Doctrine Analysis
11 — Doctrine Analysis: Deuteronomy (Full Book, 1–34)
1. Purpose and Scope
This document provides the complete doctrine matrix for the Deuteronomy curriculum, spanning all 34 chapters, anchored theologically in the core passage (Deuteronomy 6:1-9, the Shema) but never limited to it. Every doctrine below is drawn from, and stays consistent with, doctrine_risk_registry.json. Chapters that do not introduce new load-bearing doctrine or terminology are explicitly marked “Reviewed — no new Critical/High terminology” rather than silently omitted.
2. Doctrine Matrix (Full Registry Cross-Reference)
| # | Doctrine | Mandarin Doctrine Name | Risk | Supporting Passages (Deuteronomy) | Translation Risk Summary | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Shema and Exclusive Love for God | 示玛与对神独一的爱 | Critical | 4:35, 39; 6:4-9; 10:12; 11:1; 30:6 | 独一 (echad) collides with the functional-pantheon accommodation of Chinese folk religion; 爱 must not collapse into Confucian filial duty (孝). | Human theologian |
| 2 | Covenant Renewal | 约的更新 | High | 5:1-5; 27:1-26; 29:1-15; 31:9-13 | 约 must stay relational/divinely-initiated, never a negotiated 合同/契约. | Human theologian |
| 3 | Blessings and Curses of the Covenant | 约的福气与咒诅 | High | 11:26-29; 27:11-26; 28:1-68; 30:1, 19 | 福/祝福 and 咒诅 both carry folk fortune-telling/ritual-cursing resonance; must be anchored to covenant relationship, not magical efficacy. | Human theologian |
| 4 | Remembering God’s Redemption | 记念神的救赎 | High | 5:15; 6:20-25; 7:8; 8:2-18; 15:15; 16:3; 24:18, 22; 26:5-10 | 救赎 must never render as 解脱/超度; 记念 is active obedience-shaping recollection, not nostalgia. | Human theologian |
| 5 | Obedience Motivated by Love not Merit | 因爱而非因功德而生的顺服 | Critical | 6:5; 7:7-8; 9:4-6; 10:12-16; 11:13; 30:6, 16, 20 | Closest OT parallel to baseline grace doctrine’s rejection of 功德/阴德 merit-ledger thinking; must not collapse into 孝顺-style debt-obedience. | Human theologian |
| 6 | The Coming Prophet like Moses | 那位像摩西的先知 | Critical | 18:15-19; 34:10-12 | Must read as a singular, once-fulfilled figure (Acts 3:22), not a repeating office or a reincarnation-succession (Buddhist/folk-religion category risk). | Human theologian |
| 7 | Choosing Life over Death | 拣选生命而非死亡 | Critical | 30:1-20 | 拣选 is reserved elsewhere for God’s sovereign election; human choice here needs a mandatory distinguishing note to avoid synergistic or monergistic distortion. | Human theologian |
| 8 | Warnings against Idolatry | 警戒拜偶像 | Critical | 4:15-40; 5:7-10; 6:14; 7:1-5, 25-26; 8:19; 12:2-4; 13:1-18; 17:2-7; 27:15; 28:14; 29:16-18; 32:15-21 | Direct challenge to home/temple deity images (神像); rival gods unmasked as 鬼魔, not legitimate rival deities. | Human theologian |
| 9 | Prohibition of Occult Practices | 禁止交鬼行邪术 | Critical | 18:9-14 | Sharpest live collision with contemporary Chinese spirit-medium (乩童) and ancestor-consultation practice. | Human theologian |
| 10 | Herem — Covenant Judgment Against Idolatrous Nations | 灭绝净尽的约的审判 | High | 2:24-37; 3:1-7; 7:1-2, 16; 13:12-18; 20:16-18; 25:19 | 灭 overlaps Buddhist extinction/cessation vocabulary (寂灭, 灭度); must stay a unique, historically bounded judgment, never a generalized warfare ethic. | Human theologian |
| 11 | Circumcision of the Heart | 心受割礼 | Critical | 9:6; 10:16; 29:4; 30:6 | Must match Romans 2:29 rendering exactly; God-performed heart change, not Neo-Confucian self-cultivation (修身/修炼). | Human theologian |
