Core Glossary
2 Kings — Core Glossary (English → Mandarin)
A. REUSED terms (binding, from Romans baseline — no deviation permitted)
| Term (EN) | Original (Hebrew/Aramaic) | Translit. | Mandarin | Risk | Chapters cited | Risk rationale (2 Kings-specific) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| God | אֱלֹהִים | Elohim | 神 | Critical | all | Generic-deity collision risk unchanged from baseline; in 2 Kings must be kept distinct from proper-name 耶和华 (see NEW section below). |
| covenant | בְּרִית | berit | 约 | High | 11, 17, 23 | Never render as 合同/契约 (commercial contract); Kings shows both covenant-making (11, 23) and covenant-breaking (17) — consistency required across both polarities. |
| sin | חָטָא / חֵטְא | chata / chet | 罪 | High | 17, 21, 24 (throughout) | Must retain covenant-offense sense against a personal God, not impersonal 报应 (karmic retribution) — the exile is explicitly and repeatedly attributed to accumulated 罪. |
| law | תּוֹרָה | Torah | 律法 | High | 17, 22, 23 | Never equate with 礼 (Confucian ritual propriety) or 法律 (secular law); in 2 Kings this is a specific, physical, rediscoverable covenant document (ch. 22). |
| prophet | נָבִיא | navi | 先知 | Low→High in context | 1-9, 13, 17, 19, 22 | Term itself is Low risk per baseline, but the doctrine “Prophetic Ministry” and “Repeated Prophetic Warning” elevate its contextual importance to High; distinguish from 算命先生 (fortune-teller). |
| prophecy | נְבוּאָה | nevu’ah | 预言 | Medium | 1-9 (fulfillment pattern), 17:13 | Distinguish from 占卜/算卦 (divination) — 2 Kings 17:17 provides the book’s sharpest textual contrast between the two categories. |
| faith / believe | אָמַן / אֱמוּנָה | aman / emunah | 信心 / 信 | High | 17:14, 18 | Object of faith (YHWH specifically) must remain explicit; 17:14 (“did not believe”) and 18 (Hezekiah “trusted”) form a deliberate positive/negative pair within the book. |
| holy / house of the LORD (holiness dimension) | קָדוֹשׁ | qadosh | 圣洁 | High | 12, 22, 23 (temple sanctity) | Avoid 清净 (Daoist/Buddhist ritual purity); temple holiness is relational set-apartness for exclusive covenant worship. |
| glory | כָּבוֹד | kavod | 荣耀 | Medium | implicit throughout (temple, God’s presence) | Avoid collapsing into 面子/光宗耀祖 per baseline caution. |
| David | דָּוִד | David | 大卫 | Medium | 8, 17:21, 25 | Standard CUV form; central to the Davidic covenant thread running through the whole book. |
| Israel | יִשְׂרָאֵל | Yisra’el | 以色列 | Medium | all | Standard CUV form; 2 Kings 17 is the primary “Israel” text describing the northern kingdom’s end. |
B. NEW terms proposed for translation_memory.json v2
| Term (EN) | Original | Translit. | Mandarin | Risk | Chapters cited | Risk rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| YHWH (“the LORD”) | יהוה | YHWH | 耶和华 | Critical | all (dominant divine-name term in the book) | Extends baseline god entry. CUV standard transliteration of the Tetragrammaton, distinct from generic 神 (Elohim) and from NT 主 (Kyrios). Nearly every judgment/covenant statement in 2 Kings is framed as against this personal, named covenant partner, not an impersonal force. Never render as 天 or 老天爷. |
| king (human) | מֶלֶךְ | melek | 王 | Medium | all | Must not be silently equated with the Chinese imperial 天子/Mandate-of-Heaven concept of ruler-legitimacy; Israelite/Judean kingship is covenant-conditioned and revocable by God’s explicit verdict (17:1-23), not a cosmic entitlement. |
| exile / carried away | גָּלָה | galah | 掳去 / 被掳 | Critical | 17:6,23; 24; 25 | Core term for “Covenant Judgment and the Exile.” Must be rendered consistently across all three deportation narratives (northern exile ch.17, Jehoiachin’s deportation ch.24, Jerusalem’s fall ch.25) so students recognize the recurring judgment pattern. Never softened into neutral “migration” language. |
| high places | בָּמָה / בָּמוֹת | bamah / bamot | 丘坛 | High | 17:9-11; 18; 21; 23 | Standard CUV term for unauthorized local worship sites; requires explanatory note distinguishing from Buddhist/folk temples (庙/寺), since the doctrinal issue is illegitimacy of the site and its rival worship, not architecture. |
| idols / idolatry | גִּלּוּלִים / פֶּסֶל | gillulim / pesel | 偶像 | Critical | 17:12; throughout | Never dignify with neutral “alternate religious object” framing; gillulim specifically carries a contemptuous nuance in Hebrew. Directly collides with the devotional function of images in Chinese Buddhist and folk practice — teaching must address this directly, not avoid it. |
| other gods | אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים | elohim acherim | 别神 / 别的神 | Critical | 17:7, 35, 37-38 | Grounds the doctrine of exclusive covenant loyalty; directly confronts the multi-deity “worship several gods for different needs” pattern common in Chinese folk religion — ch.17:33-41’s syncretism warning is the sharpest textual case. |
| feared the LORD yet served their own gods (syncretism) | יָרְאִים אֶת־יהוה וְאֶת־אֱלֹהֵיהֶם עֹבְדִים | yare’im et YHWH… ovdim | 又敬畏耶和华，又事奉自己的神 | Critical | 17:33, 41 | Highest-value single phrase in the book for confronting religious syncretism/hedging; must never be presented as a legitimate middle path. Mandatory theologian review every occurrence. |
| man of God | אִישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים | ish ha-Elohim | 神人 | Critical (cross-curriculum collision) | 1, 4-9, 13 | CUV’s standard rendering is the exact term the Romans baseline explicitly REJECTS for son_of_god (risk of implying a “deified human”). Every occurrence in 2 Kings requires a translator note clarifying this denotes a human prophetic office, not divine Sonship — prevents doctrinal bleed between curricula. |
| taken up (Elijah’s ascension) | עָלָה | alah (in context of 2:11) | 被接升天 | Critical | 2 | High collision risk with Daoist immortal-ascension tropes (升天成仙, 羽化). Must be taught as a unique, sovereign, unrepeatable act of God, never human spiritual attainment. NEVER use 成仙/羽化. |
| chariot(s)/horses of fire | רֶכֶב־אֵשׁ וְסוּסֵי אֵשׁ | rekhev esh ve-susei esh | 火焰的战车/火马 | High | 2 | Modern Mandarin 火车 = “train”; using it unqualified for this image produces an anachronistic, comedic misreading. Recommend explicit “ancient fiery war-chariot” gloss. Mandatory native-speaker review. |
