Semantic Analysis

07 Semantic Analysis — Acts (English → Mandarin)

Curriculum: Acts 1–28 Core passage: Acts 2:1–41 (Pentecost) Destination language: Mandarin Chinese (Simplified script) Governing authority: This analysis extends, and never contradicts, the baseline Romans Language Package (translation_memory.json, bible_term_registry.json, doctrine_risk_registry.json, 12_ai_translation_requirements.md). Every term already recorded in the baseline translation memory is reused here exactly as recorded, with no re-litigation of its rendering. New terms introduced by Acts are analyzed in full and are candidates for addition to translation memory in a later Phase 1 step.

Method: Each entry gives: Original word (Koine Greek), Transliteration, Literal meaning, Semantic range, English variants, Contextual theological meaning, and Destination-language (Mandarin) rendering risk. Risk tiers follow the baseline’s Critical / High / Medium / Low scale.

PART 1 — CORE PASSAGE VERSE-BY-VERSE: Acts 2:1–41

Acts 2:1

“When the day of Pentecost arrived…”

Pentecost

Original: Πεντηκοστή
Transliteration: Pentēkostē
Literal meaning: “fiftieth [day]”
Semantic range: The Jewish Feast of Weeks/Shavuot, celebrated fifty days after Passover, originally a harvest festival later associated with the giving of the Law at Sinai.
English variants: Pentecost; “the Feast of Weeks”; “fiftieth day”
Contextual theological meaning: The divinely chosen day for the Spirit’s outpouring, deliberately layered onto an existing covenant feast — the new covenant’s inauguration overlays, rather than replaces, Israel’s calendar.
Mandarin rendering: 五旬节 (Wǔxúnjié) — established CUV term. Risk: Medium — 节 (jié, “festival”) is the generic Chinese word for any festival (including folk and ancestral-veneration festivals); teaching must supply the Old Testament background so 五旬节 is not absorbed into a generic “festival day” category void of covenant meaning.

“…they were all together in one place” — narrative connective; no new load-bearing term (reuses “church”/gathered-believers sense of ἐκκλησία-adjacent language, not yet used as a technical term here).

Acts 2:2

“And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind…”

wind/rushing sound

Original: πνοή … φερομένης βιαίας (ἦχος)
Transliteration: pnoē … pheromenēs biaias (ēchos)
Literal meaning: “a breath/blowing… being carried violently” (a sound)
Semantic range: πνοή = breath, wind, blowing; shares its root with πνεῦμα (“spirit/wind/breath”).
English variants: “a sound like a mighty rushing wind”; “a noise like a strong wind blowing”
Contextual theological meaning: The audible sign accompanying the Spirit’s arrival, echoing OT theophany imagery (e.g., Ezekiel’s breath/wind, Genesis 1’s wind over the waters). The same root word can mean both “wind” and “spirit” in Greek — a deliberate wordplay Luke exploits.
Mandarin rendering: 风 (fēng) for the wind image; the underlying pun with 圣灵 (Holy Spirit) cannot be reproduced in Mandarin, since 风 and 灵 are unrelated characters. Risk: High — Chinese cosmology has its own wind-related technical vocabulary (风水 fēngshuǐ, “wind-water” geomancy; 气 qì, vital energy, already forbidden in the baseline for “power of God”). Teaching must explicitly state the wind is a sign accompanying the Spirit’s arrival, not an impersonal cosmic force (气) or a geomantic phenomenon (风水), and not itself the Spirit.

Acts 2:3

“And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them, and rested on each one of them.”

tongues (of fire)

Original: γλῶσσαι ὡσεὶ πυρός
Transliteration: glōssai hōsei pyros
Literal meaning: “tongues as of fire” (flame-shapes resembling tongues)
Semantic range: γλῶσσα literally = the physical tongue (body part); by extension, “a language” (see v.4); here used descriptively of flame-shape, not language.
English variants: “tongues as of fire”; “tongue-shaped flames”; “flames like tongues”
Contextual theological meaning: A visible, individualized sign — the fire divides and rests on each person, signaling that the Spirit is given personally and distinctly to every believer present, not only to leaders.
Mandarin rendering: 舌头 (shétou, “tongue,” here the flame-image) + 火焰 (huǒyàn, “flame”). Risk: Medium — must be distinguished from the different Greek referent γλῶσσαι in v.4 (spoken languages); incense/ritual fire in Chinese folk religion (烧香, 火供) carries its own set of associations that must not be imported here — this fire is a theophanic sign of the Spirit’s descent, not a ritual offering-fire.

Acts 2:4

“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

filled with the Holy Spirit

Original: ἐπλήσθησαν πάντες Πνεύματος Ἁγίου
Transliteration: eplēsthēsan pantes Pneumatos Hagiou
Literal meaning: “they were all filled with Holy Spirit”
Semantic range: πίμπλημι = to fill completely, to fill up; used of both liquid filling a vessel and of a person being filled with an inward quality/power.
English variants: “filled with the Holy Spirit”; “filled with the Spirit”
Contextual theological meaning: The Spirit takes personal, complete possession of the believer for empowered witness — this is the fulfillment of the promise in Acts 1:5, 8, and the pattern repeated throughout Acts (4:8, 31; 9:17; 13:9, 52).
Mandarin rendering: 被圣灵充满 (bèi Shènglíng chōngmǎn) — established Chinese Christian phrase, retaining baseline’s 圣灵 exactly. Risk: Critical — Chinese folk religion has a well-developed category of involuntary spirit possession by mediums (灵媒, 童乩) who are “mounted/entered” by a spirit (被灵附身/附体) in a trance, often through ritual inducement, to speak or act on the spirit’s behalf. Being “filled with the Holy Spirit” must be taught as the personal, benevolent, non-coercive indwelling of the one true divine Spirit upon willing believers for coherent, meaningful proclamation — not an ambiguous possession phenomenon, and not psychologically or physically indistinguishable from mediumistic trance. This distinction is pastorally urgent in contexts where charismatic/Pentecostal practice intersects with folk-religious background.

tongues (languages)

Original: ἑτέραις γλώσσαις
Transliteration: heterais glōssais
Literal meaning: “other tongues,” i.e., other languages
Semantic range: γλῶσσα = tongue (organ) or language/dialect; here plainly “foreign human languages,” confirmed by v.6, 8, 11 (people hear their own native language).
English variants: “other tongues”; “other languages”; “different languages”
Contextual theological meaning: Real, intelligible human languages the speakers had not learned, given as the Spirit’s sign that the gospel is now for every nation — a reversal of Babel’s confusion (Genesis 11) into gospel-clarity.
Mandarin rendering: 别国的话 (bié guó de huà, “the speech of other nations”) — established CUV rendering, distinct from the generic modern Chinese Christian term 方言 (fāngyán, “speaking in tongues,” commonly used for 1 Corinthians 12–14 phenomena). Risk: High — using 方言 here risks importing later ecstatic/unintelligible-utterance connotations (and modern charismatic debates) into Acts 2, where the phenomenon is explicitly understood foreign language, not unintelligible ecstatic speech; it also risks being heard as merely “regional dialect” (方言’s everyday meaning in Mandarin) rather than a full foreign language. Must also be clearly distinguished from the folk-religious trance utterances of mediums, which hearers do not understand as any real language.

Acts 2:5–6

“Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven… each one was hearing them speak in his own language.”

devout

Original: εὐλαβεῖς
Transliteration: eulabeis
Literal meaning: “reverent, cautious [in religious matters]”
Semantic range: Careful, scrupulous piety toward God, particularly of diaspora Jews faithful to temple observance.
English variants: “devout”; “godly”; “God-fearing”
Mandarin rendering: 虔诚的 (qiánchéng de) — Risk: Low-Medium — the same caution flagged in the baseline for “faith” applies: 虔诚 is a generic devoutness term usable of any religion’s adherent; context (Jews from every nation, temple pilgrims) must keep the referent clear.

language/dialect

Original: διάλεκτος
Transliteration: dialektos
Literal meaning: “manner of speech, dialect, native tongue”
Semantic range: A distinct Greek word from γλῶσσα, specifically emphasizing the hearer’s native, mother-tongue speech.
English variants: “language”; “tongue”; “dialect”
Contextual theological meaning: Luke’s careful use of two different Greek words (γλῶσσα for what was spoken, διάλεκτος for what was heard) underlines that this was genuine cross-linguistic communication, not vague ecstatic sound.
Mandarin rendering: 本地的话/乡谈 (běndì de huà / xiāngtán, “native speech”) — Risk: Low.

