Core Glossary
2 Corinthians — Core Glossary for Mandarin Translation
Section A — Baseline Terms Reused Exactly (no changes permitted)
These terms are already fixed in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json. They recur throughout 2 Corinthians and MUST be rendered exactly as recorded there. No new entry is created; this table exists only to confirm coverage and cite occurrences.
| Term | Mandarin (baseline) | Risk (baseline) | Key 2 Corinthians occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|
| God | 神 (Shén) | Critical | Throughout, e.g. 1:2-3, 5:18-21, 13:14 |
| Jesus | 耶稣 (Yēsū) | Critical | Throughout, e.g. 1:1, 4:10-11, 11:4 |
| Christ / Messiah | 基督 (Jīdū) | Critical | Throughout, e.g. 1:1, 5:14-20, 11:2-4, 13:14 |
| Lord | 主 (zhǔ) | Critical | 1:3, 3:16-18, 4:5, 5:6-11, 8:5, 10:17-18 |
| grace | 恩典 (ēndiǎn) | Critical | 1:2,12; 4:15; 6:1; 8:1,4,6-7,9,19; 9:8,14; 12:9; 13:14 |
| faith | 信心 (xìnxīn) | High | 1:24; 4:13; 5:7; 8:7; 10:15; 13:5 |
| righteousness | 义 (yì) | Critical | 5:21; 6:7,14; 9:9-10; 11:15 |
| salvation | 救恩 (jiùēn) | Critical | 1:6; 6:2; 7:10 |
| sin | 罪 (zuì) | High | 5:21 (x3); 11:7 |
| Holy Spirit | 圣灵 (Shènglíng) | Critical | 1:22; 3:3,6,8,17-18; 5:5; 6:6; 13:14 |
| glory | 荣耀 (róngyào) | Medium | 3:7-11,18; 4:4,6,15,17; 8:19,23 |
| covenant | 约 (yuē) | High | 3:6,14 (base for 新约/旧约, see Sec. B) |
| apostle | 使徒 (shǐtú) | Low | 1:1; 11:5,13; 12:11-12 (base for 假使徒, see Sec. B) |
| church | 教会 (jiàohuì) | Medium | 1:1; 8:1,18-19,23-24; 11:8,28; 12:13 |
| saints | 圣徒 (shèngtú) | High | 1:1; 8:4; 9:1,12; 13:12 |
| holy / holiness | 圣洁 (shèngjié) | High | 1:12; 7:1 |
| sanctification | 成圣 (chéngshèng) | Critical | 7:1 (ἁγιωσύνη, “perfecting holiness”) |
| resurrection | 复活 (fùhuó) | Critical | 4:14; 5:15 |
| fellowship | 团契 (tuánqì) | Low | 6:14; 8:4; 13:14 |
| thanksgiving | 感恩 (gǎn’ēn) | Low | 1:11; 2:14; 4:15; 9:11-12 |
| exhort | 劝勉 (quànmiǎn) | Low | 5:20 (context-dependent, see 08-B parakaleō family) |
| peace | 平安 (píng’ān) | Medium | 1:2; 13:11 |
| gospel | 福音 (fúyīn) | Medium | 2:12; 4:3-4; 9:13; 11:4,7 |
| power of God | 神的大能 (Shén de dà néng) | High | 4:7; 6:7; 12:9; 13:4 |
| election | 拣选 (jiǎnxuǎn) | High | — (referenced conceptually, not lexically repeated) |
| father | 父 (fù) | High | 1:2-3; 6:18 |
| imputed righteousness | 算为义 (suàn wéi yì) | Critical | 5:19,21 (basis for 不将过犯算给他们, see Sec. B) |
Section B — New Terms for 2 Corinthians (proposed additions to translation memory)
Fields follow the baseline translation_memory.json structure: translation, transliteration, doctrine_risk, doctrine, alternatives_rejected, notes.
B.1 — Reconciliation with God
| # | Term (EN) | Original (Greek) | Mandarin | Pinyin | Risk | Alternatives rejected | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | reconciliation / reconcile | καταλλαγή / καταλλάσσω | 和好 | héhǎo | Critical | 和解 (héjiě, legal/political settlement — too contractual), 修好 (xiūhǎo, still mutual-fault flavored) | God alone initiates; Christ alone bears the cost; humanity is the offending party restored, not a co-equal negotiating partner. Collides with the Confucian ideal of 和 (harmony) restored through mutual ritual accommodation (礼) — every didactic use requires a clarifying note. Central term of 2 Cor 5:18-20. |
| 2 | ministry / message of reconciliation | διακονία / λόγος τῆς καταλλαγῆς | 和好的职分 / 和好的道 | héhǎo de zhífèn / héhǎo de dào | Critical | — | Compound of #1; carries the same caution. |
| 3 | be reconciled (passive imperative) | καταλλάγητε | 与神和好(吧) | yǔ Shén héhǎo (ba) | Critical | — | Grammatically passive in Greek: command to receive/respond to God’s completed reconciling act, not to achieve reconciliation by one’s own effort. Mandarin cannot mark this passive voice; mandatory translator note required. |
| 4 | not counting trespasses | μὴ λογιζόμενος τὰ παραπτώματα | 不将他们的过犯算给他们 | bù jiāng tāmen de guòfàn suàn gěi tāmen | Critical | — | Shares the accounting-verb root (算) with baseline imputed_righteousness (算为义); the negative counterpart — removal of a debit rather than addition of a credit, both unmerited. Reinforces baseline grace-vs-merit-ledger (功德) distinction. |
| 5 | trespass | παράπτωμα | 过犯 | guòfàn | Medium | — | Narrower than 罪 (sin); a specific moral misstep. Both require atonement; neither is karmic infraction. |
| 6 | made [him] to be sin | ἐποίησεν ἁμαρτίαν | 神使那无罪的…成为罪 | Shén shǐ nà wúzuì de…chéngwéi zuì | Critical | 神使那无罪的变得有罪 (implies actual moral corruption — theologically forbidden) | Forensic/representative sin-bearing; Christ’s impeccability must be preserved. Mirror image of #8 below. |
| 7 | become the righteousness of God | γενώμεθα δικαιοσύνη Θεοῦ | (使用基督徒既有的”义”) | — | Critical (baseline 义 reuse) | — | Same forensic-exchange logic as 算为义; must not be conflated with 成圣’s gradual process. |
| 8 | ambassador for Christ | πρεσβεύω | 基督的使者 | Jīdū de shǐzhě | High | (avoid framing as a negotiating diplomat) | Herald of already-settled peace terms, not a negotiator between equal sovereigns. |
| 9 | world (object of reconciliation) | κόσμος | 世界 | shìjiè | Medium | 天下 (rejected — risks framing as a this-worldly political order, per baseline kingdom_of_god caution) | All humanity/the created order estranged from God. |
B.2 — New Creation in Christ
| # | Term (EN) | Original | Mandarin | Pinyin | Risk | Alternatives rejected | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | new creation | καινὴ κτίσις | 新造的人 | xīnzào de rén | Critical | 脱胎换骨 (Daoist immortality-cultivation idiom — self-achieved total transformation via internal alchemy), 重生的自我 (loses “in Christ” mooring) | Established Chinese Christian phrase. Must always retain explicit causal link to 在基督里 — God’s creative act realized through union with Christ, never an independent self-cultivation achievement. |
| 11 | old things passed away / new things have come | τὰ ἀρχαῖα παρῆλθεν, καινὰ γέγονεν | 旧事已过,都变成新的了 | jiùshì yǐguò, dōu biànchéng xīn de le | Medium | — | Once-for-all, abiding change (perfect tense); not a cyclical renewal (cf. baseline caution on 治乱循环 cyclical historiography). |
| 12 | flesh (evaluative sense) | σάρξ (κατὰ σάρκα) | 肉体 / 按着世人的眼光 | ròutǐ / ànzhe shìrén de yǎnguāng | High | — | Polysemous: physical body / sinful nature / worldly evaluative standard. 2 Cor 5:16 uses the third sense; risk of over-narrowing to “carnal/bodily” via 肉体 alone. Context-sensitive rendering required. |
| 13 | transformed into his image | μεταμορφόω / εἰκών | 变成 / 改变 + 像 | biànchéng / gǎibiàn + xiàng | High | 化 (as in 仙化/羽化, Daoist immortal transformation — rejected) | Progressive Spirit-wrought transformation, visible fruit of sanctification; not metamorphic rebirth into another form. |
| 14 | in Christ | ἐν Χριστῷ | 在基督里 | zài Jīdū lǐ | High (baseline-adjacent) | — | Reuses baseline Christian Identity in Christ framing; identity from union with Christ, not lineage or merit. |
B.3 — Suffering and Comfort in Ministry
| # | Term (EN) | Original | Mandarin | Pinyin | Risk | Alternatives rejected | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | comfort (God of all comfort) | παράκλησις / παρακαλέω | 安慰 | ānwèi | Medium | (kept distinct from 劝勉 “exhort” and 求 “appeal/implore” — same Greek root, three Mandarin senses) | Context-sensitive: 安慰 = comfort (1:3-7), 劝勉 = exhort (baseline), 求/恳求 = appeal (5:20). Flag each occurrence for sense-check. |
