Core Glossary
08 — Core Glossary: 1 Chronicles (English–Mandarin)
Curriculum: 1 Chronicles
Core passage anchor: 1 Chronicles 17:1–15
Language pair: English–Mandarin
Generated: Phase 1 Step 1 execution
Status: Draft for Phase 2 promotion into shared translation_memory.json
How to Read This Glossary
- Reused (Baseline) terms MUST be rendered exactly as recorded in the Romans baseline
translation_memory.json. No deviation permitted. - New (1 Chronicles) terms are proposed additions required by this curriculum’s Hebrew narrative-genealogical-cultic vocabulary; they carry provisional risk tiers using the same Critical/High/Medium/Low framework as the baseline
doctrine_risk_registry.json, pending Phase 2 theologian ratification. - Hebrew (not Koine Greek) is the cited original-language column for this OT book; Septuagint Greek is noted only where it bears directly on a baseline-anchored NT-linked term.
Part A — Reused Baseline Terms (Exact Reuse Required)
| English Term | Mandarin (exact reuse) | Pinyin | Hebrew Equivalent(s) in 1 Chronicles | Risk (baseline) | Chapters | Note for This Curriculum |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| God | 神 | Shén | אֱלֹהִים (Elohim) | Critical | 1, 2, 5-6, 9-10, 13, 15-18, 21-23, 26, 28-29 (pervasive) | Must be kept distinct in-book from 耶和华 (YHWH); see new term below. |
| Covenant | 约 | yuē | בְּרִית (berith) | High | 11, 16, 17, 28 | Distinguish bilateral human covenants (ch.11) from the unilateral divine covenant (ch.17). |
| Prophet | 先知 | xiānzhī | נָבִיא (nabi) | Low | 17, 25 (musicians “prophesying”), 29 | Nathan (ch.17) is the primary occurrence; also note singers’ prophetic function (25:1-3). |
| Israel | 以色列 | Yǐsèliè | יִשְׂרָאֵל | Medium | pervasive | Standard. |
| David | 大卫 | Dàwèi | דָּוִיד | Medium | pervasive | Standard. |
| Seed of David | 大卫的后裔 | Dàwèi de hòuyì | זֶרַע (David’s) | High | 17 | Core passage anchor term; must align exactly with Romans 1:3 usage. |
| Election | 拣选 | jiǎnxuǎn | בָּחַר (bachar) | High | 28-29 | Applies to God’s choice of Judah, David’s house, Solomon, Levi, Jerusalem. |
| Holy | 圣洁 | shèngjié | קָדוֹשׁ (qadosh) | High | 6, 15, 23 | Levitical/priestly set-apartness. |
| Sanctification | 成圣 | chéngshèng | קָדַשׁ (qadash, verbal action) | Critical | 15, 23 | Levites “sanctify themselves” (15:12,14) before ark-bearing; must not read as self-achieved. |
| Glory | 荣耀 | róngyào | כָּבוֹד (kavod) | Medium | 16, 29 | David’s psalm (ch.16) and closing prayer (29:11) ascribe glory to God, not human achievement/face. |
| Peace | 平安 | píng’ān | שָׁלוֹם (shalom) | Medium | 22 | Underlies Solomon’s name etymology (22:9). |
| Thanksgiving | 感恩 | gǎn’ēn | יָדָה/תּוֹדָה (yadah/todah) | Low | 16, 23, 25, 29 | See also new liturgical term 称谢 below for the more formal verb form. |
| Grace | 恩典 | ēndiǎn | (conceptually contrasted with כִּפֶּר/נְדָבָה contexts) | Critical | 21, 29 | Invoked by contrast/teaching note wherever atonement or freewill offering risk a merit-transaction reading. |
| Messiah | 基督 | Jīdū | (conceptually contrasted with מָשִׁיחַ as applied to human kings) | Critical | 11 (David anointed king), 29 (Solomon anointed) | NEVER apply to any human king in 1 Chronicles; reserved exclusively for the NT title. See new term 受膏者 below. |
| Son of God | 神的儿子 | Shén de érzi | (conceptually contrasted with בֵּן in 17:13) | Critical | 17 | NEVER apply to Solomon’s covenantal sonship (17:13); reserved exclusively for Christ’s eternal Sonship. |
| Father (of God) | 父 | fù | אָב (av) | High | 17 | God as covenantal father to the Davidic king (17:13); distinguish from ancestor veneration. |
| Law | 律法 | lǜfǎ | (implicit background to Levitical/priestly ordinance chapters) | High | 6, 15-16, 22-26 | Background covenant-law framework for the entire Levitical order; no single verse-level occurrence of “law” in the core passage, but doctrinally load-bearing across chs. 6, 15-16, 22-26. |
| Sin | 罪 | zuì | (contrasted with מַעַל, a more specific covenant-treachery term — see new entry) | High | 5, 10, 21 | Use 罪 for general moral offense (e.g., David’s census sin, ch.21); use new term 干犯 for the more specific covenant-breach sense in chs. 5, 10. |
| Lord (Kyrios, NT confession sense) | 主 | zhǔ | — (NOT the rendering for יהוה in this book; see new term below) | Critical | — | Explicitly NOT used for YHWH in 1 Chronicles. Retained here only to mark the boundary against confusion with 耶和华. |
Part B — New Terms Required by 1 Chronicles (Proposed for Phase 2 Promotion)
| English Term | Mandarin | Pinyin | Hebrew Original | Transliteration | Doctrine | Risk | Chapters | Rationale / Collision Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The LORD (covenant name, YHWH) | 耶和华 | Yēhéhuá | יְהוָה | YHWH | God’s Faithfulness across Generations; Davidic Covenant Reaffirmed | Critical | pervasive (esp. 10, 13, 16-18, 21-22, 28-29) | Must never collapse into 神 (generic deity) or 主 (Christological Lord); this is God’s self-revealed proper covenant name, the anchor of the whole book’s faithfulness theme. |
| LORD of hosts | 万军之耶和华 | Wànjūn zhī Yēhéhuá | יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת | YHWH Tseva’ot | Davidic Covenant Reaffirmed; Power of God | High | 17 | Never abbreviate; never rendered with folk celestial-army imagery (天兵天将). |
| House (temple sense) | 殿 / 圣殿 | diàn / shèngdiàn | בַּיִת (sanctuary sense) | bayit | Preparation for the Temple | Critical | 17, 22, 28-29 | Loses Hebrew wordplay with dynastic “house” (see next entry); mandatory translator’s note required at every occurrence. |
| House (dynasty sense) | 家 / 家室 | jiā / jiāshì | בַּיִת (dynastic sense) | bayit | Davidic Covenant Reaffirmed | Critical | 17 | Must not be read through the revocable Mandate-of-Heaven (天命) lens; God’s promise is unconditional. |
| Tabernacle / tent-dwelling | 帐幕 | zhàngmù | מִשְׁכָּן / אֹהֶל | mishkan / ohel | Preparation for the Temple | Medium | 5-6, 17 | Distinguish from an ordinary camping tent; sacred, mobile sanctuary sense. |
| Ark of the covenant | 约柜 | yuēguì | אֲרוֹן הַבְּרִית | aron habb’rith | Worship and the Levitical Order | High | 13, 15-17, 22, 28 | Not an ancestral spirit-tablet box; God’s living covenant throne-symbol. |
| Word of God/the LORD | 神的话 / 耶和华的话 | Shén de huà / Yēhéhuá de huà | דְּבַר (הָ)אֱלֹהִים / יהוה | devar (ha)Elohim/YHWH | Inspiration of Scripture | High | 17 | Discrete, dateable, propositional revelation, not timeless sage-wisdom (经). |
| Servant (of the LORD/king) | 仆人 | púrén | עֶבֶד | ebed | Davidic Covenant Reaffirmed | Low | 17, 21 | Honorific covenant title, not merely a bondservant. |
| Judge (era of the Judges) | 士师 | shìshī | שֹׁפֵט | shophet | Genealogy and Continuity | Medium | 17 | Not a modern courtroom judge (法官). |
| Ruler / prince (appointed leader) | 君 / 首领 | jūn / shǒulǐng | נָגִיד | nagid | Davidic Covenant Reaffirmed | Medium | 17 | Emphasizes divine appointment, distinct from 王 (king, dynastic office). |
