Log in

or use your email

Work with us

Tell us a bit about how you'd like to work with tri-bible.ai.

Stay informed Get our weekly newsletter. Never sold or shared, unsubscribe anytime.

Let us serve you Church leaders and ministry networks seeking translated curriculum Join our team Volunteers interested in reviewing translations
Download Requirements bundle

Core Glossary

08 Core Glossary — Ezekiel (English → Mandarin)

#English TermHebrew / TransliterationMandarin RenderingDoctrine LinkRiskKey ChaptersRendering Risk Notes
1Godאֱלֹהִים / יהוה — Elohim / YHWH神 / 耶和华Glory & Sovereignty of GodCriticalall(TM baseline reuse: god = 神). Ezekiel additionally uses the covenant name 耶和华 (Yēhéhuá) constantly (the personal, revealed name, distinct from the generic 神); both must be used per source text, never merged or interchanged silently.
2Sovereign LORD / Lord GODאֲדֹנָי יְהוִה — Adonai YHWH主耶和华Glory & Sovereignty of GodCriticalthroughout, esp. 37:3Compound title occurring 200+ times; reuses TM lord = 主 (Critical) plus 耶和华; never abbreviate to 神 alone in this construction — the double title’s rhetorical force (absolute lordship) is load-bearing for the book’s central doctrine.
3Glory (of the LORD)כָּבוֹד — kavod荣耀Glory & Sovereignty of God; Presence Departing/ReturningCritical1, 8-11, 43, 48(TM baseline reuse: glory = 荣耀, Medium in Romans). Elevated to Critical in Ezekiel because the departure/return of this glory structures the entire book’s narrative arc. Never render toward 面子 or 光宗耀祖 (per baseline).
4Spirit / breath / windרוּחַ — ruach灵 / 耶和华的灵 / 气息 / 风 (context-dependent)New Heart and New Spirit; core passage wordplayCritical1, 2, 3, 11, 36, 37 (x7), 39No single Mandarin word carries breath+wind+Spirit as Hebrew ruach does. Follow CUV OT convention (NOT the NT compound 圣灵, which has no Hebrew equivalent phrase); NEVER use 气 (qì, Daoist/qigong vital-energy). Mandatory translator/teacher note wherever the Spirit-sense is active, identifying continuity with the NT’s 圣灵. See Ezekiel 37:9 as the single highest-risk verse in the book for this term.
5Living creaturesחַיּוֹת — chayot活物Glory & Sovereignty of GodMedium1, 10CUV standard; avoid conflation with Chinese mythological composite-beast/auspicious-creature imagery (龙, 麒麟, 四灵).
6Cherub / cherubimכְּרוּב — kerub基路伯Glory & Sovereignty; Judgment on Nations (Tyre)Medium1, 10, 28Established CUV transliteration; same beings as ch.1’s chayot once named. Ch.28 use (king of Tyre) requires interpretive caution re: popular “Satan’s fall” readings (see #29 below).
7Son of manבֶּן־אָדָם — ben adam人子God’s address to the prophetHighthroughout (~93x)Same Mandarin compound as Christ’s NT title “the Son of Man” (人子), but here signals mortality/creatureliness, not divine sonship. Context must prevent readers from reading NT Christology into every OT occurrence.
8Watchmanצֹפֶה — tsofeh守望者 / 守望的人Individual Responsibility for SinMedium3, 33Links to individual-responsibility doctrine; must not be taught as the watchman bearing others’ guilt (guards against ancestor/clan guilt-transfer assumptions).
9Sin / iniquityחֵטְא / עָוֹן — chet / avon罪 / 罪孽Individual Responsibility; JudgmentHigh4-5, 18, 33, 36(TM baseline reuse: sin = 罪). עָוֹן (avon, guilt/liability) additionally rendered 罪孽; distinguish from 报应 (karmic retribution) — this is guilt before a personal covenant God.
10Idolsגִּלּוּלִים — gillulim偶像Judgment on Jerusalem and the NationsHigh6, 8, 14, 16, 20, 23, 36Hebrew term carries built-in contempt (possibly “dung-things”), largely lost in neutral 偶像; teach the emotional register of the original vocabulary.
11High placeבָּמָה — bamah邱坛 / 丘坛Judgment on JerusalemMedium6, 16, 20Illegitimate cultic site; distinguish from generic temple/shrine vocabulary (庙, 道观) already flagged under baseline church.
12Abominationתּוֹעֵבָה — to’evah可憎的事Judgment on JerusalemHigh8, 16, 18, 22, 33Covenant-breaking cultic/moral offense provoking God’s holy revulsion; distinguish from mere cultural taboo (禁忌).
13Remnantשְׁאָר / פְּלֵטָה — she’ar / peletah余民RestorationMedium9, 11, 14A remnant preserved by grace for covenant purposes, not a “lucky survivor” (幸存者/福气) framing.
14New heartלֵב חָדָש — lev chadash新心The New Heart and New SpiritCritical11 (seed), 18, 36CUV standard. Core doctrine term; God-given, not self-achieved.
