during 굿. Acts 2’s 방언 is specifically real, known human languages given for cross-cultural gospel proclamation, not an unintelligible ecstatic utterance and never a channeled spirit-voice. Teaching material must state this distinction explicitly at every occurrence in Acts (2:4; 10:46; 19:6) to prevent both shamanistic misreading and uncritical importation of later Pentecostal glossolalia debates into the historical narrative.

utterance (gave them to speak)

Original: ἀποφθέγγεσθαι (apophthengesthai)
Transliteration: apophthengesthai
Literal meaning: “to declare, to speak out plainly/oracularly”
Semantic range: solemn or authoritative pronouncement; used of prophetic/oracular speech
English variants: gave utterance, declared, spoke out
Contextual theological meaning: the Spirit, not human effort, is the active agent producing the disciples’ speech.
Korean rendering: 말하게 하심을 따라 (말함) (malhage hasim-eul ttara) — Risk: Medium. Care needed not to render with vocabulary suggesting a shaman channeling an oracle (신탁을 전하다); frame as the Spirit enabling clear proclamation.

Acts 2:5–13 — The Crowd’s Reaction

devout

Original: εὐλαβής (eulabēs)
Transliteration: eulabēs
Literal meaning: “taking hold well” → reverent, cautious in religious matters
Semantic range: pious, God-fearing, scrupulous in observance
English variants: devout, God-fearing
Contextual theological meaning: describes Jewish pilgrims sincerely devoted to God, the initial hearers of the gospel.
Korean rendering: 경건한 (gyeongkeonhan) — Risk: Low. Standard established Christian-vocabulary adjective; no significant collision.

amazed / perplexed / confused

Original: ἐξίσταντο (existanto); διηπόρουν (diēporoun); συνεχύθη (synechythē, v.6)
Transliteration: existanto, diēporoun
Literal meaning: “stood outside oneself” (ekstasis root) — astonishment to the point of confusion
Semantic range: amazement, bewilderment, being at a loss
English variants: amazed, astonished, confounded, bewildered, perplexed
Contextual theological meaning: the crowd’s honest bewilderment at a genuine, unprecedented divine sign — distinct from mockery (v.13).
Korean rendering: 놀라며 당황하여 (nollamyeo danghwanghayeo) — Risk: Low.

new wine (mocking accusation)

Original: γλεύκους μεστοι εἰσίν (gleukous mestoi eisin, “full of sweet new wine”)
Transliteration: gleukos
Literal meaning: “sweet, unfermented/newly-fermented wine”
Semantic range: new wine specifically noted for sweetness, associated with early, potent fermentation
English variants: new wine, sweet wine
Contextual theological meaning: mockers dismiss the Spirit’s work as drunkenness, setting up Peter’s rebuttal (v.15) — a template for how gospel proclamation will often be dismissed as irrational excess.
Korean rendering: 새 술 (sae sul) — Risk: Low.

Acts 2:14–21 — Peter Explains: Joel’s Prophecy

last days

Original: ἐν ταῖς ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις (en tais eschatais hēmerais)
Transliteration: eschatai hēmerai
Literal meaning: “the final/furthest days”
Semantic range: the concluding era of God’s redemptive plan, inaugurated (not merely future) at Christ’s first coming
English variants: last days, latter days
Contextual theological meaning: Peter identifies Pentecost itself as the beginning of the eschatological age Joel foresaw — the Spirit’s outpouring is inaugurated end-times fulfillment, not a distant future event only.
Korean rendering: 말세 (malse), reflecting standard KRV rendering of Joel 2:28 as quoted here — Risk: Medium. 말세 in popular Korean usage (including some new religious movements’ doomsday rhetoric) can carry a sensationalist “end of the world is near” connotation; teaching must anchor it to inaugurated eschatology (the age begun at Pentecost, continuing until Christ’s return), not fear-based date-setting.

pour out

Original: ἐκχεῶ (ekcheō, future “I will pour out”)
Transliteration: ekcheō
Literal meaning: “to pour out, spill out” (liquid imagery)
Semantic range: to pour out abundantly, to lavish
English variants: pour out, pour forth
Contextual theological meaning: describes the generous, abundant, sovereign giving of the Spirit “on all flesh” — the language of lavish divine gift, not ritual libation.
Korean rendering: 부어 주리라 (bueo jurira) — Risk: Low. Standard KRV verb; note only that it must not be visually or conceptually assimilated to a shamanistic libation-offering (술을 붓는 굿 의식) — the direction is God pouring out on people, not people pouring out an offering to a spirit.

prophesy

Original: προφητεύσουσιν (prophēteusousin)
Transliteration: prophēteuō
Literal meaning: “to speak forth [for another]”
Semantic range: Spirit-inspired declaration of God’s message, including forth-telling and (less often in Acts) foretelling
English variants: prophesy
Contextual theological meaning: the Spirit’s outpouring democratizes prophetic speech across gender, age, and social class (“sons and daughters,” “young men,” “old men,” “menservants and maidservants”) — reuses baseline “prophecy” (예언, Medium risk) doctrine but note the striking universality claim here.
Korean rendering: 예언하다 (yeeonhada) — reuse of baseline noun 예언 in verb form — Risk: Medium (per baseline). Distinguish from 점 (fortune-telling divination) as already flagged in baseline.

call on the name of the Lord

Original: ὃς ἂν ἐπικαλέσηται τὸ ὄνομα κυρίου (hos an epikalesētai to onoma kyriou)
Transliteration: epikaleō
Literal meaning: “to call upon, invoke by name”
Semantic range: to appeal to, invoke for help, formally invoke in worship
English variants: call on, call upon, invoke
Contextual theological meaning: the climactic promise of Joel’s citation — salvation is available to “everyone” (πᾶς) who invokes the Lord’s name, setting up Peter’s identification of “the Lord” with Jesus in v.36 and anticipating Romans 10:13’s identical citation.
Korean rendering: 주의 이름을 부르는 자 (ju-ui ireum-eul bureuneun ja), using baseline 주님 (lord) root — Risk: High. Must retain full universality (“whoever,” 누구든지) without qualification, consistent with the Ai Requirements’ “Doctrinal Universality Preserved” validation rule already established for Romans 10:13.

saved

Original: σωθήσεται (sōthēsetai)
Transliteration: sōzō
Literal meaning: “to save, rescue, deliver, make whole”
Semantic range: reuses baseline salvation (구원, Critical)
Korean rendering: 구원을 받으리라 (guwon-eul badeurira) — (baseline reuse) — Risk: Critical, per baseline: never 해탈.

Acts 2:22–24 — Jesus of Nazareth, Crucified and Raised

attested / approved (by God)

Original: ἀποδεδειγμένον (apodedeigmenon, from apodeiknymi)
Transliteration: apodeiknymi
Literal meaning: “to show forth, demonstrate, exhibit publicly”
Semantic range: to prove, certify, publicly demonstrate as genuine
English variants: attested, accredited, certified, approved
Contextual theological meaning: God himself publicly certifies Jesus’ identity through observable acts — an evidentiary, not merely subjective, claim.
Korean rendering: 증언하신 (하나님께서 … 증언하셨느니라) (jeungeonhasin) — Risk: Medium. Ensure the verb conveys divine certification/testimony, not a court-witness sense divorced from divine action.

miracles, wonders, and signs (three distinct terms, listed together in v.22)

Original: δυνάμεσι καὶ τέρασι καὶ σημείοις (dynamesi kai terasi kai sēmeiois)
Transliteration: dynamis / teras / sēmeion
Literal meaning: dynamis = “power, ability”; teras = “portent, marvel”; sēmeion = “sign, mark pointing beyond itself”
Semantic range: dynamis = inherent capability, often miraculous; teras = an awe-inducing prodigy (always plural with sēmeia in NT, never alone); sēmeion = an act that signifies/points to a deeper truth (God’s identity/authority)
English variants: miracles, wonders, signs, mighty works, powers
Contextual theological meaning: this triad recurs across Acts (2:22, 43; 4:30; 5:12; 14:3; 15:12) as the consistent descriptor of apostolic-era miraculous confirmation of the gospel message.
Korean rendering: 권능과 기사와 표적 (kwonneung-gwa kisa-wa pyojeok). Dynamis here uses 권능 (a near-synonym cluster with baseline 능력, Critical, “power of God”); teras = 기사 (kisa, wonder); sēmeion = 표적 (pyojeok, sign). — Risk: Critical, inheriting the baseline Power-of-God risk profile. Korean shamanism’s mudang tradition explicitly claims power to heal, exorcise, and produce visible wonders through ritual (굿); Korean charismatic church culture also emphasizes “signs and wonders” ministry. Every occurrence must be anchored to its purpose — certifying the gospel and Christ’s identity — never framed as generalized this-worldly power-display sought for its own sake, exactly as flagged for 능력 in the baseline.