| 12 | Divine Sovereignty over Life and Death | 神掌管生死的主权 | High | 32:4, 15, 18, 30-31, 35, 39 | Must not be conflated with baseline resurrection (复活); 磐石 rendering must anticipate 1 Corinthians 10:4 typology. | Human theologian |
| 13 | Generational Transmission of Covenant Law | 约的律法传承给后代 | High | 4:9-10; 6:6-9, 20-25; 11:18-21; 31:9-13 | Hand/forehead/doorpost markers must be distinguished from folk amulets (符), door gods (门神), New Year couplets (春联). | Human theologian |
| 14 | Testing False Prophets by Doctrinal Fidelity | 凡事按教义辨别假先知 | High | 13:1-5; 18:20-22 | Fulfilled signs/wonders do not validate a prophet who entices toward other gods; corrective against 神通/法力-style persuasive-power culture. | Human theologian |
| 15 | Kingship under Covenant Law | 在约的律法之下的王权 | Medium | 17:14-20; 28:36 | Israel’s king is subordinate to written law, unlike the impersonal, revocable Mandate of Heaven (天命) model of imperial legitimacy. | Native speaker review |
| 16 | Centralized and Proper Worship | 在神所选之地的合宜敬拜 | Medium | 12:1-14; 16:1-17; 27:1-8 | Rejects decentralized hilltop-shrine worship (邱坛); no physical site has independent ritual potency — parallels the 教会-vs-庙/寺/道观 caution. | Native speaker review |
| 17 | Care for the Vulnerable (Sojourner, Widow, Orphan, Poor) | 关顾寄居的、寡妇、孤儿和穷人 | Medium | 10:18-19; 14:28-29; 15:1-11; 24:17-22; 26:12-13 | Gratitude-driven covenant obligation grounded in Israel’s own redeemed-slave identity, not generic humanitarianism or merit-accumulation (功德) via giving. | Native speaker review |
| 18 | The Land as Covenant Inheritance | 地土作为约的产业 | Medium | 1:8, 21; 6:1, 3; 8:7-10; 11:8-12 | Graciously granted covenant inheritance, not secular conquest booty or a 天下-style this-worldly political achievement. | Native speaker review |
| 19 | Sabbath and Periodic Release | 安息日与豁免年 | Medium | 5:12-15; 15:1-18 | Rest rooted explicitly in Exodus redemption (5:15), not a generic creation ordinance or wellness practice. | Native speaker review |
| 20 | Vows and Covenant Integrity | 许愿与守约的诚信 | Medium | 23:21-23 | 许愿 is the standard term for a transactional temple wish-vow; biblical vow-keeping is personal integrity before a covenant God, not a bargain repaid on receipt of favor. | Native speaker review |
| 21 | Judicial Justice and the Law of Witnesses | 司法公正与见证人律 | Low | 19:1-13, 15; 25:13-16 | Low collision risk; translates cleanly into standard Mandarin legal vocabulary; echoes Matthew 18:16 / 2 Corinthians 13:1 (future curriculum). | Automated review |
| 22 | The Pilgrim Feasts Calendar | 朝圣节期历 | Low | 16:1-17 | Established, unambiguous festival names (逾越节, 七七节, 住棚节); minor risk of conflation with unrelated Chinese lunar festivals if not clearly introduced. | Automated review |
3. Corrected Risk-Tier Tally (from the 22 doctrines above)
| Risk Tier | Count | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 7 | Human theologian review required for every occurrence |
| High | 7 | Human theologian review required |
| Medium | 6 | Native speaker review recommended |
| Low | 2 | Automated review sufficient |
| Total | 22 | 14 human theologian / 6 native speaker / 2 automated |
This tally is derived directly from the tiers already recorded per-doctrine in doctrine_risk_registry.json and supersedes that file’s own risk_summary block for routing-math purposes; no doctrine or tier assignment is changed.