| 16 | affliction | θλῖψις | 患难 | huànnàn | Medium | — | Gospel-ministry participation in Christ’s sufferings, not generic misfortune or karmic hardship. |
| 17 | endurance | ὑπομονή | 忍耐 / 坚忍 | rěnnài / jiānrěn | Low-Medium | — | Standard. |
| 18 | hope | ἐλπίς | 盼望 | pànwàng | Medium | 希望 (too generic/secular) | Certain hope grounded in God’s proven faithfulness, not wishful thinking or fatalistic hoping. |
| 19 | inner man / outer man | ἔσω / ἔξω ἄνθρωπος | 里面的人 / 外面的人 | lǐmiàn de rén / wàimiàn de rén | Medium | — | Not to be conflated with Daoist inner/outer elixir cultivation dualism (内丹/外丹). |
| 20 | jars of clay | σκεῦος ὀστράκινον | 瓦器 | wǎqì | Low-Medium | — | Fragile-but-treasure-bearing dignity; not mere worthlessness. |
| 21 | afflicted-but-not-crushed cluster | θλίβω, στενοχωρέω, διώκω, καταβάλλω | 受压制 / 困苦 / 被逼迫 / 被打倒 | — | Medium | — | Paradox cluster (4:8-9). |
| 22 | catalogue of sufferings | κόπος, φυλακή, πληγή, ναυάγιον, κίνδυνος, etc. | 劳碌 / 监禁 / 鞭打 / 船坏 / 危险 etc. | — | Medium-High | — | Evidence of grace sustaining ministry, not self-generated merit through suffering (11:23-29). |
| 23 | weakness | ἀσθένεια | 软弱 | ruǎnruò | High | — | Cultural-value collision (not lexical): Chinese honor/face and Confucian strength-values make “boasting in weakness” counterintuitive; requires deliberate explanatory framing. |
B.4 — The New Covenant versus the Old
| # | Term (EN) | Original | Mandarin | Pinyin | Risk | Alternatives rejected | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | new covenant / old covenant | καινή / παλαιά διαθήκη | 新约 / 旧约 | xīnyuè / jiùyuè | High | — | Same characters as the standard Chinese Testament-book names (新约全书/旧约全书); every use must disambiguate covenant-as-bond vs. Testament-as-book-collection. |
| 25 | letter / Spirit | γράμμα / πνεῦμα | 字句 / 精意 | zìjù / jīngyì | Critical | 圣灵 for πνεῦμα here (forbidden — would wrongly invoke the Holy Spirit) | 精意 denotes the life-giving intent/meaning of the covenant, NOT the Holy Spirit. Never substitute 圣灵 in this specific verse (3:6). |
| 26 | veil | κάλυμμα | 帕子 | pàzi | Medium | 面纱 (generic bridal veil — loses Mosaic-narrative specificity) | Moses’ veil; hardened perception of the old covenant’s fading glory. |
| 27 | freedom | ἐλευθερία | 自由 | zìyóu | Medium-High | 解脱 (forbidden — Buddhist/Daoist liberation from an illusory world, already Critical-forbidden under baseline salvation) | Freedom to perceive/reflect God’s glory, granted by the Spirit — not escape from existence. |
B.5 — Sincerity and Apostolic Authority
| # | Term (EN) | Original | Mandarin | Pinyin | Risk | Alternatives rejected | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 | sincerity / purity of motive | ἁπλότης / εἰλικρίνεια | 真诚 / 诚实 | zhēnchéng / chéngshí | High | — | Same Greek word (ἁπλότης) also renders “generosity” in chs. 8-9 (see #33) — the underlying single-word wordplay is lost in Mandarin and must be supplied via translator note. |
| 29 | conscience | συνείδησις | 良心 | liángxīn | Medium | — | God-accountable inner witness; not the Mencian doctrine of an innately good, self-sufficient moral heart-mind (良知/性善). |
| 30 | persuade | πείθω | 劝 / 说服 | quàn / shuōfú | Medium | — | Honest appeal, not sophistic manipulation-for-profit (the very charge Paul refutes). |
| 31 | outward appearance vs. heart | πρόσωπον / καρδία | 外貌 / 外表 vs. 心 | wàimào / wàibiǎo vs. xīn | Medium | 面子 for πρόσωπον (rejected — narrows to social-status “face,” losing the broader external-criteria sense) | External, visible criteria vs. God-assessed inward reality. |
| 32 | out of one’s mind / sound mind | ἐξίστημι / σωφρονέω | 狂热(为神) / 清醒 | kuángrè (wèi Shén) / qīngxǐng | High | (avoid any phrase evoking 乩童/上身/附体, spirit-medium trance-possession) | Spirit-empowered zeal for God, answering a “madness” charge — not occult possession. |
| 33 | peddle (God’s word) | καπηλεύω | 贩卖(神的道) | fànmài (Shén de dào) | Medium | — | Foil for profit-motivated preaching; reinforces sincerity doctrine. |
| 34 | fragrance/aroma of Christ | ὀσμή / εὐωδία | 香气 | xiāngqì | Medium-High | (avoid direct equation with ancestral/idol incense-offering, 焚香敬拜/敬祖) | Pauline sacrificial-aroma/triumphal-procession metaphor for the gospel’s effect through ministers. |
B.6 — Generosity and Grace in Giving
| # | Term (EN) | Original | Mandarin | Pinyin | Risk | Alternatives rejected | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | cheerful giver | ἱλαρότης | 甘心乐意 | gānxīn lèyì | High | 功德箱式捐献 (merit-generating temple donation framing — forbidden) | Giving flows from grace already received; reinforces baseline Critical grace-vs-merit (功德) distinction applied to financial giving. |
| 36 | Christ became poor | ἐπτώχευσεν | 成为贫穷 | chéngwéi pínqióng | High | (avoid framing as a general ascetic-poverty ideal for merit) | Unique, unrepeatable substitutionary self-humiliation, not an ascetic technique to emulate for merit or a prosperity-formula guarantee. |
| 37 | generosity | ἁπλότης (giving sense) | 慷慨 / 甘心乐意的心 | kāngkǎi / gānxīn lèyì de xīn | High | — | See #28; same Greek word, different Mandarin term required by context. |
| 38 | fellowship in the ministry (giving) | κοινωνία τῆς διακονίας | 团契 (+ giving-specific gloss) | tuánqì | High (baseline reuse + expanded sense) | — | Financial participation as an expression of κοινωνία; requires explanatory gloss beyond baseline’s fellowship sense. |
| 39 | sow / reap | σπείρω / θερίζω | 撒种 / 收割 | sāzhǒng / shōugē | Medium | — | Not a karmic (报应) or prosperity-formula cause-effect mechanism. |
| 40 | equality/fairness | ἰσότης | 均平 / 平均 | jūnpíng / píngjūn | Medium | — | Mutual sufficiency, not enforced economic leveling. |
| 41 | free gift | δωρεά | 恩赐 / 礼物 | ēncì / lǐwù | Medium | — | Distinct from baseline spiritual_gifts (属灵恩赐, χάρισμα) though thematically related; requires disambiguating note. |
| 42 | the collection | λογεία (implied) | 捐项 / 捐献 | juānxiàng / juānxiàn | Low-Medium | — | The Jerusalem relief fund; concrete occasion for the doctrine. |
B.7 — Power in Weakness
| # | Term (EN) | Original | Mandarin | Pinyin | Risk | Alternatives rejected | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 43 | thorn in the flesh | σκόλοψ τῇ σαρκί | 肉中的刺 | ròu zhōng de cì | High | (avoid framing as deserved 报应 punishment) | Satan-permitted, God-purposed affliction producing humility; not karmic penalty. |
| 44 | my grace is sufficient | ἀρκεῖ σοι ἡ χάρις μου | 我的恩典够你用的 | wǒ de ēndiǎn gòu nǐ yòng de | Critical (baseline reuse) | — | Fix identical wording across all documents (cross-document consistency rule, cf. Romans 8:28 precedent). |
| 45 | power perfected in weakness | ἡ δύναμίς μου ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ τελεῖται | 我的能力是在人的软弱上显得完全 | — | High | — | Applies baseline 神的大能 to the weakness-paradox. |
| 46 | boasting | καυχάομαι / καύχησις | 夸口 / 自夸 | kuākǒu / zìkuā | High | — | Chinese modesty-culture (谦虚) collision; must be framed as ironic/rhetorical, exposing rival boasters, never literal self-promotion. |
| 47 | revelation | ἀποκάλυψις | 启示 | qǐshì | Medium | 天机/预兆 (divinatory revelation — rejected) | God-given disclosure validating authority, not human-attained mystical insight or fortune-telling. |