| Name (God-granted renown) | 名 / 名声 | míng / míngshēng | שֵׁם | shem | Davidic Covenant Reaffirmed | Medium | 17 | God-given, not self-achieved face (面子) or ancestor-glorifying honor (光宗耀祖). |
| Plant (covenant land-permanence) | 栽培 | zāipéi | נָטַע | nata | God’s Faithfulness across Generations | Medium | 17 | Not a feng shui-style cosmic-placement concept. |
| Establish (firmly secure) | 坚立 / 建立 | jiānlì / jiànlì | כּוּן (הֵכִין) | hekhin | Davidic Covenant Reaffirmed | High | 17 | God’s own active securing of a fragile human institution. |
| Kingdom (Davidic/earthly) | 国位 / 国 | guówèi / guó | מַמְלָכָה | mamlakah | Davidic Covenant Reaffirmed | High | 17, 28-29 | Historical seed of, but not equivalent without a clarifying note to, the baseline’s “神的国” (kingdom_of_god). |
| Throne | 宝座 | bǎozuò | כִּסֵּא | kisse | Davidic Covenant Reaffirmed | High | 17, 29 | Contrast (not analogy) with the revocable imperial dragon-throne/Mandate-of-Heaven concept. |
| Forever / eternal | 永远 | yǒngyuǎn | עוֹלָם | olam | Davidic Covenant Reaffirmed; God’s Faithfulness across Generations | Medium | 16-17 | Semantic range includes “a very long time”; here emphatic covenant-permanence, resolved by NT fulfillment. |
| Seed / offspring | 后裔 | hòuyì | זֶרַע | zera | Davidic Covenant Reaffirmed | High | 17 | Reuse pattern of baseline’s “seed_of_david”; dual near/far (Solomon/Christ) fulfillment must be taught together. |
| Son (Solomon’s covenantal sonship) | 儿子 | érzi | בֵּן | ben | Davidic Covenant Reaffirmed | Critical | 17 | MUST NOT be conflated with baseline’s reserved “神的儿子” (Son of God, Christ’s eternal Sonship); mandatory distinguishing note every occurrence. |
| Steadfast love / lovingkindness | 慈爱 | cí’ài | חֶסֶד | chesed | God’s Faithfulness across Generations | High | 10, 16-17 | Covenant-loyal love toward an existing covenant partner; distinct from baseline’s 恩典 (grace, unmerited favor apart from relationship). |
| Anoint / anointed one (human king) | 受膏 / 受膏者 | shòu gāo / shòu gāo zhě | מָשַׁח / מָשִׁיחַ | mashach / mashiach | Davidic Covenant Reaffirmed | Critical | 11, 29 | MUST NEVER be rendered as or conflated with baseline’s reserved “基督” (Messiah); ordinary royal installation sense only. |
| Genealogy / generations / descendants | 家谱 / 后代 / 子孙 | jiāpǔ / hòudài / zǐsūn | תולדות-adjacent; בֵּן/בְּנֵי | ben/bene | Genealogy and Continuity of God’s People | Medium | 1-9 | List-marker register; avoid ancestor-veneration overtones. |
| Beget / father (genealogical verb) | 生 | shēng | יָלַד (הוֹלִיד) | holid | Genealogy and Continuity | Low | 1-3, 7-8 | Standard genealogical register. |
| Clan / family | 家族 | jiāzú | מִשְׁפָּחָה | mishpachah | Genealogy and Continuity | Low | 2, 4-8 | Mid-level kinship unit. |
| Bless / blessing | 祝福 / 福 | zhùfú / fú | בָּרַךְ | barak | Genealogy and Continuity | High | 4 | Directly intersects baseline’s 福 caution (folk fortune-seeking); Jabez’s prayer is relational petition, not incantation. |
| Territory / border | 境界 / 地界 | jìngjiè / dìjiè | גְּבוּל | gevul | Genealogy and Continuity | Low | 4 | Low risk. |
| Birthright | 长子的名分 | zhǎngzǐ de míngfèn | בְּכוֹרָה | bekorah | Genealogy and Continuity | Medium | 5 | Deliberately parallel construction to baseline’s “adoption” (儿子的名分); God’s sovereign reordering, not a re-earnable status. |
| Unfaithfulness / covenant trespass | 干犯 | gānfàn | מַעַל | ma’al | God’s Faithfulness across Generations | High | 5, 10 | Covenant-treachery/betrayal, not generic wrongdoing (罪) or karmic retribution (报应). |
| Exile / carried captive | 被掳 | bèi lǔ | גָּלָה | galah | God’s Faithfulness across Generations | High | 5 | Personal covenant discipline, not impersonal karma. |
| Priest | 祭司 | jìsī | כֹּהֵן | kohen | Worship and the Levitical Order | High | 6, 9, 15, 23-24, 26, 29 | Hereditary, divinely instituted mediator; not a Buddhist monk (僧) or Daoist priest (道士). |
| Levite | 利未人 | Lìwèirén | לֵוִי | Levi | Worship and the Levitical Order | Medium | 6, 9, 15, 23, 26 | Corporate set-apartness by appointment, not superior personal piety. |
| Cities of refuge | 逃城 | táochéng | עָרֵי מִקְלָט | arei miqlat | Worship and the Levitical Order | Low | 6 | Standard CUV term. |
| Gatekeeper | 守门的 | shǒumén de | שׁוֹעֵר | sho’er | Worship and the Levitical Order | Low | 9, 26 | Levitical guard office. |
| Dwell / settle | 居住 / 住 | jūzhù / zhù | יָשַׁב | yashav | Genealogy and Continuity | Low | 9 | Enacts the “planted” promise of ch.17. |
| Inquire (of the LORD) | 求问 | qiúwèn | דָּרַשׁ | darash | Davidic Covenant Reaffirmed (contrast) | High | 10 | Positive form must be sharply distinguished from mediumship/divination terms already forbidden in baseline. |
| Medium / necromancer | 交鬼的 | jiāoguǐ de | בַּעֲלַת אוֹב | ba’alat ov | (negative contrast term) | High | 10 | Direct biblical prohibition-example; deliver pastorally given cultural prevalence of mediumship practices. |
| Mighty man / warrior | 勇士 | yǒngshì | גִּבּוֹר | gibbor | Genealogy and Continuity | Low | 11-12, 20 | Covenant-loyal warriors, not autonomous wuxia-style heroes. |
| Zion | 锡安 | Xī’ān | צִיּוֹן | Tsiyon | Preparation for the Temple | Medium | 11 | Distinguish from the modern political term “Zionism” in adult teaching contexts. |
| Anger / wrath (of the LORD) | 发怒 / 忿怒 | fānù / fènnù | חָרָה / אַף | charah / aph | Worship and the Levitical Order | Medium | 13, 21 | Consistent holiness-response, not capricious temper or taboo-violation fear. |
| Break through (God’s victory) | 冲破 / 突破 | chōngpò / túpò | פָּרַץ | parats | God’s Faithfulness across Generations | Low | 14 | God-credited victory, not human generalship. |
| Consecrate / sanctify (Levitical action) | 分别为圣 / 自洁 | fēnbié wéi shèng / zì jié | קָדַשׁ | qadash | Worship and the Levitical Order | High | 15, 23 | Ties to baseline “成圣” Neo-Confucian caution; obedient response to specific divine command. |
| Ordinance / prescribed manner | 定例 / 规矩 | dìnglì / guījǔ | מִשְׁפָּט | mishpat | Worship and the Levitical Order | Medium | 15 | Worship follows God’s revealed pattern, not human improvisation. |
| Praise | 赞美 | zànměi | הָלֵל | halal | Worship and the Levitical Order | Low | 16, 25 | Formal liturgical exaltation of God. |
| Give thanks (liturgical) | 称谢 | chēngxiè | יָדָה (הוֹדוּ) | hodu | Worship and the Levitical Order | Low | 16, 23, 25, 29 | More formal/liturgical register than baseline’s general 感恩. |
| Everlasting covenant | 永远的约 | yǒngyuǎn de yuē | בְּרִית עוֹלָם | berith olam | God’s Faithfulness across Generations | High | 16 | Links Abrahamic covenant permanence directly to the Davidic covenant of ch.17. |
| Dedicate (to sacred use) | 献 / 奉献为圣 | xiàn / fèngxiàn wéi shèng | הֵקְדִּישׁ | hiqdish | Preparation for the Temple | Medium | 18 | David’s lifelong material preparation for the temple, distinct from Solomon’s later building. |
