Core Glossary
08 — Core Glossary: 1 Samuel (Full Book) for Mandarin Translation
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing theological term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, covering all 31 chapters of 1 Samuel. Terms already fixed in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json are marked [BASELINE — REUSE EXACTLY] and are never re-translated; only contextual notes specific to 1 Samuel are added. New terms introduced by this curriculum are marked [NEW] and must be added to translation_memory.json in Phase 2 with the risk tier shown here.
Risk tiers follow the baseline definitions exactly:
- Critical — mistranslation destroys essential doctrine; mandatory human theologian review.
- High — mistranslation creates significant theological confusion/syncretism risk; mandatory human theologian review.
- Medium — mistranslation reduces clarity but preserves essential meaning; native speaker review recommended.
- Low — mistranslation causes minor imprecision; automated review sufficient.
Table 1 — Baseline Terms Reused (No New Rendering; Contextual Notes Only)
| English Term | Mandarin (Baseline) | Risk (Baseline) | 1 Samuel Chapters | Contextual Note for 1 Samuel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| God | 神 | Critical | All chapters | Same monotheistic referent throughout; ch.5 (Dagon) and ch.28 (medium) provide strong contrast material against folk deities/spirits — reinforce, do not soften. |
| Holy Spirit / Spirit of the LORD | 圣灵 / 耶和华的灵 | Critical | 10, 11, 16, 19 | 1 Samuel uses “耶和华的灵” (qualified, not bare 灵) for the pre-Pentecost Spirit of God empowering Saul and David; teach as the same divine Person progressively revealed, never a bare or ancestral 灵. |
| Messiah / Christ | 基督 | Critical | (typological background only; term itself not used directly of David/Saul) | Never apply 基督 to Saul or David directly; reserve exclusively for Jesus. See 受膏者 [NEW] below for the human-king title. |
| David | 大卫 | Medium (baseline) | 16 onward | Proper name; established CUV form, reuse exactly throughout. |
| Israel | 以色列 | Medium (baseline) | All chapters | Established form. |
| Election / chosen | 拣选 | High | 16:8-10 | Direct lexical match (בָּחַר / ἐκλέγομαι); reinforces baseline’s NEVER 天命/命运/缘分 rule; this narrative is the OT paradigm case for the doctrine. |
| Holy / holiness (root) | 圣洁 | High | 1, 16:5, 21 | Ritual consecration (自洁, ch.16:5) and holy bread (圣饼, ch.21) are cultic-ritual instances of the same root; distinguish ritual set-apartness from the moral-relational doctrine of 圣洁/成圣 itself. |
| Glory | 荣耀 | Medium | 4 | ”Ichabod” (以迦博, “no glory”) names glory’s covenantal departure; reinforce 荣耀 as God’s own presence/honor, not 面子 (face) or 光宗耀祖 (family honor). |
| Peace | 平安 | Medium | 16:4-5 | Ordinary greeting-idiom sense here; low risk in this specific narrative use, but retain baseline caution against folk-amulet connotations wherever 平安 recurs theologically elsewhere in the curriculum. |
| Sin | 罪 | High | 15 (implied), throughout | Saul’s disobedience is framed as covenant sin against a personal God, not ritual infraction alone; consistent with baseline note. |
| Faith | 信心 | High | 17 (thematic) | Used for the doctrinal/expository register; narrative-action register in ch.17 more often uses 倚靠 [NEW] — both describe the same underlying reality (trust in God). |
| Prophet | 先知 | Low | 3, 9, 19 | Distinguish from the older title 先见 (seer) [NEW below]; distinguish from 算命先生 (fortune-teller) per baseline note. |
| Prophecy | 预言 | Medium | 10, 19 | Ecstatic prophetic-band phenomena (chs. 10, 19) are a specific manifestation of this term-family; distinguish from folk trance/spirit-possession (扶乩, 乩童) practices. |
| Covenant | 约 | High | 4 (约柜), 18, 20 | Spans both redemptive covenants (implicit Davidic-covenant anticipation, ch.25) and personal loyalty covenants (David-Jonathan, ch.18, 20) — both relational, not commercial, per baseline note. |
| Kingdom of God | 神的国 | Medium | 8 (contrastively) | Israel’s demand for a human king (ch.8) is implicitly a rejection of God’s own kingship; do not let 神的国’s doctrinal register bleed into confusing the earthly 以色列国 with God’s kingdom — keep them distinct but related. |
| Gentiles / nations | 外邦人 / 列国 | Medium | 8 | Ch.8’s “like all the nations” is a NEGATIVE model (covenant conformity to paganism); do not import Romans’ positive “gospel for all nations, no distinction” connotation into this context. |
| Salvation / save (deliverance sense) | 救恩 / 拯救 | Critical (baseline registry) | 14 | Ch.14’s “nothing can hinder the LORD from saving” (יָשַׁע) is temporal military deliverance; distinguish register from the full soteriological 救恩 doctrine while noting the shared divine character behind both. |
Table 2 — New Terms Introduced by 1 Samuel
| English Term | Mandarin | Transliteration | Risk | Doctrine(s) | Chapters | Alternatives Rejected | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Judge (office) | 士师 | shìshī | High | Transition from Judges to Monarchy; Samuel’s Role as Prophet and Judge | 7 (also implied throughout 1-8, 12) | 法官 (secular judge) | Combines military-deliverance, judicial, and spiritual leadership in a temporary, Spirit-raised office; the very institution Israel rejects in favor of dynastic kingship. |
| King | 王 | wáng | Medium | Transition from Judges to Monarchy; Danger of Rejecting God as King | 8-31 (pervasive) | — | Subordinate human office under God’s ultimate kingship (神的国); never a rival sovereignty. |
| The LORD’s anointed (royal title) | 受膏者 | shòu gāo zhě | Critical | The Anointed King as a Type of the Messiah; Danger of Rejecting God as King | 16:6, 24:6,10, 26:9,11,16,23 | Direct use of 基督 for Saul/David (REJECTED — reserved for Jesus only) | Etymological root of 基督 (χρίω → χριστός) but must never be presented as identical to or interchangeable with 基督. Requires typological (预表) framing at every occurrence. |