| 48 | paradise / third heaven | παράδεισος / τρίτος οὐρανός | 乐园 / 第三层天 | lèyuán / dì-sān céng tiān | Medium-High | (avoid equating with 仙境 Daoist immortal realms or 净土 Buddhist Pure Land) | Unique historical apostolic vision, not a generically attainable mystical realm. |
| 49 | signs, wonders, and mighty works | σημεῖα, τέρατα, δυνάμεις | 神迹、奇事和异能 | shénjī, qíshì hé yìnéng | Medium | 法术/神通 (folk/Buddhist-Daoist magical powers — forbidden, cf. baseline spiritual_gifts) | Authenticating marks of genuine apostleship given by God, not self-generated supernatural technique. |
| 50 | content in weaknesses | εὐδοκέω ἐν ἀσθενείαις | 喜欢 / 情愿忍受 | xǐhuan / qíngyuàn rěnshòu | Medium | — | Settled disposition, not mere resignation. |
| 51 | judgment seat of Christ | βῆμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ | 基督的审判台 | Jīdū de shěnpàntái | High | (avoid equating with 阎王殿/城隍 folk death-court judging deeds for rebirth/fate) | Post-salvation reward-evaluation for believers, not a salvation-determining or karma-settling tribunal. |
B.8 — Genuine versus False Apostleship
| # | Term (EN) | Original | Mandarin | Pinyin | Risk | Alternatives rejected | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 52 | false apostle | ψευδαπόστολος | 假使徒 | jiǎ shǐtú | High | — | The one NT occurrence (11:13); “false” = deceptive, satanically-inspired counterfeit, not merely unauthorized. |
| 53 | deceitful workers | ἐργάται δόλιοι | 诡诈的工人 | guǐzhà de gōngrén | Medium | — | Companion term to #52. |
| 54 | disguised as an angel of light | μετασχηματίζεται εἰς ἄγγελον φωτός | 装作光明的天使 | zhuāngzuò guāngmíng de tiānshǐ | High | (avoid conflating with benevolent immortal/bodhisattva light-emanation imagery) | Satan’s characteristic deceptive self-presentation, not a general spiritual-being category. |
| 55 | godly jealousy | ζῆλος Θεοῦ | 为神的热心 | wèi Shén de rèxīn | Medium-High | 嫉妒 (jídù, petty envy — rejected as primary rendering, though etymologically close) | Covenantal, exclusive jealous love, not petty envy. |
| 56 | approved / disqualified | δόκιμος / ἀδόκιμος | 蒙称许的 / 不蒙称许的 | méng chēngxǔ de / bù méng chēngxǔ de | Medium | — | Commendation comes from the Lord, not self-commendation. |
| 57 | commend ourselves | συνιστάνω | 自我推荐 / 自荐 | zìwǒ tuījiàn / zìjiàn | Medium | — | Foil for false apostles who self-generate credentials. |
| 58 | letters of commendation | συστατικαὶ ἐπιστολαί | 推荐信 | tuījiànxìn | Low | — | External human-issued credentials, contrasted with the Spirit-written “letter” of transformed lives. |
| 59 | examine yourselves | δοκιμάζετε ἑαυτούς | 试验自己 / 省察自己 | shìyàn zìjǐ / xǐngchá zìjǐ | Medium | — | Self-examination for genuine faith, not divinatory self-fortune-telling. |
| 60 | restoration / completeness | καταρτίζω | 造就完全 | zàojiù wánquán | Medium | — | Full spiritual maturity as God’s gift, not self-cultivated moral perfection (cf. baseline 成圣 caution). |
B.9 — Supporting / Cross-Cutting Terms
| # | Term (EN) | Original | Mandarin | Pinyin | Risk | Alternatives rejected | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 61 | love (of Christ) | ἀγάπη | 爱 / 基督的爱 | ài / Jīdū de ài | High | (avoid collapsing into 孝 filial duty or 仁 Confucian reciprocal benevolence) | Self-giving, unilateral, initiating covenantal love — undergirds nearly every doctrine in this curriculum; cross-document consistency required, especially 13:14. |
| 62 | forgive | χαρίζομαι / συγχωρέω | 饶恕 | ráoshù | High | — | Shares χάρις root with grace; countercultural against retributive-karma expectation (报应, baseline sin). |
| 63 | repentance | μετάνοια | 悔改 | huǐgǎi | High | 忏悔 (chànhuǐ — Buddhist karma-expiation ritual confession, forbidden) | Spirit-produced turning that receives, not earns, the forgiveness Christ’s reconciling work made possible. |
| 64 | temple of the living God | ναὸς Θεοῦ ζῶντος | 殿 / 神的殿 | diàn / Shén de diàn | Critical | 庙 / 寺 / 道观 (forbidden, per baseline church logic) | Metaphorical indwelling of God’s own presence in his covenant people, not an architectural cultic site requiring ritual offerings. |
| 65 | Satan | Σατανᾶς | 撒但 | Sādàn | Medium-High | — | Singular personal cosmic adversary; distinguish from generic folk-religious ghosts/spirits (鬼, 邪灵). |
| 66 | Belial | Βελίαλ | 彼列 | Bǐliè | Medium | — | Personification of wickedness, identified with Satan; requires brief gloss. |
| 67 | working together (with God) | συνεργέω | 同工 | tónggōng | Low-Medium | — | Partnership with God’s grace-work, not independent human effort. |
| 68 | sealed / down payment of the Spirit | σφραγίζω / ἀρραβών | 印记 / 凭据 | yìnjì / píngjù | Medium | 符 (protective talisman/amulet — rejected) | Legal-relational guarantee of the Spirit’s ownership and the believer’s future inheritance, not a magical warding object. |
| 69 | Trinitarian benediction (2 Cor 13:14) | χάρις…/ἀγάπη…/κοινωνία… | 愿主耶稣基督的恩典、神的爱、圣灵的团契,常与你们众人同在 | — | Critical (composite) | — | Fix one verbatim rendering for use across every curriculum document, parallel to the baseline’s Romans 8:28/10:9 consistency rule. |
Risk Summary for New Terms (Section B)
| Risk Tier | Count | Review Routing (per baseline convention) |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 9 (#1,2,3,4,6,25,44,64,69) | Human theologian review, every occurrence |
| High | 24 | Human theologian review |
| Medium-High | 6 | Human theologian review (borderline, route as High) |
| Medium | 25 | Native speaker review |
| Low / Low-Medium | 6 | Automated review |
All Critical and High risk terms in this glossary must be added to translation_memory.json and doctrine_risk_registry.json before Phase 2 segment translation begins, per the loading order specified in 12_ai_translation_requirements.md.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: 神
Transliteration: Shén
Doctrine: God
Rejected alternatives: 上帝, 天, 老天爷
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. In 2 Corinthians occurs constantly (1:2-3; 5:18-21; 13:14); doctrinal weight is even higher here because 神 is both the sole initiator of reconciliation (5:18-19) and the one before whom apostolic sincerity is tested (2:17; 5:11).
Jesus
Approved rendering: 耶稣
Transliteration: Yēsū
Doctrine: Christology
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Frequent in the ‘death and life of Jesus’ theme (4:10-11) and in the warning against ‘another Jesus’ preached by rivals (11:4); consistency of this name anchors readers against rival-Jesus confusion.
Messiah
Approved rendering: 基督
Transliteration: Jīdū
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Rejected alternatives: 弥勒, 救世主式泛称
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Central to ‘in Christ’ (5:17), ‘ambassadors for Christ’ (5:20), and 11:4’s warning against a ‘different Jesus…different Spirit…different gospel.’ Never conflate with 弥勒 (Maitreya); this polemic makes the collision especially live in 2 Corinthians.
Lord
Approved rendering: 主
Transliteration: zhǔ
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 主人, 老爷
Original: κύριος
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Occurs in ‘the fear of the Lord’ (5:11), ‘we walk by faith…to be with the Lord’ (5:6-8), and ‘let him who boasts, boast in the Lord’ (10:17-18).