| double portion of the spirit | פִּי־שְׁנַיִם בְּרוּחֶךָ | pi shenayim be-rucheka | 加倍的灵 / 双份的灵 | High | 2 | ”Spirit” here = prophetic empowerment (ruach), not a separate impartation of the Trinitarian 圣灵; must not overclaim NT precision onto this OT idiom, but also must not deny typological continuity. |
| revive / raise the dead (OT sign-miracle) | חָיָה | chayah | 使…复活 / 苏醒过来 | Critical | 4, 13 | Must be distinguished from the baseline’s Critical-risk resurrection (复活, reserved for Christ’s unique, permanent, once-for-all resurrection). These OT accounts are temporary reversals of death within mortal life — sign-miracles, not the doctrine of resurrection proper. NEVER use 轮回/投胎 (forbidden per baseline). |
| leprosy | צָרַעַת | tsara’at | 大痲疯 / 皮肤病 | Medium | 5 | Avoid framing through a karmic-retribution-for-sin lens common in folk explanations of chronic illness; text frames Naaman’s healing as unearned grace to an outsider. |
| anoint(ed) | מָשַׁח | mashach | 受膏 | High | 9 | Etymological root of 基督/Messiah (baseline messiah, Critical). Every human royal/priestly anointing must be distinguished from the unique, unrepeatable Messianic anointing fulfilled in Christ — avoid implying any OT king “is” a Messiah in the full theological sense. |
| house of the LORD / temple | בֵּית־יהוה | beit YHWH | 耶和华的殿 / 圣殿 | High | 12, 22, 23, 25 | Never render with 庙/寺/道观 (folk/Buddhist/Daoist temple), per the same logic as the baseline’s church caution — this is the one designated place of exclusive covenant worship. |
| Book of the Law | סֵפֶר הַתּוֹרָה | sefer ha-Torah | 律法书 | High | 22 | Anchors “Josiah’s Reforms and the Rediscovered Law.” Distinguish from the Confucian classical canon (经) read as sage-wisdom, per baseline’s inspiration_of_scripture caution. |
| divination / enchantment | קֶסֶם / נַחֵשׁ | qesem / nachash | 占卜 / 邪术 | High | 17:17; 21; 23 | Direct collision with Chinese divination traditions (算卦, 占卜, I-Ching, 算命); reinforces the baseline’s existing prophecy-vs-divination distinction with the book’s strongest textual example (17:17). |
| mediums and necromancers | אֹבוֹת וְיִדְּעֹנִים | ovot ve-yid’onim | 交鬼的和行巫术的 | High | 23 | Collision risk with ancestor-consultation/mediumship practices (扶乩, 灵媒, 问米) still present in folk religious practice; text groups this with divination as a forbidden substitute for revelation. |
| pass through the fire (child sacrifice) | הֶעֱבִירוּ בָּאֵשׁ | he’eviru ba-esh | 使儿女经火 | Critical | 16:3; 17:17; 21:6 | Must render unambiguously as ritual child sacrifice; never euphemized. The gravest sin catalogued in the core passage. |
| covenant lawsuit “warn/testify” | הֵעִיד | he’id | 警戒 / 劝诫 / 见证 | High | 17:13 | Anchors “God’s Patience through Repeated Prophetic Warning”; must convey repeated, patient, legally-grounded warning, not a single fatalistic pronouncement. |
| turn / repent | שׁוּב | shuv | 悔改 / 归回 | High | 17:13; 22-23 (Josiah’s response) | Distinguish from Buddhist ritual repentance (忏悔), which operates within a merit-purification framework; biblical shuv is relational return to a covenant Lord already in relationship, not merit-accumulating penance. |
| remnant | שְׁאָר / הַנִּשְׁאָרִים | she’ar / ha-nish’arim | 余民 / 剩下的人 | Medium | 25 | Anchors “Hope amid Judgment”; must retain hope-bearing, promise-anchored theological weight, not merely neutral “survivors.” |
| angel of the LORD | מַלְאַךְ יהוה | mal’akh YHWH | 耶和华的使者 | High | 19 | Distinguish from ordinary human מַלְאָכִים (“messengers,” ch.17:4, same underlying word) and from generic Chinese folk spirit-beings (精灵/神仙); a specific divine agent of the one true God. |
| sign | אוֹת | ot | 迹象 / 征兆 | Medium | 20 | Distinguish from divination one actively seeks (占卜/算卦); this is a sign God gives unbidden to confirm his own prior word. |
| Passover | פֶּסַח | Pesach | 逾越节 | Medium | 23 | Standard rendering; recalls the Exodus deliverance referenced back in 17:7, framing Josiah’s reform as return to founding redemptive history. |
| house of David (dynastic promise) | בֵּית דָּוִד | beit David | 大卫家 | High | 8, 25 | Extends baseline davidic_covenant; must be taught as an unconditional promise preserved despite individual kings’ unfaithfulness — unlike the revocable Chinese Mandate of Heaven. |
| tribute (political) | מִנְחָה | minchah | 贡物 | Low | 3, 15, 17:3-4 | Keep distinct from the cultic “grain offering” sense of the same Hebrew word (see next entry) to avoid blending political tribute with worship-vocabulary. |
| offering / sacrifice (cultic) | זֶבַח / מִנְחָה / קָרְבָּן | zevach / minchah / qorban | 祭 / 祭物 / 供物 | High | throughout (incense, altars) | Distinguish Israel’s prescribed, exclusive worship offerings from Chinese folk/Buddhist ritual offerings (烧香, 拜拜, 祭祖); collision risk especially acute at 17:11’s incense-burning. |
| Baal | בַּעַל | Ba’al | 巴力 | Medium | throughout | Proper noun (transliterated); also means ordinary “master/lord” in Hebrew — an untranslatable wordplay against YHWH’s own lordship, best handled in teaching commentary rather than in-text. |
| Asherah (pole) | אֲשֵׁרָה / אֲשֵׁרִים | asherah / asherim | 亚舍拉 | Medium | 17:10, 16; 23 | Proper noun (Canaanite fertility-cult object/goddess); no native Chinese religious analog — requires an explanatory note rather than a natural-equivalent search. |
| host of heaven (astral worship) | צְבָא הַשָּׁמַיִם | tzeva ha-shamayim | 天上的万象 | Medium | 17:16; 21; 23 | Live pastoral-teaching bridge point: care needed given some Chinese folk astrological/star-veneration practice (拜星宿); not to be treated as a harmless cultural parallel without comment. |
C. Forbidden-substitution additions (extending the Romans baseline list, specific to 2 Kings)
| Concept | NEVER use | Always use | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elijah’s ascension | 成仙, 羽化, 羽化登仙 | 被接升天 (with clarifying note) | Daoist immortal-attainment vocabulary implies human achievement through cultivation; Elijah’s removal is a sovereign, unrepeatable act of God. |
| Chariot/horses of fire | 火车 (unqualified) | 火焰的战车/火马 (with note distinguishing from the modern railway sense) | Modern Mandarin 火车 = “train”; unqualified use produces anachronistic misreading. |