predetermined plan and foreknowledge

Original: τῇ ὡρισμένῃ βουλῇ καὶ προγνώσει τοῦ θεοῦ (tē hōrismenē boulē kai prognōsei tou theou)
Transliteration: boulē (plan/counsel), prognōsis (foreknowledge)
Literal meaning: boulē = “counsel, deliberate plan, will”; prognōsis = “knowing beforehand”
Semantic range: boulē = sovereign, deliberated intention; prognōsis = God’s prior, certain knowledge
English variants: determined plan, purpose, counsel, foreknowledge
Contextual theological meaning: the cross was neither an accident nor a defeat but the outworking of God’s sovereign, pre-determined plan — a providence (섭리, baseline) claim applied specifically to the crucifixion.
Korean rendering: 하나님께서 정하신 뜻과 미리 아심 (Hananim-kkeseo jeonghasin tteut-gwa miri asim) — Risk: High. Must not be rendered in a way that collapses into an impersonal fated inevitability (팔자/운명, already forbidden under baseline “providence” and “calling”); this is the sovereign, personal counsel of God, held together (not in tension) with genuine human moral responsibility for the crucifixion voiced in the same verse (“you… crucified”).

raised up (resurrection language, verb form)

Original: ἀνέστησεν (anestēsen, from anistēmi)
Transliteration: anistēmi
Literal meaning: “to stand up, raise up”
Semantic range: reuses baseline resurrection (부활, Critical) doctrine
Korean rendering: 하나님께서 그를 살리셨으니 (Hananim-kkeseo geu-reul sallisyeoss-euni) — (baseline reuse, doctrine “resurrection_of_christ”) — Risk: Critical, never 환생/윤회.

Acts 2:25–28 — David’s Prophecy (Psalm 16 quoted)

Hades

Original: ᾅδης (hadēs)
Transliteration: hadēs
Literal meaning: the Greek underworld/realm of the dead (proper name of the Greek god of the underworld, secondarily the place itself); used in LXX Greek to render Hebrew Sheol
Semantic range: the general abode of the dead awaiting resurrection/judgment — NOT identical to the NT’s “hell” (Gehenna) as a place of final punishment
English variants: Hades, the grave, the realm/place of the dead, Sheol
Contextual theological meaning: David’s prophecy (Ps 16:10) that God would not abandon the Messiah’s soul to Hades nor let his body see corruption — cited as proof of bodily resurrection, since David himself remained dead and buried (v.29).
Korean rendering: 음부 (eumbu) — the established KRV term distinct from 지옥 (jiok, Gehenna/hell). Risk: High. Korean folk religion and popular culture maintain a rich vocabulary for the afterlife/underworld (저승, jeoseung, the “other world” to which the dead journey, guided in shamanistic funerary ritual by a psychopomp figure). Teaching must clarify 음부 in this context denotes simply “the state/place of the dead” prior to resurrection, a biblical-theological category, not the shamanistic 저승 with its associated ancestor-spirit journey and ritual guidance concepts.

corruption

Original: διαφθοράν (diaphthoran)
Transliteration: diaphthora
Literal meaning: “decay, decomposition, ruin”
Semantic range: bodily decomposition after death
English variants: corruption, decay
Contextual theological meaning: Christ’s body did not undergo decomposition — bodily, not merely spiritual, resurrection.
Korean rendering: 썩음 (sseogeum) — Risk: Low.

Acts 2:29–32 — David the Prophet and the Resurrection Witnesses

patriarch

Original: πατριάρχης (patriarchēs)
Transliteration: patriarchēs
Literal meaning: “ruler/father of a clan/tribe”
Semantic range: a revered ancestral founding-father figure
English variants: patriarch
Contextual theological meaning: honors David’s revered status while subordinating him to the greater descendant (Christ) whom he prophesied.
Korean rendering: 조상 (josang, “ancestor/forefather”) — Risk: Medium. Korea’s Confucian ancestor-veneration tradition (제사, jesa, already flagged Critical under baseline “father”) makes 조상 a loaded word; here it functions purely as a historical/genealogical descriptor of David, not an invitation to venerate him ritually. A brief clarifying note is advisable wherever “patriarch David” recurs (Acts 2:29; 7:8-9).

witnesses

Original: μάρτυρες (martyres)
Transliteration: martys (pl. martyres)
Literal meaning: “witness, one who testifies to what one has seen/experienced”
Semantic range: a legal/evidentiary witness; by NT-era extension, one who testifies even at cost of life (the later technical sense “martyr” develops from this word but is not yet fixed in Acts)
English variants: witness(es), martyr(s) (later technical sense)
Contextual theological meaning: central Acts theme — the apostles are eyewitnesses of the risen Christ, and their testimony grounds the church’s proclamation (Acts 1:8, 22; 2:32; 5:32; 22:15; 26:16). This is the seed doctrine for “Persecution and Bold Witness.”
Korean rendering: 증인 (jeungin) — Risk: High. 증인 must be taught in its full Acts-wide range: eyewitness testimony to the resurrection (legal-evidentiary sense) that increasingly costs the witness’s own safety and life (anticipating Stephen, ch.7, and the word’s eventual semantic slide toward “martyr,” 순교자 sunkyoja, in later church history). Do not flatten to a purely legal/courtroom sense nor prematurely translate as 순교자 in every occurrence — reserve 순교자 for contexts of actual death (e.g., Stephen, James).

Acts 2:33–36 — Exaltation and the Climactic Confession

exalted

Original: ὑψωθείς (hypsōtheis)
Transliteration: hypsoō
Literal meaning: “lifted up, raised on high”
Semantic range: physical elevation; honorific/status elevation
English variants: exalted, lifted up, raised to the highest place
Contextual theological meaning: Christ’s ascension and enthronement at God’s right hand, the basis for his Lordship and his pouring out the Spirit.
Korean rendering: 높이심을 받아 (nopisim-eul badaa) — Risk: Medium. Avoid collapsing into secular status-achievement language (출세, chulse, already flagged under baseline “glory”); this is unique divine enthronement, not career/social advancement.

right hand of God

Original: τῇ δεξιᾷ τοῦ θεοῦ (tē dexia tou theou)
Transliteration: dexia
Literal meaning: “the right [hand/side]”
Semantic range: the position of highest honor, authority, and co-regency
English variants: right hand
Contextual theological meaning: enthronement imagery affirming Christ’s supreme authority alongside the Father, fulfilling Psalm 110:1 (quoted v.34-35).
Korean rendering: 하나님 우편 (Hananim upyeon) — Risk: Low. Established KRV idiom.

Lord and Christ

Original: καὶ κύριον αὐτὸν καὶ Χριστὸν ἐποίησεν ὁ θεός (kai kyrion auton kai Christon epoiēsen ho theos)
Transliteration: kyrios, Christos
Literal meaning: kyrios = “lord, master, sovereign owner”; Christos = “anointed one”
Semantic range: kyrios reuses baseline lord (주님, Critical); Christos reuses baseline messiah/christ (그리스도, Medium)
Contextual theological meaning: Peter’s sermon climaxes in the identical confession that Romans 10:9 makes the salvation-confession — “God has made him both Lord and Christ.” This is the single most theologically load-bearing clause in the sermon.
Korean rendering: 주와 그리스도 (Ju-wa Geuriseudo) — Risk: Critical. Note for Phase 2 translators: the established KRV rendering of this specific clause uses the bare honorific-adjacent form 주 rather than the fuller 주님 found elsewhere (e.g., Romans 10:9’s “예수는 주님이시다”), because Korean grammar places 주 here as a predicate complement (“God made him [to be] Lord”) rather than a vocative/referential address. This is a grammatical register nuance, not a doctrinal downgrade — the honorific concept (주님, baseline) remains fully intact and must be preserved in surrounding narrative/teaching prose. Flag any Phase 2 rendering that drops the honorific sense of Lordship, not merely the bare syllable 주, for theologian review.