4. Chapter-by-Chapter Coverage (Deuteronomy 1–34)
Every chapter is listed. Chapters without new Critical/High doctrinal content are explicitly marked reviewed rather than omitted, per full-book coverage mandate.
| Ch. | Doctrines Present (registry #) | Key Load-Bearing Content | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 (Land Inheritance) | Historical prologue; promise of the land to the fathers (1:8, 21) | Covered |
| 2 | 10 (Herem) | Judgment on Sihon of Heshbon; bounded historical warfare | Covered |
| 3 | 10 (Herem) | Judgment on Og of Bashan | Covered |
| 4 | 8 (Idolatry), 13 (Generational Transmission) | No carved image (4:15-18); explicit monotheism (4:35, 39) feeds doctrine #1 | Covered |
| 5 | 2 (Covenant Renewal), 8 (Idolatry), 19 (Sabbath) | Decalogue restated at Horeb; second commandment; Sabbath rooted in Exodus (5:15) | Covered |
| 6 | 1 (Shema), 5 (Obedience/Love), 13 (Generational Transmission), 4 (Remembering), 8 (Idolatry, v.14) | CORE PASSAGE (6:1-9); Shema (6:4-5); household catechesis (6:6-9); “not because of your own righteousness” motif anticipated | Covered — theological anchor |
| 7 | 8 (Idolatry), 10 (Herem), 5 (Obedience/Love, 7:7-8), election/treasured possession (segullah, glossary #33) | God’s love precedes and grounds Israel’s obedience; herem against Canaanite nations tied to idolatry, not ethnicity | Covered |
| 8 | 4 (Remembering), 8 (Idolatry, v.19) | Wilderness testing; warning against forgetting God in prosperity | Covered |
| 9 | 5 (Obedience/Love, 9:4-6), 11 (Circumcision of Heart, stiff-necked precursor) | Explicit denial that Israel’s land-possession rests on their own righteousness | Covered |
| 10 | 1 (Shema, 10:12), 11 (Circumcision of Heart, 10:16), 17 (Care for Vulnerable) | “Circumcise your heart”; love the sojourner because Israel was a sojourner | Covered |
| 11 | 1 (Shema, 11:1), 3 (Blessings/Curses, 11:26-29), 13 (Generational Transmission), 5 (Obedience/Love, 11:13) | Ebal/Gerizim blessing-curse choice first introduced | Covered |
| 12 | 16 (Centralized Worship), 8 (Idolatry) | The place the LORD will choose; rejection of Canaanite hilltop worship | Covered |
| 13 | 8 (Idolatry), 14 (False Prophets), 10 (Herem, 13:12-18) | Test of false prophets/enticers, even with fulfilled signs | Covered |
| 14 | 17 (Care for Vulnerable, 14:28-29); holy-people/segullah identity (glossary #33-34) | Clean/unclean food laws support corporate holiness identity; no new Critical/High term beyond established 圣洁/圣徒 analogs | Reviewed — no new Critical/High terminology beyond established holiness vocabulary |
| 15 | 4 (Remembering, 15:15), 19 (Sabbath/Release), 17 (Care for Vulnerable) | Sabbatical debt-release enacts covenant grace economically | Covered |
| 16 | 16 (Centralized Worship), 22 (Feasts Calendar), 4 (Remembering, 16:3) | Passover, Weeks, Booths; unleavened bread as remembrance | Covered |
| 17 | 15 (Kingship under Law) | Future king must not exceed or evade God’s law | Covered |
| 18 | 6 (Coming Prophet), 9 (Occult Practices), 14 (False Prophets) | Prohibition of mediums/necromancers; promise of the Prophet like Moses | Covered — Christologically pivotal chapter |
| 19 | 21 (Judicial Justice) | Cities of refuge; two-or-three-witness rule | Covered |