Acts 2:7–11

List of nations (Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya, Rome, Crete, Arabia) and proselytes.

proselyte

Original: προσήλυτος
Transliteration: prosēlytos
Literal meaning: “one who has come/approached [to Judaism]”
Semantic range: A Gentile convert who has fully adopted Judaism, including circumcision.
English variants: “proselyte”; “convert to Judaism”
Contextual theological meaning: Marks the diverse religious backgrounds already represented at Pentecost — including Gentile-born adherents of Judaism — anticipating the wider Gentile mission (see Ch. 10–15).
Mandarin rendering: 归化犹太教的人 (guīhuà Yóutàijiào de rén, “one converted/naturalized into Judaism”) — Risk: Low, historical-sociological term, but must not be confused with a full Christian convert.

“the mighty works of God” (τὰ μεγαλεία τοῦ θεοῦ) — reuses baseline’s god (神) and glory-adjacent vocabulary; render as 神的大能作为 (Shén de dà néng zuòwéi), reusing baseline power_of_god (神的大能). No new risk beyond the baseline’s existing caution.

Acts 2:12–13

“…they were amazed and perplexed… But others mocking said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’”

new/sweet wine

Original: γλεῦκος
Transliteration: gleukos
Literal meaning: “sweet, unfermented (or freshly fermented) wine”
Semantic range: A specific word for new wine, distinct from οἶνος (ordinary wine); mockers imply the disciples are simply drunk.
English variants: “new wine”; “sweet wine”
Contextual theological meaning: The mockers’ explanation is deliberately set in ironic contrast to being “filled with the Holy Spirit” (v.4) — two competing explanations for the same visible phenomenon, one spiritual, one dismissively naturalistic.
Mandarin rendering: 新酒 (xīnjiǔ) — established. Risk: Low, but the contrast structure (Spirit-filled vs. wine-drunk) must be preserved rhetorically in translation so Peter’s rebuttal (v.15) lands with its full force.

Acts 2:14–16

Peter’s address begins; “this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel” — reuses baseline prophet (先知) and prophecy (预言) exactly. No new risk beyond baseline notes (distinguish from 算命/占卜, already flagged).

Acts 2:17

“‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh…’”

last days

Original: ἐν ταῖς ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις
Transliteration: en tais eschatais hēmerais
Literal meaning: “in the last/final days”
Semantic range: The eschatological era inaugurated by the Messiah’s coming and the Spirit’s outpouring, running until Christ’s return.
English variants: “the last days”; “the final days”; “these last times”
Contextual theological meaning: Peter announces that Pentecost itself is the beginning of the promised eschatological age — not a future event still to come, but a present reality.
Mandarin rendering: 末后的日子 (mòhòu de rìzi) — established CUV term. Risk: High — the character compound 末世 (mòshì, “end of the age”) and related “end-times” vocabulary has been used by various Chinese apocalyptic/millenarian new religious movements (including groups notorious for date-setting and manipulation). Teaching must anchor “the last days” as an already-inaugurated era beginning at Pentecost, not merely a still-future countdown exploited for prediction or crisis manipulation.

pour out

Original: ἐκχεῶ
Transliteration: ekcheō
Literal meaning: “I will pour out” (of liquid)
Semantic range: Abundant, generous outpouring, not a measured trickle; used of the Spirit given lavishly, not earned incrementally.
English variants: “pour out”; “pour forth”
Mandarin rendering: 浇灌 (jiāoguàn) — established CUV term. Risk: Low-Medium — must retain the sense of a generous, sovereign divine gift, not a fee-for-service or merit-triggered release (reinforces baseline’s grace/merit caution).

Acts 2:18

“…even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit…”

servants (male/female)

Original: δούλους … δούλας
Transliteration: doulous … doulas
Literal meaning: “male slaves/bondservants… female slaves/bondservants”
Semantic range: The lowest social/legal class in the Greco-Roman world, without personal legal freedom.
English variants: “servants”; “bondservants”; “slaves”; “menservants and maidservants”
Contextual theological meaning: Joel’s prophecy (and Peter’s application) deliberately levels social hierarchy — the Spirit is given without regard to class or gender, an important early marker of the gospel’s universal scope (cf. baseline’s universal_scope_of_gospel doctrine).
Mandarin rendering: 仆人和使女 (púrén hé shǐnǚ) — Risk: Medium — must not be softened into a generic, higher-status “helper/assistant” term that loses the deliberate social-status contrast (Spirit given to the lowest as much as the highest) being made in this verse.

Acts 2:19–20

“wonders” (τέρατα) and “signs” (σημεῖα) — see Chapter 2 general treatment below (signs and wonders).

day of the Lord

Original: ἡμέρα Κυρίου
Transliteration: hēmera Kyriou
Literal meaning: “the Lord’s day” (of judgment)
Semantic range: OT prophetic term for God’s decisive, climactic act of judgment and deliverance.
English variants: “the day of the Lord”; “the great and glorious day of the Lord”
Contextual theological meaning: The eschatological horizon toward which Pentecost points, and against which “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord” (v.21) must be understood.
Mandarin rendering: 主的日子 (Zhǔ de rìzi), retaining baseline’s 主 (Lord) exactly. Risk: Medium — must not collapse into the secular pop-culture idiom 世界末日 (shìjiè mòrì, “doomsday/apocalypse”), which strips the term of its personal, relational Lordship dimension.

Acts 2:21

“‘And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’”

Reuses baseline lord (主) and salvation (救恩) exactly. New element:

call on the name

Original: ἐπικαλέσηται τὸ ὄνομα Κυρίου
Transliteration: epikalesētai to onoma Kyriou
Literal meaning: “should call upon the name of the Lord”
Semantic range: To invoke, appeal to, publicly identify oneself with a person’s name and authority.
English variants: “calls on the name of the Lord”; “invokes the name”
Contextual theological meaning: The universal condition for salvation — not ethnicity, status, or ritual performance, but calling on the Lord (Jesus, per Peter’s argument in vv.22–36).
Mandarin rendering: 求告主名 (qiúgào Zhǔ míng) — established CUV phrase. Risk: High — this is a key universal_scope_of_gospel verse (cf. baseline doctrine of same name); the “everyone” (πᾶς) must remain fully unqualified in Mandarin, resisting any softened or graded reading.

Acts 2:22

“‘Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested by God to you with mighty works and wonders and signs…’”

mighty works, wonders, signs

Original: δυνάμεσι καὶ τέρασι καὶ σημείοις
Transliteration: dynamesi kai terasi kai sēmeiois
Literal meaning: “with powers/miracles and wonders/portents and signs”
Semantic range: Three overlapping terms for God’s attesting supernatural acts: δύναμις (power/miracle, reuses baseline power_of_god 神的大能), τέρας (a startling, wonder-inducing portent), σημεῖον (a sign pointing beyond itself to a meaning).
English variants: “mighty works, wonders, and signs”; “miracles, wonders, and signs”
Contextual theological meaning: God’s own authentication of Jesus’ identity and mission through observable acts — foundational to the doctrine of Apostolic Authority and Miracles, since the apostles will perform the same triad of acts in Jesus’ name throughout Acts (2:43; 4:30; 5:12; 14:3; 15:12).
Mandarin rendering: 异能、奇事、神迹 (yìnéng, qíshì, shénjì) — established compound vocabulary; the fuller Acts-wide phrase 神迹奇事 (shénjì qíshì) is treated as a set unit below. Risk: Medium — see full note under “signs and wonders,” Chapter-by-chapter section.

Acts 2:23

“…this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.”

definite plan and foreknowledge

Original: τῇ ὡρισμένῃ βουλῇ καὶ προγνώσει τοῦ Θεοῦ
Transliteration: tē hōrismenē boulē kai prognōsei tou Theou
Literal meaning: “by the determined counsel/will and foreknowledge of God”
Semantic range: βουλή = deliberate plan/counsel/decision; πρόγνωσις = foreknowledge, knowing beforehand.
English variants: “definite plan and foreknowledge”; “predetermined plan”; “set purpose and foreknowledge”
Contextual theological meaning: The cross was not an accident or a defeat but the outworking of God’s sovereign, purposive will — directly reuses the baseline’s providence doctrine (神的护理).
Mandarin rendering: 神预定的计划和先见 (Shén yùdìng de jìhuà hé xiānjiàn) — Risk: High — must be kept distinct from the impersonal fatalistic 天意 (“heaven’s intention”) already forbidden in the baseline’s providence entry; this is the personal God’s specific, purposive plan concerning his own Son, not an impersonal cosmic inevitability.

“lawless men” (ἀνόμων) reuses baseline law (律法) by negation — 不法之人/无法之人. Low risk beyond existing law-term cautions.

Acts 2:24

“God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.”

Reuses baseline resurrection (复活) exactly — Risk remains Critical per baseline (never 轮回/投胎/还魂).

pangs of death

Original: τὰς ὠδῖνας τοῦ θανάτου
Transliteration: tas ōdinas tou thanatou
Literal meaning: “the birth-pangs of death”
Semantic range: ὠδίν properly means labor pains; used metaphorically of death’s grip, from which resurrection is a kind of “birth.”
English variants: “the pangs of death”; “the agony of death”; “death’s hold”
Mandarin rendering: 死的痛苦 (sǐ de tòngkǔ) — Risk: Low, figurative language, minimal collision risk if the birth-pang nuance is not pressed.