15New spiritרוּחַ חֲדָשָׁה — ruach chadashah新灵The New Heart and New SpiritCritical11 (seed), 36, 37CUV standard; see also #4 (ruach) for the underlying wordplay risk.
16Heart of stone / heart of fleshלֵב אֶבֶן / לֵב בָּשָׂר — lev even / lev basar石心 / 肉心The New Heart and New SpiritCritical11, 36NEVER explain using 脱胎换骨 (Daoist alchemical self-transformation idiom) — this is a sovereign, gracious, one-time divine gift, not a self-cultivated technique toward transcendence.
17Clean/pure water (sprinkling)מַיִם טְהוֹרִים — mayim tehorim洁净的水The New Heart and New SpiritHigh36Distinguish from repeatable folk/Daoist/Buddhist ritual lustration; a once-for-all divine cleansing accompanying regeneration.
18Righteous / righteousnessצַדִּיק — tzaddik义人Individual Responsibility for SinCritical14, 18, 33Built on TM baseline righteousness = 义 (Critical). Same Confucian-virtue collision applies: not moral achievement by cultivation, and — specific to Ezekiel 18 — not a status transferable to save another person.
19Wickedרָשָׁע — rasha恶人Individual Responsibility for SinMedium18, 33One who actively opposes God’s covenant, not merely a socially disapproved person.
20Soul / personנֶפֶשׁ — nepheshIndividual Responsibility for SinCritical18Follow CUV’s own choice (人, “person”) rather than 灵魂 (“soul”), which would import a detachable/potentially-transmigrating soul concept absent from the text.
21Turn / repentשׁוּב — shuv回转 / 悔改Individual Responsibility for SinCritical18, 33Must be distinguished from Buddhist ritual confession (忏悔) aimed at purifying karma; this is a relational return to a personal covenant God grounded in his character, not a technique that discharges karmic debt. Direct thematic link to the baseline’s Grace doctrine (anti-merit framing).
22Fathers’/sons’ guilt proverb(18:20, no single Hebrew term — a legal-proverb formula)“父债不及子” type contrast; rendered per CUV verse textIndividual Responsibility for SinCritical18Directly and explicitly refutes intergenerational/ancestral guilt-transfer thinking prevalent in Chinese folk religious practice (ancestral curses; inherited-merit logic underlying 阴德, already forbidden by baseline for grace). The single sharpest worldview collision point in the curriculum.
23For my name’s sakeלְמַעַן שְׁמִי — lema’an shemi为我的名 / 为我圣名的缘故Glory & Sovereignty of God; GraceHigh20, 36OT structural parallel to the baseline’s Critical-risk Grace doctrine: God acts apart from the recipient’s merit, for his own name/character. Teach in direct connection with TM baseline grace = 恩典.
24Recognition formula: “know that I am the LORD”וְיָדְעוּ כִּי־אֲנִי יְהוָה他们就知道我是耶和华Glory & Sovereignty of GodHigh~65 occurrences throughoutיָדַע (yada) includes intimate, relational knowing, not mere cognitive identification; must not be flattened into a trivial refrain despite its extreme frequency.
25Covenantבְּרִית — beritJudgment; Restoration; Covenant of PeaceHigh16, 20, 34, 37(TM baseline reuse: covenant = 约). Ezekiel 16’s marriage-covenant frame intensifies the baseline’s warning against a commercial-contract reading.
26Harlotry / unfaithfulnessזָנָה — zanah行淫Judgment on Jerusalem (covenant allegory)High16, 23Covenant-unfaithfulness metaphor (idolatry as marital infidelity); formal, pastoral register required per baseline tone rules; never literalized or sensationalized.
27Shepherdרֹעֶה — ro’eh牧人Restoration; Davidic hopeMedium34, 37God as ultimate Shepherd distinct from David’s heir as under-shepherd/prince; keep the two roles distinct.
28Princeנָשִׂיא — nasi君王 (temple-vision chapters)Restoration; Davidic Covenant; New TempleHigh34, 37, 44-48Deliberately distinct from מֶלֶך/王 (“king”); reflects theocratic subordination. Collapsing into plain 王 risks a Mandate-of-Heaven-style dynastic-legitimacy framing (cf. baseline kingdom_of_god note).
29Eden / garden of Godעֵדֶן / גַּן־אֱלֹהִים伊甸 / 神的园子Judgment on the Nations (Tyre oracle)High28, 31Popular tradition often reads Ezek 28:11-19 as Satan’s fall; primary referent is the king of Tyre. Flag as an interpretive question; do not translate/annotate in a way that forecloses the primary sense.
30Sea monster / dragon (Pharaoh)תַּנִּים — tannim大鱼 (NEVER 龙)Judgment on the Nations (Egypt oracles)Critical29, 32龙 (dragon) is China’s supreme auspicious imperial/cultural symbol (“descendants of the dragon”); using it for a figure of divine judgment and defeat would be a severe collision. CUV’s own choice (大鱼) must be followed; 龙 is forbidden in this context.