| OT revival of the dead (chs. 4, 13) | 轮回, 投胎 | 使…复活/苏醒过来 (with note distinguishing from Christ’s unique 复活) | Same forbidden-substitution logic as the baseline resurrection entry; these are temporary sign-miracles within mortal life, not reincarnation nor the doctrine of resurrection proper. |
| ”Man of God” title (chs. 1, 4-9, 13) | (no forbidden Mandarin substitute exists — 神人 is itself the required CUV term) | 神人 (with mandatory clarifying note every occurrence) | Unlike other entries, the risk here is not a wrong Mandarin word but the correct word’s collision with the Romans baseline’s own rejected-alternatives list for son_of_god. Cross-curriculum note required, not a substitution. |
| Syncretistic “fear the LORD and serve other gods” (17:33, 41) | any framing implying this is a legitimate or harmless devotional posture | 又敬畏耶和华，又事奉自己的神, taught explicitly as condemned syncretism | Must not be normalized as compatible with the multi-deity “worship many gods for safety” folk pattern; the text names it as the very sin under judgment. |
| Idols / images (throughout) | any rendering that dignifies idols as legitimate alternate religious options | 偶像 (neutral register, but taught with the text’s own contemptuous framing, e.g. gillulim in 17:12) | Preserve the narrator’s polemical stance rather than flattening into neutral comparative-religion language. |
D. Doctrine-to-Term Cross-Reference (for Phase 2 review routing)
| Doctrine | Risk (per curriculum doctrines) | Governing terms | Review routing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Covenant Judgment and the Exile | Critical | 约, 罪, 掳去/被掳, 别神, 厌弃 | Human theologian |
| Prophetic Ministry and Miraculous Power (Elijah and Elisha) | Critical | 神人, 被接升天, 火焰的战车, 加倍的灵, 使…复活 | Human theologian |
| The Fall of Israel and Judah as Covenant Consequence | Critical | 罪, 偶像, 丘坛, 因…的罪, 掳去 | Human theologian |
| God’s Patience through Repeated Prophetic Warning | High | 警戒/劝诫, 先知, 先见, 悔改/归回 | Human theologian |
| Josiah’s Reforms and the Rediscovered Law | High | 律法书, 立约, 逾越节, 除掉丘坛 | Human theologian |
| Hope amid Judgment | Medium | 余民, 大卫家, 抬起头来 | Native speaker review |
This glossary extends, and does not contradict, the Romans baseline translation_memory.json. All REUSED terms above must be enforced exactly as recorded in the baseline. All NEW terms are proposed for versioning into translation_memory.json v2 in Phase 1 Step 9, with Critical/High entries requiring human theologian sign-off before use in Phase 2 segment translation.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: 神
Transliteration: Shén
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 上帝, 天, 老天爷
Original: אֱלֹהִים
Category: God
CRITICAL: this Language Package standardizes on 神 (the CUV ‘Shen edition’ reading) rather than 上帝 (Shàngdì), per the unresolved 19th-century ‘Term Question’. NEVER use 天 (tiān, impersonal Heaven) or 老天爷 alone. Note 神 is also the common noun for any deity/spirit (folk city gods, kitchen god, etc.); doctrinal contexts must make monotheism explicit rather than assume it. Inherited from Romans package; reused unchanged for 2 Kings. In 2 Kings, 神 (generic Elohim) must be kept distinct from the personal covenant name 耶和华 (YHWH, see new entry below) — 2 Kings uses both terms, sometimes contrastively (e.g. 17:7, foreign ‘other gods’ vs. the LORD).
Resurrection
Approved rendering: 复活
Transliteration: fùhuó
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 轮回, 投胎, 还魂
CRITICAL: NEVER 轮回/投胎/还魂. Bodily, historical, once-for-all. Inherited from Romans package; retained UNCHANGED and reserved exclusively for Christ’s unique resurrection. In 2 Kings, this term must NOT be applied to the OT sign-miracles of chs. 4 and 13 (the Shunammite’s son; the man revived by contact with Elisha’s bones) — see NEW term 使…复活 below, which names a distinct, non-permanent category.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: 神的儿子
Transliteration: Shén de érzi
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 天子, 神人
CRITICAL: NEVER 天子 (‘Son of Heaven’); never abbreviate to 神人 (‘divine man’). Inherited from Romans package; retained UNCHANGED as Christ’s exclusive title. Cross-curriculum alert: 2 Kings’ standard CUV title for Elijah/Elisha, 神人 (see NEW term below), is precisely the phrase this baseline entry rejects — every 2 Kings occurrence of 神人 requires a distinguishing translator note to prevent doctrinal bleed between the two curricula.
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; retained UNCHANGED. In 2 Kings, the etymological root of this term, 受膏 (mashach, ‘anoint,’ see NEW term below), recurs for ordinary royal/priestly consecration (e.g. Jehu, ch.9) — every such occurrence must be distinguished from this unique, unrepeatable Messianic fulfillment.
Yahweh
Approved rendering: 耶和华
Transliteration: Yēhéhuá
Doctrine: The Personal Covenant Name of God
Rejected alternatives: 天, 老天爷, 泛用的’神’
Original: יהוה
Category: God
NEW. CUV standard transliteration of the Tetragrammaton, extending the baseline ‘god’ entry. Distinct from generic 神 (Elohim, foreign deities included) and from NT 主 (Kyrios). Nearly every judgment/covenant statement in 2 Kings (especially 17:1-23) is framed relationally against this personal, named covenant partner, not an impersonal force. NEVER render as 天 or 老天爷.
Exile
Approved rendering: 掳去 / 被掳
Transliteration: lǔqù / bèilǔ
Doctrine: Covenant Judgment and the Exile
Rejected alternatives: 移民
Original: גָּלָה
Category: Covenant Judgment and Exile
NEW — CRITICAL. Core term for ‘Covenant Judgment and the Exile.’ Must be rendered identically across all three deportation narratives (17:6, 23; 24; 25) so students recognize one recurring judgment category, not three unrelated historical events. NEVER softened into neutral ‘migration’ (移民) language, which would erase the judicial, covenantal character of the deportation.
Burned House Of The Lord
Approved rendering: 焚烧耶和华的殿
Transliteration: fénshāo Yēhéhuá de diàn
Doctrine: Covenant Judgment and the Exile
Original: שָׂרַף אֶת־בֵּית־יהוה
Category: Covenant Judgment and Exile
NEW — CRITICAL. The Babylonian destruction of the temple (ch.25), the ultimate covenant-judgment image in the book. Must reuse the identical 耶和华的殿 rendering established for the temple’s earlier positive appearances (ch.12, 22, 23) so students perceive the destruction of the very thing repaired and reformed earlier.