Acts 2:25–28

Quotation of Psalm 16, applied to Christ: “you will not let your Holy One see corruption.”

Holy One

Original: ὁ ὅσιος
Transliteration: ho hosios
Literal meaning: “the holy/devout one” (a distinct Greek word from ἅγιος)
Semantic range: Personal covenant faithfulness and moral purity before God; here specifically messianic, applied to Christ’s body not decaying in the grave.
English variants: “Holy One”; “your Holy One”; “the Holy One of God”
Contextual theological meaning: A messianic title guaranteeing bodily resurrection — the Holy One’s body would not undergo ordinary decay.
Mandarin rendering: 圣者 (shèngzhě), consistent with baseline’s holy (圣洁) root. Risk: High — as with 圣洁 generally, must not be read through the lens of Daoist/Buddhist “purity through practice” or ritual undefilement; here it denotes Christ’s unique, inherent moral-covenantal holiness guaranteeing incorruption.

corruption

Original: διαφθορά
Transliteration: diaphthora
Literal meaning: “decay, decomposition, ruin”
Mandarin rendering: 朽坏 (xiǔhuài) — Risk: Low.

Acts 2:29–31

David reuses baseline david (大卫); “he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ” reuses baseline messiah/christ (基督) and resurrection (复活) exactly, tying directly into the Messianic Promise and Fulfillment of Prophecy doctrines already documented in the baseline.

Acts 2:32–33

“This Jesus God raised up… Having been exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.”

exalted

Original: ὑψωθείς (from ὑψόω)
Transliteration: hypsōtheis
Literal meaning: “having been lifted up/raised high”
Semantic range: Physical elevation; metaphorically, elevation to supreme honor, authority, and enthronement.
English variants: “exalted”; “lifted up”; “raised to the right hand”
Contextual theological meaning: Christ’s resurrection is followed by his enthronement at God’s right hand — the basis for his authority to send the Spirit and for his universal Lordship (v.36).
Mandarin rendering: 升为至高/被高举 (shēng wéi zhìgāo / bèi gāojǔ) — Risk: Medium — must not be read merely as a worldly promotion in rank (e.g., an official’s court advancement, or the Mandate-of-Heaven-style ascension already flagged as forbidden framing under the baseline’s calling entry); this is a unique, cosmic enthronement of the divine-human Christ.

Acts 2:34–35

Quotation of Psalm 110, “sit at my right hand” — reuses baseline lord (主) exactly; no new term.

Acts 2:36

“‘Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.’”

Reuses baseline lord (主), messiah/christ (基督), and israel (以色列) exactly. This verse is the rhetorical climax of Peter’s sermon and, per the Lordship of Christ and Messianic Promise doctrines in the baseline, must be rendered with full, unqualified force: 神已经立他为主，为基督了 (Shén yǐjīng lì tā wéi Zhǔ, wéi Jīdū le). Risk: Critical (inherited directly from baseline lord/messiah entries) — no softening of “Lord” toward a social-hierarchy honorific, no conflation of “Christ” with Maitreya (弥勒) or any other expected future savior-figure.

Acts 2:37

“Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart…”

cut to the heart

Original: κατενύγησαν τὴν καρδίαν
Transliteration: katenygēsan tēn kardian
Literal meaning: “they were pierced/stabbed in the heart”
Semantic range: A vivid idiom for sudden, sharp emotional/spiritual conviction — used only here in the NT.
English variants: “cut to the heart”; “pierced to the heart”; “deeply troubled”
Contextual theological meaning: The Spirit-empowered word produces genuine conviction of sin, the necessary precursor to repentance (v.38).
Mandarin rendering: 觉得扎心 (juéde zhāxīn) — established CUV idiom. Risk: Low, though it should be taught as more than emotional discomfort — it is Spirit-produced conviction of guilt before God.

Acts 2:38

“And Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’”

This is the single most doctrinally load-bearing verse in the core passage, combining four major new terms.

repent

Original: μετανοήσατε (from μετανοέω)
Transliteration: metanoēsate
Literal meaning: “change your mind/think differently afterward” (μετά + νοέω)
Semantic range: A decisive, God-directed reorientation of mind and life away from sin, not mere regret or emotional remorse.
English variants: “repent”; “turn”; “change your mind and turn to God”
Contextual theological meaning: The necessary human response to Spirit-produced conviction, inseparably linked here with baptism and forgiveness — foundational to the Repentance and Baptism doctrine of this curriculum.
Mandarin rendering: 悔改 (huǐgǎi) — established CUV term. Risk: High — NEVER use 忏悔 (chànhuǐ), a Buddhist ritual-confession term for acknowledging wrongdoing in order to reduce accumulated karmic consequence; 悔改 must be taught as a genuine, Spirit-enabled turning toward God, inseparable from faith in Christ, not a ritual technique for improving one’s karmic standing.

baptize / baptism

Original: βαπτισθήτω (from βαπτίζω) / βάπτισμα
Transliteration: baptisthētō / baptisma
Literal meaning: “let him be immersed/dipped”
Semantic range: Ritual immersion in water; in the NT, the specific rite of Christian initiation identifying the believer with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, done “in the name of Jesus Christ.”
English variants: “be baptized”; “baptism”
Contextual theological meaning: The outward, public sign of repentance and forgiveness, always tied in Acts to a specific confession (“in the name of Jesus Christ” — distinct from John’s earlier baptism of repentance, cf. 19:3–5). One of the two named doctrines of this curriculum (Repentance and Baptism).
Mandarin rendering: 受洗 (shòu xǐ, “be baptized”) / 洗礼 (xǐlǐ, noun) — established Chinese Christian term. Risk: High — (1) must not be read as a ritual-purification bath removing generic ritual defilement, a category familiar from various Chinese folk-purification practices; (2) Acts contains at least three distinguishable “baptisms” — John’s baptism of repentance, Christian baptism in Jesus’ name, and Spirit-baptism (1:5; 11:16) — each occurrence must be disambiguated by context so they are not collapsed into one generic “washing rite.”

forgiveness (of sins)

Original: εἰς ἄφεσιν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ὑμῶν
Transliteration: eis aphesin tōn hamartiōn hymōn
Literal meaning: “unto release/dismissal of your sins”
Semantic range: ἄφεσις = release, dismissal, cancellation of a debt or bond; of sins, God’s judicial pardon.
English variants: “for the forgiveness of your sins”; “so that your sins may be forgiven”; “unto remission of sins”
Contextual theological meaning: God’s judicial, gracious cancellation of the believer’s guilt, received through repentance and baptism in Jesus’ name, not earned by any prior merit.
Mandarin rendering: 罪得赦免 (zuì dé shèmiǎn) — established CUV phrase. Risk: Medium-High — must be distinguished from (a) Buddhist karmic-debt cancellation through merit or ritual, and (b) ancestral-curse “release” rituals seeking to appease or discharge obligations to the dead; biblical forgiveness is God’s judicial pardon of moral guilt against himself, granted through Christ, received by repentant faith — directly reinforcing the baseline’s grace ≠ merit caution (功德/阴德 forbidden).

gift of the Holy Spirit

Original: τὴν δωρεὰν τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος
Transliteration: tēn dōrean tou Hagiou Pneumatos
Literal meaning: “the free gift of the Holy Spirit”
Semantic range: δωρεά = a gift given freely, without payment or earning — emphatic form of “gift,” reinforcing gratuity.
English variants: “the gift of the Holy Spirit”; “you will receive the Holy Spirit as a gift”
Contextual theological meaning: The Spirit himself, not merely spiritual benefits, is given freely to every believer who repents and is baptized — continuing the Pentecost promise of v.17–18 to “everyone,” not a spiritual elite.
Mandarin rendering: 所赐的圣灵 (suǒ cì de Shènglíng), retaining baseline’s 圣灵 exactly, with 赐 (cì, “to grant/bestow as a gift”) marking gratuity. Risk: Critical (inherited from baseline holy_spirit and grace entries) — must not be presented as an achievement, reward, or purchasable power (cf. Simon’s later attempt to buy this gift, Acts 8:18–20, treated below).

Acts 2:39

“‘For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.’”

promise

Original: ἡ ἐπαγγελία
Transliteration: hē epangelia
Literal meaning: “the promise, announcement”
Semantic range: A formal pledge; in Acts, specifically God’s covenant pledge of the Spirit made through the prophets and confirmed in Christ.
English variants: “the promise”; “what was promised”
Mandarin rendering: 应许 (yīngxǔ) — established CUV term, aligned with baseline’s covenant (约) family. Risk: Low-Medium, standard usage.

“for all who are far off” (τοῖς εἰς μακράν) reuses the universal_scope_of_gospel doctrine — reinforces baseline’s caution against Hua-Yi civilizational-insider/outsider framing; render without qualification: 一切在远方的人.