| Atonement | 赎罪 | shúzuì | כִּפֶּר / כַּפָּרָה | kipper / kapparah | Preparation for the Temple; (cross-doctrine: Salvation background) | Critical | 21 | NEVER rendered through 超度 (posthumous ritual) or 功德-style merit-offsetting logic; God-initiated, sacrifice-mediated, for the living covenant community. |
| Altar | 祭坛 / 坛 | jìtán / tán | מִזְבֵּח | mizbeach | Preparation for the Temple | Medium | 21 | Site of atonement and future temple. |
| Angel/messenger of the LORD | 耶和华的使者 | Yēhéhuá de shǐzhě | מַלְאַךְ יהוה | mal’akh YHWH | God’s Faithfulness across Generations | Medium | 21 | Distinguish from semi-independent folk intermediary spirits (城隍, 土地公). |
| House of the LORD (temple, technical) | 耶和华的殿 | Yēhéhuá de diàn | בֵּית יהוה | beth YHWH | Preparation for the Temple | Critical | 22, 28-29 | Combines two Critical new terms; compounding wordplay and covenant-name cautions. |
| Service / ministry (Levitical) | 事奉 / 服事 | shìfèng / fúshì | עֲבוֹדָה | avodah | Worship and the Levitical Order | Medium | 23 | God-appointed structured ministry, not menial labor or self-chosen devotion. |
| Divisions / courses (rotational duty) | 班次 | bāncì | מַחְלְקוֹת | machlekoth | Worship and the Levitical Order | Low | 24-25 | Direct link to NT background (Luke 1:5). |
| Lot (casting lots, administrative) | 抽签 | chōuqiān | גּוֹרָל | goral | Worship and the Levitical Order | Medium | 24 | Administrative allocation under God’s providence, not divinatory fortune-stick practice (求签). |
| Pattern (divinely revealed design) | 样式 / 图样 | yàngshì / túyàng | תַּבְנִית | tabnith | Preparation for the Temple | High | 28 | Strong collision risk with feng shui cosmological design principles; this is a one-time historical revelation, not a timeless technique. |
| Wholehearted / perfect heart | 尽心 / 完全的心 | jìnxīn / wánquán de xīn | לֵבָב שָׁלֵם / תָּמִים | levav shalem / tamim | Preparation for the Temple; Worship and the Levitical Order | Medium | 28 | Relational devotion, not Confucian self-perfecting moral cultivation. |
| Freewill offering | 甘心乐意的礼物 / 甘心献的祭 | gānxīn lèyì de lǐwù / gānxīn xiàn de jì | נְדָבָה | nedabah | Preparation for the Temple | High | 29 | Grateful response to God’s prior ownership of all things, not merit-purchasing almsgiving (功德). |
| Kingdom of the LORD | 耶和华的国 | Yēhéhuá de guó | מַמְלְכוּת יהוה | mamlekhuth YHWH | Davidic Covenant Reaffirmed | Critical | 29 | Climactic statement of the book’s kingdom-theology trajectory toward the NT’s 神的国. |
| Heart (inner will/intention) | 心 / 心意 | xīn / xīnyì | לֵבָב | levav | Davidic Covenant Reaffirmed | Medium | 17, 28 | Seat of moral intention, not mere feeling; recurs at the “wholehearted” formula (ch.28). |
| Vision (prophetic revelation) | 默示 / 启示 | mòshì / qǐshì | חָזוֹן | chazon | Inspiration of Scripture | Medium | 17 | Distinguish from divinatory visions/fortune-telling (占卜, 算卦). |
Part C — Risk Summary for 1 Chronicles New Terms
| Risk Tier | Count (New Terms) | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 8 | Human theologian review, every occurrence |
| High | 15 | Human theologian review |
| Medium | 17 | Native speaker review |
| Low | 10 | Automated review |
Critical-tier new terms requiring mandatory theologian review at every occurrence: the LORD/YHWH (耶和华), house-as-temple (殿), house-as-dynasty (家/家室), Son (Solomon’s sonship, 儿子, in contrast to 神的儿子), anointed one (受膏者, in contrast to 基督), atonement (赎罪), house of the LORD (耶和华的殿), kingdom of the LORD (耶和华的国).
Cross-reference to baseline: This glossary assumes and does not duplicate the baseline bible_term_registry.json and doctrine_risk_registry.json entries for God, Covenant, Prophet, Israel, David, Seed of David, Election, Holy, Sanctification, Glory, Peace, Thanksgiving, Grace, Messiah, Son of God, Father, Law, Sin, and Lord — all reused exactly per Part A above. Phase 2 must load both this file and the baseline translation_memory.json together.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: 神
Transliteration: Shén
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 上帝, 天, 老天爷
Original: אֱלֹהִים
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Original baseline note retained in full: this package standardizes on 神 rather than 上帝 for the reasons given in the Romans baseline; 天/老天爷 remain forbidden as generic impersonal-Heaven glosses. 1 Chronicles application: 神 (Elohim, generic divine-name form) must be kept lexically and rhetorically distinct within this book from 耶和华 (YHWH, the covenant name — see new term ‘yhwh’ below). The clearest example is 1 Chronicles 17:2 (Nathan’s own word, 神) versus 17:4ff (God’s own oracle, 耶和华) — collapsing the two erases the chapter’s own internal argument.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: 成圣
Transliteration: chéngshèng
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: 修身, 修炼
Original: קָדַשׁ (verbal/ongoing sense)
Category: Worship
Inherited from Romans package. 1 Chronicles application: reflected in the Levites’ self-sanctification before bearing the ark (15:12, 14) and their organized service (ch. 23); the Neo-Confucian self-cultivation caution from the baseline applies directly — this is obedient response to a specific divine command for a specific task, never open-ended self-achieved moral perfection.
Grace
Approved rendering: 恩典
Transliteration: ēndiǎn
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: 功德, 造化, 福气, 阴德
Inherited from Romans package. 1 Chronicles application: invoked by contrast wherever atonement (ch. 21) or the freewill temple offering (ch. 29) risk a merit-transaction misreading. Must be kept distinct from the new term ‘steadfast_love’ (慈爱, chesed) below: 恩典 is unmerited favor extended apart from any prior relationship or merit, while chesed is covenant-loyal love toward an EXISTING covenant partner.
Messiah
Approved rendering: 基督
Transliteration: Jīdū
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Rejected alternatives: 弥勒, 救世主式泛称
Original: (conceptually contrasted with מָשִׁיחַ as applied to human kings, e.g. 1 Chr 11:3, 29:22)
Category: Kingship
Inherited from Romans package. 1 Chronicles application: NEVER applied to any human king in this book. David (11:3) and Solomon (29:22) are both anointed in the ordinary royal-installation sense; use the new term ‘anointing’ (受膏/受膏者) for those occurrences. 基督 remains reserved exclusively for the NT’s singular, eschatological Messianic title.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: 神的儿子
Transliteration: Shén de érzi
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 天子, 神人
Original: (conceptually contrasted with בֵּן at 1 Chr 17:13)
Category: Kingship
Inherited from Romans package. 1 Chronicles application: NEVER applied to Solomon’s covenantal sonship at 17:13. Use the new term ‘davidic_sonship_of_solomon’ (儿子) for that verse, with its mandatory distinguishing note. 神的儿子 remains reserved exclusively for Christ’s eternal, unique, co-equal divine Sonship.