| Anoint (verb) | 膏 | gāo | Critical | The Anointed King as a Type of the Messiah | 9-10 (Saul), 16 (David) | 化身 / 下凡 (REJECTED — baseline-forbidden for incarnation register; would wrongly suggest repeatable, temporary divine manifestation) | Established CUV verb; ritual consecration of kings/priests, distinct from Christ’s unique incarnation (道成肉身, baseline). |
| Type / typology | 预表 | yùbiǎo | High | The Anointed King as a Type of the Messiah | Thematic (16, 24, 26) | 化身/转世-style framing (REJECTED) | Standard Chinese Christian hermeneutical term for an OT figure/event foreshadowing Christ. Must be explicitly distinguished from reincarnation/avatar concepts — a type points forward to a distinct, greater fulfillment; it is not the same being reappearing. |
| Heart (inner being) | 心 | xīn | High | God’s Sovereign Choice of David | 16:7 | — | Risk runs opposite the usual direction: must not be read as “God rewards the best-cultivated heart” (Confucian 心性 self-cultivation); rather, God alone can see the true, hidden heart — a statement of divine omniscience and sovereign choice. |
| Reject (of God’s covenant standing) | 厌弃 | yànqì | Critical | Danger of Rejecting God as King; Obedience versus Sacrifice | 8:7, 15:23,26, 16:1 | 不满意, 失望 (too weak) | Judicial, covenantal repudiation, not mere preference or disappointment. Central negative thread of the whole book. |
| Obey / hearken (covenant sense) | 听从 / 听命 | tīngcóng / tīngmìng | Critical | Obedience versus Sacrifice | 12, 15:22 | 孝顺 (filial obedience — too narrowly familial/Confucian) | Distinct register from baseline’s 因信而生的顺服 (NT “obedience of faith,” a Pauline technical phrase); this is OT covenant-obedience to God’s spoken command. Do not force the NT phrase onto these narrative-covenant texts. |
| Sacrifice | 献祭 / 祭 | xiànjì / jì | High | Obedience versus Sacrifice | 15:22, 16:2-5 | — | Not devalued per se (God still commands sacrifice); subordinated to and framed by obedience. Ch.15:22’s proverb (听命胜于献祭) is the doctrine’s anchor verse and must remain quotable/memorable. |
| Devoted to destruction (cherem) | 灭尽净尽 / 毁灭净尽 | mièjìn jìngjìn | High | Obedience versus Sacrifice | 15 | General “violence/war” vocabulary (insufficiently specific) | Specific, time-bound covenantal war-ban command under direct divine authorization; not a general ethical model. LXX ἀνάθεμα connects to Romans 9:3 (Paul’s self-curse language) — a cross-reference for advanced teaching, not a simplification. Flag for mandatory theologian review. |
| Consecrate / purify oneself (ritual) | 自洁 | zì jié | Medium-High | Obedience versus Sacrifice (background); Holiness (general) | 16:5 | — | Ritual preparation before a sacrificial meal in God’s presence; distinguish from Daoist/Buddhist ritual self-purification as a technique for merit or spiritual attainment. |
| Vow | 许愿 / 愿 | xǔyuàn / yuàn | High | (Background to Samuel’s Role as Prophet and Judge — his mother’s vow) | 1 | — | Surface overlap with folk-temple bargaining vows (许愿还愿); must be taught as covenant-relational gratitude, not a transactional exchange with an impersonal or plural deity. |
| Seer | 先见 | xiānjiàn | Medium | Samuel’s Role as Prophet and Judge | 9 | 算命先生 (fortune-teller — REJECTED, baseline) | Older title for the prophetic office (9:9); an internal terminological evolution within Israel’s legitimate prophetic tradition, not a category difference from divination. |
| Word of the LORD | 耶和华的话 | Yēhéhuá de huà | High | Samuel’s Role as Prophet and Judge; (Inspiration of Scripture, baseline-adjacent) | 3 | 经 (jīng, classical-canon wisdom-literature sense — insufficiently personal/verbal) | Personal, verbal revelation through a designated spokesperson; distinguish from Confucian/Daoist classical-canon authority. |
| Called (narrative “call out to”) | 呼唤 | hūhuàn | High | Samuel’s Role as Prophet and Judge; (Divine Calling, baseline-adjacent) | 3 | 呼召 (baseline technical noun — reserved for Pauline κλῆσις/κλητός register; do NOT substitute into this narrative text) | Terminology-boundary note: CUV’s actual narrative rendering differs lexically from the baseline’s doctrinal-technical calling vocabulary; the underlying concept (a personal divine summons, not impersonal 天命) is the same and should be taught thematically without forcing lexical identity. |
| Man of God | 神的人 | Shén de rén | High | (Samuel’s Role as Prophet and Judge, background — ch.2’s unnamed prophet) | 2 | 神人 (REJECTED — internal package collision; baseline reserves against this exact form for “Son of God”) | Must always retain the possessive 的 to avoid collision with the baseline’s forbidden abbreviation for 神的儿子 (Son of God). |
| Ark of the Covenant / Ark of God | 约柜 | yuē guì | High | (Background — God’s presence vs. talismanic misuse) | 4, 5, 6 | — | Built on baseline 约; must not be taught as a magic talisman guaranteeing outcomes by mere possession — Israel’s own misuse of it (ch.4) is a cautionary example, not a model. |
| Ichabod (“no glory”) | 以迦博 | Yǐjiābó | Medium | (Background to Danger of Rejecting God as King) | 4 | — | Proper name marking glory’s covenantal departure; reinforces 荣耀 as God’s presence/honor, not social 面子. |
| Priest | 祭司 | jìsī | Medium | Samuel’s Role as Prophet and Judge (contrast institution) | 1, 2, 21, 22, 30 | 僧 / 道士 (Buddhist/Daoist clergy — REJECTED) | Hereditary Aaronic/Levitical covenant office mediating sacrifice; not a renunciant spiritual-attainment vocation. |
| Ephod | 以弗得 | Yǐfúdé | Medium | (Background — legitimate guidance-seeking) | 21, 23 (implied), 30 | — | Instrument for sanctioned divine guidance through the legitimate priesthood; contrast sharply with ch.28’s necromancy. |
| Evil/harmful spirit from the LORD | 恶魔 / 扰乱的灵 | èmó / rǎoluàn de líng | Critical | (Background — God’s sovereignty in judgment) | 16:14, 18, 19 | 祖灵 (ancestral spirit — REJECTED, baseline); bare 灵 (REJECTED, baseline) | Must be taught within God’s sovereignty (a judicial permission, not dualism) and distinguished from autonomous folk-ghost “haunting” (作祟) concepts. Flag for mandatory theologian review. |