Acts 2:37–41 — Response: Repentance, Baptism, and Growth

cut to the heart

Original: κατενύγησαν τὴν καρδίαν (katenygēsan tēn kardian)
Transliteration: katanyssomai
Literal meaning: “to be pierced/stabbed through”
Semantic range: sharp emotional/spiritual conviction, deep distress of conscience
English variants: cut to the heart, pierced to the heart, deeply troubled
Contextual theological meaning: the Spirit’s conviction of sin produces genuine grief leading to repentance, not mere intellectual assent.
Korean rendering: 마음에 찔려 (ma-eum-e jjillyeo) — Risk: Low. Vivid, established KRV idiom.

repent

Original: μετανοήσατε (metanoēsate)
Transliteration: metanoeō
Literal meaning: “to change one’s mind” (meta = change, noeō = think/perceive)
Semantic range: a fundamental reorientation of mind and life-direction toward God, involving genuine sorrow for sin and turning from it
English variants: repent, turn, change one’s mind
Contextual theological meaning: the necessary human response to the gospel’s conviction, inseparably joined here to baptism as the answer to “what shall we do?” — foundational for the curriculum’s “Repentance and Baptism” doctrine.
Korean rendering: 회개하다 (hoegaehada) — Risk: High. Though established and common in Korean Christian vocabulary (lower day-to-day collision risk than some newer terms), 회개 must be carefully distinguished from two adjacent native concepts: (1) Buddhist 참회 (chamhoe), a ritual confession/penance practice oriented toward karmic purification through one’s own religious effort; and (2) Confucian 반성 (banseong), self-reflection/self-correction oriented toward social/moral propriety rather than reconciliation with a personal God. Biblical repentance is a Spirit-produced turning to God grounded in Christ’s finished work, not a self-generated purification or self-improvement exercise.

baptized

Original: βαπτισθήτω (baptisthētō)
Transliteration: baptizō
Literal meaning: “to dip, immerse, plunge”
Semantic range: ritual washing/immersion; in NT usage, the specific Christian rite of initiation identifying a believer with Christ’s death and resurrection and incorporating them into the believing community
English variants: baptize, baptism
Contextual theological meaning: the visible, corporate, commanded response accompanying repentance, joined to the promise of forgiveness and the Spirit — central to “Repentance and Baptism.”
Korean rendering: 세례를 받다 (serye-reul batda), noun 세례 (serye) — Risk: High. Established KRV term with no direct shamanistic parallel ritual, but teaching must distinguish Christian baptism from any generic notion of ritual purification (부정을 씻음, already flagged High under baseline “holy”) performed in a gut ceremony to remove misfortune — baptism marks entrance into Christ and his covenant community, not the removal of ritual pollution or bad luck.

forgiveness of sins

Original: ἄφεσιν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν (aphesin tōn hamartiōn)
Transliteration: aphesis (release, pardon), hamartia (baseline sin, 죄, High)
Literal meaning: aphesis = “a sending away, release, letting go” (as of a debt or captive)
Semantic range: pardon, cancellation of a debt/offense, release from bondage
English variants: forgiveness, remission, pardon
Contextual theological meaning: God’s judicial pardon of the guilt of sin, granted in response to repentance and baptism in Christ’s name — not earned merit but gracious release.
Korean rendering: 죄 사함 (joe saham), using baseline 죄 — Risk: High. Must be taught as a gift flowing from grace (은혜, Critical, baseline), never as a ritual debt discharged through the performance of the baptism rite itself (an ex opere operato misunderstanding); baptism is the occasion of confessing faith, not a meritorious transaction earning pardon.

gift of the Holy Spirit

Original: τὴν δωρεὰν τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος (tēn dōrean tou hagiou pneumatos)
Transliteration: dōrea (free gift), pneuma hagion (baseline holy_spirit, 성령, Critical)
Literal meaning: dōrea = “a free gift, given without payment”
Semantic range: an outright, gracious gift (dōrea is a stronger term for gratuitousness than the more general charisma)
English variants: gift of the Holy Spirit
Contextual theological meaning: the Spirit himself, not merely his effects, is given freely to all who repent and are baptized — extending Pentecost’s initial, unrepeatable outpouring into an ongoing pattern for every believer.
Korean rendering: 성령의 선물 (seongnyeong-ui seonmul) — Risk: Critical (inherits baseline 성령 risk). Must never be framed as a reward earned through ritual performance or an achievement of spiritual attainment (도를 닦음, already forbidden under baseline “sanctification”); it is a gracious gift (선물), paralleling grace’s (은혜) unearned character.

promise

Original: ἡ ἐπαγγελία (hē epangelia)
Transliteration: epangelia
Literal meaning: “an announcement, a pledge”
Semantic range: a solemn pledge or announcement of a future gift; distinct from the baseline’s covenant (언약, eonyak, a formal relational bond)
English variants: promise
Contextual theological meaning: “the promise” here refers specifically to the Spirit (cf. Acts 1:4, Luke 24:49), extended by Peter to “you and your children, and all who are far off” — anticipating Gentile inclusion.
Korean rendering: 약속 (yaksok) — Risk: Medium. Keep structurally distinct from baseline 언약 (covenant); 약속 is the pledge, 언약 the covenant relationship in which it is given. Korean already sustains this distinction cleanly (a strength carried over from the Romans baseline notes on covenant vs. contract).

everyone whom the Lord our God calls

Original: ὅσους ἂν προσκαλέσηται κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν (hosous an proskalesētai kyrios ho theos hēmōn)
Transliteration: proskaleō (a form related to baseline called/calling, 부르심, High)
Contextual theological meaning: the universal scope of God’s effectual calling, extending beyond the immediate Jewish audience to “all who are far off” (Gentiles) — a direct anticipation of the curriculum’s “Gospel to Jews and Gentiles” doctrine.
Korean rendering: 주 우리 하나님께서 부르시는 자마다 (baseline reuse of 부르심) — Risk: High (baseline). Preserve the universal “as many as” (누구든지/얼마든지) without ethnic qualification, per the Ai Requirements’ established universality-preservation rule.

added (to their number)

Original: προσετέθησαν (prosetethēsan)
Transliteration: prostithēmi
Literal meaning: “to add to, place additionally with”
Semantic range: numerical/corporate addition to an existing group
English variants: added, joined
Contextual theological meaning: conversion results in incorporation into the visible, countable community of believers — individual salvation issues immediately in church membership, not private religion. Seeds “The Church as Community.”
Korean rendering: 더하여지다 (deohayeojida) — Risk: Low. E.g., “이 날에 신도의 수가 삼천이나 더하더라.”