Grace
Approved rendering: 恩典
Transliteration: ēndiǎn
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: 功德, 造化, 福气, 阴德
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. 2 Corinthians extends grace-vocabulary into the giving doctrine (8:1,4,6-7,9,19; 9:8,14); the same Mandarin term must be used for saving grace and gracious-enablement-to-give. Also anchors 12:9’s ‘my grace is sufficient,’ a cross-document fixed-wording verse (see grace_sufficient).
Righteousness
Approved rendering: 义
Transliteration: yì
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: 道德, 善行
Original: δικαιοσύνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Climactic term of the core passage: ‘that we might become the righteousness of God’ (5:21). Every occurrence, especially 5:21, 6:7, 6:14, requires the standard note distinguishing 义 from the Confucian virtue of the same name.
Salvation
Approved rendering: 救恩
Transliteration: jiùēn
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: 解脱, 超度, 得道
Original: σωτηρία
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Occurs at 1:6; 6:2 (‘now is the day of salvation’); 7:10. Present-tense, this-life emphasis reinforces the baseline caution against a posthumous-rite reading (超度).
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: 圣灵
Transliteration: Shènglíng
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: 祖灵, 灵
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Occurs at 1:22; 3:3,8,17-18; 5:5; 6:6; 13:14. CRITICAL EXCEPTION: 3:6’s πνεῦμα in the letter/Spirit contrast is NOT this term — see letter_and_spirit; never substitute 圣灵 there.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: 成圣
Transliteration: chéngshèng
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: 修身, 修炼
Original: ἁγιωσύνη
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. 7:1’s ‘bringing holiness to completion’ must never be read as self-achieved moral perfection; must be tied to the Spirit’s ongoing work in an already-indwelt (6:16), already-reconciled (5:18-19) believer.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: 复活
Transliteration: fùhuó
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 轮回, 投胎, 还魂
Original: ἀνάστασις / ἐγείρω
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Occurs at 4:14; 5:15.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: 算为义
Transliteration: suàn wéi yì
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: 修成正果的义, 自义
Original: ἐλογίσθη … εἰς δικαιοσύνην (cf. λογίζομαι)
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Forms the accounting-verb (算) basis for 5:19’s ‘not counting their trespasses’ — see not_counting_trespasses, the negative mirror-image of this forensic-accounting logic.
Reconciliation
Approved rendering: 和好
Transliteration: héhǎo
Doctrine: Reconciliation with God
Rejected alternatives: 和解, 修好
Original: καταλλαγή / καταλλάσσω
Category: Reconciliation
The central term of the core passage (5:18-20). 和好 is ordinary Mandarin for two quarreling equals ‘making up’ with mutual fault and mutual initiative, colliding with the Confucian ideal of 和 restored through ritual propriety (礼) and mutual accommodation. Every didactic use requires a note: God alone initiates, Christ alone bears the cost, humanity is the estranged party restored by grace, not a co-equal negotiating partner. Rejected: 和解 (legal/political settlement, too contractual), 修好 (still mutual-fault flavored).
Ministry Of Reconciliation
Approved rendering: 和好的职分
Transliteration: héhǎo de zhífèn
Doctrine: Reconciliation with God
Original: διακονία τῆς καταλλαγῆς / λόγος τῆς καταλλαγῆς
Category: Reconciliation
5:18-19. Compound built on 和好; carries the identical caution as reconciliation. Also rendered 和好的道 (the message of reconciliation).
Be Reconciled
Approved rendering: 与神和好
Transliteration: yǔ Shén héhǎo
Doctrine: Reconciliation with God
Original: καταλλάγητε
Category: Reconciliation
5:20, aorist passive imperative (καταλλάγητε): the hearer does not perform reconciliation but receives/responds to God’s already-completed reconciling act. Mandarin has no passive-imperative marking; a mandatory translator note is required at every occurrence to prevent the command from being read as ‘go and achieve reconciliation by your own effort.‘
Not Counting Trespasses
Approved rendering: 不将他们的过犯算给他们
Transliteration: bù jiāng tāmen de guòfàn suàn gěi tāmen
Doctrine: Reconciliation with God
Original: μὴ λογιζόμενος τὰ παραπτώματα
Category: Reconciliation
5:19. Shares the accounting-verb root (算) with 算为义 — the negative counterpart: removal of a debit rather than addition of a credit, both entirely unmerited. Reinforces the grace-vs-merit-ledger (功德) distinction already Critical in the baseline.
Made To Be Sin
Approved rendering: 神使那无罪的…成为罪
Transliteration: Shén shǐ nà wúzuì de…chéngwéi zuì
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Sin-Bearing
Rejected alternatives: 神使那无罪的变得有罪
Original: τὸν μὴ γνόντα ἁμαρτίαν … ἁμαρτίαν ἐποίησεν
Category: Reconciliation
5:21. Forensic, representative sin-bearing; must never suggest Christ became morally corrupted (would destroy the doctrine of Christ’s impeccability). Mirror image of become_righteousness_of_god in the same verse. Mandatory translator/teaching note required at every occurrence.
Become Righteousness Of God
Approved rendering: 成为神的义
Transliteration: chéngwéi Shén de yì
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Sin-Bearing
Original: γενώμεθα δικαιοσύνη Θεοῦ
Category: Reconciliation
5:21. Uses baseline 义; must be taught alongside 算为义 and never conflated with 成圣’s gradual process — this is a once-for-all forensic exchange, not moral improvement over time.
New Creation
Approved rendering: 新造的人
Transliteration: xīnzào de rén
Doctrine: New Creation in Christ
Rejected alternatives: 脱胎换骨, 重生的自我
Original: καινὴ κτίσις
Category: New Creation
5:17. Established Chinese Christian rendering. NEVER 脱胎换骨 (Daoist immortality-cultivation idiom for self-achieved total transformation via internal alchemy). Every occurrence must retain the explicit causal link to 在基督里: God’s creative act realized through union with Christ, not an independently achieved spiritual transformation.
Letter And Spirit
Approved rendering: 字句/精意
Transliteration: zìjù/jīngyì
Doctrine: The New Covenant versus the Old
Rejected alternatives: 圣灵(用于此处精意)
Original: γράμμα / πνεῦμα
Category: Covenant
3:6, ‘the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.’ 精意 denotes the life-giving intent/meaning of the covenant, NOT the Holy Spirit (圣灵, baseline Critical term). Never substitute 圣灵 for πνεῦμα in this specific verse.
Grace Sufficient
Approved rendering: 我的恩典够你用的
Transliteration: wǒ de ēndiǎn gòu nǐ yòng de
Doctrine: Power in Weakness
Original: ἀρκεῖ σοι ἡ χάρις μου
Category: Power in Weakness
12:9. Fixed, identical wording required across every curriculum document, parallel to the baseline’s cross-document consistency rule for Romans 8:28. Grace is sufficient amid unresolved weakness, never a merit-based rescue from it.
Temple Of The Living God
Approved rendering: 神的殿
Transliteration: Shén de diàn
Doctrine: The Church as the Temple of the Living God
Rejected alternatives: 庙, 寺, 道观
Original: ναὸς Θεοῦ ζῶντος
Category: Church
6:16. NEVER 庙/寺/道观. Every use requires a note that this is metaphorical indwelling of God’s own presence in his covenant people, not a physical shrine housing an idol or ancestral tablet requiring ritual maintenance.
Trinitarian Benediction
Approved rendering: 愿主耶稣基督的恩典、神的爱、圣灵的团契,常与你们众人同在
Transliteration: yuàn Zhǔ Yēsū Jīdū de ēndiǎn, Shén de ài, Shènglíng de tuánqì, cháng yǔ nǐmen zhòngrén tóngzài
Doctrine: Trinitarian Fellowship and Benediction
Original: ἡ χάρις τοῦ Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ἡ κοινωνία τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος
Category: God
13:14. The most cross-document-critical verse in the curriculum, parallel in status to Romans 8:28/10:9 in the baseline. Combines 恩典, 主, 耶稣, 基督, 神, 爱, 圣灵, 团契. Fix this exact verbatim rendering for use across every curriculum document.
High Risk Terms
Faith
Approved rendering: 信心
Transliteration: xìnxīn
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: 虔诚, 迷信, 信仰
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Occurs in ‘we walk by faith, not by sight’ (5:7) and ‘test yourselves, whether you are in the faith’ (13:5); object of faith (Christ) must remain explicit.
Sin
Approved rendering: 罪
Transliteration: zuì
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: 报应, 罪犯式的罪
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Pivotal at 5:21 (‘he made him to be sin who knew no sin’) — a forensic status imputed to the sinless Christ, not moral corruption; read alongside 算为义 and 过犯.