| Fear (negative, faith-undermining) | 惧怕 | jùpà | High | Faith versus Fear | 14, 17 | 敬畏 (reverential fear of the LORD — a distinct, positive concept; do not conflate) | Negative pole of the doctrine, overcome by trust in God’s character and past deliverance. |
| Trust / rely on | 倚靠 | yǐkào | High | Faith versus Fear | 14, 17 | — | Narrative-action register companion to baseline’s doctrinal-expository 信心; both describe the same underlying reality of personal trust in God. |
| The living God | 活神 / 永生的神 | huó Shén / yǒngshēng de Shén | High | Faith versus Fear | 5 (Dagon contrast), 17 | — | Sharp, vivid contrast with lifeless idols (Dagon); must not flatten into “a god who merely exists” — retain rhetorical force. |
| Uncircumcised | 未受割礼的 | wèi shòu gēlǐ de | Medium | (Background — covenant-outsider marker) | 17 | — | Covenant-sign background (Genesis 17), not a generic ethnic slur; explain context. |
| Defy / taunt | 藐视 / 羞辱 | miǎoshì / xiūrù | Medium | Faith versus Fear (background) | 17 | — | Defiance directed at God himself, not merely at a human army. |
| Casting lots | 抽签 | chōuqiān | Medium-High | Samuel’s Role as Prophet and Judge (background) | 10 | 占卜 (divination — REJECTED, baseline-adjacent) | A specific, divinely-sanctioned, one-time confirmatory sign under prophetic administration; never presented as a repeatable technique for discerning fate. |
| Inquire of the LORD | 求问耶和华 | qiúwèn Yēhéhuá | Medium-High | Samuel’s Role as Prophet and Judge; (contrast to ch.28) | 9, 23, 30 | 占卜 / 算卦 (REJECTED, baseline-adjacent); 问卜 (REJECTED, baseline “intercession” note) | Legitimate, sanctioned guidance-seeking addressed directly to the personal God, contrasted sharply with ch.28’s medium consultation. |
| Medium / necromancer | 交鬼的女人 | jiāoguǐ de nǚrén | Critical | (The Danger of Rejecting God as King — Saul’s final apostasy) | 28 | — | Directly overlaps active Chinese folk practice (灵媒, 扶乩, ancestor consultation); must be taught as an explicit, condemned covenant violation, never as a viable spiritual technique. Mandatory theologian review. |
| Firstborn / birth-order expectation | 长子 / 最小的 | zhǎngzǐ / zuì xiǎo de | Medium | God’s Sovereign Choice of David | 16:6-11 | — | Subverts Chinese cultural expectation of eldest-son primacy (嫡长子继承制); make the reversal explicit in teaching. |
| Foolishly (covenantal folly) | 愚妄 | yúwàng | Medium | Obedience versus Sacrifice (background) | 13 | — | Covenantal disregard for God’s word, not mere lack of cleverness. |
| Made a covenant (personal loyalty) | 立约 | lìyuē | Medium | (Background — uses baseline 约) | 18, 20 | — | Human relational loyalty covenant, distinct register from redemptive covenants; models relational (not commercial) covenant character consistent with baseline note. |
| Swear an oath | 起誓 | qǐshì | Low-Medium | (Background) | 20 | — | Solemn, God-invoked promise; distinct from casual promise-making. |
| Holy bread / bread of the Presence | 圣饼 | shèng bǐng | Medium | (Background — ritual holiness instance) | 21 | — | Ritual-cultic instance of holiness root; distinguish from the moral-doctrinal 圣洁/成圣. |
| A sure/enduring house (dynastic anticipation) | 坚立的家 / 王朝 | jiānlì de jiā / wángcháo | Medium | The Anointed King as a Type of the Messiah (anticipatory) | 25 | — | Anticipates but does not itself constitute the formal Davidic covenant (2 Samuel 7, outside this book’s scope); flag as forward-pointing narrative only. |
Table 3 — Doctrine-to-Term Cross-Reference Index
| Doctrine | Primary Mandarin Terms | Primary Chapters | Overall Risk Ceiling |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transition from Judges to Monarchy | 士师, 王, 厌弃 | 7, 8, 12 | High |
| God’s Sovereign Choice of David | 拣选, 心, 外貌, 长子/最小的 | 16:1-13 | High |
| Obedience versus Sacrifice | 听命/听从, 献祭, 听命胜于献祭, 灭尽净尽, 自洁 | 12, 13, 15, 16:2-5 | Critical |
| The Danger of Rejecting God as King | 厌弃, 王, 交鬼的女人 | 8, 15, 16, 28, 31 | Critical |
| Faith versus Fear | 惧怕, 倚靠, 活神 | 14, 17 | High |
| The Anointed King as a Type of the Messiah | 膏, 受膏者, 预表 | 16, 24, 26 | Critical |
| Samuel’s Role as Prophet and Judge | 士师, 先见, 先知, 耶和华的话, 呼唤 | 3, 7, 9, 19 | High |
Phase 2 Enforcement Note
Every term in Table 2 must be added to translation_memory.json (version incremented) before Phase 2 segment translation of any 1 Samuel content begins, per the pre-flight checklist in 12_ai_translation_requirements.md. Terms marked Critical in Table 2 (受膏者, 膏, 灭尽净尽 [High, borderline], 听从/听命, 厌弃, 恶魔/扰乱的灵, 交鬼的女人) require the same absolute, no-alternatives enforcement the baseline applies to its own Critical-tier terms, and must be added to the forbidden-substitution list in any updated AI translation requirements document for this curriculum.
This glossary extends, and never contradicts, the baseline Romans translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json. See 07_semantic_analysis.md for full verse-by-verse and chapter-by-chapter argumentation supporting each entry.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: 神
Transliteration: Shén
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 上帝, 天, 老天爷
Original: אֱלֹהִים / יהוה
Category: God
CRITICAL: standardizes on 神 (Shen edition) rather than 上帝, per baseline. NEVER use 天 or 老天爷 (impersonal folk Heaven). Inherited from Romans package. Extended for 1 Samuel: Dagon’s idol collapsing before the Ark (ch.5) and Saul’s condemned necromancy at Endor (ch.28) are the book’s two strongest polemical passages against folk deities/spirits; both must reinforce, never soften, 神’s exclusive reference to the one true, personal, living God — not one deity/spirit among Chinese folk religion’s city gods, kitchen gods, or ancestral spirits.
Jesus
Approved rendering: 耶稣
Transliteration: Yēsū
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
CUV standard transliteration. Inherited from Romans package. Extended for 1 Samuel: not directly named in this book; retained here for typological cross-reference — David’s anointing (16:1-13) and his refusal to harm ‘the LORD’s anointed’ (chs.24, 26) are the OT typological background this name’s fulfillment completes. Never apply 耶稣 or 基督 directly to Saul or David.