PART 2 — Chapter-by-Chapter Study of the Whole Book

Chapter 1 — Ascension and Preparation

witnesses — see full treatment under 2:29-32 above; first appears 1:8, “you shall be my witnesses (μάρτυρες) … to the end of the earth.” Same rendering 증인, Risk High.

to the end of the earth

Original: ἕως ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς (heōs eschatou tēs gēs)
Literal meaning: “to the furthest [point] of the earth”
Semantic range: geographic totality; the book’s structural outline (Jerusalem → Judea/Samaria → ends of the earth)
Contextual theological meaning: programmatic statement for the whole book and for the “Great Commission Fulfilled” doctrine — the gospel’s unstoppable geographic and ethnic expansion.
Korean rendering: 땅끝까지 (ttangkkeutkkaji) — Risk: Medium. Popular in Korean missions culture (선교, baseline, Medium risk, “success-and-growth-oriented” caution already noted); must be taught as description of gospel scope, not a missions-metrics slogan.

the promise of the Father — see “promise” above (약속); here specifically the Spirit awaited before Pentecost (1:4-5).

restoring the kingdom to Israel

Original: ἀποκαθιστάνεις τὴν βασιλείαν τῷ Ἰσραήλ (apokathistaneis tēn basileian tō Israēl)
Contextual theological meaning: the disciples’ still-nationalistic misunderstanding of the kingdom, gently redirected by Jesus toward the Spirit-empowered mission rather than political restoration; reuses baseline kingdom_of_god (하나님의 나라, Low) and israel (이스라엘, Medium).
Korean rendering risk: Medium. Korea’s lack of a live competing “divine kingdom” state ideology (per baseline note) keeps this comparatively low-risk, but the passage’s own correction of political-kingdom expectation should be preserved clearly.

casting lots (Matthias)

Original: ἔδωκαν κλήρους (edōkan klērous)
Literal meaning: “gave lots”
Semantic range: a method of discerning God’s choice via a randomizing physical object, understood as God-directed, not chance
Contextual theological meaning: distinguished from Korean folk divination (제비뽑기 is the natural Korean equivalent term, but here divinely superintended, not a fortune-telling practice).
Korean rendering: 제비를 뽑다 (jebireul ppopda) — Risk: Medium. Because 제비뽑기 and related divinatory practices (점, 사주) are living folk practices in Korea (already flagged under baseline “election” and “prophecy”), teaching must clarify this one-time apostolic-era practice reflects confidence in God’s sovereign choice (cf. Prov 16:33), not an endorsement of divination as an ongoing method of guidance — it is never repeated after Pentecost/the Spirit’s coming.

Chapter 2 (continuation beyond the core passage) — Acts 2:42–47

breaking of bread

Original: τῇ κλάσει τοῦ ἄρτου (tē klasei tou artou)
Literal meaning: “the breaking of the loaf”
Semantic range: a shared communal meal; by extension, the Lord’s Supper observance
Contextual theological meaning: regular, communal, table-fellowship marking of the new covenant community — foundational for “The Church as Community.”
Korean rendering: 떡을 뗌 (tteok-eul ttem) — Risk: Medium. Should be distinguished from Korean ancestral-rite food offerings (제사상, jesasang, food set before an ancestral tablet) — this is shared communal eating among living believers in Christ’s memory, not an offering presented to the deceased.

having all things in common

Original: εἶχον ἅπαντα κοινά (eichon hapanta koina)
Literal meaning: “held all things common/shared”
Semantic range: voluntary pooling of possessions for mutual care within the community
Contextual theological meaning: a Spirit-produced generosity flowing from the new community bond in Christ, not a legislated economic system.
Korean rendering: 모든 물건을 서로 통용하다 (modeun mulgeon-eul seoro tongyonghada) — Risk: High. This is a Korea-specific risk not present in the baseline Romans package: modern Korean historical memory (the division of Korea, the Korean War, and North Korea’s collectivized state ideology) means language resembling “common ownership”/“공산” (communism-adjacent vocabulary) carries strong contemporary political charge. Teaching must explicitly state this is voluntary, Spirit-motivated generosity within a believing community for mutual care — not a prescriptive economic program, and must avoid any vocabulary overlapping with 공산주의 (communism) terminology.

favor with all the people

Reuses baseline glory/honor semantic field loosely; low new-term risk. Korean: 온 백성에게 칭송을 받다 — Risk: Low.

Chapter 3 — Healing at the Temple Gate

name of Jesus (as a locus of power)

Original: ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ (en tō onomati Iēsou Christou)
Literal meaning: “in/by the name of Jesus Christ”
Semantic range: in ancient usage, invoking a name carried the authority/power of the one named; distinguish from a magical incantation formula treated as effective by its mere utterance
Contextual theological meaning: the healing is performed by Christ’s own authority, mediated through faith in his name, not through a technique or formula the apostles possess independently — central to “Apostolic Authority and Miracles.”
Korean rendering: 예수의 이름으로 (Yesu-ui ireumeuro) — Risk: Critical. Korean shamanistic and folk-magical practice includes invoking spirit-names or talismanic phrases (부적, 주문) believed to carry inherent power when spoken correctly. Teaching must state clearly: the power is Christ’s own personal authority and the healed man’s faith response (3:16), not a magic formula whose mere utterance produces automatic effect regardless of the speaker’s faith or Christ’s will.

Prince/Author of life

Original: τὸν ἀρχηγὸν τῆς ζωῆς (ton archēgon tēs zōēs)
Literal meaning: archēgos = “originator, pioneer, founder-leader”
Semantic range: one who originates and leads the way for others into life
Contextual theological meaning: a high Christological title paired with the resurrection claim — the very one they killed is the source of life itself.
Korean rendering: 생명의 주 (saengmyeong-ui ju) — Risk: High. Reinforces baseline Lordship/deity-of-Christ risk profile; ensure 주 here is understood in its full Lordship sense, not diluted to “leader/pioneer” alone.

times of refreshing / restoration

Original: καιροὶ ἀναψύξεως (kairoi anapsyxeōs); ἀποκαταστάσεως πάντων (apokatastaseōs pantōn)
Contextual theological meaning: eschatological renewal tied to Christ’s return, contingent on repentance (3:19-21).
Korean rendering: 새롭게 되는 때 / 만물을 회복하실 때 — Risk: Medium. Avoid conflating with Buddhist cyclical-renewal cosmology; this is a linear, one-time consummation.

Chapter 4 — Boldness Before the Council

boldness

Original: παρρησία (parrēsia)
Transliteration: parrēsia
Literal meaning: “freedom/frankness of speech,” originally a citizen’s right to speak openly in the assembly
Semantic range: fearless, plain, unashamed public speech; confident access (also used of prayer confidence, e.g. Heb 4:16)
English variants: boldness, confidence, freedom of speech
Contextual theological meaning: a hallmark of Spirit-filled proclamation under threat — the defining term for “Persecution and Bold Witness,” recurring at 4:13, 29, 31; 9:27-28; 14:3; 19:8; 28:31.
Korean rendering: 담대함 (damdaeham) — Risk: High. Must be taught as Spirit-given courage rooted in the truth of the gospel and confidence before God, not mere natural fearlessness, bravado, or a culturally-prized stoic face-saving composure (potentially confusable with 체면-related composure, already flagged under baseline “sin”). It is the opposite of shrinking back from witness under threat.

Sanhedrin / the council

Original: τὸ συνέδριον (to synedrion)
Literal meaning: “a sitting-together,” a formal deliberative council
Semantic range: the Jewish high court/ruling council in Jerusalem
Contextual theological meaning: the highest Jewish religious-legal authority, repeatedly opposing the apostles.
Korean rendering: 공회 (gonghoe) — Risk: Low. Established KRV proper-institution term.

salvation in no other name

Original: οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν ἄλλῳ οὐδενὶ ἡ σωτηρία (ouk estin en allō oudeni hē sōtēria)
Contextual theological meaning: absolute, exclusive salvation claim (4:12) — reuses baseline salvation (구원, Critical); must retain full exclusivity (“no other name under heaven”) without softening toward religious pluralism, an important sensitivity given Korea’s multi-religious landscape (Buddhism, folk religion, Confucian ethics coexisting with a large Christian population).
Risk: Critical.

one heart and soul

Original: μία καρδία καὶ ψυχὴ μία (mia kardia kai psychē mia)
Contextual theological meaning: the church’s relational unity, feeding “The Church as Community.”
Korean rendering: 한마음과 한 뜻 — Risk: Low.

Chapter 5 — Ananias and Sapphira; Apostolic Signs

lying to the Holy Spirit

Original: ψεύσασθαί σε τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον (pseusasthai se to pneuma to hagion)
Contextual theological meaning: sin against the church’s Spirit-indwelt community is sin against God himself (personal, not merely institutional, offense) — reuses baseline holy_spirit (성령, Critical) and sin (죄, High).
Korean rendering: 성령을 속임 (seongnyeong-eul sogim) — Risk: Critical. Must preserve the gravity of treating the Spirit as a deceivable person rather than merely breaking a community rule.