Lord
Approved rendering: 主
Transliteration: zhǔ
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 主人, 老爷
Inherited from Romans package, reserved exclusively for the NT Christological confession sense (‘耶稣是主’, Romans 10:9). BOUNDARY MARKER for this curriculum: 主 is explicitly NOT the rendering used for YHWH anywhere in 1 Chronicles. God-references in this book use either 神 (Elohim) or 耶和华 (YHWH, see new term below); neither should ever be rendered 主, to prevent readers from conflating the OT covenant name with the NT Lordship confession before the doctrinal connection is taught explicitly.
Yhwh
Approved rendering: 耶和华
Transliteration: Yēhéhuá
Doctrine: The Davidic Covenant Reaffirmed
Rejected alternatives: 神 (generic Elohim), 主 (reserved NT kyrios-confession sense), 天 (impersonal Heaven)
Original: יְהוָה
Category: God
NEW CRITICAL TERM for this curriculum. The personal, self-revealed covenant name of God (‘I AM’). CUV-established transliteration-rendering, used consistently across the Hebrew Bible in the Chinese Bible tradition. Must NEVER be collapsed into 神 (generic deity noun) or 主 (reserved for the NT Christological confession). This is the single most consequential transliteration decision in the book: the entire Davidic covenant oracle (1 Chronicles 17) is anchored specifically to God’s own consistent, self-revealing covenant identity, not an abstract deity-concept — visible in the shift from 神 (17:2, Nathan’s own word) to 耶和华 (17:4ff, God’s own oracle).
Atonement
Approved rendering: 赎罪
Transliteration: shúzuì
Doctrine: Atonement and Sacrifice
Rejected alternatives: 超度 (Buddhist/Daoist posthumous ritual), 功德 (transactable merit accumulation)
Original: כִּפֶּר / כַּפָּרָה
Category: Sin
NEW CRITICAL TERM, central to the whole sacrificial system presupposed by ‘Preparation for the Temple.’ David’s altar and offering stay the plague at Ornan’s threshing floor (21:22-26), the future temple site. Must never be rendered through or explained by 超度 (a Buddhist/Daoist posthumous ritual releasing a soul from suffering, already forbidden in the baseline under ‘salvation’) or through folk merit-offsetting logic (功德, already forbidden under ‘grace’). Biblical atonement here is God-initiated and directed at a LIVING covenant community’s guilt before a personal God, not a ritual technology for manipulating cosmic balance. Flagged for promotion to permanent Critical-tier status given its centrality.
Davidic House Dynasty
Approved rendering: 家 / 家室
Transliteration: jiā / jiāshì
Doctrine: God’s House versus David’s House (Wordplay)
Rejected alternatives: 天命-adjacent phrasing implying revocable mandate
Original: בַּיִת (dynastic sense)
Category: Kingship
NEW CRITICAL TERM. The ‘house’ God promises to build for David — an enduring royal dynasty/lineage (17:10). The Hebrew בַּיִת used here is the SAME word rendered 殿/圣殿 for the temple sense (see next entry) and for David’s own cedar palace — a wordplay Mandarin cannot preserve with one word. MANDATORY translator’s note required at every occurrence in 17:1-15 restoring the lost pun. Must be carefully distinguished from the Chinese dynastic-succession concept of the revocable Mandate of Heaven (天命): God’s promise to David’s house is unconditional and unilaterally guaranteed by God’s own oath, contrasted explicitly with Saul’s forfeited house (17:13b).
House Temple
Approved rendering: 殿 / 圣殿
Transliteration: diàn / shèngdiàn
Doctrine: God’s House versus David’s House (Wordplay)
Rejected alternatives: 庙 (folk temple), 寺 (Buddhist temple), 道观 (Daoist temple)
Original: בַּיִת (sanctuary sense)
Category: Temple
NEW CRITICAL TERM, the sanctuary-sense counterpart of ‘davidic_house_dynasty’ above. A permanent structure/dwelling-place for God, which David wishes to build (17:1, 4) but is told he may not. MANDATORY translator’s note required at every occurrence in chs. 17, 22, 28-29 alerting reviewers/teachers to the lost Hebrew wordplay, since this pun is the theological engine of the chapter. Never use 庙/寺/道观 (per baseline’s existing ‘church’ caution, extended here).
House Of The Lord
Approved rendering: 耶和华的殿
Transliteration: Yēhéhuá de diàn
Doctrine: Preparation for the Temple
Original: בֵּית יהוה
Category: Temple
NEW TERM, combining the two Critical entries ‘yhwh’ and ‘house_temple’ into a single compound. The specific, technical designation for the future temple, formally named by David in 1 Chronicles 22:1, directly fulfilling the trajectory begun in ch. 17. Compounds both the wordplay caution and the covenant-name caution and therefore carries the same mandatory-note requirement as both source entries.
Anointing
Approved rendering: 受膏 / 受膏者
Transliteration: mashach / mashiach (Heb.)
Doctrine: Anointing and Human Kingship
Rejected alternatives: 基督 / 弥赛亚 (reserved NT Messianic title)
Original: מָשַׁח / מָשִׁיחַ
Category: Kingship
NEW CRITICAL TERM. Ritual anointing with oil marking installation into a divinely sanctioned office; every Davidic/Solomonic king in this book is anointed in this ordinary installation sense (11:3, 29:22). Must NEVER be rendered as or conflated with the baseline’s reserved ‘messiah’ (基督/弥赛亚), restricted to the singular, eschatological, once-and-for-all Messianic office fulfilled exclusively in Christ. MANDATORY translator’s note at every human-king anointing occurrence.
Kingdom Of The Lord
Approved rendering: 耶和华的国
Transliteration: mamlekhuth YHWH (Heb.)
Doctrine: The Kingdom of the LORD (Typological Trajectory toward the Kingdom of God)
Original: מַמְלְכוּת יהוה
Category: Kingship
NEW CRITICAL TERM, the book’s climactic theological statement. David’s closing prayer names Solomon’s throne ‘the throne of the LORD’ and speaks of ‘the kingdom of the LORD’ (29:23), matching the Chronicler’s distinctive redaction at 17:14 (‘my house and my kingdom,’ not ‘your house and your kingdom,’ contra 2 Samuel 7:16). Teaching material must draw an explicit typological — not identity — line to the baseline’s reserved 神的国 (kingdom_of_god): the earthly Davidic kingdom is historical seed, not yet the NT’s fully realized universal reign.
Davidic Sonship Of Solomon
Approved rendering: 儿子
Transliteration: ben (Heb.)
Doctrine: Covenantal Sonship of Solomon (Contrasted with the Eternal Sonship of Christ)
Rejected alternatives: 神的儿子 (reserved for Christ’s eternal Sonship)
Original: בֵּן
Category: Kingship
NEW CRITICAL CROSS-REFERENCE TERM. Solomon’s covenantal, royal-adoptive designation as God’s ‘son’ (17:13), a status applied to every legitimate Davidic heir. This term must NEVER be rendered or taught as equivalent to the baseline’s reserved Critical term 神的儿子 (Christ’s eternal, unique, co-equal divine Sonship). MANDATORY translator’s note required at every occurrence: ‘Solomon’s sonship in 1 Chronicles 17:13 is a covenantal, royal-adoptive designation, fulfilled and surpassed — not repeated — in the eternal Sonship of Christ (神的儿子).’
High Risk Terms
Covenant
Approved rendering: 约
Transliteration: yuē
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: 合同, 契约
Original: בְּרִית
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. 1 Chronicles application: used of both a bilateral human political covenant (David and Israel’s elders, 11:3) and the unilateral divine covenant with David (ch. 17) — the qualitative escalation between the two must be taught explicitly, not assumed obvious from a single shared word.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: 大卫的后裔
Transliteration: Dàwèi de hòuyì
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: זֶרַע (of David)
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. 1 Chronicles application: immediate referent at 17:11 is Solomon; the term’s open-endedness is precisely what permits the NT’s reading of an ultimate ‘seed of David’ fulfilled in Christ (cf. Romans 1:3, already using this exact Mandarin phrase). Both the near-term (Solomon) and far (Christ) fulfillments must be taught together without collapsing one into the other.