31Sanctuary / temple (house)מִקְדָּש / בַּיִת — miqdash / bayit圣所 / 殿The Vision of the New Temple; Presence ReturningCritical8-11, 40-46, 48Distinguish clearly from Buddhist 寺 or Daoist 道观 (per baseline church note); do not map onto existing Chinese temple architecture or associated idol/ancestor-veneration practice.
32Pattern / formתַּבְנִית — tavnit样式The Vision of the New TempleMedium40-43A divinely revealed blueprint, not a humanly designed architectural ideal.
33Priestכֹּהֵן — kohen祭司New Temple; RestorationLow40-46Standard vocabulary; low collision risk.
34Living waterמַיִם חַיִּים — mayim chayim活水The Vision of the New Temple (river of life)High47Typological bridge to John 4/7 and Revelation 22; distinguish from Daoist immortality-water/elixir mythology (仙水, 长生不老泉).
35”The LORD is there”יְהוָה שָׁמָּה — YHWH shammah耶和华的所在Presence Departing and Returning (climax)High48Closes the book’s central narrative arc (departure → hope → return → permanent dwelling); teach the full-book bracket explicitly.
36Bones (dry)עֲצָמוֹת (יְבֵשׁוֹת) — atzamot (yeveshot)骸骨 (枯干的)Restoration; Valley of Dry BonesMedium37Avoid ancestor-bone-veneration or grave-geomancy associations (feng shui); represents corporate national death, not a funerary rite.
37Live / come to lifeחָיָה — chayahRestoration; Valley of Dry BonesHigh37Central verb of the core passage; keep distinct from TM baseline resurrection = 复活 (Critical) — see next entry for the relationship between the two.
38Resurrection (typological use)(no single term; the vision’s cumulative sense — bones/graves/breath)复活 (used typologically, with mandatory doctrinal note)Restoration and the Valley of Dry BonesCritical37:12-14Primary referent is national/corporate restoration from exile; typologically anticipates, but must be taught distinct from, the individual bodily resurrection doctrine anchored by TM baseline resurrection = 复活. Never read through a reincarnation lens (already forbidden: 轮回, 投胎, 还魂).
39Army / hostחַיִל — chayil军队Restoration and the Valley of Dry BonesLow-Medium37Restored covenant community’s corporate vitality/capability; avoid any militaristic-conquest overtone.
40Hopeתִּקְוָה — tikvah指望 / 希望RestorationMedium37Covenantal hope resting on God’s promise; distinguish from generic optimism or fortune-telling expectation of luck.
41Graveקֶבֶר — qever坟墓Restoration and the Valley of Dry BonesMedium37Figurative language for exile’s “graves”; distinguish from literal grave-opening ritual, ancestor-appeasement, or feng shui concerns.
42Gog / Magogגּוֹג / מָגוֹג歌革 / 玛各Judgment on the Nations (eschatological)Medium38-39Established transliterations; avoid over-identifying with any specific modern nation/people group.
43Israel / house of Israelיִשְׂרָאֵל / בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל以色列 / 以色列全家Unity/Restoration of IsraelMediumthroughout(TM baseline reuse: israel = 以色列). “House of Israel” retains corporate, whole-nation scope, not a private individual reference.
44David / seed of Davidדָּוִד大卫Davidic Covenant; RestorationMedium-High34, 37(TM baseline reuse: david = 大卫). “David my servant” as future shepherd-prince connects to but is distinct from baseline seed_of_david; keep God’s Shepherd role and David’s heir’s prince role distinct (see #27, #28).
45Peace (covenant of)שָׁלוֹם / בְּרִית שָׁלוֹם平安 / 平安的约Judgment; Restoration; Covenant of PeaceHigh13, 34, 37(TM baseline reuse: peace = 平安). Ezekiel 13’s false prophets pronouncing hollow peace directly illustrates the baseline’s own warning against the generic-well-being/amulet-blessing collision; ch. 37’s “covenant of peace” must be taught as God-secured, not merely wished-for.
46Word of the LORDדְּבַר־יְהוָה耶和华的话Fulfillment of Prophecy; Glory & SovereigntyLowthroughout, esp. 37:4Standard vocabulary; God’s own creative, effective word — the instrument of both judgment and resurrection-restoration.
47Prophesy / prophecyנָבָא / נְבוּאָה说预言 / 预言Fulfillment of ProphecyMediumthroughout, esp. 37:4, 9(TM baseline reuse: prophet/prophecy = 先知/预言). Must not be rendered as incantation or divination technique (占卜, 算卦); effective because it is God’s own word.
48Vine / allegory / riddleגֶּפֶן / מָשָׁל / חִידָה葡萄树 / 比喻 / 谜语Judgment oracles (literary form)Low15, 17, 19Genre/literary-device vocabulary; no significant doctrinal collision.