Gamaliel’s counsel — “if this plan/work is of God”

Original: ἐὰν ᾖ ἐκ θεοῦ (ean ē ek theou)
Contextual theological meaning: a providential-discernment principle; reuses baseline providence (섭리, High). Low new-term risk; note primarily as a hermeneutical caution against over-applying this single narrative statement as a general test-of-truth principle.

signs and wonders (apostles) — reuses ch. 2 triad (권능과 기사와 표적); recurs 5:12. No new term.

laying on of hands — see full treatment under Chapter 6 (first prominent occurrence there); anticipated in 5:12’s general apostolic ministry summary.

Chapter 6 — The Seven and Stephen

laying on of hands

Original: ἐπιθέντες τὰς χεῖρας (epithentes tas cheiras)
Literal meaning: “having placed the hands upon”
Semantic range: a physical gesture of commissioning, blessing, healing, or Spirit-impartation, rooted in OT practice (e.g., Numbers 27:18)
English variants: laying on of hands, ordination
Contextual theological meaning: here, commissioning the seven for service (6:6); elsewhere for healing and Spirit-reception (8:17; 9:17; 19:6; 28:8) and for missionary sending (13:3) — spans “Apostolic Authority and Miracles” and “The Church as Community.”
Korean rendering: 안수(하다) (ansu(hada)) — Risk: High. 안수기도 (laying-on-of-hands prayer) is extremely common in Korean charismatic/Pentecostal church practice, including for healing. Because a mudang’s shamanistic healing ritual can also involve physical touch/ritual gesture upon a client during a 굿, teaching must anchor 안수 to its specific biblical functions (commissioning, blessing, Spirit-impartation confirmed by apostolic authority) rather than to an independently efficacious touch-technique or a power transferable apart from God’s sovereign will.

full of the Spirit and of wisdom / full of faith and the Holy Spirit

Reuses baseline holy_spirit (성령) and faith (믿음); qualifying phrase pattern describing spiritual maturity markers for church leadership. Risk: Medium (combination, not new term).

Hellenists / Hebrews

Original: Ἑλληνισταί / Ἑβραῖοι (Hellēnistai / Hebraioi)
Contextual theological meaning: internal cultural-linguistic diversity within the earliest Jerusalem church (Greek-speaking vs. Aramaic/Hebrew-speaking Jewish believers) and the community-care conflict it produced — an early test case for “The Church as Community.”
Korean rendering: 헬라파 유대인 / 히브리파 유대인 — Risk: Low. Purely descriptive historical-sociological terms.

Chapter 7 — Stephen’s Speech and Martyrdom

covenant of circumcision

Original: διαθήκην περιτομῆς (diathēkēn peritomēs)
Contextual theological meaning: reuses baseline covenant (언약, Low) plus new term circumcision.
Korean rendering for circumcision: 할례 (halle) — Risk: Medium. Established term; central to “The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles” and later “Justification apart from the Law” (ch.15); no native Korean ritual directly parallels it, but its significance as a marker of covenant-membership-by-law must be taught clearly for the Acts 15/Galatians-adjacent debates.

tabernacle

Original: ἡ σκηνὴ (hē skēnē)
Literal meaning: “tent”
Semantic range: the portable OT sanctuary/dwelling place of God’s presence
Korean rendering: 성막 (seongmak) — Risk: Low. Established OT-background term.

stiff-necked, uncircumcised in heart and ears

Original: σκληροτράχηλοι καὶ ἀπερίτμητοι καρδίαις καὶ τοῖς ὠσίν (sklērotrachēloi kai aperitmētoi kardiais)
Contextual theological meaning: metaphorical extension of circumcision to inward spiritual receptivity — anticipates the doctrine that true covenant membership is a matter of the heart, not physical ritual alone (feeding “Justification apart from the Law”).
Korean rendering: 목이 곧고 마음과 귀에 할례를 받지 못한 — Risk: Medium. Ensure the metaphorical (not literal ritual) sense is clear.

stoned / stoning

Original: ἐλιθοβόλουν (elithoboloun)
Contextual theological meaning: Stephen becomes the first Christian martyr (μάρτυς fully realized in the sense of one who dies for testimony), his dying words echoing Christ’s own (“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit”; “do not hold this sin against them”).
Korean rendering: 돌로 치다 — Risk: Low (descriptive); the doctrinal weight sits in “witness” (증인), already flagged High, and now culminating in 순교 (sunkyo, martyrdom) — Risk: High, as the first concrete referent for that word’s fullest sense.

Chapter 8 — Philip, Samaria, Simon Magus, the Ethiopian Eunuch

sorcery / magic

Original: μαγεύων (mageuōn); ταῖς μαγείαις (tais mageiais)
Literal meaning: “practicing magic arts”
Semantic range: ritual practices claiming supernatural power/manipulation of spiritual forces for personal gain or display
English variants: sorcery, magic, magic arts
Contextual theological meaning: Simon’s prior occupation as a magician, and his later attempt to buy the Spirit’s power (8:18-24, giving rise to the later term “simony”), sets up a direct contrast between the Spirit’s gift and manipulable occult power.
Korean rendering: 마술 (masul) — Risk: Critical. This is one of the most direct Acts collision points with Korean shamanism: a mudang’s practice (무속) is often popularly understood by outsiders through this same lens of ritual power for hire. The passage’s own verdict on Simon (his “heart is not right before God,” his silver perishes with him) must be preserved fully — this narrative itself supplies the strongest in-text refutation of a pay-for-spiritual-power transactional pattern, directly reinforcing the baseline’s 기복신앙 (fortune-seeking faith) caution already attached to 은혜 and 능력.

God-fearer / devout (anticipates ch.10) — no new term yet at ch.8; Ethiopian eunuch narrative introduces Scripture reading and interpretation (largely reuses baseline “inspiration of scripture” doctrine, no new Korean term required).

Chapter 9 — The Conversion of Saul

light from heaven

Original: φῶς ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ (phōs ek tou ouranou)
Contextual theological meaning: theophanic light marking direct divine confrontation and revelation — the visual center of “Conversion of Paul,” retold three times (9, 22, 26).
Korean rendering: 하늘로부터 빛 — Risk: Low, descriptive; theological weight carried by surrounding terms.

Why do you persecute me?

Original: τί με διώκεις (ti me diōkeis)
Contextual theological meaning: Christ identifies himself personally with his suffering church — persecuting believers is persecuting Christ himself, a key text for “Persecution and Bold Witness” and for “The Church as Community” (union with Christ, reuses baseline doctrine “christian_identity_in_christ”).
Korean rendering: 네가 어찌하여 나를 박해하느냐 — Risk: Medium.

scales fell from his eyes

Original: ἀπέπεσαν … ὡς λεπίδες (apepesan hōs lepides)
Contextual theological meaning: vivid image of removed spiritual blindness accompanying physical healing at baptism — reuses baseline “faith”/“salvation” conceptually. Risk: Low, idiomatic image; render literally, it is well understood in Korean too (비늘 같은 것 — biseul gateun geot).

chosen instrument / vessel of election

Original: σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς (skeuos eklogēs)
Literal meaning: “a vessel/instrument of choosing”
Semantic range: an object selected and set apart for a specific purpose
Contextual theological meaning: God’s sovereign selection of Saul/Paul for a specific apostolic mission to Gentiles, kings, and Israel — reuses baseline election (선택, High).
Korean rendering: 택한 그릇 (taekhan geureut) — Risk: High (baseline). Must not be read as merit-based selection (Korea’s competitive exam/hiring culture risk, already flagged in baseline under 선택) but sovereign, purposeful choice for mission.

the Way

Original: τῆς ὁδοῦ (tēs hodou)
Literal meaning: “the road, path, way”
Semantic range: a literal road; a course of life/conduct; here, a proper-noun-like early self-designation for the Christian movement (9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22)
English variants: the Way, the sect, the movement
Contextual theological meaning: an important early Christian self-identity term predating “Christian” (11:26) — believers understood themselves as followers of a specific, exclusive path (ultimately, of Christ himself, cf. John 14:6), not one lifestyle-option among many.
Korean rendering: 도(道) (do) — Risk: Critical. This is a major Korean-specific collision. 도 is the central term of Korean Confucian ethics (the moral Way), Korean Buddhism, and Korean folk/new-religious movements (e.g., “도를 아십니까” street-evangelism-mimicking cult recruitment famously associated with certain new religious movements in Korea), and is already flagged in the baseline under “saints” and “sanctification” (도인, 도 닦기) as a self-cultivation concept to be avoided for those doctrines. Here, however, “the Way” is the text’s own chosen self-designation and cannot simply be avoided — it must be rendered with an explicit accompanying clarification every time it appears as a proper-noun title (e.g., “그 도,” “이 도”), stating this refers specifically to the path of following the risen Christ as taught by the apostles, not a generic self-cultivation path, a syncretistic multi-religious “Way,” or any new religious movement’s use of the same word. Recommend consistent gloss: “그 도(그리스도의 도)” with a translator’s note at first occurrence in each unit.