| 20 | 10 (Herem, 20:16-18) | Rules of warfare; herem specifically against Canaanite nations | Covered |
| 21 | 3 (Blessings/Curses, “cursed of God,” glossary #45) | Body of the hanged not left overnight; anticipates Galatians 3:13 (future curriculum) | Covered |
| 22 | — | Assorted civil/ethical statutes (property, mixtures, garments) | Reviewed — no new Critical/High terminology; general ethics already covered under care-for-neighbor motifs |
| 23 | 20 (Vows and Integrity, 23:21-23) | Assembly exclusions; vow-keeping | Covered |
| 24 | 17 (Care for Vulnerable), 4 (Remembering, 24:18, 22) | Gleaning laws for sojourner/widow/orphan grounded in Egypt-redemption memory | Covered |
| 25 | 10 (Herem, 25:19 — Amalek), 21 (Judicial Justice, just weights) | Levirate law; honest commerce; Amalek herem | Covered |
| 26 | 2 (Covenant Renewal), 4 (Remembering, 26:5-10), 17 (Care for Vulnerable) | Firstfruits liturgy recites redemption history; tithe declaration | Covered |
| 27 | 2 (Covenant Renewal), 3 (Blessings/Curses), 16 (Centralized Worship) | Shechem covenant-renewal ceremony; plastered-stone law inscription; twelve curses | Covered |
| 28 | 3 (Blessings/Curses) — central chapter, 15 (Kingship, 28:36) | Full blessing-and-curse catalogue for obedience/disobedience | Covered — doctrinally central chapter |
| 29 | 2 (Covenant Renewal), 8 (Idolatry, 29:16-18), 11 (Circumcision of Heart, 29:4) | Moab covenant renewal; warning against a heart that turns away | Covered |
| 30 | 7 (Choosing Life), 11 (Circumcision of Heart, 30:6), 5 (Obedience/Love) | CLIMACTIC chapter: “I have set before you life and death… choose life”; God himself will circumcise the heart | Covered — doctrinally climactic chapter |
| 31 | 2 (Covenant Renewal), 13 (Generational Transmission) | Public reading of the law every seven years; commissioning of Joshua | Covered |
| 32 | 12 (Divine Sovereignty over Life/Death), 8 (Idolatry, 32:15-21) | Song of Moses: “the Rock,” “I kill and I make alive,” idols as 鬼魔 | Covered |
| 33 | 3 (Blessings/Curses, tribal form), 18 (Land Inheritance) | Moses’ blessing of the twelve tribes | Covered |
| 34 | 6 (Coming Prophet, 34:10-12), spirit of wisdom (glossary #53) | Death of Moses; “no prophet like Moses arose again” — deliberate open canonical loop; Joshua receives a spirit of wisdom, distinct from the indwelling Holy Spirit | Covered — Christologically pivotal chapter |
5. Notes for Phase 2 Routing
- All Critical and High doctrines above require human theologian review for every occurrence in Phase 2 segment translation, per the escalation logic already established in the baseline
12_ai_translation_requirements.mdand extended by this curriculum’s registry. - Chapters 14, 22, 25 (partially) carry lower doctrinal density but are never silently skipped; their status is recorded explicitly above.
- Doctrines #6 (Coming Prophet) and #11 (Circumcision of Heart) require cross-book consistency checks against the Romans baseline translation memory (Acts 3:22 typology; Romans 2:29 heart-circumcision) before Phase 2 begins.
See 08_core_glossary.md for the full term inventory supporting this doctrine matrix and assets/doctrine_risk_registry.json for the authoritative machine-readable registry.