Reuses baseline called/calling (蒙召的/呼召) exactly for “whom the Lord our God calls.” Risk remains High per baseline (never 天命).

Acts 2:40

“And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, ‘Save yourselves from this crooked generation.’”

bear witness / exhort

Original: διεμαρτύρατο … παρεκάλει
Transliteration: diemartyrato … parekalei
Literal meaning: “he solemnly testified… he was urging/encouraging”
Semantic range: μαρτυρέω-family = solemn testimony, the root of the witness doctrine central to Acts (1:8, “you will be my witnesses”). παρακαλέω reuses baseline’s exhort (劝勉) exactly.
Mandarin rendering: 作证 (zuòzhèng, “bear witness/testify”) for the μαρτυρέω root; 劝勉 (established baseline term) for παρακαλέω. Risk: Medium — 作证/见证 must retain the sense of authoritative, eyewitness legal-style testimony to the resurrected Christ (cf. Acts 1:8, 22; 2:32), not the softer modern secular Chinese sense of “sharing a personal testimony/experience” (分享见证) common in motivational or therapeutic contexts.

crooked generation

Original: τῆς γενεᾶς τῆς σκολιᾶς ταύτης
Transliteration: tēs geneas tēs skolias tautēs
Literal meaning: “this crooked/twisted generation”
Semantic range: A generation morally bent away from God, echoing Deuteronomy 32:5.
English variants: “this crooked generation”; “this corrupt generation”
Mandarin rendering: 这弯曲的世代 (zhè wānqū de shìdài) — established idiom. Risk: Low.

Acts 2:41

“So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.”

Reuses baptism (受洗/洗礼) as above. New term:

added (to the number)

Original: προσετέθησαν
Transliteration: prosetethēsan
Literal meaning: “were added”
Semantic range: Incorporation into an existing, defined group — here, the community of believers (cf. 2:47; 5:14; 11:24).
English variants: “were added”; “were added to their number”; “joined them”
Contextual theological meaning: Salvation is not merely individual — the newly baptized are immediately incorporated into a visible, countable community, anticipating the Church as Community doctrine developed in vv.42–47.
Mandarin rendering: 加添/添了 (jiātiān / tiān le) — established CUV usage. Risk: Low.

PART 2 — CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER STUDY OF THE WHOLE BOOK

(Terms already fully documented above for Acts 2:1–41, or exactly matching baseline Romans terms, are not repeated in full; each chapter section lists only new load-bearing terms not yet analyzed, plus explicit reuse notes.)

Chapter 1 — Ascension, the Reconstituted Apostolate, the Promise of the Spirit

to the end of the earth

Original: ἕως ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς
Transliteration: heōs eschatou tēs gēs
Literal meaning: “unto the farthest [part] of the earth”
Semantic range: The complete, comprehensive geographic scope of gospel witness — the programmatic outline for the entire book of Acts.
English variants: “to the end of the earth”; “to the ends of the earth”
Contextual theological meaning: Acts 1:8 is the book’s structural thesis; ties directly to the Great Commission Fulfilled doctrine of this curriculum and to the baseline’s mission entry (宣教).
Mandarin rendering: 直到地极 (zhídào dìjí) — established CUV phrase. Risk: Medium — must avoid framing gospel expansion as parallel to the Chinese classical political ideal of 天下 (“all under heaven” unified under one ruler), already flagged as forbidden framing for kingdom_of_god in the baseline; this is the spread of a message of salvation, not a territorial dominion.

ascension / taken up

Original: ἀνελήμφθη / ἐπήρθη
Transliteration: anelēmphthē / epērthē
Literal meaning: “he was taken up”
Semantic range: Christ’s bodily, visible departure into heaven, distinct from ordinary death, from a temporary theophanic appearance, or from an “ascended master” leaving behind only teaching/spirit.
Mandarin rendering: 被接上升 (bèi jiē shàngshēng) — established CUV term for the ascension. Risk: High — must not be assimilated to Daoist/folk-religious accounts of a sage or immortal’s bodily ascent to the heavens after attaining the Dao (成仙升天, chéngxiān shēngtiān, “becoming an immortal and ascending to heaven”) through cultivation; Christ’s ascension is the exaltation of the unique divine Son (reuse baseline’s son_of_god), not the reward of an adept’s spiritual attainment.

casting lots

Original: κλήρους / ἔδωκαν κλήρους
Transliteration: klērous
Literal meaning: “lots” (used for decision by chance, understood as divinely guided)
Mandarin rendering: 抽签 (chōuqiān) — Risk: Medium — 抽签 is also the standard term for drawing a temple fortune-stick (求签) to divine one’s fate; teaching must clarify the apostles’ use of lots trusted God’s sovereign providence in a specific, bounded decision (choosing Matthias), not a general divinatory technique for discerning fortune, and this practice is not repeated as a normative decision-method later in Acts (contrast the Spirit’s direct guidance from Ch. 13 onward).

Reuses baseline kingdom_of_god (神的国), holy_spirit (圣灵), apostle (使徒), witness-root (see 2:40 above).

Chapter 3 — Healing at the Temple, Peter’s Sermon

Holy and Righteous One

Original: τὸν ἅγιον καὶ δίκαιον
Transliteration: ton hagion kai dikaion
Literal meaning: “the holy and righteous one”
Semantic range: A double Christological title combining two already-Critical/High baseline terms.
Contextual theological meaning: A concentrated messianic title for Jesus asserting both his moral purity and his forensic righteousness, applied by Peter directly to the man the crowd rejected.
Mandarin rendering: 那圣洁公义的一位 (nà shèngjié gōngyì de yī wèi), built from baseline holy (圣洁) and righteousness (义) exactly. Risk: Critical — this title doubles the existing baseline cautions: 圣洁 must not read as ritual/meditative purity (清净); 义 must not read as the Confucian social virtue; here both together describe Christ’s own intrinsic divine character, not an achieved or cultivated state.

Author/Prince of life; Prince and Savior

Original: τὸν ἀρχηγὸν τῆς ζωῆς (3:15); ἀρχηγὸν καὶ σωτῆρα (5:31)
Transliteration: ton archēgon tēs zōēs; archēgon kai sōtēra
Literal meaning: “the originating leader/founder of life”; “originating leader/founder and savior”
Semantic range: ἀρχηγός = a pioneering leader who originates and leads a movement or people — used elsewhere for a founding ancestor of a lineage or a military leader who leads the way.
English variants: “Author of life”; “Prince of life”; “leader and savior”; “founder and deliverer”
Contextual theological meaning: Christ is the unique originator and ruling head of resurrection life, and the one who leads his people into it.
Mandarin rendering: 生命的创始者 (shēngmìng de chuàngshǐzhě) / 君王和救主 (jūnwáng hé jiùzhǔ), reusing baseline savior-adjacent salvation vocabulary (救恩/救主). Risk: High — ἀρχηγός could be misread through the lens of a revered clan founding-ancestor (开山祖/始祖) who is venerated by descendants in ancestor-worship ritual; Christ’s originating headship over life must be taught as unique, living, and ongoing lordship, not a venerated-but-departed founder-ancestor.

faith [as instrument of healing] — reuses baseline faith (信心) exactly (3:16), with the object of faith explicitly named as “his name” (Jesus’) — no new risk beyond baseline note requiring the object of faith to remain recoverable from context.

Chapter 4 — Boldness Before the Council, Common Ownership

boldness

Original: παρρησία / ἐλάλουν … μετὰ παρρησίας
Transliteration: parrēsia
Literal meaning: “freedom/frankness of speech”
Semantic range: Fearless, unrestrained public speech, particularly before hostile authority; a key term for the Persecution and Bold Witness doctrine (also 4:29, 31; 9:27–29; 14:3; 19:8; 28:31).
English variants: “boldness”; “confidence”; “courage”
Contextual theological meaning: A Spirit-given quality (4:31, “filled with the Holy Spirit… spoke the word of God with boldness”), not natural bravado, enabling public gospel proclamation in the face of real threat.
Mandarin rendering: 放胆 (fàngdǎn, verb “to speak boldly”) / 胆量 (dǎnliàng, noun). Risk: Medium — must not be rendered with a term connoting recklessness or insubordinate defiance (莽撞); this is Spirit-produced confidence rooted in the truth of the message and the risen Christ’s authority, exercised respectfully even toward hostile rulers (cf. Ch. 5, 22–26).

held all things in common

Original: ἦν αὐτοῖς ἅπαντα κοινά (2:44; cf. 4:32–35)
Transliteration: ēn autois hapanta koina
Literal meaning: “all things were common [shared] to them”
Semantic range: Voluntary, Spirit-motivated sharing of possessions within the believing community to meet need, not a fixed economic system.
English variants: “had all things in common”; “shared everything they had”
Contextual theological meaning: A visible expression of the unity created by the gospel — central to the Church as Community doctrine of this curriculum.
Mandarin rendering: 凡物公用 (fán wù gōngyòng) — established CUV phrase. Risk: High — modern Mandarin readers will very readily hear this through the lens of 20th-century political-economic vocabulary: 公有 (gōngyǒu, “publicly/state-owned”) and collectivization are heavily freighted terms in recent Chinese history. Teaching must make explicit that this is a voluntary, Spirit-motivated, temporary and local practice of generosity within a gathered community of faith — not a doctrinal mandate for collective property ownership or an anticipation of any political-economic ideology.