Chapter 10 — Cornelius: The Gospel Reaches Gentiles

God-fearer / devout

Original: εὐσεβὴς καὶ φοβούμενος τὸν θεόν (eusebēs kai phoboumenos ton theon)
Literal meaning: “pious and fearing/reverencing God”
Semantic range: a technical designation in Acts for Gentiles who worshiped Israel’s God and attended synagogue without full proselyte conversion (uncircumcised)
English variants: God-fearer, devout Gentile
Contextual theological meaning: Cornelius occupies the theologically crucial “in-between” category that the gospel’s Gentile breakthrough addresses directly — central to “The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles.”
Korean rendering: 하나님을 경외하는 사람 — Risk: Medium. Needs brief explanatory context since Korean readers may not intuitively grasp the sociological category of a “God-fearing Gentile” without prior synagogue-culture background.

what God has made clean, do not call common/unclean

Original: ἃ ὁ θεὸς ἐκαθάρισεν, σὺ μὴ κοίνου (ha ho theos ekatharisen, sy mē koinou)
Contextual theological meaning: the vision’s climactic principle, applied by Peter directly to Gentile inclusion (10:28) — abolishing the ritual-purity boundary marking Jew from Gentile. Reuses baseline holy (거룩한) conceptually in reverse (declaring clean).
Korean rendering: 하나님께서 깨끗하게 하신 것을 네가 속되다 하지 말라 — Risk: High. Central proof-text for Gentile inclusion; must not be softened.

the Spirit falls on the Gentiles / tongues

Reuses ch.2’s 성령 and 방언 (both Critical); here confirms that Gentiles receive the identical Spirit-gift as Jewish believers at Pentecost, without circumcision or law-observance as precondition — directly seeds “Justification apart from the Law” (fully developed in ch.15).

Chapter 11 — Jerusalem’s Response; Antioch; “Christians”

repentance unto life — reuses repentance (회개, High) plus salvation/life — extended explicitly “to the Gentiles also” (11:18); Risk: High, universality must be preserved.

Christians

Original: Χριστιανούς (Christianous)
Literal meaning: “Christ-people,” a Latinized formation on Christos, likely originally an outsiders’ nickname
Semantic range: adherents/followers of Christ as a distinguishable social group
Contextual theological meaning: first applied at Antioch (11:26), marking the movement’s emergent distinct identity, no longer merely a Jewish sect.
Korean rendering: 그리스도인 (Geuriseudoin) — Risk: Low. Standard, transparent, universally understood term in Korean.

Chapter 12 — Herod’s Persecution; Peter’s Deliverance

angel of the Lord

Original: ἄγγελος κυρίου (angelos kyriou)
Contextual theological meaning: God’s direct, personal intervention to protect his persecuted church — reinforcing “Persecution and Bold Witness” with a note of divine providence (섭리, baseline High) amid suffering, not exemption from it (James is martyred in the same chapter).
Korean rendering: 주의 사자 (ju-ui saja) — Risk: Low. Established term; note only that 사자 (messenger) here must not be confused with ancestor-spirit messenger figures in Korean folk belief — this is a created angelic being sent by the sovereign Lord, not a spirit of the dead.

Chapter 13 — Paul and Barnabas Sent; Justification by Faith Proclaimed

set apart / sent (missionary commissioning)

Original: ἀφορίσατε δή μοι (aphorisate dē moi, “set apart for me”); ἀπέλυσαν (apelysan, “sent away/off”)
Contextual theological meaning: the first formal missionary sending, accompanied by fasting, prayer, and laying on of hands (13:2-3) — the structural template for “The Great Commission Fulfilled.”
Korean rendering: 따로 세우다 (선교사로 파송하다) — Risk: Medium. Reuses baseline mission (선교, Medium) with its noted Korean caution against a success/metrics-driven missions culture; this founding narrative should be taught as Spirit-initiated and worship-embedded (fasting, prayer), not merely organizational sending.

a light to the Gentiles

Original: εἰς φῶς ἐθνῶν (eis phōs ethnōn, quoting Isaiah 49:6)
Contextual theological meaning: Paul and Barnabas’s programmatic self-understanding, citing OT prophecy fulfillment — reuses baseline gentiles (이방인, High) and “fulfillment_of_prophecy” doctrine.
Korean rendering: 이방의 빛 — Risk: Medium.

justified by faith, not by the law — KEY passage for the curriculum’s “Justification apart from the Law” doctrine

Original: ἐν τούτῳ πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων δικαιοῦται, … ἀπὸ πάντων ὧν οὐκ ἠδυνήθητε ἐν νόμῳ Μωϋσέως δικαιωθῆναι (13:38-39)
Literal meaning: “by this one everyone believing is justified… from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses”
Semantic range: reuses baseline justification (의롭다 하심, Critical), faith (믿음, High), and law (율법, High) in exact combination
Contextual theological meaning: Paul’s synagogue sermon at Pisidian Antioch is Acts’ clearest doctrinal statement of justification by faith apart from law-keeping, functioning as a narrative preview of the fuller Jerusalem Council resolution (ch. 15) and of Romans/Galatians’ developed doctrine.
Korean rendering: 모세의 율법으로는 의롭다 하심을 얻지 못하던 모든 일에서 믿는 자마다 의롭다 하심을 얻는다 — (all component terms baseline reuse) — Risk: Critical. This is the single most important doctrinal sentence in Acts for cross-consistency with the Romans curriculum; the Korean rendering here MUST be word-for-word consistent with how 의롭다 하심 and 율법 are already rendered in the Romans translation memory, per the Ai Requirements’ cross-document consistency rule.

elders appointed — see Chapter 14 note below (first occurrence there is arguably ch.14:23, but the office is anticipated here).

Chapter 14 — Lystra: Mistaken for Gods; Elders Appointed

mistaken for gods (Zeus and Hermes)

Original: Δία … Ἑρμῆν (Dia… Hermēn)
Contextual theological meaning: the crowd’s polytheistic misreading of a genuine miracle (healing) — Paul and Barnabas’s forceful refusal of worship (“we also are men, of like nature with you,” 14:15) models the sharp biblical distinction between the true living God and any created being, however powerful in appearance.
Korean rendering: proper names transliterated 제우스 / 헤르메스 — Risk: Medium. While Zeus/Hermes have no direct Korean folk-religious equivalent, the underlying dynamic — a wonder-worker being venerated or treated as a spirit/deity — closely parallels the risk already flagged for 능력/표적 (miracle-power) sliding into shamanistic power-veneration; the narrative’s own emphatic correction should be highlighted as reinforcing that same baseline caution.

elders appointed in every church

Original: χειροτονήσαντες … πρεσβυτέρους (cheirotonēsantes presbyterous)
Literal meaning: presbyteros = “elder, older person”; cheirotoneō = “to appoint/ordain by stretching out the hand [in a vote/blessing]”
Semantic range: an officially recognized, appointed local church leadership office
English variants: elders, presbyters
Contextual theological meaning: structural pattern for ongoing local church governance, foundational to “The Church as Community.”
Korean rendering: 장로 (jangno) — Risk: Medium. 장로 is an exceptionally well-established term in Korean Protestantism — Korean Presbyterianism (장로교, Jangnogyo) is the largest Protestant denominational family in Korea, and 장로 carries strong contemporary institutional, social-status, and sometimes honorific-title connotations in Korean church culture (a respected, often senior, elected lay office). Teaching must anchor the term to its NT function (shepherding/overseeing a local congregation, cf. ch.20) rather than assuming readers’ contemporary denominational associations are fully equivalent to the first-century office.