Election
Approved rendering: 拣选
Transliteration: jiǎnxuǎn
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: 天命, 命运, 缘分
Original: בָּחַר
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. 1 Chronicles application: applies to God’s choice of Judah, David’s house, Levi, Jerusalem, and specifically Solomon to build the temple (28:4-6, 10). David explicitly frames Solomon’s selection as God’s personal, gracious choice ‘of all my sons’ (28:5) — the book’s strongest concrete narrative illustration of the baseline’s existing caution against 天命/命运/缘分.
Holy
Approved rendering: 圣洁
Transliteration: shèngjié
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: 清净, 圣人般的
Original: קָדוֹשׁ
Category: Worship
Inherited from Romans package. 1 Chronicles application: describes Levitical/priestly set-apartness (chs. 6, 15, 23) as corporate holiness-by-appointment, not a self-cultivated ascetic elite.
Father
Approved rendering: 父
Transliteration: fù
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: 祖先, 老天爷
Inherited from Romans package. 1 Chronicles application: God as covenantal father to the Davidic king (17:13) — a relational, adoptive royal-sonship formula (cf. Psalm 2:7), categorically distinct from Christ’s eternal, ontological Sonship. Must be distinguished from ancestor veneration (祭祖), where the direction of filial care runs from living descendants to the venerated dead, the reverse of God’s fatherly care for a living king.
Law
Approved rendering: 律法
Transliteration: lǜfǎ
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: 礼, 道德规范, 法律
Inherited from Romans package. 1 Chronicles application: the implicit Mosaic covenant-law background presupposed by the entire Levitical order (chs. 6, 15-16, 22-26); no single verse-level occurrence within the core passage, but doctrinally load-bearing across the Levitical-organization chapters. Must not be equated with Confucian ritual propriety (礼) as the baseline cautions.
Sin
Approved rendering: 罪
Transliteration: zuì
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: 报应, 罪犯式的罪
Original: חֵטְא (implicit; explicit in David’s census confession, 1 Chr 21:8)
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package. 1 Chronicles application: use 罪 for general moral offense (e.g. David’s census sin, 21:8, 21:17), reserving the new term ‘covenant_trespass’ (干犯, ma’al) for the more specific covenant-treachery sense seen in chs. 5 and 10. Do not conflate the two, and avoid the folk-retribution frame of 报应 for either.
Lord Of Hosts
Approved rendering: 万军之耶和华
Transliteration: Wànjūn zhī Yēhéhuá
Doctrine: The Davidic Covenant Reaffirmed
Rejected alternatives: 耶和华 (abbreviated, loses cosmic-sovereignty nuance), 天兵天将 (folk celestial-army imagery)
Original: יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת
Category: God
NEW TERM. Standard CUV compound title emphasizing YHWH’s supreme command over heavenly and/or earthly armies, invoked at 1 Chronicles 17:7 at the moment God commits to an unbreakable promise. Must never be abbreviated to 耶和华 alone where the cosmic-sovereignty nuance is the rhetorical point, and must never be illustrated with folk celestial-army imagery (天兵天将), which would reduce YHWH to a chief deity among subordinate spirit-generals.
Word Of God
Approved rendering: 神的话 / 耶和华的话
Transliteration: Shén de huà / Yēhéhuá de huà
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture / Prophetic Revelation
Rejected alternatives: 经 (jīng, sage-wisdom classics)
Original: דְּבַר הָאֱלֹהִים / דְּבַר יהוה
Category: God
NEW TERM. The technical formula for a discrete, verbal, propositional revelation given to a prophet (1 Chronicles 17:3), correcting Nathan’s own well-meaning but uninspired first answer (17:2). Must be distinguished from a sage’s accumulated wisdom-sayings (经, jīng, as in the Confucian Classics or the Daodejing) — this is a discrete, dateable, verbal message from a personal God to a specific individual on a specific night, not a timeless collection of moral maxims.
Inquire Of The Lord
Approved rendering: 求问
Transliteration: qiúwèn
Doctrine: Legitimate versus Illegitimate Spiritual Inquiry
Rejected alternatives: 求签, 问卜, 占卜
Original: דָּרַשׁ
Category: Prophecy
NEW TERM. To consult God, through prayer, priest, or prophet, for guidance; contrasted in 1 Chronicles 10:13-14 with Saul’s illegitimate consultation of a medium. The positive form (‘求问耶和华’) must be sharply distinguished from consulting a medium (交鬼的) or from divinatory practices already forbidden in the baseline (求签, 问卜, 占卜).
Medium Necromancer
Approved rendering: 交鬼的
Transliteration: jiāoguǐ de
Doctrine: Legitimate versus Illegitimate Spiritual Inquiry
Original: בַּעֲלַת אוֹב
Category: Prophecy
NEW TERM. CUV-established term for a medium/necromancer purportedly communicating with the dead or spirits for guidance; Saul’s fatal consultation of one is summarized in 1 Chronicles 10:13-14. Directly intersects Chinese folk-religious mediumship practices (扶乩, 问米, spirit-writing) that remain culturally present; deliver pastorally, not merely polemically, given how many readers’ extended families may practice or have practiced such consultation.
Everlasting Covenant
Approved rendering: 永远的约
Transliteration: yǒngyuǎn de yuē
Doctrine: God’s Faithfulness across Generations
Original: בְּרִית עוֹלָם
Category: Covenant
NEW TERM, combining the baseline term 约 with the new term 永远. The Abrahamic covenant, explicitly recalled in David’s psalm (1 Chronicles 16:15-17) immediately before the Davidic covenant is given in ch. 17. Reinforces ‘God’s Faithfulness across Generations’ by drawing an explicit line from Abraham’s everlasting covenant to David’s new covenant promise ‘to a thousand generations.‘
Steadfast Love
Approved rendering: 慈爱
Transliteration: cí’ài
Doctrine: God’s Steadfast Covenant Love (Chesed)
Rejected alternatives: 恩典 (unmerited favor apart from relationship), 爱 (generic love, no covenant-loyalty entailment)
Original: חֶסֶד
Category: Covenant
NEW HIGH-RISK TERM. Faithful, covenant-loyal love rooted in a promise-keeping relationship, withdrawn from Saul’s house (10:13-14) but promised never to be finally withdrawn from David’s line (17:13). Must be kept distinct from the baseline’s grace (恩典), which is unmerited favor extended apart from any prior relationship or merit; chesed is specifically covenant-loyal, promise-keeping love toward an EXISTING covenant partner. Must also never be reduced to generic 爱, which lacks the covenant-loyalty entailment.
Covenant Trespass
Approved rendering: 干犯
Transliteration: gānfàn
Doctrine: Covenant Unfaithfulness and Exile
Rejected alternatives: 罪 (too general), 报应 (impersonal karmic retribution)
Original: מַעַל
Category: Covenant
NEW TERM, distinct from the baseline’s general ‘sin’ term (罪). A serious covenant-breaking act of disloyalty against God specifically, cited as the cause of both the Transjordan tribes’ exile (5:25-26) and Saul’s death (10:13-14). Must not be taught through a karmic-retribution frame (报应) — this is a personal God’s covenant discipline for covenant breach, not impersonal karma accruing across a lineage.
Exile
Approved rendering: 被掳
Transliteration: bèi lǔ
Doctrine: Covenant Unfaithfulness and Exile
Original: גָּלָה
Category: Covenant
NEW TERM. Forced deportation from covenant land as divine judgment for covenant unfaithfulness (5:26), previewing the larger exile presupposed by the book’s post-exilic audience. Must be taught as covenant discipline administered by a personal, promise-keeping God who also restores a remnant (chs. 3, 9) — not as an impersonal cycle of fortune reversal or ancestral karma.
Seed Offspring General
Approved rendering: 后裔
Transliteration: zera (Heb.)