Critical Risk Doctrines
The Shema and Exclusive Love for God
Mandarin name: 示玛与对神独一的爱
Key terms: hear, one, love, heart, soul, might, the LORD our God
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: the confession that YHWH is 独一 (echad) collides with Chinese folk religion’s functional pantheon (城隍, 灶神, 土地公, ancestral spirits), which readily accommodates many deities in separate domains without exclusivity. 独一 must be taught as categorical, exclusive uniqueness — not merely supreme rank — while a mandatory teaching note must clarify this does not deny later Trinitarian revelation. The commanded 爱 (love) must be kept from collapsing into filial sentiment or Confucian relational duty (孝, 义) owed within a hierarchy.
Obedience Motivated by Love not Merit
Mandarin name: 因爱而非因功德而生的顺服
Key terms: love, keep, fear the LORD, treasured possession, not because of your righteousness
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: Deuteronomy 9:4-6 explicitly denies Israel’s possession of the land rests on their own righteousness — the closest OT parallel to the baseline grace doctrine’s rejection of the Buddhist merit-ledger worldview (功德, 阴德). Obedience in Deuteronomy must be taught as the grateful response of an already-redeemed, already-chosen people (7:7-8), not a means of earning or maintaining God’s favor; every occurrence risks collapse into either merit-accounting or into Confucian filial-duty obedience (孝顺) discharged as a debt owed to a superior.
The Coming Prophet like Moses
Mandarin name: 那位像摩西的先知
Key terms: a prophet like me, I will put my words in his mouth, no prophet like Moses arose again
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: must be taught as a singular, once-fulfilled figure (fulfilled in Christ, Acts 3:22; 7:37), never as a repeating prophetic office or — given Mandarin readers’ familiarity with reincarnation/rebirth categories from Buddhist and folk-religious frameworks — as a reincarnated succession of the same spiritual figure. The deliberate unresolved tension between 18:15 and 34:10 must be preserved as an open canonical loop, not smoothed over.
Choosing Life over Death
Mandarin name: 拣选生命而非死亡
Key terms: set before you life and death, choose life, the word is very near you, circumcise your heart
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: the verb 拣选 (choose) is reserved elsewhere in this Language Package exclusively for God’s sovereign election (baseline election, Critical). Deut 30:19 uses the same Hebrew action-concept with Israel as the choosing subject; every occurrence requires a mandatory translator’s note distinguishing this human, responsive choice from God’s prior gracious election, to prevent either a synergistic distortion (self-election apart from grace) or a monergistic flattening (denying real human responsibility). Must also be rendered as a genuine, weighty covenant choice, not fatalistic destiny (命运).
Warnings against Idolatry
Mandarin name: 警戒拜偶像
Key terms: other gods, carved image, jealous God, high places, demons, turn aside
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL and pervasive across the whole book: forbids any carved image (雕刻的像) of YHWH — a direct challenge to the widespread Chinese practice of housing deity images (神像) in home shrines and temples — and unmasks rival worship as directed at powerless demonic non-entities (鬼魔, ch.32), not legitimate rival deities, confronting the functional-pantheon accommodation of Chinese folk religion at its root.
Prohibition of Occult Practices
Mandarin name: 禁止交鬼行邪术
Key terms: medium, necromancer, sorcerer, one who consults the dead, diviner
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: this is the sharpest, most contemporary collision point in the book with living Chinese folk-religious practice — spirit mediums (乩童), ancestor consultation, and ghost-communication rites remain active practices in many Mandarin-speaking communities today, unlike some other ancient categories in Deuteronomy. Every occurrence requires human theologian review to ensure the prohibition is taught as addressing a real, current cultural practice rather than an abstracted ancient custom.
Circumcision of the Heart
Mandarin name: 心受割礼
Key terms: circumcise your heart, stiff-necked, a heart to understand
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: must be rendered consistently with Romans 2:29’s identical concept (already in the Romans baseline curriculum) so the doctrine is recognizable across both books. In Deut 30:6, God himself performs the heart-circumcision — this must not be confused with Neo-Confucian self-cultivation (修身/修炼) into moral perfection through personal discipline, the same collision already flagged Critical for baseline sanctification (成圣).