Sanhedrin/council

Original: τὸ συνέδριον
Transliteration: to synedrion
Literal meaning: “sitting together” (a council)
Semantic range: The supreme Jewish religious-legal ruling body in Jerusalem, composed of chief priests, elders, and scribes.
Mandarin rendering: 公会 (gōnghuì) — established CUV term (also 5:21, 34; 6:12; 22:30; 23:1, etc.). Risk: Medium — modern Chinese 公会 can also denote a secular trade guild/professional association; context must always specify this is the Jewish supreme religious-legal council, not a modern civic body.

Chapter 5 — Ananias and Sapphira, Gamaliel’s Counsel

lying to the Holy Spirit

Original: ψεύσασθαί σε τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ Ἅγιον (5:3); οὐκ ἐψεύσω ἀνθρώποις ἀλλὰ τῷ Θεῷ (5:4)
Transliteration: pseusasthai se to Pneuma to Hagion
Contextual theological meaning: Peter’s rebuke equates lying to the Holy Spirit with lying to God himself — a strong, narratively enacted assertion of the Spirit’s full deity and personhood, reinforcing baseline’s holy_spirit (Critical) entry.
Mandarin rendering: reuses baseline 圣灵 exactly; the verb 欺骗/说谎 (qīpiàn/shuōhuǎng, “to lie/deceive”). Risk: Critical (inherited) — the narrative itself functions as doctrinal content establishing the Spirit’s personal deity; translation must not flatten this into merely “lying to the community” or “breaking a community rule.”

Gamaliel’s counsel — “if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow it” reuses baseline providence vocabulary (神的护理) — no new term, but an important passage illustrating God’s sovereign superintendence over the church’s growth even through hostile deliberation.

Chapter 6 — The Seven Chosen, Stephen’s Rise

serve tables / deacon function

Original: διακονεῖν ταῖς τραπέζαις / διακονίᾳ
Transliteration: diakonein tais trapezais / diakonia
Literal meaning: “to serve/wait on tables” / “service, ministry”
Semantic range: Practical, Spirit-qualified service meeting the physical needs of the community (here, food distribution to widows), the narrative root of the later formal office of deacon.
English variants: “serve tables”; “distribution”; “ministry [of the word]” (contrasted with “ministry [of tables]”)
Mandarin rendering: 办理/服事 (bànlǐ / fúshì) for the function in Acts 6; the later formal office term 执事 (zhíshì, “deacon”) is reserved for its fuller ecclesial development. Risk: Low-Medium — clarify that this practical service is Spirit-qualified (the Seven are chosen for being “full of the Spirit and of wisdom,” 6:3) ministry, not a lesser, merely administrative role.

Reuses baseline holy_spirit (Spirit-filled qualification, 6:3, 5), faith (信心).

Chapter 7 — Stephen’s Speech and Martyrdom

Son of Man

Original: τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου
Transliteration: ton huion tou anthrōpou
Literal meaning: “the son of the man/of man”
Semantic range: A specific Christological title (drawn from Daniel 7:13) denoting the exalted, glorified, divine-messianic figure at God’s right hand — not a generic reference to “a human being.”
English variants: “the Son of Man”
Contextual theological meaning: Stephen’s dying vision of Jesus as the Son of Man standing at God’s right hand is a direct claim to Christ’s exalted divine authority, provoking the crowd’s fury.
Mandarin rendering: 人子 (rénzǐ) — established Chinese Christian Christological title (parallel to Gospel usage). Risk: Critical — must never be flattened to a literal, generic “a man’s son” reading; carries the same divine-authority weight as baseline’s son_of_god, and this passage is a key data point for the Deity of Christ doctrine already documented in the baseline.

witness → martyrdom (narrative paradigm)

Original: μάρτυς (root, cf. 22:20 “your witness Stephen”)
Contextual theological meaning: Stephen’s death is the paradigmatic case that later gives rise to the technical Christian sense of “martyr,” though in Acts itself the vocabulary is still simply “witness.”
Mandarin rendering: 见证人 (jiànzhèngrén) for the Acts-internal term; 殉道者 (xùndàozhě, “one who dies for the Way/faith”) is the later technical Christian word for “martyr” and should not be over-read into every occurrence of μάρτυς in Acts itself. Risk: Medium — for the Persecution and Bold Witness doctrine, keep the eyewitness-testimony sense primary in Acts, while noting Stephen’s death establishes the pattern that gives “witness” its ultimate cost.

Chapter 8 — Simon the Sorcerer, Philip, the Ethiopian Eunuch

sorcery/magic

Original: μαγεύων (8:9); ἡ μαγεία (8:11)
Transliteration: mageuōn; hē mageia
Literal meaning: “practicing magic arts”
Semantic range: Occult ritual practice claiming supernatural power, condemned throughout Scripture; distinct from both stage illusion and from the true, Spirit-given power of the apostles.
English variants: “sorcery”; “magic”; “magic arts”
Contextual theological meaning: Simon’s prior fame for sorcery, and his subsequent attempt to buy the Spirit’s gift (8:18–20), sets up a direct contrast between counterfeit spiritual power obtained/wielded for personal gain and the true, freely-given power of God — core to the Apostolic Authority and Miracles doctrine.
Mandarin rendering: 邪术 (xiéshù, “evil/heterodox arts”) — Risk: Critical — Chinese folk religion has an accepted category of ritual practitioners performing 法术 (fǎshù, “ritual techniques”) for healing, exorcism, or fortune, which some readers may not automatically categorize as “evil.” 邪术 must be used consistently to mark condemned, false spiritual power, sharply distinguished from the true 神的大能 (power of God, baseline term) exercised by the apostles — never softened to neutral “magic show” (魔术).

laying on of hands

Original: ἐπέθηκαν τὰς χεῖρας (8:17)
Transliteration: epethēkan tas cheiras
Semantic range: A gesture of impartation, commissioning, blessing, or healing, accompanied by prayer.
Mandarin rendering: 按手 (ànshǒu) — established Christian term (also 6:6; 9:17; 13:3; 19:6; 28:8). Risk: Medium — Simon’s attempt to purchase this “gift” (8:18–20) requires the translation to make unmistakably clear that laying on of hands conveys the Spirit’s gift through prayer, never a transferable, purchasable power — directly reinforcing baseline’s grace/merit caution and this chapter’s sorcery caution together.

the Ethiopian eunuch — proper narrative detail; “eunuch” (εὐνοῦχος) low risk, historical-social category; no major theological collision term needed beyond noting the passage’s role in Gospel to Jews and Gentiles (an African, ritually-excluded convert receiving full inclusion).

Chapter 9 — Saul’s Conversion; “the Way”

the Way

Original: τῆς ὁδοῦ
Transliteration: tēs hodou
Literal meaning: “the road, path, way”
Semantic range: The earliest Christian movement’s self-designation as a distinct “way of life/belief” (also 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22).
English variants: “the Way”; “this Way”; “this teaching”
Contextual theological meaning: A shorthand for the whole body of belief and practice centered on the risen Lord Jesus, used by both insiders and outside authorities (Saul is persecuting “the Way” before his conversion, and defends “the Way” after it).
Mandarin rendering: 这道 (zhè dào) / 信奉这道的人 (“those who believe in/follow this Way”) — the established rendering follows the pattern already used in the baseline for incarnation (道成肉身). Risk: Critical — 道 is the central term of both Daoist metaphysics (道家/道教) and, more broadly, of “the Way” language in Confucian ethical discourse; “the Way” as a Christian sectarian self-designation risks being heard as a reference to Daoism, or generically as merely one philosophical/religious “path” among several equally valid ones. Every occurrence must be anchored by context naming it explicitly as belief in and allegiance to the risen, exclusive Lord Jesus (not an impersonal cosmic principle or one path among many), directly extending the caution already on file for 道 in the baseline’s incarnation entry.

light from heaven / heavenly voice

Original: φῶς ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ; φωνήν
Transliteration: phōs ek tou ouranou
Contextual theological meaning: A direct theophanic/Christophanic encounter — the risen, exalted Lord personally confronting and converting Saul; foundational to the Conversion of Paul doctrine.
Mandarin rendering: 从天上来的光 (cóng tiānshàng lái de guāng) — Risk: Low-Medium, but must not be reduced to a generic mystical-light experience common to many religious testimony genres; the passage identifies the light’s source explicitly as the risen Jesus (v.5, “I am Jesus”), reusing baseline lord (主) and jesus (耶稣) exactly.

scales fell from his eyes — physical narrative detail (ἀπέπεσαν … λεπίδες); low risk, symbolic of removed spiritual blindness; no special collision.

persecution

Original: διώκεις (9:4, “why do you persecute me?”); διωγμός (elsewhere, e.g. 8:1; 11:19; 13:50)
Transliteration: diōkeis; diōgmos
Literal meaning: “to pursue, chase, harass”
Semantic range: Targeted hostility, harassment, or violence directed at someone specifically because of their identification with Christ/the Way.
English variants: “persecute”; “persecution”
Contextual theological meaning: Central to the Persecution and Bold Witness doctrine; Christ personally identifies with his persecuted church (“why do you persecute me,” not merely “them”).
Mandarin rendering: 逼迫 (bīpò) — established Christian term for faith-targeted persecution. Risk: Medium — must be distinguished from generic suffering/hardship (苦难, kǔnàn), retaining the specific sense of hostility directed at someone because of their faith in Christ.