Doctrine: The Davidic Covenant Reaffirmed
Original: זֶרַע
Category: Covenant
NEW general-purpose term, reusing the baseline’s established pattern for ‘seed_of_david’ (后裔). Seed/offspring as a single descendant or a whole lineage, the horticultural word used genealogically throughout the covenant promise. Distinguish from the specific compound 大卫的后裔 when the referent is a broader lineage rather than the Davidic promise specifically.
Ark Of The Covenant
Approved rendering: 约柜
Transliteration: aron habb’rith (Heb.)
Doctrine: The Ark of the Covenant and Reverent Worship
Rejected alternatives: 神主牌 / 祖先牌位 (ancestral spirit-tablet box)
Original: אֲרוֹן הַבְּרִית / אֲרוֹן (הָ)אֱלֹהִים
Category: Temple
NEW TERM, built from the baseline term 约 (covenant) plus 柜 (chest/cabinet). The sacred wooden chest containing the covenant tablets, God’s enthroned covenant-presence among Israel (17:1; 13:9-10; ch. 15; 22, 28). Must not be confused with a household ancestral shrine box (神主牌/祖先牌位) — the ark is not a container for a deceased ancestor’s spirit-tablet but the throne-symbol of the living, active covenant God.
Pattern
Approved rendering: 样式 / 图样
Transliteration: tabnith (Heb.)
Doctrine: The Divinely Revealed Pattern for the Temple
Rejected alternatives: 风水-adjacent design language
Original: תַּבְנִית
Category: Temple
NEW HIGH-RISK TERM. A divinely revealed architectural pattern given to David ‘by the Spirit…in writing’ for the temple (28:11-19), analogous to Moses receiving the tabernacle’s pattern at Sinai. Strong cultural collision risk with Chinese geomantic siting/design principles (风水, fengshui) concerned with cosmically auspicious layout. Teaching must make explicit that this is a specific, historical, once-given revelation to David for one particular building, not a timeless cosmological design-technique available to any builder.
Freewill Offering
Approved rendering: 甘心乐意的礼物 / 甘心献的祭
Transliteration: nedabah (Heb.)
Doctrine: Freewill Giving and Worship
Rejected alternatives: 功德-style merit-generating almsgiving
Original: נְדָבָה
Category: Worship
NEW HIGH-RISK TERM. A gift given willingly, not under external compulsion; David’s and the people’s massive material contribution for the temple (29:1-9, 17). Must be distinguished from merit-generating almsgiving in Chinese folk Buddhist practice (功德, already forbidden under ‘grace’) — this is a grateful response to a God who already owns everything (29:14), not a transaction purchasing future favor.
Priest
Approved rendering: 祭司
Transliteration: kohen (Heb.)
Doctrine: Worship and the Levitical Order
Rejected alternatives: 僧 / 和尚 (Buddhist monk), 道士 (Daoist priest)
Original: כֹּהֵן
Category: Worship
NEW TERM. A member of Aaron’s line authorized for altar service and mediating sacrifice; the unbroken Aaronic succession from Aaron to Zadok is traced in ch. 6, with priestly divisions organized in ch. 24. Must be clearly distinguished from a Buddhist monk or Daoist priest — a hereditary, divinely instituted mediator within a specific covenant system, not a renunciate specialist pursuing personal enlightenment or ritual mastery.
Consecrate
Approved rendering: 分别为圣 / 自洁
Transliteration: qadash (Heb.)
Doctrine: Worship and the Levitical Order
Original: קָדַשׁ
Category: Worship
NEW TERM, tied directly to the baseline’s existing Critical term ‘sanctification’ (成圣). The Levites ‘sanctify themselves’ before carrying the ark correctly (15:12, 14), correcting the earlier error of ch. 13. Must carry forward the Neo-Confucian self-cultivation caution: this consecration is obedient response to a specific divine prescription for a specific sacred task, not open-ended personal moral self-perfection.
Throne
Approved rendering: 宝座
Transliteration: kisse (Heb.)
Doctrine: The Eternal Throne Promise
Rejected alternatives: 龙椅 (imperial dragon throne, implies revocable dynastic legitimacy)
Original: כִּסֵּא
Category: Kingship
NEW TERM. The seat of royal authority; God promises to establish David’s throne ‘forever’ (17:12, 29:23). Strong collision risk with the Chinese imperial ‘dragon throne’ concept, transferable between dynasties under the revocable Mandate of Heaven. Must be taught as a deliberate CONTRAST, not an analogy: God’s oath-bound promise is unconditional and, per NT fulfillment (Luke 1:32-33), literally everlasting in the risen Christ.
Establish Firmly
Approved rendering: 坚立 / 建立
Transliteration: hekhin (Heb.)
Doctrine: The Davidic Covenant Reaffirmed
Original: כּוּן (הֵכִין)
Category: Kingship
NEW TERM. To establish firmly, set on a stable, lasting foundation; God himself actively secures David’s kingdom (17:11-12). Should be distinguished from a merely human political consolidation of power; this is God’s own sovereign act securing an otherwise fragile human institution permanently.
Kingdom Davidic
Approved rendering: 国位 / 国
Transliteration: mamlakah (Heb.)
Doctrine: The Davidic Covenant Reaffirmed
Rejected alternatives: 神的国 (reserved baseline NT term, not to be used without a clarifying trajectory note)
Original: מַמְלָכָה
Category: Kingship
NEW TERM. A king’s realm and rule; the immediate, historical Davidic-Solomonic kingdom promised at 17:11, 14, and further described in chs. 28-29. Distinct from but typologically related to the baseline’s reserved ‘kingdom_of_god’ (神的国). Must not be rendered with that reserved phrase without a clarifying note explaining the historical-to-eschatological trajectory (cf. Luke 1:32-33).
Bless Blessing
Approved rendering: 祝福 / 福
Transliteration: barak (Heb.)
Doctrine: Blessing and Divine Favor (Distinct from Fortune-Seeking)
Rejected alternatives: 祈福-style fortune-securing incantation reading
Original: בָּרַךְ
Category: Genealogy
NEW HIGH-RISK TERM. Jabez’s prayer ‘bless me indeed’ (4:10) is the first extended personal prayer in the book, and God grants it. Directly intersects the baseline’s flag on 福 under ‘gospel’ (福音): 福 is embedded in Chinese folk fortune-seeking vocabulary (祈福). Must be taught as covenantal petition to a personal God who answers relationally, not a fortune-securing incantation or lucky-charm request.
Medium Risk Terms
Israel
Approved rendering: 以色列
Transliteration: Yǐsèliè
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Original: יִשְׂרָאֵל
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. 1 Chronicles application: the covenant people tracked genealogically (chs. 1-9) and the object of God’s covenant promises throughout the book.
David
Approved rendering: 大卫
Transliteration: Dàwèi
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. 1 Chronicles application: standard CUV form used consistently as the book’s central royal figure and recipient of the covenant oracle (ch. 17); baseline notes this spelling is 大卫 (matching this package’s Hebrew-Bible transliteration convention, not an alternate CUV spelling variant).
Glory
Approved rendering: 荣耀
Transliteration: róngyào
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 面子, 光宗耀祖
Original: כָּבוֹד
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. 1 Chronicles application: ascribed to God in David’s psalm (ch. 16) and closing prayer (29:11); both occurrences ascribe glory to God, never to human achievement or lineage/family honor — reinforcing the baseline’s caution against 面子/光宗耀祖.
Peace
Approved rendering: 平安
Transliteration: píng’ān
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: 安宁, 平安符式的平安
Original: שָׁלוֹם
Category: Kingship
Inherited from Romans package. 1 Chronicles application: underlies Solomon’s name etymology (22:9, שְׁלֹמֹה from שָׁלוֹם); David explains Solomon’s name in relation to God-given peace during his reign, not merely political calm achieved by strength.
Vision
Approved rendering: 默示 / 启示
Transliteration: mòshì / qǐshì
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture / Prophetic Revelation
Rejected alternatives: 占卜, 算卦
Original: חָזוֹן
Category: God
NEW TERM. A mode of prophetic revelation confirming Nathan’s oracle came through a recognized, authoritative prophetic channel (1 Chronicles 17:15). Should be distinguished from divinatory ‘visions’ of professional seers-for-hire and from Chinese fortune-telling practices (占卜/算卦, already forbidden in the baseline under ‘prophecy’).