Other Gods
Approved rendering: 别神 / 别的神
Transliteration: biéshén / bié de shén
Doctrine: Idolatry and Covenant Infidelity
Rejected alternatives: 泛泛的’其他信仰’
Original: אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים
Category: Idolatry and Syncretism
NEW — CRITICAL. Any deity besides YHWH; the specific covenant violation of divided worship-loyalty (17:7, 35, 37-38). Directly confronts the multi-deity ‘worship several gods for different needs’ pattern common in Chinese folk religion. Never soften to a generic ‘other beliefs.‘
Syncretism Formula
Approved rendering: 又敬畏耶和华，又事奉自己的神
Transliteration: yòu jìngwèi Yēhéhuá, yòu shìfèng zìjǐ de shén
Doctrine: Religious Syncretism (Fearing the LORD Yet Serving Other Gods)
Rejected alternatives: 任何暗示这是合理中间道路的表述
Original: יָרְאִים אֶת־יהוה וְאֶת־אֱלֹהֵיהֶם עֹבְדִים
Category: Idolatry and Syncretism
NEW — CRITICAL. ‘Fearing the LORD and serving their own gods’ (17:33, 41) — the single highest-value teaching phrase in the book for confronting the Chinese folk-religious pattern of worshiping multiple deities concurrently (‘拜拜’ pragmatism, hedging across traditions). Must never be presented as a legitimate middle path; the text names it as the very sin under judgment. Mandatory theologian review on every occurrence.
Idols
Approved rendering: 偶像
Transliteration: ǒuxiàng
Doctrine: Idolatry and Covenant Infidelity
Rejected alternatives: 任何将偶像尊为合法宗教选项的表述
Original: גִּלּוּלִים
Category: Idolatry and Syncretism
NEW — CRITICAL. Gillulim (17:12) carries a deliberately contemptuous nuance in Hebrew (possibly ‘dung-pellets’); 偶像 is the standard neutral-register Mandarin rendering, but the narrator’s polemical stance should be conveyed in teaching notes. Directly collides with the active devotional function of images in Chinese Buddhist and folk practice — teaching must address this directly, not avoid it.
Pass Through The Fire
Approved rendering: 使儿女经火
Transliteration: shǐ érnǚ jīng huǒ
Doctrine: Child Sacrifice as the Gravest Covenant Violation
Rejected alternatives: 任何模糊的净化或献身习语
Original: הֶעֱבִירוּ בָּאֵשׁ
Category: Idolatry and Syncretism
NEW — CRITICAL. The technical idiom for ritual child sacrifice to Molech (16:3; 17:17; 21:6). Must render unambiguously; never euphemized. The gravest sin catalogued in the core passage.
Man Of God
Approved rendering: 神人
Transliteration: shénrén
Doctrine: The ‘Man of God’ as a Human Prophetic Office, Not Divine Sonship
Original: אִישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים
Category: Prophetic Ministry
NEW — CRITICAL CROSS-CURRICULUM COLLISION. CUV’s standard, unavoidable rendering for this prophetic title (Elijah, Elisha, and others, chs.1, 4-9, 13) is the EXACT term the Romans baseline explicitly rejects as an alternative for son_of_god. Every occurrence MUST carry a distinguishing translator note: here 神人 means ‘a man belonging to / sent by God’ (a human office), categorically not the unique, eternal, co-equal divine Sonship reserved for 神的儿子 in the Romans curriculum. Mandatory theologian review.
Taken Up Ascension
Approved rendering: 被接升天
Transliteration: bèi jiē shēngtiān
Doctrine: Elijah’s Bodily Ascension
Rejected alternatives: 成仙, 羽化, 羽化登仙
Original: עָלָה בַּסְעָרָה הַשָּׁמָיְמָה
Category: Miraculous Power
NEW — CRITICAL. Elijah’s unique, non-repeated bodily removal from earthly life (ch.2). EXTREME collision risk with the Daoist concept of an immortal (仙人) ascending to heaven after attaining the Dao through cultivation/alchemy. Must always carry an explicit note: this is a sovereign, unrepeatable act of God upon a covenant prophet, never human achievement of immortality. NEVER use 成仙 or 羽化.
Revive Raise The Dead Ot
Approved rendering: 使…复活
Transliteration: shǐ…fùhuó
Doctrine: Sign-Miracles Validating the Prophetic Word
Rejected alternatives: 轮回, 投胎
Original: חָיָה
Category: Miraculous Power
NEW — CRITICAL. The reversal of death for a specific individual within ordinary earthly life (Shunammite’s son, ch.4; the man touching Elisha’s bones, ch.13) — a sign-miracle, not the doctrine of resurrection proper. Must be distinguished from baseline’s Critical-risk resurrection (复活), reserved for Christ’s unique, permanent, once-for-all resurrection, via an explicit theologian’s note every occurrence. NEVER use 轮回 or 投胎. The ch.13 occurrence additionally risks collision with Buddhist relic veneration (舍利子) and ancestral-bone geomancy; the text is explicit the power is God’s, not the bones’.
High Risk Terms
Covenant
Approved rendering: 约
Transliteration: yuē
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: 合同, 契约
Original: בְּרִית
Category: Covenant
Relational, divinely initiated covenant bond. Avoid 合同/契约 (ordinary commercial contract terms). Inherited from Romans package; reused unchanged for 2 Kings, where the term governs both covenant-making (11:17; 23:1-3) and covenant-breaking (17:15) — consistency required across both polarities.
Sin
Approved rendering: 罪
Transliteration: zuì
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: 报应, 罪犯式的罪
Original: חָטָא / חֵטְא
Category: Sin and Judgment
罪 also means criminal guilt and, in folk usage, is linked to 报应 (karmic retribution). Clarify sin as moral offense against a personal God, not karmic consequence. Inherited from Romans package; reused unchanged for 2 Kings, where the exile of both kingdoms is explicitly and repeatedly attributed to accumulated 罪 (17:7-17; 24:3-4), never to impersonal cosmic mechanism.
Law
Approved rendering: 律法
Transliteration: lǜfǎ
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: 礼, 道德规范, 法律
Original: תּוֹרָה
Category: Covenant
The Mosaic Law. NEVER equate with 礼 (Confucian ritual propriety) or 法律 (secular civil law). Inherited from Romans package; reused unchanged for 2 Kings, where it becomes a specific, physical, rediscoverable covenant document (ch.22) — see NEW term 律法书 below.
Faith
Approved rendering: 信心
Transliteration: xìnxīn
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: 虔诚, 迷信, 信仰
Original: אָמַן / אֱמוּנָה
Category: Faith and Repentance
Personal trust placed in a specific object; object of faith must be stated in context. Inherited from Romans package; reused unchanged for 2 Kings. The book’s deliberate negative (17:14, ‘did not believe’) / positive (18:5, Hezekiah trusted) pairing requires precisely consistent vocabulary — see companion NEW term 倚靠 (trust).