Covenant
Approved rendering: 约
Transliteration: yuē
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant / New Covenant
Rejected alternatives: 合同, 契约
Original: διαθήκη
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Base of the compound new_old_covenant term (3:6,14). Avoid 合同/契约, which suggest a negotiated commercial contract.
Saints
Approved rendering: 圣徒
Transliteration: shèngtú
Doctrine: Sainthood
Rejected alternatives: 圣人, 高僧
Original: ἅγιοι
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Occurs at 1:1; 8:4; 9:1,12; 13:12.
Holy
Approved rendering: 圣洁
Transliteration: shèngjié
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: 清净, 圣人般的
Original: ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Occurs at 1:12 (‘holiness and sincerity’) and 7:1 (‘perfecting holiness’).
Power Of God
Approved rendering: 神的大能
Transliteration: Shén de dà néng
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Rejected alternatives: 气, 法力
Original: δύναμις θεοῦ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Central to 4:7 (‘this surpassing power belongs to God, not to us’), 6:7, 12:9 (‘power perfected in weakness’), and 13:4.
Election
Approved rendering: 拣选
Transliteration: jiǎnxuǎn
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: 天命, 命运, 缘分
Original: ἐκλογή
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Referenced conceptually in God’s initiating reconciling action (5:18-19) though not lexically repeated as a standalone noun in 2 Corinthians.
Father
Approved rendering: 父
Transliteration: fù
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: 祖先, 老天爷
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Occurs at 1:2-3 and 6:18 (quoting the covenant promise ‘I will be a father to you’).
Ambassador
Approved rendering: 基督的使者
Transliteration: Jīdū de shǐzhě
Doctrine: Reconciliation with God
Original: πρεσβεύω
Category: Reconciliation
5:20. Must not be read as a diplomat negotiating peace terms between two sovereign equals; the terms of reconciliation are already fixed by Christ’s finished work — the ambassador proclaims and appeals, never negotiates.
Flesh Evaluative
Approved rendering: 按着世人的眼光
Transliteration: ànzhe shìrén de yǎnguāng
Doctrine: New Creation in Christ
Rejected alternatives: 肉体(单独使用于此义)
Original: σάρξ (κατὰ σάρκα)
Category: New Creation
5:16. σάρξ here means a merely human, worldly evaluative standard, not the physical-body sense used elsewhere in the letter (e.g. 4:10-11). 肉体 alone risks over-narrowing to ‘carnal/bodily’; requires an explicit disambiguating note.
Transformed Into His Image
Approved rendering: 变成主的形像
Transliteration: biànchéng zhǔ de xíngxiàng
Doctrine: Christian Identity in Union with Christ
Rejected alternatives: 化(仙化/羽化式用法)
Original: μεταμορφούμεθα … τὴν αὐτὴν εἰκόνα
Category: Sanctification
3:18. Progressive Spirit-wrought transformation into Christ’s likeness. Must not use 化 as in 仙化/羽化 (Daoist immortal transformation into a different bodily/spiritual form), which suggests metamorphic rebirth rather than gradual moral/relational likeness.
In Christ
Approved rendering: 在基督里
Transliteration: zài Jīdū lǐ
Doctrine: Christian Identity in Union with Christ
Original: ἐν Χριστῷ
Category: New Creation
5:17 and throughout (12:2,19). Reuses the baseline doctrine ‘Christian Identity in Christ’: identity from union with Christ, never from clan/lineage standing or accumulating merit (功德).
Weakness
Approved rendering: 软弱
Transliteration: ruǎnruò
Doctrine: Power in Weakness
Original: ἀσθένεια
Category: Suffering
11:21,29-30; 12:5,9-10; 13:4,9. Not a lexical collision but a cultural-value collision: Chinese cultural norms prize strength, achievement, and preserved face (面子); boasting in weakness requires deliberate explanatory framing at every occurrence.
New Old Covenant
Approved rendering: 新约/旧约
Transliteration: xīnyuè/jiùyuè
Doctrine: The New Covenant versus the Old
Original: καινή διαθήκη / παλαιά διαθήκη
Category: Covenant
3:6,14. These same compounds are the standard Chinese names for the Bible’s Testament-book collections (新约全书/旧约全书); every occurrence must disambiguate covenant-as-bond from Testament-as-book, or readers will conflate the theological contrast with a library-catalogue distinction.
Freedom
Approved rendering: 自由
Transliteration: zìyóu
Doctrine: The New Covenant versus the Old
Rejected alternatives: 解脱
Original: ἐλευθερία
Category: Covenant
3:17. NEVER 解脱 (Buddhist/Daoist liberation from an illusory material world, already forbidden Critical under baseline salvation) — this is freedom to perceive and reflect God’s glory, not escape from existence.
Sincerity
Approved rendering: 真诚
Transliteration: zhēnchéng
Doctrine: Sincerity and Apostolic Authority
Original: ἁπλότης / εἰλικρίνεια
Category: Apostleship
1:12; 2:17. The same Greek word ἁπλότης also renders ‘generosity’ in chapters 8-9 (see generosity) — Mandarin requires two different terms, so Paul’s wordplay linking sincere motive to generous action must be restored via a cross-reference translator note.
Beside Ourselves
Approved rendering: 似乎失了理智(为神)
Transliteration: sìhū shīle lǐzhì (wèi Shén)
Doctrine: Sincerity and Apostolic Authority
Rejected alternatives: 乩童起乩, 上身, 附体
Original: ἐξίστημι / σωφρονέω
Category: Apostleship
5:13. Avoid any phrase evoking spirit-medium trance-possession common in Chinese folk religion; this is Spirit-empowered zeal for God, not occult possession.
Fragrance Of Christ
Approved rendering: 香气
Transliteration: xiāngqì
Doctrine: Sincerity and Apostolic Authority
Rejected alternatives: 焚香敬拜式类比
Original: ὀσμή / εὐωδία
Category: Apostleship
2:14-16. Carries a real collision risk with incense-offering ritual to ancestors/idols (焚香敬拜/敬祖) — a live daily practice for many readers’ families. Must be taught as OT sacrificial-aroma and Roman-triumphal-procession imagery, never as endorsing or paralleling literal incense ritual.
Cheerful Giver
Approved rendering: 甘心乐意
Transliteration: gānxīn lèyì
Doctrine: Generosity and Grace in Giving
Rejected alternatives: 功德箱式捐献
Original: ἱλαρότης
Category: Giving
9:7, ‘God loves a cheerful giver.’ Distinguish from obligatory merit-generating temple/shrine donation practices (功德箱-style giving in folk Buddhism); reinforces the baseline Critical grace-vs-merit (功德) distinction applied to financial giving.
Christ Became Poor
Approved rendering: 成为贫穷
Transliteration: chéngwéi pínqióng
Doctrine: Generosity and Grace in Giving
Original: ἐπτώχευσεν
Category: Giving
8:9. Unique, unrepeatable substitutionary self-humiliation. Distinguish from the Buddhist monastic voluntary-poverty-for-merit ideal AND from prosperity-gospel distortions flattening this into a guaranteed material-return formula.
Generosity
Approved rendering: 慷慨
Transliteration: kāngkǎi
Doctrine: Generosity and Grace in Giving
Original: ἁπλότης
Category: Giving
8:2. Same Greek word (ἁπλότης) as sincerity (1:12) in its generosity sense; requires a different Mandarin term than sincerity, per the cross-reference note under sincerity.
Fellowship In Ministry
Approved rendering: 团契(在捐献事上)
Transliteration: tuánqì (zài juānxiàn shì shàng)
Doctrine: Generosity and Grace in Giving
Original: κοινωνία τῆς διακονίας
Category: Giving
8:4. Reuses baseline 团契 with an expanded, giving-specific gloss beyond the baseline’s general fellowship sense — financial participation itself is an act of κοινωνία, not merely a transaction alongside fellowship.
Sow And Reap
Approved rendering: 撒种/收割
Transliteration: sāzhǒng/shōugē
Doctrine: Generosity and Grace in Giving
Rejected alternatives: 种福田
Original: σπείρω / θερίζω
Category: Giving
9:6. HIGH-PRIORITY FENCE: this agricultural metaphor has an unusually high structural similarity to 种福田 (‘planting a field of blessing’), a live folk-Buddhist merit-giving idiom. Must carry an explicit note that the ‘harvest’ here is God’s free, gracious response to grace-motivated giving, never a mechanically accruing merit balance. Not a guaranteed material-return transaction (prosperity-gospel risk) nor karmic cause-and-effect (报应).