Chapter 10 — Cornelius, Peter’s Vision, the Gentile Pentecost

God-fearer

Original: φοβούμενος/σεβόμενος τὸν Θεόν
Transliteration: phoboumenos/sebomenos ton Theon
Literal meaning: “one who fears/reveres God”
Semantic range: A Gentile sympathetic to and observant of Jewish monotheistic worship without full conversion (circumcision) — Cornelius’s social-religious category (also of Lydia, 16:14; Ch.13, 17, 18 audiences).
English variants: “God-fearer”; “devout man who feared God”
Contextual theological meaning: An important sociological bridge-category for the Gentile mission, distinct from a full Jewish proselyte and from a pagan idolater.
Mandarin rendering: 敬畏神的人 (jìngwèi Shén de rén) — Risk: Medium — care must be taken that “fear” here (敬畏) conveys reverence, not servile terror, consistent with the register used for reverent fear of God elsewhere in the tradition.

clean/unclean (food)

Original: κοινὸν ἢ ἀκάθαρτον (10:14); καθαρίζω (10:15)
Transliteration: koinon ē akatharton; katharizō
Literal meaning: “common [i.e., ceremonially ordinary/forbidden] or unclean”; “to cleanse/make clean”
Semantic range: OT ceremonial dietary-purity categories, here declared abolished by direct divine revelation.
English variants: “common or unclean”; “impure”; “God has made clean”
Contextual theological meaning: The vision’s real subject is not food but people — the abolition of the ceremonial food barrier symbolizes and enables the removal of the Jew-Gentile separation barrier (explicitly interpreted this way by Peter himself, 10:28) — central to the Gospel to Jews and Gentiles doctrine.
Mandarin rendering: 俗物 (sú wù, “common/ordinary [and forbidden] thing”) / 洁净 (jiéjìng, “clean,” reusing baseline’s holy-adjacent register). Risk: High — must be distinguished from ongoing Chinese folk-religious dietary/purity practices (e.g., vegetarian fasting for merit, 斋戒吃素积德); the point of the vision is the abolition of a specific old-covenant ceremonial barrier between Jew and Gentile for the sake of gospel fellowship, not a general statement that dietary practice is spiritually meaningless in every sense.

no partiality

Original: οὐκ ἔστιν προσωπολήμπτης ὁ Θεός (10:34)
Transliteration: ouk estin prosōpolēmptēs ho Theos
Literal meaning: “God is not a receiver/respecter of faces [i.e., persons]”
Semantic range: God does not judge or favor based on external status, ethnicity, or appearance.
Mandarin rendering: 不偏待人 (bù piān dài rén) — established idiom. Risk: Medium — reinforces the baseline’s unity_of_jews_and_gentiles and universal_scope_of_gospel doctrines; must retain full force against any civilizational-hierarchy reading (cf. baseline’s Hua-Yi caution under gentiles).

Reuses baseline holy_spirit, gentiles (外邦人) exactly — this is the Gentile “Pentecost” (10:44–48), paralleling Acts 2 directly; the Mandarin rendering of Spirit-filling and tongues must be handled identically to the Ch. 2 treatment above for cross-passage consistency.

Chapter 11 — Antioch, the Name “Christian,” Barnabas

Christian

Original: Χριστιανούς
Transliteration: Christianous
Literal meaning: “belonging to Christ / Christ-people”
Semantic range: A name first applied (likely by outsiders) to believers at Antioch, built on baseline’s Χριστός (基督).
English variants: “Christians”
Mandarin rendering: 基督徒 (Jīdūtú) — established modern standard term, built directly on baseline’s 基督. Risk: Low.

Reuses gentiles, grace (11:23, “he… exhorted them all to remain true to the Lord with steadfast purpose” — reuses baseline grace/lord exactly), fellowship-adjacent famine-relief giving (11:29–30, anticipates Ch.24’s collection theme).

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

angel (of the Lord)

Original: ἄγγελος Κυρίου
Transliteration: angelos Kyriou
Literal meaning: “messenger of the Lord”
Semantic range: A personal, created heavenly being sent by God to deliver a message or act on his behalf — distinct from a deified human spirit or a nature/city deity.
English variants: “angel of the Lord”; “the Lord’s angel”
Mandarin rendering: 主的使者/天使 (Zhǔ de shǐzhě / tiānshǐ) — established CUV term. Risk: Low-Medium — distinguish from Chinese folk religion’s messenger/attendant spirits of a deity (神差, 仙使) or ancestor-spirit intermediaries; this is a servant of the one true God, not a member of a folk pantheon’s bureaucracy.

Reuses baseline providence (God’s deliverance of Peter), prayer/intercession (代求, the church praying for Peter, 12:5).

Chapter 13 — First Missionary Journey; Bar-Jesus/Elymas; Justification Preached to Gentiles

sorcery (Bar-Jesus/Elymas)

Original: μάγος (13:6, 8)
Transliteration: magos
Literal meaning: “magician, sorcerer”
Mandarin rendering: reuses 邪术/行邪术的 as in Ch. 8. Risk: Critical (inherited) — same caution: false, condemned spiritual power sharply contrasted with the Spirit’s true power exercised through Paul (who strikes Elymas blind, v.11, echoing his own conversion-blinding in Ch. 9).

justified from everything the law could not justify

Original: ἐν τούτῳ πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων δικαιοῦται (13:39)
Transliteration: en toutō pas ho pisteuōn dikaioutai
Contextual theological meaning: Paul’s synagogue sermon at Antioch in Pisidia explicitly previews the Justification apart from the Law doctrine that will be formally settled at the Jerusalem Council (Ch. 15) and expounded fully in Romans — everyone who believes is justified through Christ, something the law of Moses could not accomplish.
Mandarin rendering: reuses baseline justification (称义), faith (信心), law (律法) exactly, with baseline’s Critical risk tier fully inherited — no softened or “law-plus-faith” reading permitted.

foreordained to eternal life — Original: ἦσαν τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον (13:48) — reuses baseline election (拣选) exactly; risk remains High, never 天命/命运/缘分.

Reuses gospel (福音), repentance-adjacent preaching pattern, gentiles, synagogue (会堂, huìtáng — new low-risk term, the Jewish assembly-building, distinct from baseline’s church 教会).

Chapter 14 — Lystra: Mistaken for Zeus and Hermes

Zeus / Hermes (idol identification)

Original: Δίας (Zeus); Ἑρμῆς (Hermes)
Transliteration: Dias; Hermēs
Semantic range: Chief Greek deities of the Lystran pagan pantheon; the crowd identifies Barnabas as Zeus and Paul (the speaker) as Hermes, the god of eloquence/messengers.
Contextual theological meaning: The apostles’ emphatic refusal of worship (“we also are men, of like nature with you,” 14:15) is a direct polemic against the deification of human agents of divine power — a pattern with strong resonance in the Chinese religious landscape’s history of apotheosizing extraordinary humans (人成神, e.g., historical figures venerated as deities such as Guan Gong or Mazu).
Mandarin rendering: 丢斯 (Diūsī, Zeus) / 希耳米 (Xī’ěrmǐ, Hermes) — established CUV transliterations. Risk: High — must be explained as specific pagan Greek deities (not to be confused with any Chinese deity name), and the apostles’ refusal of the worship offered to them must be preserved with full force, since the same human-deification pattern (人成神) is culturally live and could otherwise invite an unintended positive parallel.

Reuses idol (偶像) generally — see fuller treatment under Ch. 17/19 below; reuses gospel, grace, kingdom_of_god (14:22, “encouraging them to continue in the faith… through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God”).