Anger Of The Lord
Approved rendering: 发怒 / 忿怒
Transliteration: fānù / fènnù
Doctrine: The Ark of the Covenant and Reverent Worship
Original: חָרָה (אַף)
Category: God
NEW TERM. God’s holiness reacting, described physically as ‘burning’ (חָרָה אַף), to improper handling of his sacred presence (Uzza’s death, 1 Chronicles 13:9-10). Must be taught as an expression of God’s consistent holiness (圣洁) requiring reverence, not arbitrary divine temper or a folk-religious taboo-violation fear (offending a spirit through ritual impurity, as in some folk-temple narratives).
Tabernacle
Approved rendering: 帐幕
Transliteration: mishkan / ohel (Heb.)
Doctrine: Preparation for the Temple
Rejected alternatives: 帐篷 (ordinary camping tent)
Original: מִשְׁכָּן / אֹהֶל
Category: Temple
NEW TERM. God’s portable wilderness sanctuary and, poetically, any tent, recalled by God at 1 Chronicles 17:5 as his voluntary, mobile dwelling among Israel prior to any permanent temple. Standard CUV rendering also used throughout Exodus-Numbers. Should be distinguished from an ordinary camping tent (帐篷) to preserve its sacred, sanctuary-specific sense.
Altar
Approved rendering: 祭坛 / 坛
Transliteration: mizbeach (Heb.)
Doctrine: Atonement and Sacrifice
Original: מִזְבֵּח
Category: Temple
NEW TERM. A structure for offering sacrifice; the altar David builds at Ornan’s threshing floor (21:18-26) becomes the designated future temple site (ch. 22). Should always be taught together with 赎罪 (atonement) and 耶和华的殿 (house of the LORD) to preserve narrative continuity from altar to temple site.
Zion
Approved rendering: 锡安
Transliteration: Tsiyon (Heb.)
Doctrine: Preparation for the Temple
Original: צִיּוֹן
Category: Temple
NEW TERM. Originally the Jebusite fortress David captured (11:5), renamed ‘the city of David,’ the future site of the ark and temple. Should be introduced with care to avoid conflation with the modern geopolitical term ‘Zionism’ (锡安主义) in adult teaching contexts; the biblical referent is a theological-geographic term for God’s chosen city, not a modern political movement.
Dedicate
Approved rendering: 献 / 奉献为圣
Transliteration: hiqdish (Heb.)
Doctrine: Preparation for the Temple
Original: הֵקְדִּישׁ
Category: Temple
NEW TERM. To formally consecrate an object or wealth for sacred/temple use; David dedicates plunder and tribute for the future temple decades before it is built (18:11). Overlaps with, but is a distinct causative form from, 分别为圣/自洁 (consecrate, see below); should be taught consistently with that entry.
Levite
Approved rendering: 利未人
Transliteration: Levi (Heb.)
Doctrine: Worship and the Levitical Order
Original: לֵוִי
Category: Worship
NEW TERM. A member of the tribe of Levi set apart for tabernacle/temple service (chs. 6, 9, 15, 23, 26). Reinforces the baseline’s caution (under ‘holy’/‘saints’) against implying an elite, self-cultivated holiness class; Levitical set-apartness is by divine appointment to function, not superior personal piety.
Ordinance
Approved rendering: 定例 / 规矩
Transliteration: mishpat (Heb.)
Doctrine: Worship and the Levitical Order
Original: מִשְׁפָּט
Category: Worship
NEW TERM. The prescribed manner God commanded for carrying the ark (15:13, 15), contrasted with Israel’s earlier failure to seek God ‘after the due order’ in ch. 13. Worship must follow God’s revealed pattern, not human improvisation — directly anticipating the tabnith (pattern) given for the temple in ch. 28.
Service Ministry
Approved rendering: 事奉 / 服事
Transliteration: avodah (Heb.)
Doctrine: Worship and the Levitical Order
Original: עֲבוֹדָה
Category: Worship
NEW TERM. Cultic/ritual service in the sanctuary; David formally organizes the Levites’ service now that the ark has rest and the temple is imminent (23:24-32). Should be taught as God-appointed, structured corporate ministry rather than menial labor or self-chosen religious devotion.
Lot Casting
Approved rendering: 抽签
Transliteration: goral (Heb.)
Doctrine: Worship and the Levitical Order
Rejected alternatives: 求签 (temple fortune-stick divination)
Original: גּוֹרָל
Category: Worship
NEW TERM. A physical object cast to make an administrative decision, understood as falling under God’s providence; priestly assignments are determined ‘by lot’ (24:5). Must be distinguished from folk fortune-stick divination (求签, already forbidden in the baseline under ‘intercession’) — an administrative allocation method trusted to God’s sovereign providence (cf. Proverbs 16:33), not a technique for extracting hidden guidance.
Wholehearted Devotion
Approved rendering: 尽心 / 完全的心
Transliteration: levav shalem / tamim (Heb.)
Doctrine: Wholehearted Devotion to God
Rejected alternatives: 修身 (Confucian self-cultivation)
Original: לֵבָב שָׁלֵם / תָּמִים
Category: Worship
NEW TERM. David charges Solomon to serve God ‘with a perfect heart and with a willing mind’ (28:9). Must be distinguished from Confucian moral self-cultivation toward sage-like integrity (already flagged under the baseline’s 成圣); this is relational devotion and trust toward a personal God who ‘searches all hearts,’ not a self-perfecting discipline.
Heart Intention
Approved rendering: 心 / 心意
Transliteration: levav (Heb.)
Doctrine: Wholehearted Devotion to God
Original: לֵבָב
Category: Worship
NEW TERM. The seat of moral will and intention; David’s sincere devotional intention (17:2) is affirmed by Nathan before being redirected by God’s actual word. Must not be flattened to mere feeling; recurs at the wholehearted formula of ch. 28.
Davidic Covenant Ruler Designation
Approved rendering: 君 / 首领
Transliteration: nagid (Heb.)
Doctrine: The Davidic Covenant Reaffirmed
Rejected alternatives: 王 (implies full dynastic office)
Original: נָגִיד
Category: Kingship
NEW TERM. One appointed to the leading position — a divinely appointed ruler-designate, emphasizing appointment rather than dynastic right (17:7). Distinguish from 王 (king), used elsewhere of David once enthroned; nagid parallels — without equating — the baseline’s ‘called’/‘calling’ doctrine: David’s rise is a personal, gracious summons, not an impersonal Mandate-of-Heaven-style entitlement.
Name Renown
Approved rendering: 名 / 名声
Transliteration: shem (Heb.)
Doctrine: The Davidic Covenant Reaffirmed
Rejected alternatives: 面子 (face/social reputation), 光宗耀祖 (ancestor-glorifying achievement)
Original: שֵׁם
Category: Kingship
NEW TERM. God himself grants David lasting renown (17:8). Must be taught as God-granted, not achieved face or ancestor-glorifying accomplishment — reinforcing the baseline’s existing caution under ‘glory’.
Judge Era
Approved rendering: 士师
Transliteration: shophet (Heb.)
Doctrine: The Davidic Covenant Reaffirmed
Rejected alternatives: 法官 (modern courtroom judge), 审判官
Original: שֹׁפֵט
Category: Kingship
NEW TERM, the CUV-established term (as in the book title 士师记). A tribal deliverer-leader of the pre-monarchic period; God notes he never demanded a temple through any of the judges (17:6). Must not be rendered with the modern secular-legal term 法官, which would suggest a judiciary office rather than a Spirit-raised deliverer-leader.
Genealogy Descendants
Approved rendering: ……的子孙 / ……的后代
Transliteration: ben / bene (Heb.)