Summary Risk Counts (Ezekiel-specific additions, excluding pure TM-baseline reuse terms)

Risk TierCount (new/extended terms)Review Routing
Critical11Human theologian (mandatory, every occurrence)
High15Human theologian
Medium14Native speaker review
Low8Automated review

Highest-priority items for Phase 2 human theologian pre-briefing:

  1. רוּחַ (ruach) multivalence across the whole book, especially Ezekiel 37:9 (#4)
  2. The fathers’/sons’ guilt proverb, Ezekiel 18:20 (#22) — direct confrontation with ancestral guilt/merit-transfer worldview
  3. New Heart / New Spirit / heart-of-stone-to-flesh, forbidding 脱胎换骨 (#14, #15, #16)
  4. Pharaoh-as-tannim, forbidding 龙 (#30)
  5. The typological (not literal-individual) resurrection sense of Ezekiel 37 (#38)

This glossary extends but never contradicts translation_memory.json (Romans baseline). Phase 2 processing must load both this glossary and the baseline translation memory before translating any Ezekiel segment.


Critical Risk Terms

God

Approved rendering:
Transliteration: Shén
Doctrine: The Glory and Sovereignty of God
Rejected alternatives: 上帝, 天, 老天爷
Original: אֱלֹהִים / יהוה
Category: God

Inherited from Romans package. Ezekiel additionally uses the personal covenant name 耶和华 (see yahweh entry) constantly and far more densely than the generic 神; the two must never be merged or used interchangeably where the source text distinguishes them.