Chapter 15 — The Jerusalem Council; Justification apart from the Law

circumcision

Original: περιτέμνεσθαι
Transliteration: peritemnesthai
Literal meaning: “to be circumcised”
Semantic range: The OT covenant-sign rite, at issue as a demanded requirement for Gentile salvation by the “Judaizing” faction (15:1, 5).
English variants: “be circumcised”; “circumcision”
Contextual theological meaning: The specific test case that crystallizes the Justification apart from the Law doctrine: the Council formally rules that Gentile believers are saved by grace through faith, not by keeping the Mosaic law or receiving circumcision (15:11, “we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will”).
Mandarin rendering: 割礼 (gēlǐ) — established. Risk: High — must not be presented merely as a cultural/ethnic custom without conveying the full theological stakes at issue (whether keeping the law is necessary for salvation); this chapter is the narrative hinge for the baseline’s justification, grace, and law entries, all fully inherited at Critical/High risk.

yoke

Original: ζυγόν (15:10)
Transliteration: zygon
Literal meaning: “a yoke” (for draft animals)
Semantic range: Metaphor for an unbearable legal-ritual burden.
Mandarin rendering: 轭 (è) — Risk: Low, standard biblical metaphor.

Reuses baseline grace (恩典), faith (信心), justification (称义), law (律法), holy_spirit, gentiles exactly — this chapter is the theological center of gravity for several baseline Critical-tier terms and should be flagged for theologian review in every occurrence.

Chapter 16 — Lydia, the Philippian Jailer, the Spirit of Divination

spirit of divination

Original: πνεῦμα Πύθωνα (16:16)
Transliteration: pneuma Pythōna
Literal meaning: “a python spirit” (associated with the Delphic oracle’s mythology)
Semantic range: A spiritual power enabling fortune-telling for profit, cast out by Paul as a demonic/unclean spirit, not a legitimate alternate channel of true prophecy.
English variants: “spirit of divination”; “python spirit”
Contextual theological meaning: Directly parallel to the baseline’s caution (under prophecy) against conflating true prophecy with divination (占卜/占卦); here the connection is dramatized narratively rather than merely lexically.
Mandarin rendering: 占卜的灵 (zhānbo de líng) — Risk: High — must not be presented neutrally as a fortune-telling “gift”; this is a counterfeit, spiritually harmful power that Paul expels in Jesus’ name (16:18), directly reinforcing baseline’s distinction between biblical prophecy and folk/temple divination practice.

what must I do to be saved

Original: τί με δεῖ ποιεῖν ἵνα σωθῶ; (16:30)
Contextual theological meaning: The jailer’s question and Paul’s answer (“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household,” 16:31) is a concentrated statement of the salvation doctrine — reuses baseline salvation (救恩), lord (主), faith/believe exactly, at Critical risk (inherited).

household (salvation reference)

Original: ὁ οἶκός σου (16:31); πανοικί (16:34)
Transliteration: ho oikos sou; panoikei
Mandarin rendering: 你和你的全家 (nǐ hé nǐ de quánjiā). Risk: Medium — must clarify that household solidarity in receiving the gospel does not mean automatic, collective salvation apart from each member’s own faith; the household’s individual belief is explicitly narrated (v.34, “he… rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God”). Guard against an unintended parallel with the strong Chinese cultural expectation that religious identity is a family-unit/lineage matter (cf. baseline’s caution on 过继 and ancestor-line continuity under adoption).

Chapter 17 — Athens: The Areopagus and the Unknown God

Areopagus

Original: Ἄρειος Πάγος
Transliteration: Areios Pagos
Mandarin rendering: 亚略巴古 (Yàluè Bāgǔ) — established CUV transliteration. Risk: Low (proper noun; site of the Athenian council).

unknown god

Original: ΑΓΝΩΣΤΩ ΘΕΩ (inscription); ὃν ἀγνοοῦντες εὐσεβεῖτε (17:23)
Transliteration: Agnōstō Theō
Literal meaning: “to an/the unknown god”
Semantic range: An altar inscription acknowledging an unidentified deity, used rhetorically by Paul as a bridge to proclaim the true God by name.
English variants: “the unknown god”; “an unknown god”
Contextual theological meaning: Paul does not affirm generic or syncretistic worship of an unnamed deity as spiritually valid; he immediately and specifically identifies and names the one true Creator God, distinct from and superior to every idol (17:24–29).
Mandarin rendering: 未识之神 (wèi shí zhī shén) — established CUV rendering. Risk: High — must not be misread as endorsing the Chinese folk practice of making offerings to unnamed or “ownerless” spirits (無主孤魂, wú zhǔ gū hún, “ownerless orphan souls,” propitiated during Ghost Festival observances) out of caution against offending unknown powers; Paul’s rhetorical bridge is immediately followed by an exclusive, named identification of the true God, which must be preserved in full in the surrounding context.

Reuses baseline god (神), repentance (悔改, 17:30), resurrection (复活, mocked by some hearers, v.32 — an important data point for how “resurrection” collides with a Greco-Roman audience as well as a Chinese one), idol (εἴδωλα, 17:16, εἴδωλον — see general idol treatment; render 偶像).

Chapter 18 — Corinth; Gallio’s Ruling

Largely narrative; no major new theological term beyond reuse. Notable low-risk items: tentmaking (σκηνοποιός, 18:3) — Paul’s trade, no theological collision; synagogue (会堂) reused from Ch.13. Reuses the Way-adjacent vocabulary is absent here; instead reuses grace (18:27, “helped greatly those who through grace had believed”).

Chapter 19 — Ephesus: John’s Disciples, the Spirit Given, Diana/Artemis

disciples of John (contrast of baptisms)

Original: Ἰωάννου βάπτισμα (19:3–4)
Contextual theological meaning: These believers had only received John’s baptism of repentance, not Christian baptism “in the name of the Lord Jesus” (19:5) followed by the Spirit’s coming through the laying on of hands (19:6) — an important case distinguishing the several “baptisms” flagged already at Acts 2:38.
Mandarin rendering: reuses 受洗/洗礼, 悔改, 圣灵; no new term, but the passage requires careful contextual disambiguation as flagged above.

Artemis/Diana of Ephesus

Original: τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος
Transliteration: tēs Artemidos
Semantic range: The great mother/fertility goddess of Ephesus, whose temple and silver-shrine industry (19:24) tie civic economic interest directly to idol devotion.
English variants: “Artemis”; “Diana” (Latin form, in some English translations)
Mandarin rendering: 亚底米 (Yàdǐmǐ) — established CUV transliteration. Risk: Medium — a structural parallel exists with locally beloved Chinese deities whose temple-cults carry real economic significance (e.g., Mazu 妈祖, Guanyin 观音 pilgrimage economies); teaching should note the structural parallel (economic interest entwined with religious devotion, as the riot in 19:23–41 shows) without equating the deities themselves or suggesting Chinese devotional practice is being singled out for special insult beyond what the text itself does to Ephesian idolatry.

books of magic (burned)

Original: τῶν βίβλων (19:19)
Contextual theological meaning: Continues the sorcery/magic theme (cf. Simon, Elymas) — new believers publicly renounce and destroy occult materials, dramatizing repentance’s practical cost.
Mandarin rendering: reuses 邪术-register vocabulary; 邪术的书 (xiéshù de shū). Risk: High (inherited from sorcery entries above).

Chapter 20 — Miletus: Elders, Overseers, Shepherds

elder / overseer / shepherd (one office, three descriptions)

Original: πρεσβυτέρους (20:17); ἐπισκόπους (20:28); ποιμαίνειν … τὴν ἐκκλησίαν (20:28)
Transliteration: presbyterous; episkopous; poimainein
Literal meaning: “elders” (senior men); “overseers” (those who watch over); “to shepherd/tend [as a flock]”
Semantic range: Three descriptive angles on a single pastoral-governing office: age/dignity (elder), oversight function (overseer/bishop), and caring, protective leadership (shepherd).
English variants: “elders”; “overseers”/“bishops”; “shepherd the church”/“be shepherds of”
Mandarin rendering: 长老 (zhǎnglǎo, established) / 监督 (jiāndū, established) / 牧养 (mùyǎng, “to shepherd/pastor”). Risk: Low-Medium — clarify these three terms describe one office viewed from different angles, not three separate ranks; 长老 additionally requires disambiguation from its use for Jewish council elders (Ch.4–5) when the two contexts might otherwise be confused.

Reuses baseline church (教会, 20:28), grace (20:24, 32), inheritance-adjacent sanctification language (“the word of his grace, which is able to build you up,” reuses sanctification 成圣 territory lightly, though the technical term itself is not repeated here).