Holy
Approved rendering: 圣洁
Transliteration: shèngjié
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: 清净, 圣人般的
Original: קָדוֹשׁ
Category: Worship
Set apart for God and morally pure; avoid 清净 (Daoist/Buddhist ritual/meditative purity). Inherited from Romans package; reused unchanged for 2 Kings, applied to temple sanctity (ch.12, 22, 23).
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
NEVER 气 (qì, vital life-energy) or 法力 (ritual/magical power). Inherited from Romans package; reused unchanged for 2 Kings as the governing fence for all generalized ‘power’ language; specific narrative acts (ascension, revivals, fire from heaven) use their own event-level NEW terms below, each individually fenced against the same forbidden vocabulary.
Evil In The Eyes Of The Lord
Approved rendering: 在耶和华眼中看为恶
Transliteration: zài Yēhéhuá yǎnzhōng kàn wéi è
Doctrine: Kingship as a Covenant-Conditioned Office
Rejected alternatives: 泛泛的’做了坏事’
Original: רַע בְּעֵינֵי יהוה
Category: Kingship
NEW. The recurring regnal-evaluation formula (17:2 and throughout). Must render as an evaluative idiom preserving the forensic sense of standing before a personal Judge, not a flattened generic ‘did bad things.’ Hoshea is graded ‘less evil’ than predecessors, showing judgment is proportionate, not capricious.
Anointed
Approved rendering: 受膏
Transliteration: shòu gāo
Doctrine: Anointing and God’s Appointment of Kings
Original: מָשַׁח
Category: Kingship
NEW. The literal ritual act underlying 基督/Messiah. Every occurrence of human royal/priestly anointing (e.g. Jehu, ch.9) requires a note distinguishing this repeatable, office-conferring ritual act from the unique, unrepeatable Messianic anointing fulfilled in Christ (cf. baseline messiah). Never imply an anointed OT king thereby becomes a Messiah in the full theological sense.
House Of David
Approved rendering: 大卫家
Transliteration: Dàwèi jiā
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant and Dynastic Hope
Original: בֵּית דָּוִד
Category: Kingship
NEW. Extends baseline david/davidic_covenant. Must be taught as an unconditional promise preserved despite individual kings’ unfaithfulness (8:19, ‘for David’s sake’; 25:27-30) — unlike the revocable Chinese Mandate of Heaven, where legitimacy transfers to a new line upon a ruler’s moral failure. This contrast must be taught explicitly, not left implicit.
Made A Covenant
Approved rendering: 立约
Transliteration: lìyuē
Doctrine: Covenant Renewal
Rejected alternatives: 合同, 契约
Original: כָּרַת בְּרִית
Category: Covenant
NEW. ‘Cut a covenant’ — the standard OT covenant-making idiom, used at the tripartite renewal ceremonies of ch.11 and ch.23. Must be rendered identically at both occurrences so students recognize covenant renewal recurring at increasing national scale. Never render with commercial-contract vocabulary (合同/契约), which would suggest negotiation between equal parties rather than the people’s submission to terms God himself set.
Book Of The Law
Approved rendering: 律法书
Transliteration: lǜfǎshū
Doctrine: Josiah’s Reforms and the Rediscovered Law
Rejected alternatives: 经, 经典
Original: סֵפֶר הַתּוֹרָה
Category: Covenant
NEW. Extends baseline law. The written covenant scroll rediscovered during Josiah’s temple repairs (ch.22). Must never be analogized to the rediscovery of a lost Confucian classical text (经), read as sage-wisdom rather than God-breathed revelation — the doctrine’s force depends on this being a forgotten covenant-partner’s own binding words, not philosophical literature regained.
Commandments And Statutes
Approved rendering: 命令 / 律例
Transliteration: mìnglìng / lǜlì
Doctrine: God’s Patience through Repeated Prophetic Warning
Rejected alternatives: 礼
Original: מִצְוֹת / חֻקִּים
Category: Covenant
NEW. Companion terms to 律法, stacked in 17:13 to stress the completeness of what Israel was given and rejected. Must not collapse into 礼 (Confucian ritual propriety). Note the same Hebrew root (chuqqah) is used ironically for pagan ‘customs of the nations’ at 17:8 — see NEW term 列国的风俗, which uses different Mandarin vocabulary to preserve this deliberate irony.
Because Of The Sins Of
Approved rendering: 因…的罪
Transliteration: yīn…de zuì
Doctrine: The Fall of Judah as Covenant Consequence
Rejected alternatives: 报应, 泛泛的时间性叙述（如’在…统治期间’）
Original: בִּגְלַל חֲטֹאות
Category: Covenant Judgment and Exile
NEW. The causal-covenantal formula naming accumulated, multi-generational sin (e.g. of Manasseh, 24:3-4) as the true cause of national judgment, mirroring 17:7-17’s explanation for the north. Keep the causal 因/因为 construction explicit; never gloss as 报应 (karmic retribution) or flatten into vague temporal narration.
High Places
Approved rendering: 丘坛
Transliteration: qiūtán
Doctrine: Idolatry and Covenant Infidelity
Rejected alternatives: 庙, 寺, 道观
Original: בָּמָה / בָּמוֹת
Category: Idolatry and Syncretism
NEW. Standard CUV term for local, unauthorized worship sites (17:9-11, 18; 21; 23). Requires an explanatory note distinguishing from Buddhist/folk temples (庙/寺), since the doctrinal issue is illegitimacy of the site and rival worship, not architecture.
Burned Incense
Approved rendering: 烧香
Transliteration: shāoxiāng
Doctrine: Idolatry and Covenant Infidelity
Original: קִטֵּר
Category: Idolatry and Syncretism
NEW. Cultic smoke-offering (17:11), licit when directed to YHWH at the temple, condemned here at illegitimate sites. HIGH collision risk with Chinese folk and Buddhist incense-burning; teaching must clarify the text condemns what and where the incense is offered, not incense as a category — a teaching opportunity, not merely a hazard.
Divination
Approved rendering: 占卜
Transliteration: zhānbǔ
Doctrine: Divination and Occult Practice Forbidden
Original: קֶסֶם / נַחֵשׁ
Category: Idolatry and Syncretism
NEW. Forbidden methods (qesem/nachash) of seeking hidden knowledge apart from revealed prophecy (17:17; 21; 23). DIRECT COLLISION with widely-practiced Chinese divination traditions (算卦, 算命, I-Ching hexagram casting). 17:17 is the book’s sharpest textual contrast between prophecy and divination; reuse and reinforce baseline’s existing prophecy distinction.