Messiah
Approved rendering: 基督
Transliteration: Jīdū
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Rejected alternatives: 弥勒, 救世主式泛称
CRITICAL: NEVER conflate with 弥勒 (Maitreya). Inherited from Romans package. Extended for 1 Samuel: NEVER apply 基督 directly to Saul or David. 1 Samuel’s 受膏者 (‘the LORD’s anointed’) is the etymological root-type (Hebrew מָשַׁח → LXX χρίω → χριστός) but must remain terminologically distinct at every occurrence — see the 受膏者 and 预表 entries below. David/Saul are types; only Jesus is 基督.
Lord
Approved rendering: 主
Transliteration: zhǔ
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 主人, 老爷
Established term; must not be softened toward 主人 or 老爷. Inherited from Romans package. Extended for 1 Samuel: this title is never applied to Saul or David in this curriculum’s materials; 王 (king) is the correct term for their human office, kept subordinate to 主/神的国.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: 成圣
Transliteration: chéngshèng
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: 修身, 修炼
CRITICAL: borrowed Neo-Confucian self-cultivation term; every occurrence requires a clarifying note. Inherited from Romans package. Extended for 1 Samuel: not used as a literal narrative term in this book, but cross-referenced whenever 自洁/圣饼 (ritual holiness) risk being conflated with this moral-relational, Spirit-wrought doctrine — they are not instances of 成圣 itself.
Salvation
Approved rendering: 救恩
Transliteration: jiùēn
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: 解脱, 超度, 得道
CRITICAL: NEVER use 解脱 or 超度. Inherited from Romans package. Extended for 1 Samuel: must be kept distinct from the temporal, military-deliverance register 拯救 used in 14:6 (‘nothing restrains the LORD from saving’) — see new entry salvation_deliverance. Both flow from the same God’s saving character but are not the same doctrinal register.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: 圣灵
Transliteration: Shènglíng
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: 祖灵, 灵
CRITICAL: NEVER use bare 灵 or 祖灵. Inherited from Romans package. Extended for 1 Samuel: this book narrates the pre-Pentecost divine Spirit’s activity using the qualified narrative phrase 耶和华的灵 (never bare 灵) — see new entry spirit_of_the_lord. Teach as the same divine Person progressively revealed, not one spirit among the folk-religious spirit-world’s many spirits.
The Lords Anointed
Approved rendering: 受膏者
Transliteration: shòu gāo zhě
Doctrine: The Anointed King as a Type of the Messiah
Rejected alternatives: 基督 (direct application to Saul or David)
Original: מְשִׁיחַ יְהוָה
Category: Christology
CRITICAL: the royal-office title for Israel’s reigning/designated king, set apart by ritual anointing and under God’s special protection (16:6; 24:6,10; 26:9,11,16,23). MUST NEVER be presented as interchangeable with 基督, which is reserved exclusively for Jesus. Every occurrence requires explicit 预表 (typology) framing. David’s refusal to harm Saul as 受膏者 (chs.24,26) teaches reverence for a divinely instituted office, not that the office itself possesses saving significance.
Anoint
Approved rendering: 膏
Transliteration: gāo
Doctrine: The Anointed King as a Type of the Messiah
Rejected alternatives: 化身, 下凡
Original: מָשַׁח
Category: Christology
CRITICAL: established CUV verb for the ritual act of consecrating a king (Saul, chs.9-10; David, ch.16) by pouring/smearing oil. NEVER use 化身 or 下凡 (a bodhisattva/deity’s temporary, repeatable manifestation) — this is a one-time consecration of a human office-holder, categorically distinct from Christ’s unique, permanent incarnation (道成肉身).
Reject
Approved rendering: 厌弃
Transliteration: yànqì
Doctrine: The Danger of Rejecting God as King
Rejected alternatives: 不满意, 失望
Original: מָאַס
Category: Kingship
CRITICAL: judicial, covenantal repudiation, not mere preference or disappointment. Used of Israel’s rejection of God’s own kingship (8:7) and God’s parallel rejection of Saul’s kingship (15:23,26; 16:1) — the deliberate authorial echo linking these two rejections is the doctrine’s argumentative backbone and must never be softened.
Obey Hearken
Approved rendering: 听从 / 听命
Transliteration: tīngcóng / tīngmìng
Doctrine: Obedience versus Sacrifice
Rejected alternatives: 孝顺, 因信而生的顺服 (do not force the NT Pauline phrase onto this OT covenant-obedience register)
Original: שָׁמַע (בְּקוֹל)
Category: Covenant
CRITICAL: anchors 15:22’s proverb 听命胜于献祭 (‘to obey is better than sacrifice’), the single most quotable verse for this doctrine. Distinguish from 孝顺 (Confucian filial-duty obedience owed as a family debt) and from the baseline’s NT technical phrase 因信而生的顺服 (obedience flowing from faith already given under the New Covenant) — this is OT covenant-obedience to God’s spoken command under the Mosaic covenant administration.
Medium Necromancer
Approved rendering: 交鬼的女人
Transliteration: jiāoguǐ de nǚrén
Doctrine: The Prohibition of Necromancy and Divination
Rejected alternatives: 灵媒 (REJECTED — modern neutral-sounding loan lacking inherent condemnation)
Original: בַּעֲלַת־אוֹב
Category: Covenant
CRITICAL: established Chinese Bible idiom (cf. Leviticus 19:31; 20:6) for Saul’s condemned consultation of the medium of Endor (ch.28). Sits directly atop live Chinese folk-religious practice (灵媒, 扶乩, ancestor consultation). Must be taught as an explicit, condemned covenant violation with Saul’s death (ch.31) as its immediate narrative consequence, never as a viable or neutral spiritual technique. Mandatory human theologian review at every occurrence.
Spirit Of The Lord
Approved rendering: 耶和华的灵
Transliteration: Yēhéhuá de líng
Doctrine: Divine Sovereignty over Good and Evil Spirits
Rejected alternatives: 灵 (bare noun), 祖灵
Original: רוּחַ יְהוָה
Category: God
CRITICAL: God’s personal, empowering presence coming upon Saul (10:6,10; 11:6) and David (16:13). Render only with the explicit divine qualifier, NEVER the bare noun 灵, which in Mandarin folk usage covers ancestral spirits, nature spirits, and ghosts. Teach as the same divine Person progressively revealed, later fully disclosed as 圣灵.
Evil Spirit From The Lord
Approved rendering: 恶魔 / 扰乱的灵
Transliteration: èmó / rǎoluàn de líng
Doctrine: Divine Sovereignty over Good and Evil Spirits
Rejected alternatives: 祖灵, 灵 (bare noun)
Original: רוּחַ־רָעָה מֵאֵת יְהוָה
Category: God
CRITICAL: a tormenting spirit sent under God’s sovereign permission upon the rejected Saul (16:14; 18:10; 19:9). Must be taught within God’s sovereignty as judicial discipline (avoiding dualism/a rival evil deity), never assimilated to the autonomous, capricious folk-ghost trope of 作祟 (‘a ghost’s mischief-making’). Mandatory human theologian review.