Chapter 21 — Nazirite Vow, Agabus’s Prophecy, Arrest

vow (Nazirite)

Original: εὐχή (21:23); cf. 18:18
Transliteration: euchē
Literal meaning: “a vow, prayer-pledge”
Semantic range: A voluntary OT ritual pledge (shaving of the head, temple offerings) undertaken for a period of consecration.
English variants: “vow”; “Nazirite vow”
Contextual theological meaning: Paul submits to Jewish custom for the sake of cultural sensitivity and unity, not because it is necessary for his own salvation — an important nuance for the Justification apart from the Law doctrine, showing that voluntary cultural accommodation is compatible with, not contrary to, justification apart from law-keeping.
Mandarin rendering: 拿细耳人的愿 (Násì’ěrrén de yuàn) / 许愿 (xǔyuàn, “to make a vow”). Risk: High — 许愿 in Chinese folk-religious usage typically denotes a transactional bargain struck with a deity or idol at a temple (“if you grant me X, I will offer you Y”); teaching must clarify Paul is not leveraging a ritual bargain for divine favor but voluntarily observing an old-covenant custom for the sake of Jewish believers’ consciences, entirely apart from any bearing on his own justification, which rests on grace through faith alone.

Agabus’s prophecy — reuses baseline prophet/prophecy (先知/预言) exactly; no new term, but note the prophecy concerns binding/suffering, not fortune-prediction for personal gain, reinforcing the same distinction flagged at Ch.16’s spirit of divination.

Chapter 22 — Paul’s Defense; Roman Citizenship

Roman citizen

Original: Ῥωμαῖος (22:25–29)
Transliteration: Rhōmaios
Literal meaning: “a Roman [citizen]”
Semantic range: A specific, legally-defined civic status carrying rights (e.g., protection from summary scourging) recognized across the empire.
English variants: “Roman citizen”; “citizen of Rome”
Contextual theological meaning: Paul’s strategic invocation of his civil legal rights models legitimate engagement with governing authority, consonant with the Romans 13 baseline doctrine (already documented in the baseline package as a Medium-risk cultural-metaphor flag area).
Mandarin rendering: 罗马公民 (Luómǎ gōngmín) — established secular-legal historical term. Risk: Low, purely historical/legal, though its narrative-theological significance (a legitimate, non-contradictory use of civil rights by a persecuted apostle) is worth a brief teaching note.

Paul’s conversion is retold here — reuses the Way (9:2’s term recurs at 22:4), light from heaven, repentance-adjacent terms exactly as documented under Chapter 9.

Chapter 23 — Before the Sanhedrin; the Resurrection Dispute; the Plot

Pharisees / Sadducees (and the resurrection dispute)

Original: Φαρισαῖοι / Σαδδουκαῖοι (23:6–8)
Transliteration: Pharisaioi; Saddoukaioi
Contextual theological meaning: The two parties’ disagreement over the resurrection (Sadducees deny it; Pharisees affirm it) provides the occasion for Paul to identify his hope explicitly with bodily resurrection — reinforcing baseline’s resurrection (复活, Critical) entry directly within a live intra-Jewish theological controversy.
Mandarin rendering: 法利赛人 (Fǎlìsàirén) / 撒都该人 (Sādūgāirén) — established CUV transliterations. Risk: Low, proper nouns, though the surrounding resurrection-hope content inherits Critical risk from the baseline entry.

Reuses 公会 (Sanhedrin, Ch.4) exactly.

Chapter 24 — Before Felix: “The Way,” Righteousness, Self-Control, Judgment to Come

Reuses the Way (24:14, 22) exactly as documented in Ch. 9 — Critical risk fully inherited. New element:

righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come

Original: περὶ δικαιοσύνης καὶ ἐγκρατείας καὶ τοῦ κρίματος τοῦ μέλλοντος (24:25)
Transliteration: peri dikaiosynēs kai egkrateias kai tou krimatos tou mellontos
Contextual theological meaning: Paul’s message to Felix combines baseline righteousness (义) with the coming divine judgment — a forensic, future-oriented accountability, not present civil legal proceedings alone (an intentional double meaning given Paul is himself on trial).
Mandarin rendering: reuses baseline 义 exactly; “self-control” 节制 (jiézhì, Low risk); “judgment to come” 将来的审判 (jiānglái de shěnpàn, Medium risk — must be distinguished from karmic retribution 报应, already flagged under baseline’s sin entry, since this is a personal, forensic divine judgment, not an impersonal cause-and-effect cosmic mechanism).

Chapter 25 — Before Festus; the Appeal to Caesar

appeal to Caesar

Original: Καίσαρα ἐπικαλοῦμαι (25:11)
Transliteration: Kaisara epikaloumai
Literal meaning: “I appeal to/call upon Caesar”
Semantic range: A formal Roman legal procedure allowing a citizen to have his case heard by the emperor himself.
Mandarin rendering: 上告于凯撒 (shànggào yú Kǎisā) — established historical-legal rendering; 凯撒 (Kǎisā) is the standard CUV transliteration for Caesar. Risk: Low, historical-legal term; theologically significant chiefly as the narrative mechanism by which Paul reaches Rome, fulfilling Acts 1:8’s “end of the earth” trajectory.

Chapter 26 — Before Agrippa: The Conversion Retold; “Not Disobedient to the Heavenly Vision”

heavenly vision

Original: τῇ οὐρανίῳ ὀπτασίᾳ (26:19)
Transliteration: tē ouraniō optasia
Literal meaning: “the heavenly vision/appearance”
Contextual theological meaning: Paul’s own summary term for his Damascus-road encounter (Ch.9), reused here to describe his lifelong obedience to that specific divine commissioning — reinforces the Conversion of Paul doctrine and reuses baseline calling/called vocabulary (呼召/蒙召的) exactly, since Paul explicitly frames his ministry as obedience to a personal divine summons, not a generic mystical experience.
Mandarin rendering: 从天上来的显现/异象 (cóng tiānshàng lái de xiǎnxiàn/yìxiàng). Risk: Medium, consistent with baseline’s existing High risk tier on “calling,” inherited here.

Chapter 27 — The Storm and Shipwreck

Largely narrative seafaring detail (Euroclydon/the northeaster wind, proper noun, low risk). Theologically load-bearing element:

take heart / do not be afraid

Original: θαρσεῖτε / εὐθυμεῖν παρακαλῶ (27:22, 25, 34–36)
Transliteration: tharseite; euthymein
Contextual theological meaning: Paul’s repeated exhortation to courage during the storm is explicitly grounded in an angelic assurance from God (27:23–24), reusing baseline providence (神的护理) — courage grounded in God’s specific promise, not generic optimism or fatalistic resignation (“what will be, will be,” 命运/天意, already forbidden under baseline’s providence entry).
Mandarin rendering: 放心/不要惧怕 (fàngxīn / bùyào jùpà). Risk: Low-Medium.

Chapter 28 — Malta; Rome; Unhindered Proclamation

they thought he was a god

Original: ἔλεγον αὐτὸν εἶναι θεόν (28:6)
Transliteration: elegon auton einai theon
Contextual theological meaning: After Paul survives a viper bite unharmed, the Maltese islanders conclude he must be a deity — the same human-deification impulse already flagged at Lystra (Ch.14), and a pattern with strong resonance in Chinese religious history’s apotheosis of extraordinary humans (人成神). Luke’s narration is implicitly corrective: Paul is a man used by God’s power, not a god himself.
Mandarin rendering: reuses baseline god (神) exactly, with the same High risk caution as Ch.14 regarding human deification patterns; the text itself, read carefully, refutes rather than endorses the islanders’ conclusion, and this corrective must not be lost in translation.

unhindered

Original: ἀκωλύτως (28:31)
Transliteration: akōlytōs
Literal meaning: “without hindrance, unimpeded”
Semantic range: The book’s final word in the Greek text — a triumphant note describing Paul’s continued, open proclamation of “the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ” in Rome itself, under guard yet unstopped.
English variants: “unhindered”; “without hindrance”; “quite openly, unhindered”
Contextual theological meaning: The narrative and theological capstone of the Great Commission Fulfilled doctrine — the gospel has reached “the end of the earth” (Rome, the empire’s center) and continues advancing freely despite every obstacle (shipwreck, imprisonment, trial) recounted across the book.
Mandarin rendering: 没有人禁止 (méiyǒu rén jìnzhǐ) — established CUV rendering. Risk: Low, but pastorally and structurally significant; translation must capture the triumphant, forward-looking tone appropriate to the book’s deliberately open-ended conclusion, reusing baseline kingdom_of_god (神的国) and lord (主) exactly in the same verse.

End of Part 2. Every chapter of Acts 1–28 has been reviewed. Chapters not listed with extensive new vocabulary above (e.g., portions of Ch. 18, the seafaring detail of Ch. 27) are explicitly confirmed reviewed and found to introduce no additional load-bearing theological terms beyond those already documented in this analysis or in the baseline Romans Language Package.

See 08_core_glossary.md for the consolidated, risk-tiered glossary table drawn from this analysis. This document extends, and does not contradict, translation_memory.json, bible_term_registry.json, and doctrine_risk_registry.json from the baseline Romans Language Package.

Library content is free and openly licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 — share and adapt it for non-commercial use, with attribution to tri-bible.ai.