Mediums And Necromancers
Approved rendering: 交鬼的和行巫术的
Transliteration: jiāoguǐ de hé xíng wūshù de
Doctrine: Divination and Occult Practice Forbidden
Original: אֹבוֹת וְיִדְּעֹנִים
Category: Idolatry and Syncretism
NEW. Spirit-consulters and ‘knowing ones,’ purged by Josiah (23:24). DIRECT COLLISION with Chinese ancestor-consultation/mediumship practices (扶乩, 灵媒, 问米) still active in folk religious practice; must be taught as forbidden, grouped with divination, never a neutral cultural custom.
Offering Sacrifice
Approved rendering: 祭物
Transliteration: jìwù
Doctrine: Exclusive Worship at the Designated Temple
Original: זֶבַח / מִנְחָה / קָרְבָּן
Category: Worship
NEW. Prescribed cultic offerings, licit only when directed to YHWH at the designated place. Must be distinguished from Chinese folk/Buddhist ritual offerings (烧香, 拜拜, 祭祖) and kept distinct from the political-tribute sense of the same Hebrew root (see next entry).
House Of The Lord
Approved rendering: 耶和华的殿
Transliteration: Yēhéhuá de diàn
Doctrine: Exclusive Worship at the Designated Temple
Rejected alternatives: 庙, 寺, 道观
Original: בֵּית־יהוה
Category: Worship
NEW. The Jerusalem temple, God’s designated dwelling-place (ch.12, 22, 23, 25). NEVER render with 庙 (folk temple), 寺 (Buddhist temple), or 道观 (Daoist temple), per the same logic as baseline church. The building’s physical condition tracks the nation’s spiritual condition across the book.
Word Of The Lord
Approved rendering: 耶和华的话
Transliteration: Yēhéhuá de huà
Doctrine: Prophetic Ministry and Miraculous Power
Original: דְּבַר־יהוה
Category: Prophetic Ministry
NEW. The standard formula introducing authoritative, transmitted divine speech through a prophet. Foundational term reused throughout the book (chs.1-22); establishes prophetic pronouncements as transmitted divine speech, not personal opinion.
Angel Of The Lord
Approved rendering: 耶和华的使者
Transliteration: Yēhéhuá de shǐzhě
Doctrine: Divine Deliverance in History
Rejected alternatives: 精灵, 神仙
Original: מַלְאַךְ יהוה
Category: Prophetic Ministry
NEW. A specific divine agent (ch.19). Must be distinguished by context from ordinary human מַלְאָכִים (‘messengers,’ 17:4, same underlying Hebrew word — see next entry) and must never be conflated with generic Chinese folk spirit-beings (精灵, 神仙).
Double Portion Of The Spirit
Approved rendering: 加倍的灵
Transliteration: jiābèi de líng
Doctrine: Prophetic Succession
Rejected alternatives: 圣灵 (reserved for the NT Trinitarian Person), 秘传/掌门传承
Original: פִּי־שְׁנַיִם בְּרוּחֶךָ
Category: Prophetic Ministry
NEW. An inheritance-law idiom (a firstborn’s double share) applied to prophetic empowerment (ch.2). ‘Spirit’ (ruach) here denotes God-given prophetic empowerment, not a separate impartation of the Trinity’s Holy Spirit; must not be conflated with, nor entirely divorced from, baseline 圣灵. Also must not be read as a Daoist/martial-arts master-to-disciple secret transmission. Flag for theologian review to state typological continuity without overclaiming NT precision.
Chariot Horses Of Fire
Approved rendering: 火焰的战车
Transliteration: huǒyàn de zhànchē
Doctrine: Elijah’s Bodily Ascension
Rejected alternatives: 火车 (unqualified)
Original: רֶכֶב־אֵשׁ וְסוּסֵי אֵשׁ
Category: Miraculous Power
NEW. Miraculous theophanic war-imagery accompanying Elijah’s ascension (ch.2). Modern standard Mandarin 火车 now means exclusively ‘train’ and MUST NOT be used unqualified, or readers will picture a steam engine. Recommend 火焰的战车/火马 with an explanatory gloss distinguishing the ancient war-chariot sense from the modern railway sense. Mandatory native-speaker review.
Trust
Approved rendering: 倚靠
Transliteration: yǐkào
Doctrine: Faith and Trust in YHWH versus Unbelief
Rejected alternatives: 虔诚
Original: בָּטַח
Category: Faith and Repentance
NEW. Batach — to trust, rely on, feel secure in; near-synonym of baseline-reused 信心, emphasizing secure reliance. Hezekiah’s exclusive trust (ch.18) is the deliberate positive counter-example to 17:14’s ‘did not believe’ within the same book.
Turn Repent
Approved rendering: 悔改
Transliteration: huǐgǎi
Doctrine: God’s Patience through Repeated Prophetic Warning
Rejected alternatives: 忏悔, 修身
Original: שׁוּב
Category: Faith and Repentance
NEW. Shuv — the OT’s primary repentance verb, physical turning-back extended metaphorically to covenantal return. Must be distinguished from Buddhist ritual repentance (忏悔, merit-purification framework) and from Confucian self-cultivation (修身); biblical shuv is relational return to a covenant Lord already in relationship, not merit-accumulating penance. Anchors both 17:13 and Josiah’s response (ch.22-23).
Covenant Lawsuit Warn
Approved rendering: 警戒
Transliteration: jǐngjiè
Doctrine: God’s Patience through Repeated Prophetic Warning
Rejected alternatives: 天意, 命中注定
Original: הֵעִיד
Category: Faith and Repentance
NEW. He’id — ‘bore witness against, warned solemnly,’ covenant-lawsuit language (17:13). Must convey repeated, patient, legally-grounded warning across generations, not a single fatalistic pronouncement akin to 天意/命中注定. Distinct from baseline exhort (劝勉), which is aimed at encouraging believers, not confronting covenant-breakers.
Removed From Sight
Approved rendering: 从自己眼前赶出
Transliteration: cóng zìjǐ yǎnqián gǎnchū
Doctrine: Covenant Judgment and the Exile
Original: הֵסִיר מֵעַל פָּנָיו
Category: Sin and Judgment
NEW. Idiom for banishment from covenant presence/blessing (17:18, 23). Must retain the relational-banishment sense (loss of covenant nearness to God), not a merely neutral ‘removed them,’ which would flatten exile into a bare geographic fact.
Lifted Up The Head
Approved rendering: 抬起头来
Transliteration: tái qǐ tóu lái
Doctrine: Hope amid Judgment
Original: נָשָׂא רֹאשׁ
Category: Hope and Restoration
NEW. Idiom for restoring honor/status — Jehoiachin’s release and elevation by the Babylonian king in the book’s closing scene (ch.25). Do not flatten into a neutral ‘was released from prison,’ which would lose the covenant-hope resonance of a preserved, favored Davidic heir even in exile.