Salvation Deliverance
Approved rendering: 拯救
Transliteration: zhěngjiù
Doctrine: Faith versus Fear (David and Goliath)
Original: יָשַׁע / יְשׁוּעָה
Category: Salvation
Temporal, military deliverance from enemies, as in Jonathan’s confession ‘nothing restrains the LORD from saving’ (14:6). Must not be conflated with baseline’s Critical-risk 救恩 (full soteriological salvation from sin and wrath) without a clarifying note distinguishing the two registers, even though both flow from the same God’s saving character.
High Risk Terms
Election
Approved rendering: 拣选
Transliteration: jiǎnxuǎn
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: 天命, 命运, 缘分
NEVER use 天命, 命运, or 缘分. Inherited from Romans package. Extended for 1 Samuel: 16:8-10 (בָּחַר) is the OT’s paradigm narrative case of this doctrine — God’s deliberate, personal choice of David over his brothers, apart from any human standard of evaluation. This is the strongest direct lexical and doctrinal link between this curriculum and the Romans election doctrine.
Holy
Approved rendering: 圣洁
Transliteration: shèngjié
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: 清净, 圣人般的
Avoid 清净 (Daoist/Buddhist ritual purity) and 圣人般的 (‘sage-like’). Inherited from Romans package. Extended for 1 Samuel: ritual self-consecration (自洁, ch.16:5) and holy bread (圣饼, ch.21) are cultic-ritual instances of this same root and must be distinguished from the moral-relational doctrine of ongoing sanctification (成圣) itself.
Sin
Approved rendering: 罪
Transliteration: zuì
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: 报应, 罪犯式的罪
Original: חֵטְא / חָטָא
Category: Sin
Distinguish from karmic retribution (报应) and mere legal infraction. Inherited from Romans package. Extended for 1 Samuel: Saul’s disobedience (ch.15) and his necromancy (ch.28) are both covenant sin against a personal God requiring judgment/removal from office, not ritual infraction or impersonal bad-karma consequence.
Faith
Approved rendering: 信心
Transliteration: xìnxīn
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: 虔诚, 迷信, 信仰
Original: אָמַן / אֱמוּנָה (cf. general OT trust-vocabulary)
Category: Faith
Personal trust in Christ specifically; object of faith must be stated in context. Inherited from Romans package. Extended for 1 Samuel: reserved for the doctrinal/expository register of the ‘Faith versus Fear’ doctrine (chs.14, 17); the narrative-action register more often uses 倚靠 (see new entry trust_rely) — both describe the same underlying reality of personal trust in God, in different genres.
Covenant
Approved rendering: 约
Transliteration: yuē
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: 合同, 契约
Original: בְּרִית
Category: Covenant
Relational, divinely initiated covenant bond, not a commercial contract. Inherited from Romans package. Extended for 1 Samuel: this term spans both God-initiated covenants (约柜, the Ark of the Covenant, chs.4-6; the anticipated Davidic covenant, ch.25) and human relational loyalty covenants (David-Jonathan, chs.18,20 — see covenant_personal_loyalty below); both registers remain relational, never commercial.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: 大卫的后裔
Transliteration: Dàwèi de hòuyì
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Conveys physical lineage and OT covenant fulfillment. Inherited from Romans package. Extended for 1 Samuel: this book supplies the historical narrative (David’s rise, chs.16-31) that this NT phrase presupposes; the formal Davidic covenant itself (2 Samuel 7) lies outside this book’s scope — see sure_house_dynasty below for its narrative anticipation (25:28).
Law
Approved rendering: 律法
Transliteration: lǜfǎ
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: 礼, 道德规范, 法律
NEVER equate with Confucian 礼 or secular 法律. Inherited from Romans package. Extended for 1 Samuel: the background Mosaic legal framework behind the cherem command against Amalek (Deuteronomy 25:17-19), the prohibition of necromancy (Deuteronomy 18:10-11), and vow regulation (Numbers 30) that this book’s narrative presupposes but does not itself quote extensively.
Judge Office
Approved rendering: 士师
Transliteration: shìshī
Doctrine: The Transition from Judges to Monarchy
Rejected alternatives: 法官
Original: שֹׁפֵט / שָׁפַט
Category: Kingship
Established CUV term carried over from the book of Judges. Combines military deliverance, judicial arbitration, and spiritual leadership in a temporary, Spirit-raised office (7:15-17) — the very institution Israel abandons for permanent dynastic kingship (ch.8). Must not be flattened to a modern secular judge (法官).
Typology
Approved rendering: 预表
Transliteration: yùbiǎo
Doctrine: The Anointed King as a Type of the Messiah
Rejected alternatives: 化身/转世-style framing
Original: τύπος (cf. Romans 5:14)
Category: Christology
Standard Chinese Christian hermeneutical term for an OT person/event foreshadowing a greater NT fulfillment without being identical to it. Must be explicitly distinguished from reincarnation/avatar concepts (轮回, 化身, 转世 — all baseline-forbidden): a type points forward to a distinct, greater fulfillment; David does not become Christ, nor is Christ a repetition of David.
Heart
Approved rendering: 心
Transliteration: xīn
Doctrine: God’s Sovereign Choice of David
Original: לֵבָב
Category: Salvation
16:7’s ‘the LORD sees not as man sees… the LORD looks on the heart.’ Risk runs opposite the usual sanctification-caution direction: this must NOT be read as ‘God rewards whoever has the best-cultivated heart’ (Confucian 心性 self-cultivation toward sagehood), but as a statement of God’s exclusive omniscience grounding an unearned, sovereign choice — not a competition of moral attainment.
Sacrifice
Approved rendering: 献祭 / 祭
Transliteration: xiànjì / jì
Doctrine: Obedience versus Sacrifice
Original: זֶבַח / זָבַח
Category: Worship
Not devalued as an institution; subordinated to and framed by obedience to God’s specific word (15:22; 16:2-5). Must not be taught as if sacrifice itself is condemned — God still commands and receives sacrifice in ch.16.