Chapter 15 — The Jerusalem Council

circumcision controversy — reuses circumcision (할례, Medium, established ch.7).

saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus

Original: διὰ τῆς χάριτος τοῦ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ σωθῆναι (dia tēs charitos tou kyriou Iēsou sōthēnai)
Contextual theological meaning: Peter’s council speech (15:11) explicitly states Jewish and Gentile believers alike are saved by grace, not law — the narrative resolution point for “Justification apart from the Law,” directly parallel to Romans 3-4 and Ephesians 2:8-9.
Korean rendering: all component terms baseline reuse (은혜, 주님, 구원) — Risk: Critical. This verse must receive the same rigorous 기복신앙-guarding treatment already mandated for grace throughout the Romans package; the council’s very point is that grace, not the “yoke” of law-keeping (15:10), saves both groups equally.

apostolic decree (abstain from things sacrificed to idols, blood, strangled, sexual immorality)

Original: εἰδωλοθύτων, αἵματος, πνικτοῦ, πορνείας (eidōlothytōn, haimatos, pniktou, porneias)
Contextual theological meaning: a practical accommodation preserving Jewish-Gentile table fellowship without imposing the full law (esp. circumcision) on Gentile believers — models gospel unity without doctrinal compromise, resolving “The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles” tension narratively.
Korean rendering: 우상의 더러운 것과 음행과 목매어 죽인 것과 피 — Risk: Medium. New vocabulary (우상, idols; 음행, sexual immorality) is largely established/low-risk on its own; the doctrinal risk is in correctly teaching this list as pastoral wisdom for unity, not a partial reinstatement of law as a justification requirement (which would contradict 15:11 in the same chapter).

Chapter 16 — Philippi: Lydia, the Slave Girl, the Jailer

spirit of divination / python spirit

Original: πνεῦμα πύθωνα (pneuma pythōna)
Literal meaning: “a spirit of Python” — referencing the mythological Python serpent guarding the Delphic oracle, whose name became a byword for a divining/oracular spirit
Semantic range: an evil spirit enabling fortune-telling/oracular speech through a human medium, exploited commercially by the girl’s owners
English variants: spirit of divination, python spirit, spirit of fortune-telling
Contextual theological meaning: Paul’s exorcism of this spirit “in the name of Jesus Christ” (16:18) directly confronts and defeats a commercialized pagan divination practice — one of the most theologically pointed passages in Acts for Korean application.
Korean rendering: 점하는 귀신 (jeomhaneun gwisin) — Risk: Critical. This is arguably the single most direct textual collision in all of Acts with living Korean religious practice: 점 (jeom, fortune-telling divination) is a widespread contemporary Korean folk practice, and 무당 (mudang) shamans are frequently consulted for exactly this kind of spirit-mediated fortune-telling, often for commercial payment — precisely paralleling the slave girl’s owners profiting from her divination. This passage must be taught as Scripture’s own direct verdict on such practices: they are empowered by “귀신” (evil spirits, not neutral spiritual power), are subject to Christ’s authority and defeated by his name, and their commercial exploitation is itself condemned. This is a uniquely strong, concrete teaching opportunity for the baseline’s broader shamanism-collision cautions (already attached to 능력, 방언, 은혜) and should be flagged for human theologian review at every occurrence.

what must I do to be saved — reuses saved (구원, Critical) verbatim parallel to Acts 2:21/Romans language; the jailer’s question and Paul’s answer (“believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household,” 16:31) is a key cross-reference text; ensure identical consistent rendering with Romans 10:9-10 per the Ai Requirements’ cross-document consistency rule.

household baptism — reuses baptism (세례, High); note the corporate/household dimension, relevant to “The Church as Community,” without implying baptism apart from personal faith (16:34, “he… rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed”).

Chapter 17 — Athens: The Areopagus

unknown god

Original: ἀγνώστῳ θεῷ (agnōstō theō)
Literal meaning: “to an unknown god” (inscription on an actual Athenian altar)
Semantic range: a placeholder object of worship acknowledging ignorance of a deity’s identity, within a polytheistic framework
Contextual theological meaning: Paul uses this altar as an apologetic bridge, proclaiming that the true God—whom the Athenians unknowingly gesture toward—is in fact the one Creator God, not one more deity to add to their pantheon.
Korean rendering: 알지 못하는 신 (alji mothaneun sin) — Risk: High. Requires careful framing: Paul’s rhetorical move assumes and then decisively corrects polytheism (“God… does not live in temples made by hands,” 17:24-25); Korean shamanism’s own pantheon of spirits (산신령, 조상신, and other locally-venerated spirits, several already flagged in the baseline) makes it tempting to read this passage as affirming that any sincerely-worshiped “unknown god” is implicitly the true God. The text does the opposite: it uses common ground only as a rhetorical starting point before proclaiming exclusive, particular truth about the one Creator God and his Son’s resurrection and coming judgment (17:30-31).

idols / idolatry

Original: κατείδωλον (kateidōlon, “full of idols,” 17:16)
Korean rendering: 우상 (usang) — Risk: Medium. Established term; low collision with baseline vocabulary, though Korean folk shrine objects (e.g., 서낭당, village guardian-spirit shrines) provide a live cultural referent worth noting for illustrative teaching.

resurrection mocked — reuses baseline resurrection (부활, Critical); Athenian philosophers’ mockery (17:32) models the gospel’s genuine offense to sophisticated, education-proud audiences — relevant framing for Korea’s own highly education-and-status-conscious culture (cf. baseline note on 영광 vs. 출세).

Chapter 18 — Corinth; Gallio; Priscilla and Aquila

No major new theological terms; reuses the Way (도, Critical, ch.9), synagogue, tentmaking (a vocational detail, Low risk, no doctrinal loading), and baseline church vocabulary. Chapter reviewed: no new load-bearing theological vocabulary beyond established terms.

Chapter 19 — Ephesus: John’s Baptism, Tongues, Sceva’s Sons, the Riot

baptism of John vs. baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus

Original: βάπτισμα Ἰωάννου (baptisma Iōannou) vs. εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ (eis to onoma tou kyriou Iēsou)
Contextual theological meaning: distinguishes a preparatory repentance-baptism from full Christian baptism accompanied by the Spirit’s coming — a nuanced but important point for “Repentance and Baptism,” showing baptism’s meaning develops/is completed at Pentecost.
Korean rendering: reuses 세례 (baseline reuse); risk Medium — requires careful explanatory teaching of the historical distinction, not a new term.

magic books burned

Original: τῶν τὰ περίεργα πραξάντων (tōn ta perierga praxantōn, “those who practiced magic arts”); βίβλους … κατέκαιον (biblous… katekaion)
Contextual theological meaning: new converts’ decisive, costly public renunciation of occult practice upon believing — reinforcing the ch.8/ch.16 pattern of the gospel directly confronting and displacing magical/divinatory practice.
Korean rendering: 마술책을 불사르다 — Risk: High (inherits ch.8/16 shamanism-collision profile). A strong teaching opportunity: genuine conversion in Acts includes decisive, costly separation from occult/divinatory practice, directly applicable to any residual folk-shamanistic practice (점, 부적, 굿 attendance) among Korean believers’ extended families or personal backgrounds.

Artemis of the Ephesians (riot)

Original: τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος (tēs Artemidos)
Contextual theological meaning: economic and religious backlash when the gospel threatens an idol-industry’s profits — illustrates “Persecution and Bold Witness” arising from economic rather than purely theological motives.
Korean rendering: proper name transliterated 아데미 (Ademi) — Risk: Low, though the underlying dynamic (idol-industry economic interest opposing the gospel) can be illustratively connected to Korea’s own shamanistic/fortune-telling service economy (mudang consultation fees, 점집 businesses) without asserting a direct historical equivalence.