No God But In Israel
Approved rendering: 世上没有别的神，只有以色列的神
Transliteration: shìshàng méiyǒu bié de shén, zhǐyǒu Yǐsèliè de shén
Doctrine: Unearned Grace Extended to a Gentile Outsider
Original: אֵין אֱלֹהִים בְּכָל־הָאָרֶץ כִּי אִם בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל
Category: Faith and Repentance
NEW. Naaman’s exclusivist monotheistic confession after his healing (ch.5). An early textual anchor showing saving knowledge of the true God was never ethnically bounded, well ahead of the NT — a useful cross-curriculum bridge to the baseline’s universal_scope_of_gospel doctrine.
Medium Risk Terms
Prophecy
Approved rendering: 预言
Transliteration: yùyán
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: 算卦, 占卜
Original: נְבוּאָה
Category: Prophetic Ministry
God-inspired declaration; distinguish from 算卦/占卜 (divination). Inherited from Romans package; reused unchanged for 2 Kings, where 17:17 provides the book’s sharpest textual contrast between prophecy and divination — see NEW term 占卜 below.
Glory
Approved rendering: 荣耀
Transliteration: róngyào
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 面子, 光宗耀祖
Original: כָּבוֹד
Category: Worship
Avoid collapsing into 面子 (‘face’) or 光宗耀祖 (ancestral/lineage honor). Inherited from Romans package; reused unchanged for 2 Kings, implicit throughout temple-related narrative and God’s dealings with his people.
David
Approved rendering: 大卫
Transliteration: Dàwèi
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: דָּוִד
Category: Kingship
CUV standard proper name form. Inherited from Romans package; reused unchanged for 2 Kings, central to the Davidic-covenant thread running through the whole book (ch.8, 17:21, 25).
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; reused unchanged for 2 Kings, where ch.17 is the primary OT text describing the northern kingdom’s covenantal end. Be aware of contemporary political sensitivity around this proper name in some regions.
Church
Approved rendering: 教会
Transliteration: jiàohuì
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: 庙, 寺, 道观
NEVER 庙/寺/道观 (folk/Buddhist/Daoist temple). Inherited from Romans package; retained as the cross-reference contrast-point for 2 Kings’ ‘house of the LORD’ (耶和华的殿, see NEW term below) — the same forbidden-substitution logic applies even though the temple (a building) and the church (a people) are different referents.
Intercession
Approved rendering: 代求
Transliteration: dàiqiú
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Rejected alternatives: 求签, 问卜
Prayer addressed to God directly; distinguish from 求签/问卜 (divinatory practices). Inherited from Romans package; reused unchanged for 2 Kings, governing Hezekiah’s direct petitions to God (ch.19-20).
King
Approved rendering: 王
Transliteration: wáng
Doctrine: Kingship as a Covenant-Conditioned Office
Rejected alternatives: 天子
Original: מֶלֶךְ
Category: Kingship
NEW. Religiously neutral in Mandarin, but must not be silently equated with the imperial 天子 (‘Son of Heaven’) ideal of cosmically-mandated, revocable-only-by-cosmic-failure legitimacy. Israelite/Judean kingship is covenant-conditioned and explicitly revocable by God’s stated verdict (17:1-2), not a Mandate-of-Heaven entitlement that simply transfers to a new dynasty.
Testimonies
Approved rendering: 法度
Transliteration: fǎdù
Doctrine: Covenant Judgment and the Exile
Original: עֵדוֹת
Category: Covenant
NEW. Covenant stipulations viewed as ongoing legal witness (17:15), paired with he’id (v.13). Keep the legal-witness nuance rather than collapsing into generic ‘rules.‘
Statutes Of The Nations
Approved rendering: 列国的风俗
Transliteration: lièguó de fēngsú
Doctrine: Idolatry and Covenant Infidelity
Rejected alternatives: 律例 (reserved for God’s own statutes)
Original: חֻקּוֹת הַגּוֹיִם
Category: Idolatry and Syncretism
NEW. The religious customs of the Canaanite nations Israel adopted (17:8). Deliberate Hebrew irony: the same root word (chuqqah) names both God’s own statutes and this pagan custom; Mandarin must use 风俗/规条 here (not 律例) so the irony — Israel treating pagan custom as if it were law — remains visible.
Resettled Populations
Approved rendering: 迁入 / 安置
Transliteration: qiānrù / ānzhì
Doctrine: Covenant Judgment and the Exile
Rejected alternatives: 移居 (too benign)
Original: הוֹשִׁיב
Category: Covenant Judgment and Exile
NEW. Forced resettlement of deported peoples into the conquered land (17:24ff.), producing later religious syncretism. Must convey involuntary, judgment-driven relocation, not a benign ‘settling.‘
Asherah
Approved rendering: 亚舍拉
Transliteration: Yàshèlā
Doctrine: Idolatry and Covenant Infidelity
Original: אֲשֵׁרָה / אֲשֵׁרִים
Category: Idolatry and Syncretism
NEW — proper noun (transliterated). Canaanite fertility-cult object/goddess (17:10, 16; 23). No native Chinese religious analog exists; requires an explanatory note rather than a search for a natural equivalent.
Baal
Approved rendering: 巴力
Transliteration: Bālì
Doctrine: Idolatry and Covenant Infidelity
Original: בַּעַל
Category: Idolatry and Syncretism
NEW — proper noun (transliterated). Chief rival Canaanite deity; also means ordinary ‘master/lord’ in Hebrew. The wordplay against YHWH’s own lordship title is untranslatable into Mandarin and should be handled in teaching commentary, not attempted in-text.
Host Of Heaven
Approved rendering: 天上的万象
Transliteration: tiānshàng de wànxiàng
Doctrine: Idolatry and Covenant Infidelity
Original: צְבָא הַשָּׁמַיִם
Category: Idolatry and Syncretism
NEW. Astral bodies worshiped as deities (17:16; 21; 23). Must not be confused with the Daoist astrological veneration of stars/constellations (拜星宿) still present in some Chinese folk practice — a live pastoral-teaching bridge point requiring explicit care, not silent equivalence.
Molten Calves
Approved rendering: 铸造的牛犊
Transliteration: zhùzào de niúdú
Doctrine: Idolatry and Covenant Infidelity
Original: עֶגְלִים מַסֵּכָה
Category: Idolatry and Syncretism
NEW. Cast-metal calf idols (17:16), echoing Exodus 32 and 1 Kings 12. Requires a cross-reference note for readers with low OT narrative literacy, showing sin repeating sin across generations.
Pillars Images
Approved rendering: 柱像
Transliteration: zhùxiàng
Doctrine: Idolatry and Covenant Infidelity
Original: מַצֵּבָה
Category: Idolatry and Syncretism
NEW. Standing stones (17:10) — must clarify the cultic sense here (idol-pillar), distinct from the neutral memorial-stone sense the same Hebrew word carries elsewhere in the OT.