Lord

Approved rendering:
Transliteration: zhǔ
Doctrine: The Glory and Sovereignty of God
Rejected alternatives: 主人, 老爷

Inherited from Romans package. In Ezekiel this combines with 耶和华 in the compound title 主耶和华 (Adonai YHWH, see sovereign_lord entry), occurring 200+ times; never abbreviate the compound to 神 alone — the double title’s rhetorical force of absolute lordship is load-bearing for the book’s central doctrine.


Glory

Approved rendering: 荣耀
Transliteration: róngyào
Doctrine: The Glory and Sovereignty of God; God’s Presence Departing and Returning
Rejected alternatives: 面子, 光宗耀祖
Original: כָּבוֹד
Category: God

Inherited from Romans package (Medium risk there). Elevated to Critical for Ezekiel per analysis/08_core_glossary.md and doctrine_risk_registry.json, because the departure (chs. 8-11) and return (ch. 43, 48) of this very glory structures the entire book’s narrative arc. Never reduce to 面子 (social face) or 光宗耀祖 (ancestral family honor).


Righteousness

Approved rendering:
Transliteration:
Doctrine: Individual Responsibility for Sin
Rejected alternatives: 道德, 善行

Inherited from Romans package. Ezekiel 14 and 18 add a risk beyond the baseline’s original Confucian-virtue collision: this status is explicitly non-transferable — a father’s righteousness cannot save a son, nor vice versa (14:20) — a direct rebuttal of Chinese ancestral merit-transfer logic (阴德-adjacent folk belief). See righteous_tzaddik for the compound noun form.


Resurrection

Approved rendering: 复活
Transliteration: fùhuó
Doctrine: Restoration and the Valley of Dry Bones
Rejected alternatives: 轮回, 投胎, 还魂

Inherited from Romans package, reserved there for Christ’s/believers’ individual, once-for-all, bodily resurrection. Ezekiel 37 uses this word-family only typologically for corporate national restoration from exile — see resurrection_typological. Must never appear unqualified within the Ezekiel 37:1-10 bones-coming-alive narrative itself; use live_come_to_life (活) there instead.


Holy Spirit

Approved rendering: 圣灵
Transliteration: Shènglíng
Doctrine: The New Heart and New Spirit
Rejected alternatives: 祖灵, 灵

Inherited from Romans package (NT compound). Ezekiel’s Hebrew רוּחַ (ruach) has NO equivalent OT compound and must NOT be retrofitted with 圣灵 in OT translation — see ruach entry for the required context-dependent OT rendering (灵/耶和华的灵/气息/风). This baseline entry is retained only so teachers can draw the explicit, correctly-flagged continuity between OT ruach (esp. Ezekiel 36:27; 37:14) and the NT’s 圣灵 without conflating the two lexically.


Grace

Approved rendering: 恩典
Transliteration: ēndiǎn
Doctrine: Sovereign Grace (“For My Name’s Sake”)
Rejected alternatives: 功德, 造化, 福气, 阴德

Inherited from Romans package. Ezekiel’s repeated ‘for my name’s sake’ motif (chs. 20, 36 — see for_my_names_sake) is the OT’s clearest structural parallel to this doctrine: God acts apart from the recipient’s merit. Teach in direct connection with 恩典 to reinforce, not undercut, the baseline’s anti-merit-ledger emphasis against 功德/阴德.


Salvation

Approved rendering: 救恩
Transliteration: jiùēn
Doctrine: Restoration and the Valley of Dry Bones
Rejected alternatives: 解脱, 超度, 得道

Inherited from Romans package. Ezekiel 34’s ‘I will save my flock’ and the broader restoration section (chs. 34-37) extend this doctrine typologically to national deliverance from exile. Never use 解脱 or 超度; salvation/restoration here is God’s sovereign act toward a living, exiled people, not a posthumous rite.


Sanctification

Approved rendering: 成圣
Transliteration: chéngshèng
Doctrine: The New Heart and New Spirit
Rejected alternatives: 修身, 修炼

Inherited from Romans package. Ezekiel’s New Heart/New Spirit doctrine (11:19-20; 36:25-27) is the OT theological root of this NT doctrine. In addition to the baseline’s forbidden Neo-Confucian self-cultivation framing, this curriculum ALSO forbids the Daoist alchemical idiom 脱胎换骨 as an explanatory gloss — see heart_of_stone_flesh.