Chapter 20 — Miletus: Paul’s Farewell to the Ephesian Elders

elders / overseers, shepherd the church of God

Original: πρεσβυτέρους (presbyterous, 20:17) / ἐπισκόπους (episkopous, “overseers,” 20:28); ποιμαίνειν τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ θεοῦ (poimainein tēn ekklēsian tou theou, “to shepherd the church of God”)
Literal meaning: episkopos = “overseer, one who watches over”; poimainō = “to shepherd, tend as a flock”
Semantic range: episkopos and presbyteros are used interchangeably here for the same office (an important exegetical point for church polity); poimainō draws on OT shepherd-leadership imagery
Contextual theological meaning: pastoral care and doctrinal guardianship (“fierce wolves,” false teachers, 20:29) as the elder/overseer’s core duty — central to “The Church as Community” and “Apostolic Authority.”
Korean rendering: 장로 / 감독 (jangno / gamdok) reuses ch.14’s 장로 with the same institutional-connotation caution noted there; 감독 (gamdok, overseer/bishop) — Risk: Medium. 감독 also carries a contemporary Korean Methodist-denominational title association (감리교 bishops); teaching should clarify the NT-era interchangeability of 장로/감독 as descriptions of one office, not two ranks, distinct from later developed episcopal hierarchy.
shepherd: 보살피다/목양하다 (bosalpida / mogyanghada) — Risk: Low.

Chapter 21 — Warnings, Agabus, the Nazirite Vow, Arrest

Nazirite vow / purification rites

Original: εὐχὴν … ἁγνίσθητι (euchēn… hagnisthēti)
Literal meaning: euchē = “a vow”; hagnizō = “to purify ritually”
Semantic range: a specific OT-derived vow involving temporary ritual abstention and purification (cf. Numbers 6)
Contextual theological meaning: Paul’s participation in Jewish purification custom (to avoid unnecessary offense) while firmly maintaining Gentile freedom from the law elsewhere — a nuanced pastoral application of “Justification apart from the Law” (freedom exercised, not license to needlessly offend).
Korean rendering: 나실인의 서원 / 정결예식 — Risk: Medium. Low native-Korean-vocabulary risk, but requires OT background explanation; pastoral point (voluntary cultural accommodation without compromising the gospel of grace) must be preserved clearly to avoid readers concluding Paul reinstated law-keeping as necessary for salvation.

Chapter 22 — Paul’s Defense Speech (Jerusalem)

Retelling of Paul’s conversion (reuses ch.9 terms: light from heaven, the Way, chosen vessel — no new terms). New element:

Roman citizenship

Original: Ῥωμαῖός εἰμι (Rhōmaios eimi, “I am a Roman [citizen]”)
Contextual theological meaning: a legal-status fact Paul strategically invokes for gospel-advancing purposes (securing fair treatment to continue his witness), not a source of ultimate identity (cf. “Christian Identity in Christ,” Romans baseline doctrine, still governing). Low doctrinal-term risk; primarily narrative/historical.
Korean rendering: 로마 시민 — Risk: Low.

Chapter 23 — The Sanhedrin Trial; Pharisees and Sadducees on Resurrection

resurrection dispute (Pharisees affirm, Sadducees deny) — reuses baseline resurrection (부활, Critical); illustrates that even within Second Temple Judaism, resurrection was a contested doctrine — useful context reinforcing that Christian resurrection teaching was not culturally self-evident even to its first Jewish audience, paralleling the challenge of teaching it against competing frameworks (환생/윤회) in a Korean context.

No other new load-bearing terms; chapter reviewed.

Chapter 24 — Before Felix

righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come

Original: περὶ δικαιοσύνης καὶ ἐγκρατείας καὶ τοῦ κρίματος τοῦ μέλλοντος (peri dikaiosynēs kai enkrateias kai tou krimatos tou mellontos)
Contextual theological meaning: Paul’s direct moral confrontation of Felix, reusing baseline righteousness (의, High/Critical in justification contexts) alongside a new term:
self-control: Original ἐγκράτεια (enkrateia), “mastery over oneself, self-discipline.” Korean rendering: 절제 (jeolje) — Risk: Low.
the judgment to come: reuses general eschatological vocabulary; Korean 장차 오는 심판 — Risk: Medium, ensure it is taught as certain future divine accountability, not karmic inevitability (업, eop, the Buddhist karma concept already implicitly guarded against under baseline “sin”).

Chapter 25 — Before Festus; Appeal to Caesar

No new theological terms; legal/narrative chapter. Reuses the Way, resurrection, salvation-adjacent defense speech content. Chapter reviewed: no new load-bearing theological vocabulary.

Chapter 26 — Before Agrippa

open their eyes, turn from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God

Original: ἀνοῖξαι ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτῶν, τοῦ ἐπιστρέψαι ἀπὸ σκότους εἰς φῶς καὶ τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ Σατανᾶ ἐπὶ τὸν θεόν (26:18)
Contextual theological meaning: Paul’s own commissioning summary, one of the clearest single-verse statements in Acts of conversion’s content: illumination, reorientation of allegiance from Satan’s dominion to God’s, forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among the sanctified (reuses baseline sanctification, 성화, High) — a dense doctrinal summary verse suited for direct cross-reference teaching.
Korean rendering: 눈을 뜨게 하여 어둠에서 빛으로, 사탄의 권세에서 하나님께로 돌아오게 하다 — Risk: High. “Sathan’s power/authority” (사탄의 권세, using 권세 rather than baseline 능력, distinguishing divine power from the counterfeit authority of the evil one) must be kept terminologically distinct from God’s 능력, reinforcing rather than blurring the baseline’s power-of-God risk boundary.

almost persuaded

Original: ἐν ὀλίγῳ με πείθεις (en oligō me peitheis)
Contextual theological meaning: Agrippa’s noncommittal near-response models the danger of intellectual acknowledgment without decisive faith-commitment — pastorally useful, low new-vocabulary risk. Korean: 네가 적은 말로 나를 권하여 그리스도인이 되게 하려 하는도다 — Risk: Low.

Chapter 27 — The Storm and Shipwreck

God’s promise of safety amid the storm — reuses baseline providence (섭리, High); Paul’s confidence (“I believe God that it will be exactly as I have been told,” 27:25) models trust in God’s sovereign word amid crisis without presuming the absence of real danger/hardship (the ship is still wrecked) — useful distinguishing point against a shamanistic expectation that faith/ritual guarantees the total avoidance of misfortune (cf. baseline caution on 기복신앙 under grace). No new core term; chapter reviewed with this doctrinal application noted.

Chapter 28 — Malta; Rome; Unhindered Proclamation

viper / no harm (Malta)

Original: ἔχιδνα (echidna, “viper”)
Contextual theological meaning: the Malta islanders’ shifting verdict (from “he must be a murderer” to “he is a god”) models the same wonder-worker-deification risk flagged at Lystra (ch.14) — reinforcing the baseline’s power/miracle risk boundary yet again at the book’s very close.
Korean rendering: 독사 — Risk: Low, term itself; risk resides in the recurring theological point (already flagged under ch.14).

preaching the kingdom of God … quite openly and unhindered

Original: κηρύσσων τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ … ἀκωλύτως (kēryssōn tēn basileian tou theou… akōlytōs)
Literal meaning: akōlytōs = “without hindrance, unimpeded”
Semantic range: complete freedom of proclamation, despite Paul’s own literal imprisonment
Contextual theological meaning: Acts’ deliberately open, triumphant ending — the gospel’s unstoppable advance “to the end of the earth” (1:8) is narratively fulfilled even under Roman custody, closing “The Great Commission Fulfilled” doctrine on a note of confident hope rather than resolution of Paul’s personal circumstances.
Korean rendering: 하나님의 나라를 전파하며 … 거침없이 담대하게 (reuses baseline kingdom_of_god, 하나님의 나라, Low, and boldness, 담대함, High) — Risk: Medium. The word 거침없이 (unhindered) should be taught as a statement about the gospel’s unstoppable divine momentum, not (as Korean church growth culture might be tempted to read it) as a promise of unhindered institutional/numerical success — consistent with the baseline’s caution about a metrics-driven missions culture.

End of semantic analysis. All 28 chapters of Acts reviewed. See analysis/08_core_glossary.md for the consolidated glossary table drawing on every term identified above.

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