Cherem Devoted Destruction
Approved rendering: 灭尽净尽 / 毁灭净尽
Transliteration: mièjìn jìngjìn
Doctrine: Divine Judgment and the Ban (Cherem)
Rejected alternatives: general violence/war vocabulary (insufficiently specific)
Original: חָרַם / חֵרֶם
Category: Judgment
God’s specific covenantal war-ban command regarding the Amalekites (15:3,9,18-19), which Saul only partially obeys. A specific, time-bound command under direct divine authorization within Israel’s unique redemptive-historical situation, never a general ethical model for warfare or conduct. LXX ἀνάθεμα (Romans 9:3) is a cross-reference for advanced teaching only. Mandatory human theologian review given ethical sensitivity.
Consecrate Purify
Approved rendering: 自洁
Transliteration: zì jié
Doctrine: Ritual Holiness and Consecration
Original: הִתְקַדְּשׁוּ (קָדַשׁ, hitpael)
Category: Worship
Ritual self-purification required of Jesse’s household before the sacrificial meal (16:5). Distinguish from Daoist/Buddhist ritual self-purification (斋戒, 清净) practiced as a technique for acquiring merit or spiritual attainment; this is preparatory obedience to a specific divine instruction, not a merit-generating or power-generating practice.
Vow
Approved rendering: 许愿 / 愿
Transliteration: xǔyuàn / yuàn
Doctrine: Vow and Covenant Worship (Hannah’s Vow)
Original: נֶדֶר
Category: Worship
Hannah’s solemn, binding promise to dedicate her son to the LORD’s service (1:11). Surface-resembles the widespread Chinese folk-temple practice of 许愿还愿 (a transactional bargain with a deity). Must be taught as covenant-relational gratitude flowing from God’s prior faithfulness, not payment discharging a bargain with an impersonal or plural folk deity. Cross-reference the baseline grace-versus-merit distinction.
Word Of The Lord
Approved rendering: 耶和华的话
Transliteration: Yēhéhuá de huà
Doctrine: Inspiration and Prophetic Revelation
Rejected alternatives: 经 (jīng, classical-canon wisdom-literature sense — insufficiently personal/verbal)
Original: דְּבַר־יְהוָה
Category: Covenant
God’s spoken revelation communicated through a designated spokesperson (3:1); its rarity sets up Samuel’s ministry as a renewal of revelation. Must be distinguished from the Confucian/Daoist classical canon read as accumulated sage-wisdom literature — this is personal, verbal communication from a personal God.
Called Narrative
Approved rendering: 呼唤
Transliteration: hūhuàn
Doctrine: Samuel’s Role as Prophet and Judge
Rejected alternatives: 呼召 (baseline’s Pauline κλῆσις/κλητός technical noun — do NOT substitute into this narrative text)
Original: קָרָא
Category: Covenant
CUV’s actual narrative-text rendering of the LORD repeatedly calling Samuel by name (3:4-10) — lexically distinct from the baseline’s doctrinal-technical nouns 呼召/蒙召的. Do not retroactively force 呼召 into this narrative dialogue; the underlying concept (a personal, relational divine summons, not impersonal 天命) should be taught thematically without forcing lexical identity.
Man Of God
Approved rendering: 神的人
Transliteration: Shén de rén
Doctrine: Inspiration and Prophetic Revelation
Rejected alternatives: 神人 (REJECTED — internal package collision; baseline reserves this exact form against ‘Son of God’)
Original: אִישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים
Category: Covenant
A title for a prophet or divinely-commissioned messenger, used of the unnamed prophet who pronounces judgment on Eli’s house (2:27-36). Must always retain the possessive 的 to avoid collision with the baseline’s forbidden abbreviation for 神的儿子 (Son of God), which would wrongly suggest a deified human.
Ark Of Covenant
Approved rendering: 约柜
Transliteration: yuē guì
Doctrine: God’s Presence versus Idolatry
Original: אֲרוֹן (הַבְּרִית / הָאֱלֹהִים)
Category: Worship
Built on baseline 约; the sacred chest containing the tablets of the covenant, the locus of God’s manifest presence (chs.4-6). Must never be taught as a talisman guaranteeing outcomes through mere possession — Israel’s own misuse of it (ch.4, leading to its capture and Israel’s defeat) is the narrative’s own cautionary example against exactly the transactional-object logic of Chinese folk-amulet practice (符, 神像).
Casting Lots
Approved rendering: 抽签
Transliteration: chōuqiān
Doctrine: Legitimate versus Illegitimate Guidance-Seeking
Rejected alternatives: 占卜
Original: גּוֹרָל
Category: Covenant
A specific, divinely-sanctioned, one-time confirmatory sign under prophetic administration, publicly confirming Saul as king (10:20-21). Must be clearly distinguished from divination/fortune-telling (占卜); never presented as a repeatable technique believers should use to discern fate apart from God’s Word.
Inquire Of The Lord
Approved rendering: 求问耶和华
Transliteration: qiúwèn Yēhéhuá
Doctrine: Legitimate versus Illegitimate Guidance-Seeking
Rejected alternatives: 占卜 / 算卦, 问卜
Original: דָּרַשׁ / שָׁאַל (אֱלֹהִים / יהוה)
Category: Covenant
Legitimate, sanctioned guidance-seeking addressed directly to the personal God through prophet, priest, or ephod (9,23,30). Sharply contrasted with ch.28’s medium consultation, the positive counterpart to that negative example.
Living God
Approved rendering: 活神 / 永生的神
Transliteration: huó Shén / yǒngshēng de Shén
Doctrine: Faith versus Fear (David and Goliath)
Original: אֱלֹהִים חַיִּים
Category: God
David’s rebuke of Goliath’s defiance of ‘the armies of the living God’ (17:26,36). Must retain vivid, personal contrast with lifeless idols (Dagon, ch.5); avoid a flat rendering that reads as ‘a god who merely exists’ or one more efficacious folk deity (神明) among many.
Fear Negative
Approved rendering: 惧怕
Transliteration: jùpà
Doctrine: Faith versus Fear (David and Goliath)
Rejected alternatives: 敬畏 (a distinct, positive concept — reverent fear of the LORD; do not conflate)
Original: יָרֵא / חָתַת
Category: Faith
The faith-undermining terror gripping Israel’s army, including Saul, before Goliath (17:11,24), overcome by David’s trust in God. Must be kept distinct from the positive, reverential 敬畏耶和华.
Trust Rely
Approved rendering: 倚靠
Transliteration: yǐkào
Doctrine: Faith versus Fear (David and Goliath)
Original: בָּטַח
Category: Faith
The standard Chinese Christian term for reliant trust in God, grounding David’s speech before Goliath (17:26,36-37,45-47) and Jonathan’s before the Philistine garrison (14:6). Narrative-action register companion to baseline’s doctrinal-expository 信心 — both describe the same underlying reality in different genres.