Passover
Approved rendering: 逾越节
Transliteration: Yúyuèjié
Doctrine: Josiah’s Reforms and the Rediscovered Law
Original: פֶּסַח
Category: Worship
NEW. Standard, already-naturalized rendering across Chinese Bible tradition. Josiah’s Passover (ch.23) recalls the Exodus deliverance referenced back in 17:7, framing reform as return to founding redemptive history.
Seer
Approved rendering: 先见
Transliteration: xiānjiàn
Doctrine: God’s Patience through Repeated Prophetic Warning
Rejected alternatives: 算命先生
Original: חֹזִים
Category: Prophetic Ministry
NEW. Companion term to baseline-reused 先知 (17:13); must be distinguished from 算命先生 (fortune-teller), extending the baseline’s caution on 先知 to this near-synonym.
Hand Of The Lord
Approved rendering: 耶和华的手临到他身上
Transliteration: Yēhéhuá de shǒu líndào tā shēnshang
Doctrine: Prophetic Ministry and Miraculous Power
Rejected alternatives: 气, 法力
Original: יַד־יהוה
Category: Prophetic Ministry
NEW. Idiom for divine empowerment coming upon a prophet before a specific prophetic act (ch.3). Companion idiom to 耶和华的话; keep distinct from baseline’s broader, salvation-specific 神的大能.
Fire From Heaven
Approved rendering: 从天降火
Transliteration: cóng tiān jiàng huǒ
Doctrine: Prophetic Ministry and Miraculous Power
Original: אֵש מִן־הַשָּׁמַיִם
Category: Miraculous Power
NEW. Miraculous, judicial fire, distinct from ordinary lightning (ch.1). Must retain miraculous, judicial force; avoid comparison to generic natural-disaster language.
Leprosy
Approved rendering: 大痲疯
Transliteration: dàmáfēng
Doctrine: Unearned Grace Extended to a Gentile Outsider
Original: צָרַעַת
Category: Miraculous Power
NEW. A skin disease/ritual-impurity condition, healed in Naaman (ch.5), inflicted on Gehazi (ch.5). Must not be read through a karmic-retribution-for-past-sin lens common in folk explanations of chronic disease; the text frames Naaman’s healing as unearned grace to a foreign outsider.
Hardened Neck
Approved rendering: 硬着颈项
Transliteration: yìngzhe jǐngxiàng
Doctrine: God’s Patience through Repeated Prophetic Warning
Original: הִקְשׁוּ אֶת־עָרְפָּם
Category: Faith and Repentance
NEW. Idiom of stubborn refusal, drawn from a beast of burden resisting the yoke (17:14). Established CUV idiom; requires a brief cultural gloss since the metaphor is not native to Mandarin idiom.
Rejected
Approved rendering: 厌弃
Transliteration: yànqì
Doctrine: The Fall of Israel as Covenant Consequence
Original: מָאַס
Category: Sin and Judgment
NEW. Ma’as — despised, rejected, spurned; applied both to Israel’s rejection of God’s statutes (17:15) and God’s reciprocal rejection of Israel (17:20). Must be rendered identically at both verses to preserve the narrator’s deliberate lex talionis symmetry.
Provoke To Anger
Approved rendering: 惹…发怒
Transliteration: rě…fānù
Doctrine: Idolatry and Covenant Infidelity
Original: הִכְעִיס
Category: Sin and Judgment
NEW. Causative ‘caused vexation/anger’ (17:11, 17-18). Must retain personal-relational anger (a wronged covenant partner), not impersonal fate-disturbance (feng-shui-style ‘disturbing the balance’ framings).
Remnant
Approved rendering: 余民
Transliteration: yúmín
Doctrine: Hope amid Judgment
Rejected alternatives: 剩下的人 (as a full substitute; acceptable only as a plain-register gloss, never replacing 余民’s promise-weight)
Original: שְׁאָר / הַנִּשְׁאָרִים
Category: Hope and Restoration
NEW. Those left in the land after deportation (ch.25); in prophetic literature broadly, a preserved, hope-bearing minority. Must retain hope-bearing, promise-anchored theological weight, not merely ‘survivors’ in a neutral historical sense.
Sign
Approved rendering: 迹象
Transliteration: jìxiàng
Doctrine: Sign-Miracles Validating the Prophetic Word
Rejected alternatives: 占卜, 算卦
Original: אוֹת
Category: Hope and Restoration
NEW. A confirming, revelatory marker God gives unbidden to authenticate his own prior word (ch.20). Must be distinguished from 占卜/算卦 (divination one actively seeks); this is a sign God gives to confirm his own word, the reverse causal direction from divination’s fate-discovery technique.
Prophetess
Approved rendering: 女先知
Transliteration: nǚ xiānzhī
Doctrine: Josiah’s Reforms and the Rediscovered Law
Original: נְבִיאָה
Category: Prophetic Ministry
NEW. Companion term to baseline-reused 先知; Huldah’s authoritative interpretive ministry (ch.22) is decisive for Josiah’s reform. Flag for a teaching note on the prophetic office’s openness to women within the OT narrative.
Low Risk Terms
Prophet
Approved rendering: 先知
Transliteration: xiānzhī
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: 算命先生
Original: נָבִיא
Category: Prophetic Ministry
God’s spokesperson; distinguish from 算命先生 (fortune-teller). Inherited from Romans package; reused unchanged for 2 Kings. Lexical risk is Low but contextual doctrinal weight rises considerably given the curriculum doctrines ‘Prophetic Ministry’ and ‘God’s Patience through Repeated Prophetic Warning’ (chs. 1-9, 13, 17, 19, 22).
Tribute Political
Approved rendering: 贡物
Transliteration: gòngwù
Doctrine: Kingship as a Covenant-Conditioned Office
Original: מִנְחָה
Category: Kingship
NEW. Political tribute-payment from a vassal king to an overlord (17:3-4). Keep distinct from the cultic ‘grain offering’ sense of the same Hebrew root (minchah) to avoid blending political tribute with worship-vocabulary.
Messengers Human
Approved rendering: 使者
Transliteration: shǐzhě
Doctrine: Divine Deliverance in History
Original: מַלְאָכִים
Category: Prophetic Ministry
NEW. Human envoys/ambassadors (17:4) — the same Hebrew word used for angelic messengers, disambiguated only by context. Render as ordinary political envoy in political contexts; reserve 天使/耶和华的使者 only where the referent is angelic. Translators must verify the referent at every occurrence.
Mantle
Approved rendering: 外衣
Transliteration: wàiyī
Doctrine: Prophetic Succession
Rejected alternatives: 宗师, 掌门
Original: אַדֶּרֶת
Category: Prophetic Ministry
NEW. Elijah’s distinctive cloak (ch.2), symbol of prophetic office transferred to Elisha. Distinct from martial-arts-lineage ‘掌门/秘传’ tropes, per baseline’s apostle caution on 宗师/大师.
Referenced passages