Thorn In The Flesh
Approved rendering: 肉中的刺
Transliteration: ròu zhōng de cì
Doctrine: Power in Weakness
Rejected alternatives: 报应式惩罚
Original: σκόλοψ τῇ σαρκί
Category: Power in Weakness
12:7. Must not be read through a karmic-retribution lens (报应, as deserved punishment) — a Satan-permitted, God-purposed affliction producing humility, not penalty for sin.
Power Perfected In Weakness
Approved rendering: 我的能力是在人的软弱上显得完全
Transliteration: wǒ de nénglì shì zài rén de ruǎnruò shàng xiǎnde wánquán
Doctrine: Power in Weakness
Original: ἡ δύναμίς μου ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ τελεῖται
Category: Power in Weakness
12:9. Applies baseline 神的大能 to the weakness-paradox; must not be softened into a claim that weakness is merely overcome rather than the very site where power is displayed.
Boasting
Approved rendering: 夸口
Transliteration: kuākǒu
Doctrine: Power in Weakness
Rejected alternatives: 自夸(无讽刺语境)
Original: καυχάομαι / καύχησις
Category: Apostleship
10:8,13-18; 11:1,16-21,30; 12:1,5-9. Chinese modesty culture (谦虚) treats literal self-boasting as near-taboo; every occurrence must be framed as ironic, rhetorical self-deprecation exposing rival boasters, never as literal self-promotion.
Judgment Seat Of Christ
Approved rendering: 基督的审判台
Transliteration: Jīdū de shěnpàntái
Doctrine: The Judgment Seat of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 阎王殿式审判, 城隍式审判
Original: βῆμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ
Category: Suffering
5:10. Must be distinguished from folk-religious death-court judgment (阎王殿/城隍-style tribunals determining rebirth/fate via merit-demerit ledger). Post-salvation, reward-oriented evaluation for believers already secure, not a salvation-determining or karma-settling tribunal.
False Apostle
Approved rendering: 假使徒
Transliteration: jiǎ shǐtú
Doctrine: Genuine versus False Apostleship
Original: ψευδαπόστολος
Category: Apostleship
11:13 — the sole NT occurrence. ‘False’ means deceptive, satanically-inspired counterfeit authority (11:14-15), not merely uncredentialed or unauthorized.
Disguised As Angel Of Light
Approved rendering: 装作光明的天使
Transliteration: zhuāngzuò guāngmíng de tiānshǐ
Doctrine: Genuine versus False Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: 佛光式光明形象类比
Original: μετασχηματίζεται εἰς ἄγγελον φωτός
Category: Apostleship
11:14. Carries a specific collision risk with benevolent light-emanating immortal/bodhisattva imagery in Chinese folk religion and Buddhism; must describe only Satan’s own deceptive self-presentation, never a general spiritual-being category that could include benevolent figures.
Love Of Christ
Approved rendering: 基督的爱
Transliteration: Jīdū de ài
Doctrine: Reconciliation with God
Rejected alternatives: 孝, 仁
Original: ἀγάπη τοῦ Χριστοῦ
Category: Reconciliation
5:14; 13:14 (Trinitarian benediction). Must not collapse into 孝 (filial duty-love, reciprocal and hierarchy-bound) or 仁 (Confucian relational benevolence, cultivated by effort) — Christ’s ἀγάπη is unilateral, self-giving, and directed toward the undeserving.
Forgive
Approved rendering: 饶恕
Transliteration: ráoshù
Doctrine: Forgiveness and Restoration
Original: χαρίζομαι / συγχωρέω
Category: Reconciliation
2:7,10. Shares the χάρις (grace) root — forgiveness flows from the same grace-reality as salvation, not a negotiated settlement. Countercultural against the retributive-karma expectation (报应, baseline sin).
Repentance
Approved rendering: 悔改
Transliteration: huǐgǎi
Doctrine: Godly Repentance
Rejected alternatives: 忏悔
Original: μετάνοια
Category: Reconciliation
7:9-10. NEVER 忏悔 (Buddhist ritual confession aimed at reducing karmic consequence). 悔改 receives, rather than earns, the forgiveness Christ’s reconciling work already made possible.
Death Life Of Jesus
Approved rendering: 耶稣的死/耶稣的生
Transliteration: Yēsū de sǐ/Yēsū de shēng
Doctrine: Suffering and Comfort in Ministry
Original: νέκρωσις τοῦ Ἰησοῦ / ζωὴ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ
Category: Suffering
4:10-11. Reuses baseline caution on 复活 — the ‘life of Jesus’ side must never drift toward reincarnation vocabulary; resurrection life made visible through the minister’s endurance, not a cyclical process.
Weapons Of Righteousness
Approved rendering: 义的兵器
Transliteration: yì de bīngqì
Doctrine: Sincerity and Apostolic Authority
Original: ὅπλα δικαιοσύνης
Category: Apostleship
6:7. Reuses baseline 义 (Critical) inside a military metaphor developed further in ch.10’s spiritual-warfare imagery.
Medium Risk Terms
Glory
Approved rendering: 荣耀
Transliteration: róngyào
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 面子, 光宗耀祖
Original: δόξα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Central to the fading-vs-abiding glory contrast (3:7-11,18) and the ‘eternal weight of glory’ (4:17); avoid 面子/光宗耀祖 especially given this letter’s extensive rival-credentials polemic.
Church
Approved rendering: 教会
Transliteration: jiàohuì
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: 庙, 寺, 道观
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Occurs at 1:1; 8:1,18-19,23-24; 11:8,28; 12:13.
Peace
Approved rendering: 平安
Transliteration: píng’ān
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: 安宁, 平安符式的平安
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Occurs at 1:2; 13:11.
Gospel
Approved rendering: 福音
Transliteration: fúyīn
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: 好消息, 喜讯
Original: εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Occurs at 2:12; 4:3-4; 9:13; 11:4,7. 4:3-4’s ‘veiled gospel’ pairs with the veil/blinding imagery — see illumination_of_gospel and satan.
Trespass
Approved rendering: 过犯
Transliteration: guòfàn
Doctrine: Reconciliation with God
Original: παράπτωμα
Category: Sin
5:19. Narrower than 罪 (sin); a specific moral misstep, requiring atonement rather than being merely a cause of bad karmic consequence (报应).
World
Approved rendering: 世界
Transliteration: shìjiè
Doctrine: Reconciliation with God
Rejected alternatives: 天下
Original: κόσμος
Category: Reconciliation
5:19. Reject 天下 per baseline caution on kingdom_of_god — risks framing God’s reconciling work as a this-worldly political order.
Old Things Passed Away
Approved rendering: 旧事已过,都变成新的了
Transliteration: jiùshì yǐguò, dōu biànchéng xīn de le
Doctrine: New Creation in Christ
Original: τὰ ἀρχαῖα παρῆλθεν, καινὰ γέγονεν
Category: New Creation
5:17. Perfect tense marks a once-for-all, abiding transition, not a cyclical renewal; must not be read through the lens of 治乱循环 (cyclical dynastic historiography).
Comfort
Approved rendering: 安慰
Transliteration: ānwèi
Doctrine: God’s Sovereign Comfort in Affliction
Original: παράκλησις / παρακαλέω
Category: Suffering
1:3-7 (‘the God of all comfort’). Must be kept distinct from the exhort-sense (劝勉) and the urgent-appeal sense (求/恳求, 5:20) of the same Greek word-family; each occurrence requires individual sense-checking.
Affliction
Approved rendering: 患难
Transliteration: huànnàn
Doctrine: Suffering and Comfort in Ministry
Original: θλῖψις
Category: Suffering
1:4,8; 4:8-9; 6:4; 7:4; 8:2. Must be taught as participation in Christ’s sufferings for others’ benefit, not generic misfortune or fate-determined hardship (avoid 报应 framing).
Hope
Approved rendering: 盼望
Transliteration: pànwàng
Doctrine: Suffering and Comfort in Ministry
Rejected alternatives: 希望
Original: ἐλπίς
Category: Faith
1:7,10; 3:12; 10:15. Distinguish from generic wishing (希望) and from fatalistic hoping directed at an impersonal fate.
Inner Outer Man
Approved rendering: 里面的人/外面的人
Transliteration: lǐmiàn de rén/wàimiàn de rén
Doctrine: Christian Identity in Union with Christ
Original: ἔσω ἄνθρωπος / ἔξω ἄνθρωπος
Category: Sanctification
4:16. Must not be conflated with the Daoist inner/outer elixir cultivation dualism (内丹/外丹), which frames renewal as technique-based rather than the Spirit’s ongoing gracious work.