High Risk Doctrines
Covenant Renewal
Mandarin name: 约的更新
Key terms: covenant, statutes, commandments, Shechem, Moab, Amen
Review routing: Human theologian
约 (covenant) must remain a relational, divinely initiated bond, never softened toward 合同/契约 (a negotiated commercial contract between equal parties). Deuteronomy’s repeated re-ratification ceremonies (Horeb, Moab, Shechem) must be taught as a gracious relationship being renewed and publicly reaffirmed, not a contract being renegotiated.
Blessings and Curses of the Covenant
Mandarin name: 约的福气与咒诅
Key terms: blessing, curse, Mount Ebal, Mount Gerizim, scattered among the nations
Review routing: Human theologian
Both 福/祝福 and 咒诅 carry strong folk-religious resonances in Mandarin — 福 is the vocabulary of fortune-charms, red-envelope wishes, and New Year greetings (already flagged under baseline gospel); 咒诅 borders ritual cursing/black magic (符咒) vocabulary. Every occurrence in Deuteronomy 11 and 28 must be anchored explicitly to the relational, covenant-conditioned consequence of obedience or disobedience to YHWH — not treated as impersonal fortune, feng shui, or magical efficacy.
Remembering God’s Redemption
Mandarin name: 记念神的救赎
Key terms: remember, forget, redeem, slave in Egypt, firstfruits
Review routing: Human theologian
记念 (active, obedience-shaping recollection) must be distinguished from mere nostalgic reminiscence, and 救赎 (redemption from Egypt) must never be rendered with 解脱 (Buddhist liberation from samsara) or 超度 (a posthumous rite for the dead) — this is a historical, this-life deliverance of a living people, recounted to ground present gratitude-driven ethics (generosity to the poor, sojourner, widow, orphan).
Herem — Covenant Judgment Against Idolatrous Nations
Mandarin name: 灭绝净尽的约的审判
Key terms: utterly destroy, devote to destruction, Sihon and Og, Amalek
Review routing: Human theologian
灭绝净尽 uses 灭, which also appears in Buddhist vocabulary for final extinction/cessation (寂灭, 灭度, near-synonyms for entering nirvana); every occurrence must be taught as a unique, historically bounded act of covenant judgment executed by Israel under direct divine command against specific nations for specific sins (idolatry), never generalized into an ongoing warfare ethic or confused with any notion of cosmic self-extinguishing.
Divine Sovereignty over Life and Death
Mandarin name: 神掌管生死的主权
Key terms: I kill and I make alive, the Rock, vengeance is mine
Review routing: Human theologian
Must not be conflated with baseline resurrection (复活) — this is a general claim of God’s unrivaled sovereign power over life and death, not the specific once-for-all bodily resurrection doctrine, though it forms the theological backdrop that later makes resurrection intelligible. 磐石 (the Rock) must be rendered consistently for future typological continuity with 1 Corinthians 10:4.
Generational Transmission of Covenant Law
Mandarin name: 约的律法传承给后代
Key terms: teach diligently, your children, sign, frontlets, doorposts, read this law before all Israel
Review routing: Human theologian
The household-catechesis markers (hand, forehead, doorposts) must be distinguished from folk protective amulets (符, hùshēnfú), door gods (门神), and New Year couplets (春联) posted for warding off misfortune or inviting fortune. These are memory-and-identity markers of covenant loyalty and instruction, not magically efficacious talismans — the same distinction already required for baseline 福 (gospel) and 平安 (peace).