Medium Risk Terms
David
Approved rendering: 大卫
Transliteration: Dàwèi
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: דָּוִד
Category: Covenant
CUV standard proper name form. Inherited from Romans package. Extended for 1 Samuel: from ch.16 onward, David’s sovereign selection, anointing, and rise are narrated in full; reuse this exact form throughout every chapter without variation.
Israel
Approved rendering: 以色列
Transliteration: Yǐsèliè
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Original: יִשְׂרָאֵל
Category: Covenant
Proper name; CUV established form. Inherited from Romans package. Extended for 1 Samuel: the covenant nation whose transition from tribal judges to monarchy (chs.7-12) and whose demand for a king ‘like all the nations’ (ch.8) is the book’s central political-theological narrative.
Glory
Approved rendering: 荣耀
Transliteration: róngyào
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 面子, 光宗耀祖
Original: כָּבוֹד
Category: God
Avoid collapsing into 面子 or 光宗耀祖. Inherited from Romans package. Extended for 1 Samuel: ‘Ichabod’ (以迦博, ‘no glory,’ 4:21-22) names this glory’s covenantal departure from Israel; its loss must be taught as serious covenantal judgment, never mere social disgrace.
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: Salvation
Also the everyday folk-amulet greeting word; clarify theological uses. Inherited from Romans package. Extended for 1 Samuel: the Bethlehem elders’ question ‘do you come peaceably?’ (16:4) is the colloquial-greeting sense — low risk in this specific narrative use, but retain the baseline’s general caution wherever 平安 recurs in a theological register elsewhere in this curriculum.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: 预言
Transliteration: yùyán
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: 算卦, 占卜
Original: נְבוּאָה / נָבָא
Category: Covenant
Distinguish from I Ching-style divination. Inherited from Romans package. Extended for 1 Samuel: the ecstatic prophetic-band phenomena of chs.10 and 19 are a specific manifestation of this term-family — Spirit-of-the-LORD-initiated, never human-induced or spirit-consulted; must not be confused with folk trance/spirit-possession practices (扶乩, 乩童).
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: 神的国
Transliteration: Shén de guó
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Rejected alternatives: 天下, 王朝
Original: cf. מֶלֶךְ / מַלְכוּת (conceptual, contrastive)
Category: Kingdom
Avoid 天下 and 王朝. Inherited from Romans package. Extended for 1 Samuel: Israel’s demand for a human king ‘like all the nations’ (ch.8) is implicitly a rejection of God’s own kingship; keep 神的国 distinct from the earthly 以色列国 — the human king (王) is a subordinate office under, never a rival to, 神的国.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: 外邦人
Transliteration: wàibāngrén
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: 夷人, 外国人
NEVER use 夷人. Inherited from Romans package. Extended for 1 Samuel: ch.8’s phrase ‘像列国一样’ (‘like all the nations’) is a NEGATIVE political-conformity model, not the positive Romans sense of gospel-inclusion; do not import Romans’ ‘no distinction’ connotation into this very different, negative context.
King
Approved rendering: 王
Transliteration: wáng
Doctrine: The Transition from Judges to Monarchy
Original: מֶלֶךְ
Category: Kingship
The human monarchical office Israel demanded (ch.8), subordinate to God’s ultimate kingship (神的国), never a rival or replacement sovereignty. Never gloss toward 天子 (‘Son of Heaven’) or its 天命 (Mandate of Heaven) legitimacy framework — Saul’s removal (15:23,26; 16:1) is a direct, personal, verbally-communicated divine verdict, not an impersonal loss of cosmic mandate inferred from omens or military defeat.
Seer
Approved rendering: 先见
Transliteration: xiānjiàn
Doctrine: Samuel’s Role as Prophet and Judge
Rejected alternatives: 算命先生
Original: רֳאֶה
Category: Covenant
An older title for the prophetic office (9:9), an internal, chronological terminological evolution within Israel’s own legitimate prophetic tradition, not a category difference from divination. Must not be confused with 算命先生 (fortune-teller).
Ichabod
Approved rendering: 以迦博
Transliteration: Yǐjiābó
Doctrine: God’s Presence versus Idolatry
Original: אִי־כָבוֹד
Category: God
Proper name (‘no glory,’ 4:21-22) given in lament for glory’s covenantal departure from Israel. Always pair with the CUV’s built-in gloss (‘the glory has departed’); reinforces 荣耀 as God’s presence/honor, not human 面子 or 光宗耀祖 (family honor).
Priest
Approved rendering: 祭司
Transliteration: jìsī
Doctrine: Samuel’s Role as Prophet and Judge
Rejected alternatives: 僧, 道士
Original: כֹּהֵן
Category: Worship
Established CUV term; the hereditary Aaronic/Levitical covenant office mediating sacrifice (Eli, Ahimelech, Abiathar). Distinguish from Buddhist/Daoist monastic clergy (僧/道士) — not a renunciant spiritual-attainment vocation.
Ephod
Approved rendering: 以弗得
Transliteration: Yǐfúdé
Doctrine: Legitimate versus Illegitimate Guidance-Seeking
Original: אֵפוֹד
Category: Worship
A priestly garment/instrument used to inquire of God through sanctioned means (21,23,30). Reinforce, alongside the 求问耶和华 and 抽签 entries, the sharp contrast with ch.28’s condemned medium consultation.
Firstborn Youngest
Approved rendering: 长子 / 最小的
Transliteration: zhǎngzǐ / zuì xiǎo de
Doctrine: God’s Sovereign Choice of David
Original: הַקָּטָן / בְּכוֹר
Category: Salvation
David’s reversal of birth-order expectation, chosen as the family’s youngest over his elder brothers (16:6-11). Subverts Chinese cultural expectation of eldest-son primacy (嫡长子继承制); amplify, do not smooth over, this cultural surprise in teaching — it is a productive collision, not a danger to be neutralized.
Foolishly
Approved rendering: 愚妄
Transliteration: yúwàng
Doctrine: Obedience versus Sacrifice
Original: סָכַל
Category: Covenant
Samuel’s rebuke of Saul’s impatient, unauthorized sacrifice at Gilgal (13:13). Reads as covenantal folly (disregard for God’s word), not simple human error or lack of intellectual cleverness.
Covenant Personal Loyalty
Approved rendering: 立约
Transliteration: lìyuē
Doctrine: Covenant Loyalty and Friendship (David and Jonathan)
Rejected alternatives: 结拜 (ritualized sworn-brotherhood pact, e.g. the Peach Garden oath — a distinct cultural script)
Original: כָּרַת בְּרִית
Category: Covenant
David and Jonathan’s covenant of loyal friendship (18:3; 20:16-17,42), built on baseline 约. A human relational-loyalty covenant witnessed before God, distinct from a redemptive covenant, while modeling the same relational (not commercial) covenant character the baseline requires for 约 generally. Distinguish from 结拜.