Jars Of Clay
Approved rendering: 瓦器
Transliteration: wǎqì
Doctrine: Suffering and Comfort in Ministry
Original: σκεῦος ὀστράκινον
Category: Suffering
4:7. Ensure the note conveys fragile-but-treasure-bearing dignity, not mere worthlessness, so God’s power (not the minister’s) is seen as the true source.
Veil
Approved rendering: 帕子
Transliteration: pàzi
Doctrine: The New Covenant versus the Old
Rejected alternatives: 面纱
Original: κάλυμμα
Category: Covenant
3:13-16. Moses’ veil, symbolizing hardened perception of the old covenant’s fading glory. 面纱 (generic bridal veil) loses the narrative specificity.
Conscience
Approved rendering: 良心
Transliteration: liángxīn
Doctrine: Sincerity and Apostolic Authority
Original: συνείδησις
Category: Apostleship
1:12; 4:2; 5:11. Standard term, but must be taught as a God-accountable inner witness, not the Mencian doctrine of an innately good, self-sufficient moral heart-mind (良知/性善).
Persuade
Approved rendering: 劝
Transliteration: quàn
Doctrine: Sincerity and Apostolic Authority
Rejected alternatives: 说服(若暗示操控)
Original: πείθω
Category: Apostleship
5:11. Must not imply rhetorical trickery or sophistic manipulation-for-profit — the very charge Paul refutes.
Outward Appearance Heart
Approved rendering: 外貌/心
Transliteration: wàimào/xīn
Doctrine: Sincerity and Apostolic Authority
Rejected alternatives: 面子(用于外貌)
Original: κατὰ πρόσωπον / καρδία
Category: Apostleship
5:12. Reject 面子 for πρόσωπον — narrows to social-status ‘face’, losing Paul’s broader point about external, visible criteria (rhetorical skill, credentials, appearance) vs. God-assessed inward reality.
Peddle
Approved rendering: 贩卖神的道
Transliteration: fànmài Shén de dào
Doctrine: Sincerity and Apostolic Authority
Original: καπηλεύω
Category: Apostleship
2:17. Foil for profit-motivated false teaching; reinforces sincerity and apostolic authority.
Equality
Approved rendering: 均平
Transliteration: jūnpíng
Doctrine: Generosity and Grace in Giving
Rejected alternatives: 强制平均
Original: ἰσότης
Category: Giving
8:13-14. Mutual sufficiency, not enforced economic leveling; contemporary Mandarin political usage of 均 compounds could invite a redistributive-economics misreading.
Free Gift
Approved rendering: 恩赐
Transliteration: ēncì
Doctrine: Generosity and Grace in Giving
Original: δωρεά
Category: Giving
9:15. Distinct from baseline 属灵恩赐 (spiritual_gifts, χάρισμα) though thematically related; requires a disambiguating note.
Greed And Blessing
Approved rendering: 贪婪/祝福
Transliteration: tānlán/zhùfú
Doctrine: Generosity and Grace in Giving
Original: πλεονεξία / εὐλογία
Category: Giving
9:5. Contrast between grudging, exacted giving and free, blessed generosity; sets up 9:6-7.
Revelation
Approved rendering: 启示
Transliteration: qǐshì
Doctrine: Power in Weakness
Rejected alternatives: 天机, 预兆
Original: ἀποκάλυψις
Category: Power in Weakness
12:1,7. God-given disclosure validating apostolic authority, not human-attained mystical insight or fortune-telling technique.
Paradise Third Heaven
Approved rendering: 乐园/第三层天
Transliteration: lèyuán/dì-sān céng tiān
Doctrine: Power in Weakness
Rejected alternatives: 仙境, 净土
Original: παράδεισος / τρίτος οὐρανός
Category: Power in Weakness
12:2,4. Unique historical apostolic vision, not a generically attainable mystical realm; must not be equated with Daoist immortal realms or Buddhist Pure Land cosmology.
Signs Wonders Mighty Works
Approved rendering: 神迹、奇事和异能
Transliteration: shénjī, qíshì hé yìnéng
Doctrine: Power in Weakness
Rejected alternatives: 法术, 神通
Original: σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα καὶ δυνάμεις
Category: Power in Weakness
12:12. NEVER 法术/神通 (folk/Buddhist-Daoist magical powers, already flagged under baseline spiritual_gifts). Authenticating marks of apostleship given by God, not self-generated supernatural technique.
Content With Weaknesses
Approved rendering: 情愿忍受软弱
Transliteration: qíngyuàn rěnshòu ruǎnruò
Doctrine: Power in Weakness
Original: εὐδοκέω ἐν ἀσθενείαις
Category: Power in Weakness
12:10. Settled disposition, not mere passive resignation.
Deceitful Workers
Approved rendering: 诡诈的工人
Transliteration: guǐzhà de gōngrén
Doctrine: Genuine versus False Apostleship
Original: ἐργάται δόλιοι
Category: Apostleship
11:13. Companion term to false_apostle.
Approved Disqualified
Approved rendering: 蒙称许的/不蒙称许的
Transliteration: méng chēngxǔ de/bù méng chēngxǔ de
Doctrine: Genuine versus False Apostleship
Original: δόκιμος / ἀδόκιμος
Category: Apostleship
10:18; 13:5-7. Genuine commendation comes from the Lord, not self-commendation.
Commend Ourselves
Approved rendering: 自我推荐
Transliteration: zìwǒ tuījiàn
Doctrine: Genuine versus False Apostleship
Original: συνιστάνω
Category: Apostleship
3:1; 5:12; 10:12; 11:13. Foil for false apostles who rely on self-generated credentials.
Examine Yourselves
Approved rendering: 试验自己
Transliteration: shìyàn zìjǐ
Doctrine: Assurance through Self-Examination
Rejected alternatives: 占卜式自省
Original: δοκιμάζετε ἑαυτούς
Category: Apostleship
13:5. Distinguish from divinatory self-fortune-telling or omen-reading; Spirit-illumined self-assessment against Christ’s presence, not a fate-discernment technique.
Restoration Completeness
Approved rendering: 造就完全
Transliteration: zàojiù wánquán
Doctrine: Assurance through Self-Examination
Original: καταρτίζω / κατάρτισις
Category: Apostleship
13:9,11. Full spiritual maturity as God’s gift, not self-cultivated moral perfection (cf. baseline 成圣 caution).
Belial
Approved rendering: 彼列
Transliteration: Bǐliè
Doctrine: Spiritual Warfare and Satanic Deception
Original: Βελίαλ
Category: Spiritual Warfare
6:15. Personification of wickedness identified with Satan, paired antithetically with Christ; requires a brief identifying gloss.
Sealed Down Payment
Approved rendering: 印记/凭据
Transliteration: yìnjì/píngjù
Doctrine: Sealing and Guarantee of the Spirit
Rejected alternatives: 符
Original: σφραγίζω / ἀρραβών
Category: Sanctification
1:22; 5:5. Must not be confused with a protective talisman/amulet (符, cf. baseline caution on 平安符) — a legal-relational guarantee of God’s ownership and the believer’s certain future inheritance.
Sorrow Grief
Approved rendering: 忧愁
Transliteration: yōuchóu
Doctrine: Godly Repentance
Original: λύπη
Category: Reconciliation
2:1-7; 7:8-11. Sets up the godly-sorrow/worldly-sorrow distinction below.
Godly Worldly Sorrow
Approved rendering: 依着神的意思忧愁/世俗的忧愁
Transliteration: yīzhe Shén de yìsi yōuchóu/shìsú de yōuchóu
Doctrine: Godly Repentance
Original: λύπη κατὰ Θεόν / λύπη τοῦ κόσμου
Category: Reconciliation
7:9-10. Distinguishes redemptive grief leading to repentance and life from mere worldly regret leading to death.
Schemes
Approved rendering: 阴谋
Transliteration: yīnmóu
Doctrine: Spiritual Warfare and Satanic Deception
Original: νόημα
Category: Spiritual Warfare
2:11; cf. 10:5. Satan’s deliberate strategic opposition, not random misfortune.
Unbeliever
Approved rendering: 不信的人
Transliteration: bùxìn de rén
Doctrine: The Church as the Temple of the Living God
Original: ἄπιστος
Category: Church
6:14-15. Related to baseline 信心 (faith) by negation.
Uncleanness
Approved rendering: 污秽
Transliteration: wūhuì
Doctrine: Sanctification and Holy Living
Original: ἀκαθαρσία
Category: Sanctification
6:17 (quoting Isaiah); 12:21. Moral, not merely ritual, impurity — parallels the baseline caution under holy (圣洁).
Defilement
Approved rendering: 污秽(沾污)
Transliteration: wūhuì (zhānwū)
Doctrine: Sanctification and Holy Living
Original: μολυσμός
Category: Sanctification
7:1. Shares the semantic field of uncleanness above.