Testing False Prophets by Doctrinal Fidelity
Mandarin name: 凡事按教义辨别假先知
Key terms: false prophet, sign or wonder, entice, dreamer of dreams
Review routing: Human theologian
Must be taught clearly that even a fulfilled sign or wonder does not validate a prophet who entices toward other gods — doctrinal fidelity outranks miraculous confirmation. This is a necessary corrective in a cultural context where displays of supernatural power (神通, 法力, already forbidden under baseline spiritual_gifts/power_of_god) carry high persuasive weight.
Medium Risk Doctrines
Kingship under Covenant Law
Mandarin name: 在约的律法之下的王权
Key terms: king, a copy of this law
Review routing: Native speaker review
Israel’s king must be taught as subordinate to, not above, God’s written law — a contrast with the historic Chinese imperial model, where the emperor’s legitimacy derives from an impersonal, revocable Mandate of Heaven (天命) rather than personal submission to an unchanging divine law text.
Centralized and Proper Worship
Mandarin name: 在神所选之地的合宜敬拜
Key terms: the place the LORD will choose, high places, altar, plastered stones
Review routing: Native speaker review
Rejects the Canaanite pattern of decentralized hilltop shrine worship (邱坛) in favor of unified worship at God’s appointed place; must not be presented in a way that suggests any physical site itself possesses independent ritual potency, echoing baseline caution against conflating 教会 with a folk temple (庙/寺/道观).
Care for the Vulnerable (Sojourner, Widow, Orphan, Poor)
Mandarin name: 关顾寄居的、寡妇、孤儿和穷人
Key terms: sojourner, widow, orphan, gleaning, release of debts
Review routing: Native speaker review
Grounded explicitly in Israel’s own former identity as a sojourner-slave redeemed by God (10:19; 24:18, 22), this ethic must be taught as gratitude-driven covenant obligation, not generic humanitarian sentiment or a means of accumulating merit (功德) through charitable giving.
The Land as Covenant Inheritance
Mandarin name: 地土作为约的产业
Key terms: possess, inherit, land flowing with milk and honey
Review routing: Native speaker review
The land must be taught as a covenant inheritance graciously granted by God’s promise, not secular conquest booty or a this-worldly political achievement — relevant to avoiding the baseline kingdom_of_god caution against a 天下-style (“all under heaven”) this-worldly political reading.
Sabbath and Periodic Release
Mandarin name: 安息日与豁免年
Key terms: Sabbath, release, sabbatical year
Review routing: Native speaker review
Sabbath rest here is explicitly rooted in the Exodus redemption (5:15) — rest as a sign of a freed, redeemed people, not merely a creation ordinance or a generic wellness practice; the sabbatical debt-release enacts covenant grace economically, mirroring God’s own gracious redemption of Israel.
Vows and Covenant Integrity
Mandarin name: 许愿与守约的诚信
Key terms: vow, keep your word
Review routing: Native speaker review
许愿 is the standard Mandarin term for a temple wish-vow made in transactional exchange for a deity’s favor; biblical vow-keeping must be taught as personal integrity in keeping one’s word to a covenant God, not a negotiated bargain repaid upon receipt of the wished-for outcome.
Low Risk Doctrines
Judicial Justice and the Law of Witnesses
Mandarin name: 司法公正与见证人律
Key terms: city of refuge, two or three witnesses, just weights
Review routing: Automated review
Low collision risk: due-process safeguards (multiple witnesses, cities of refuge distinguishing intentional from unintentional killing) translate with minimal ambiguity into Mandarin legal vocabulary and echo later NT church-discipline procedure (Matthew 18:16; 2 Corinthians 13:1, future curriculum books).
The Pilgrim Feasts Calendar
Mandarin name: 朝圣节期历
Key terms: Passover, Feast of Weeks, Feast of Booths
Review routing: Automated review
Low collision risk: established, largely unambiguous festival names in Chinese Bible tradition (逾越节, 七七节, 住棚节); minor risk only of readers conflating these with unrelated Chinese folk/lunar festivals if not clearly introduced as distinct Israelite covenant commemorations.
Referenced passages