Doctrine: Genealogy and the Continuity of God’s People
Rejected alternatives: 族谱 / 宗谱 (ritual clan-lineage record housed in an ancestral hall)
Original: בֵּן / בְּנֵי
Category: Genealogy
NEW TERM. ‘Son(s) of’ as a genealogical list-header marker, establishing unbroken human lineage from Adam onward (chs. 1-9). Must be rendered consistently as a genealogical list-marker; care is needed not to import ancestor-veneration overtones (祖先/祭祖) into a text that is historical covenant-continuity record, not ritual genealogy for ancestor worship.
Birthright
Approved rendering: 长子的名分
Transliteration: bekorah (Heb.)
Doctrine: Divine Reordering of Birthright
Original: בְּכוֹרָה
Category: Genealogy
NEW TERM, deliberately parallel in construction to the baseline’s ‘adoption’ term 儿子的名分. Explicitly transferred from Reuben to Joseph’s sons because of Reuben’s sin (5:1-2). Teaching note: this is God’s sovereign reordering of human expectation, resonant with but distinct from 拣选 (election); avoid implying birthright itself is a form of merit that can be ‘re-earned’.
Plant Permanence
Approved rendering: 栽培
Transliteration: nata (Heb.)
Doctrine: God’s Faithfulness across Generations
Rejected alternatives: 风水-style fatalistic land-placement reading
Original: נָטַע
Category: Covenant
NEW TERM. To plant; figuratively, to establish a people permanently and securely in a place (17:9). Agricultural metaphor with low inherent collision risk, but should not be taught as a fatalistic, geomantic ‘rootedness’ concept; this is relational covenant security granted by a personal God.
Forever Olam
Approved rendering: 永远
Transliteration: olam (Heb.)
Doctrine: The Eternal Throne Promise
Original: עַד עוֹלָם / לְעוֹלָם
Category: Covenant
NEW TERM. Perpetuity, unending duration, used four times at 17:12-14 to describe the permanence of David’s throne and house. Note the semantic-range subtlety for teaching: olam does not always mean strict philosophical eternity in every OT usage, but here functions as an emphatic, deliberate claim to permanence that the historical monarchy’s later collapse (2 Kings 25) forces readers toward a typological/future fulfillment.
Low Risk Terms
Prophet
Approved rendering: 先知
Transliteration: xiānzhī
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: 算命先生
Original: נָבִיא
Category: Prophecy
Inherited from Romans package. 1 Chronicles application: Nathan (ch. 17) is the primary occurrence. Teaching point unique to this book: even a true prophet’s own personal opinion (17:2) is not itself revelation until God actually speaks (17:3) — a caution against treating a spiritual leader’s every utterance as inspired. Also applies to singers described as ‘prophesying’ with instruments (ch. 25).
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: 感恩
Transliteration: gǎn’ēn
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Original: תּוֹדָה / יָדָה
Category: Worship
Inherited from Romans package. 1 Chronicles application: recurring throughout the Levitical worship instructions (chs. 16, 23, 25, 29); see also the new, more formal liturgical term ‘give_thanks_liturgical’ (称谢) below for the specific verb form הוֹדוּ.
Praise
Approved rendering: 赞美
Transliteration: halal (Heb.)
Doctrine: Praise and Thanksgiving in Corporate Worship
Original: הָלֵל
Category: Worship
NEW TERM. Joyful, verbal exaltation of God (root of ‘Hallelujah’); David appoints Levites specifically to this liturgical duty (16:4). Formal, ongoing liturgical praise as a core Levitical duty, not occasional personal sentiment.
Give Thanks Liturgical
Approved rendering: 称谢
Transliteration: hodu (Heb.)
Doctrine: Praise and Thanksgiving in Corporate Worship
Original: יָדָה (הוֹדוּ)
Category: Worship
NEW TERM, consistent with the baseline’s ‘thanksgiving’ (感恩) but reflecting the more liturgical/formal register of this specific verb form, opening David’s psalm (16:8).
Divisions Courses
Approved rendering: 班次
Transliteration: machlekoth (Heb.)
Doctrine: Worship and the Levitical Order
Original: מַחְלְקוֹת
Category: Worship
NEW TERM. Organized rotational groups assigned to serve in sequence; the 24 priestly courses established in 24:1-19 later appear at Luke 1:5 (‘the course of Abia’) — a direct, concrete cross-canonical teaching anchor.
Gatekeeper
Approved rendering: 守门的
Transliteration: sho’er (Heb.)
Doctrine: Worship and the Levitical Order
Original: שׁוֹעֵר
Category: Worship
NEW TERM. A Levitical officer assigned guard/access duty at the tabernacle/temple gates (chs. 9, 26).
Cities Of Refuge
Approved rendering: 逃城
Transliteration: arei miqlat (Heb.)
Doctrine: Worship and the Levitical Order
Original: עָרֵי מִקְלָט
Category: Worship
NEW TERM. Levitical cities designated as asylum for one who killed unintentionally, pending fair trial (6:57, 67). Standard CUV rendering; low collision risk.
Mighty Man
Approved rendering: 勇士
Transliteration: gibbor (Heb.)
Doctrine: God’s Provision through Mighty Men and Military Victory
Rejected alternatives: 侠客 (wuxia/martial-hero archetype)
Original: גִּבּוֹר
Category: Kingship
NEW TERM. An elite warrior; David’s mighty men (11:10-47) are covenant-loyal warriors whose exploits testify to God’s provision, not autonomous heroism. Minor risk of a wuxia/martial-hero reading detached from covenant context; a light contextual note suffices.
Break Through Victory
Approved rendering: 冲破 / 突破
Transliteration: parats (Heb.)
Doctrine: God’s Provision through Mighty Men and Military Victory
Original: פָּרַץ
Category: Kingship
NEW TERM. A military breakthrough explicitly credited to God rather than human generalship (14:11).
Servant
Approved rendering: 仆人
Transliteration: ebed (Heb.)
Doctrine: The Davidic Covenant Reaffirmed
Original: עֶבֶד
Category: Kingship
NEW TERM. An honorific covenant title for one in God’s service; David is repeatedly called ‘my servant’ by God (17:4, 7). Minor risk of readers hearing only the servile, bondservant sense; a brief gloss noting this is a covenant title of honor (as with Moses, 摩西我的仆人) prevents flattening.
Shepherd Governance
Approved rendering: 牧养
Transliteration: ra’ah (Heb.)
Doctrine: The Davidic Covenant Reaffirmed
Original: רָעָה
Category: Kingship
NEW TERM. To feed/pasture/shepherd; describes the judges’ (and by extension kings’) pastoral governance role (17:6). Standard pastoral-leadership metaphor; should not be confused with Daoist/agrarian husbandry idioms devoid of covenantal-leadership sense.
Beget
Approved rendering: 生
Transliteration: holid (Heb.)
Doctrine: Genealogy and the Continuity of God’s People
Original: יָלַד (הוֹלִיד)
Category: Genealogy
NEW TERM. The recurring engine-verb of the genealogies (chs. 1-3, 7-8), establishing historical, physical descent as opposed to purely symbolic or legendary lineage-claims.
Clan Family
Approved rendering: 家族
Transliteration: mishpachah (Heb.)
Doctrine: Genealogy and the Continuity of God’s People
Original: מִשְׁפָּחָה
Category: Genealogy
NEW TERM. An extended kinship group larger than a nuclear household, smaller than a tribe; the mid-level social unit tracked throughout the genealogies (chs. 2, 4-8).
Territory Border
Approved rendering: 境界 / 地界
Transliteration: gevul (Heb.)
Doctrine: Genealogy and the Continuity of God’s People
Original: גְּבוּל
Category: Genealogy
NEW TERM. A tribe’s or clan’s allotted land boundary (4:39-43); reinforces the land-permanence theme flagged at 17:9.
Dwell Settle
Approved rendering: 居住 / 住
Transliteration: yashav (Heb.)
Doctrine: Genealogy and the Continuity of God’s People
Original: יָשַׁב
Category: Genealogy
NEW TERM. The returned exiles ‘dwelling’ again in their cities (ch. 9) enacts the promise of 17:9 after its rupture in ch. 5’s exile notice.
Referenced passages