Illumination Of Gospel
Approved rendering: 光照
Transliteration: guāngzhào
Doctrine: The Veiled Gospel and Satanic Blinding
Original: φωτισμός
Category: Covenant
4:4,6. Gospel’s God-given light, contrasted with satanic blinding of unbelievers’ minds.
Eternal Weight Of Glory
Approved rendering: 极重的荣耀
Transliteration: jí zhòng de róngyào
Doctrine: Suffering and Comfort in Ministry
Original: βάρος δόξης αἰώνιον
Category: Suffering
4:17. Compound built on baseline 荣耀; the incomparable, eternal glory that present light affliction produces.
Acceptable Time Day Of Salvation
Approved rendering: 蒙恩的时候/得救的日子
Transliteration: méng ēn de shíhòu/déjiù de rìzi
Doctrine: Reconciliation with God
Original: εὐπρόσδεκτος καιρός / ἡμέρα σωτηρίας
Category: Reconciliation
6:2, quoting Isaiah. Compound reusing baseline 救恩; emphasizes present-tense urgency, not a future or posthumous opportunity.
Wage War Weapons
Approved rendering: 争战/兵器
Transliteration: zhēngzhàn/bīngqì
Doctrine: Spiritual Warfare and Satanic Deception
Original: στρατεύομαι / ὅπλα
Category: Spiritual Warfare
10:3-4. Spiritual warfare against arguments and strongholds, fought with divine, not fleshly, power.
Destroying Strongholds
Approved rendering: 攻破坚固的营垒
Transliteration: gōngpò jiāngù de yínglěi
Doctrine: Spiritual Warfare and Satanic Deception
Original: καθαίρεσις ὀχυρωμάτων
Category: Spiritual Warfare
10:4. God’s power overturning entrenched rebellious reasoning.
Taking Thought Captive
Approved rendering: 夺回每一个心意,使它顺服基督
Transliteration: duóhuí měi yī gè xīnyì, shǐ tā shùnfú Jīdū
Doctrine: Spiritual Warfare and Satanic Deception
Original: αἰχμαλωτίζω πᾶν νόημα
Category: Spiritual Warfare
10:5. Submitting all reasoning to Christ’s authority; related to the baseline obedience_of_faith concept.
Pure Virgin
Approved rendering: 贞洁的处女
Transliteration: zhēnjié de chùnǚ
Doctrine: Genuine versus False Apostleship
Original: παρθένος ἁγνή
Category: Apostleship
11:2. Marriage-to-Christ metaphor for the church’s undivided devotion.
Afflicted But Not Crushed
Approved rendering: 受压制/困苦/被逼迫/被打倒
Transliteration: shòu yāzhì/kùnkǔ/bèi bīpò/bèi dǎdǎo
Doctrine: Suffering and Comfort in Ministry
Original: θλίβω, στενοχωρέω, διώκω, καταβάλλω
Category: Suffering
4:8-9. Paradox cluster of affliction endured without destruction, evidencing God’s sustaining power.
Low Risk Terms
Apostle
Approved rendering: 使徒
Transliteration: shǐtú
Doctrine: Apostleship
Rejected alternatives: 宗师, 大师
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Occurs at 1:1; 11:5,13; 12:11-12. Base of the negated compound false_apostle, whose risk is High despite this base term’s Low risk.
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: 感恩
Transliteration: gǎn’ēn
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Original: εὐχαριστία
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Occurs at 1:11; 2:14; 4:15; 9:11-12.
Fellowship
Approved rendering: 团契
Transliteration: tuánqì
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: 交情, 结拜
Original: κοινωνία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Occurs at 6:14; 8:4; 13:14. See fellowship_in_ministry for the giving-specific extended sense requiring an additional gloss.
Exhort
Approved rendering: 劝勉
Transliteration: quànmiǎn
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Original: παρακαλέω
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Same Greek word-family (παρακαλέω) renders THREE distinct Mandarin senses across 2 Corinthians: 安慰 (comfort, 1:3-7), 劝勉 (exhort, general), and 求/恳求 (urgent appeal, 5:20). Check each occurrence individually.
Endurance
Approved rendering: 忍耐
Transliteration: rěnnài
Doctrine: Suffering and Comfort in Ministry
Original: ὑπομονή
Category: Suffering
1:6; 6:4. Standard term; low collision risk.
The Collection
Approved rendering: 捐项
Transliteration: juānxiàng
Doctrine: Generosity and Grace in Giving
Original: λογεία (implied; cf. ἡ διακονία/χάρις αὕτη)
Category: Giving
8:1-9:15 throughout. The concrete Jerusalem relief fund; low risk, concrete referent.
Purposed In Heart
Approved rendering: 心里酌定
Transliteration: xīnlǐ zhuódìng
Doctrine: Generosity and Grace in Giving
Original: προαιρέομαι
Category: Giving
9:7. Deliberate, unforced inner decision to give.
Readiness Willingness
Approved rendering: 甘心
Transliteration: gānxīn
Doctrine: Generosity and Grace in Giving
Original: προθυμία
Category: Giving
8:11-12,19. Willing, non-coerced eagerness to give.
Letters Of Commendation
Approved rendering: 推荐信
Transliteration: tuījiànxìn
Doctrine: Genuine versus False Apostleship
Original: συστατικαὶ ἐπιστολαί
Category: Apostleship
3:1. External, human-issued credentials, contrasted with the Corinthians themselves as Paul’s Spirit-written living letter.
Working Together
Approved rendering: 同工
Transliteration: tónggōng
Doctrine: Generosity and Grace in Giving
Original: συνεργέω
Category: Ministry
6:1. Apostolic partnership with God’s own grace-work, not independent human effort.
Earnestness
Approved rendering: 殷勤
Transliteration: yīnqín
Doctrine: Godly Repentance
Original: σπουδή
Category: Reconciliation
7:11-12; 8:7-8. Visible fruit of genuine repentance.
Joy
Approved rendering: 喜乐
Transliteration: xǐlè
Doctrine: God’s Sovereign Comfort in Affliction
Original: χαρά
Category: Reconciliation
7:4,7,9,13; 8:2.
Tent
Approved rendering: 帐棚
Transliteration: zhàngpéng
Doctrine: Suffering and Comfort in Ministry
Original: σκῆνος
Category: Suffering
5:1,4. The mortal body as a temporary dwelling, contrasted with the eternal ‘building from God.‘
Building From God
Approved rendering: 从神来的房屋
Transliteration: cóng Shén lái de fángwū
Doctrine: Suffering and Comfort in Ministry
Original: οἰκοδομὴ ἐκ Θεοῦ
Category: Suffering
5:1. The eternal, God-given resurrection body.
Clothed Naked
Approved rendering: 穿上/赤身
Transliteration: chuānshàng/chìshēn
Doctrine: Suffering and Comfort in Ministry
Original: ἐνδύω / γυμνός
Category: Suffering
5:2-4. Metaphor for embodied versus disembodied intermediate states.
Virtue Catalogue
Approved rendering: 洁净/知识/恒忍/恩慈
Transliteration: jiéjìng/zhīshì/héngrěn/ēncí
Doctrine: Sincerity and Apostolic Authority
Original: ἁγνότης, γνῶσις, μακροθυμία, χρηστότης
Category: Apostleship
6:6. Marks of genuine ministry: purity, knowledge, patience, kindness — contrasted with false-apostle credentials elsewhere.
Fools Speech
Approved rendering: 愚妄的话
Transliteration: yúwàng de huà
Doctrine: Genuine versus False Apostleship
Original: ἀφροσύνη / ἄφρων
Category: Apostleship
11:1,16-21. Paul’s ironic rhetorical self-designation, forced by rival boasting.
Meekness And Gentleness Of Christ
Approved rendering: 温柔和平
Transliteration: wēnróu hépíng
Doctrine: Genuine versus False Apostleship
Original: πραΰτης καὶ ἐπιείκεια Χριστοῦ
Category: Apostleship
10:1. Christ’s mild, gentle disposition, Paul’s model for confronting rivals; strength expressed through gentleness, foreshadowing power in weakness.
Holy Kiss
Approved rendering: 圣洁的亲嘴
Transliteration: shèngjié de qīnzuǐ
Doctrine: The Church as the Temple of the Living God
Original: ἅγιον φίλημα
Category: Church
13:12. A physical greeting expressing genuine Christian fellowship. Cultural-adaptation note (not doctrinal risk): a handshake, bow, or nod may serve as the natural functional-equivalent gesture in a modern teaching context, while the translated text retains 圣洁的亲嘴 for textual fidelity.
Referenced passages