Holy Bread
Approved rendering: 圣饼
Transliteration: shèng bǐng
Doctrine: Ritual Holiness and Consecration
Original: לֶחֶם הַקֹּדֶשׁ / לֶחֶם הַפָּנִים
Category: Worship
Consecrated showbread reserved for priestly consumption, given by Ahimelech to David (21:1-6). A ritual-cultic instance of the holiness root, distinct from the moral-doctrinal 圣洁/成圣; cited by Jesus (Matthew 12:3-4) regarding mercy over strict ritual precision.
Sure House Dynasty
Approved rendering: 坚立的家 / 王朝
Transliteration: jiānlì de jiā / wángcháo
Doctrine: Anticipation of the Davidic Dynastic Covenant
Original: בַּיִת נֶאְמָן
Category: Covenant
Abigail’s words to David (25:28) anticipate but do not themselves constitute the formal Davidic covenant (2 Samuel 7, outside this book’s scope). Flag as forward-pointing narrative anticipation only; do not assimilate to a generic Chinese dynastic-omen trope predicting a rising ruler’s destiny.
Uncircumcised
Approved rendering: 未受割礼的
Transliteration: wèi shòu gēlǐ de
Doctrine: Faith versus Fear (David and Goliath)
Original: הֶעָרֵל
Category: Covenant
A covenant-outsider marker David applies to Goliath (17:26,36). Explain the Genesis 17 covenant-sign background rather than letting it land as a generic ethnic slur for readers lacking this context.
Defy Taunt
Approved rendering: 藐视 / 羞辱
Transliteration: miǎoshì / xiūrù
Doctrine: Faith versus Fear (David and Goliath)
Original: חָרַף
Category: Faith
Goliath’s scornful, insulting challenge (17:26,45), framed as defiance against God himself, not merely against Israel’s army. Retain this theological weight in translation.
Saul
Approved rendering: 扫罗
Transliteration: Sǎoluó
Doctrine: The Danger of Rejecting God as King
Original: שָׁאוּל
Category: Kingship
Established CUV transliteration. Israel’s first king, whose rejection by God for disobedience frames the book’s central negative example; ensure surrounding vocabulary (厌弃, 恶魔/扰乱的灵) is applied to him consistently across chapters.
Dagon
Approved rendering: 大衮
Transliteration: Dàgǔn
Doctrine: God’s Presence versus Idolatry
Original: דָּגוֹן
Category: God
Transliterated proper name. The Philistine national god whose idol repeatedly falls before the Ark (ch.5); frame as demonstrating the LORD’s unique, living supremacy over a lifeless idol, not merely ‘our god beat your god’ within a pluralistic frame.
Amalek
Approved rendering: 亚玛力人
Transliteration: Yàmǎlìrén
Doctrine: Divine Judgment and the Ban (Cherem)
Original: עֲמָלֵק
Category: Judgment
Established transliteration. The nation placed under the ban (cherem) that Saul only partially destroys (ch.15), the occasion for his rejection as king. Keep tightly linked to the 灭尽净尽 entry’s framing as a specific, time-bound covenantal judgment, not a general model.
Low Risk Terms
Prophet
Approved rendering: 先知
Transliteration: xiānzhī
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: 算命先生
Original: נָבִיא
Category: Covenant
Distinguish from 算命先生 (fortune-teller). Inherited from Romans package. Extended for 1 Samuel: Samuel himself (3:1,20) is the paradigmatic instance renewing prophetic revelation; distinguish from the older title 先见 (‘seer,’ 9:9), an internal terminological evolution within Israel’s own prophetic office, not a category difference from divination.
Swear Oath
Approved rendering: 起誓
Transliteration: qǐshì
Doctrine: Solemn Oath-Swearing
Original: שָׁבַע (הִשָּׁבַע)
Category: Covenant
A solemn, God-invoked promise formalizing David and Jonathan’s covenant (20:16-17,42). Distinct from casual promise-making; retain the connection to the named divine party (耶和华), not a generic 天 (‘Heaven’).
Samuel
Approved rendering: 撒母耳
Transliteration: Sāmǔ’ěr
Doctrine: Samuel’s Role as Prophet and Judge
Original: שְׁמוּאֵל
Category: Covenant
Established CUV transliteration. The prophet and last judge of Israel who anoints both Saul and David; reuse exactly throughout.
Jesse
Approved rendering: 耶西
Transliteration: Yēxī
Doctrine: God’s Sovereign Choice of David
Original: יִשַׁי
Category: Covenant
Established CUV transliteration. David’s father, the Bethlehemite whose sons are presented to Samuel (16:1-13).
Jonathan
Approved rendering: 约拿单
Transliteration: Yuēnádān
Doctrine: Covenant Loyalty and Friendship (David and Jonathan)
Original: יְהוֹנָתָן
Category: Covenant
Established CUV transliteration. Saul’s son, David’s covenant friend, whose faith exploit (ch.14) anticipates David’s own.
Goliath
Approved rendering: 歌利亚
Transliteration: Gēlìyà
Doctrine: Faith versus Fear (David and Goliath)
Original: גָּלְיָת
Category: Faith
Established CUV transliteration. The Philistine champion defeated by David (ch.17), the negative pole of the doctrine.
Bethlehem
Approved rendering: 伯利恒
Transliteration: Bólìhéng
Doctrine: God’s Sovereign Choice of David
Original: בֵּית לֶחֶם
Category: Covenant
Established transliteration. David’s hometown (16:1,4), later the Messiah’s birthplace (Micah 5:2; Matthew 2).
Ramah
Approved rendering: 拉玛
Transliteration: Lāmǎ
Doctrine: Samuel’s Role as Prophet and Judge
Original: הָרָמָה
Category: Covenant
Established transliteration. Samuel’s home base of prophetic/judicial ministry (16:13; 19:18).
Shiloh
Approved rendering: 示罗
Transliteration: Shìluó
Doctrine: God’s Presence versus Idolatry
Original: שִׁלֹה
Category: Worship
Established transliteration. The central worship site housing the Ark before Jerusalem’s temple was built (chs.1-4); surrounding sanctuary references use 耶和华的殿, never 庙/寺/道观.
Philistines
Approved rendering: 非利士人
Transliteration: Fēilìshìrén
Doctrine: God’s Presence versus Idolatry
Original: פְּלִשְׁתִּים
Category: Covenant
Established transliteration. Israel’s principal military and religious adversary throughout the book.
Referenced passages