Yahweh

Approved rendering: 耶和华
Transliteration: Yēhéhuá
Doctrine: The Glory and Sovereignty of God
Rejected alternatives: 天, 老天爷, 上帝 (rejected for this package per baseline god Term Question ruling)
Original: יהוה
Category: God

The personal, revealed covenant name of God, used far more densely in Ezekiel than the generic 神. Anchors the Glory and Sovereignty doctrine in a personal, self-revealing deity rather than an impersonal cosmic force such as folk 天 (Heaven) or 天意 (‘heaven’s intention’). Never merge with or substitute for 神.


Sovereign Lord

Approved rendering: 主耶和华
Transliteration: Zhǔ Yēhéhuá
Doctrine: The Glory and Sovereignty of God
Rejected alternatives: 神 (as an abbreviation of this title), 主人, 老爷
Original: אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה
Category: God

Compound divine title (Adonai YHWH) occurring 200+ times in Ezekiel — the linguistic backbone of the book’s sovereignty doctrine. Combines baseline lord (主, Critical) with yahweh (耶和华). Never abbreviate to 神 alone in this construction; doing so flattens the deliberate double emphasis on absolute lordship.


Ruach

Approved rendering: 灵 / 耶和华的灵 / 气息 / 风 (context-dependent)
Transliteration: ruach
Doctrine: The New Heart and New Spirit; Restoration and the Valley of Dry Bones
Rejected alternatives: 气 (qì, Daoist/qigong vital-energy), a single uniform Mandarin rendering across all seven Ezekiel 37 occurrences

Hebrew רוּחַ ranges across wind/breath/life-force/the personal Spirit of God, sometimes within a single verse (Ezekiel 37:9). No single Mandarin word carries this range. Follow CUV OT convention (灵/耶和华的灵/神的灵 for the Spirit-sense; 气息 for breath; 风 for wind) — NOT the NT compound 圣灵, which has no Hebrew equivalent phrase. NEVER use 气. A mandatory translator/teacher note is required at Ezekiel 37:1, 37:9, and 37:14, identifying continuity with the NT’s 圣灵 without lexically conflating the two.


New Heart

Approved rendering: 新心
Transliteration: xīn xīn
Doctrine: The New Heart and New Spirit
Rejected alternatives: 修身后的心, 洗心革面后的心
Original: לֵב חָדָש
Category: The New Heart and New Spirit

CUV standard (36:26). Core doctrine term: a sovereign, gracious, once-given divine act, never a self-achieved moral upgrade.


New Spirit

Approved rendering: 新灵
Transliteration: xīn líng
Doctrine: The New Heart and New Spirit
Original: רוּחַ חֲדָשָׁה
Category: The New Heart and New Spirit

CUV standard. Inherits the underlying ruach multivalence risk; see that entry.


Heart Of Stone Flesh

Approved rendering: 石心 / 肉心
Transliteration: shí xīn / ròu xīn
Doctrine: The New Heart and New Spirit
Rejected alternatives: 脱胎换骨, 洗心革面
Original: לֵב אֶבֶן / לֵב בָּשָׂר
Category: The New Heart and New Spirit

CUV standard (36:26). MUST NEVER be explained using the classical Daoist alchemical/immortality four-character idiom 脱胎换骨 (tuōtāi huàntāi, ‘shedding the womb, changing the bones’) — a technique-driven, self-cultivated transformation toward physical immortality/transcendence, the exact opposite of a sovereign, gracious, one-time divine gift.


Righteous Tzaddik

Approved rendering: 义人
Transliteration: yìrén
Doctrine: Individual Responsibility for Sin
Rejected alternatives: 君子, 圣人

Built on baseline righteousness = 义 (Critical). The same Confucian-virtue collision applies fully, plus an Ezekiel-specific addition: this status cannot be transferred to save someone else (14:14, 20) — directly denying the transferability assumed by Chinese ancestral merit-transfer logic (阴德).


Soul Person Nephesh

Approved rendering:
Transliteration: rén
Doctrine: Individual Responsibility for Sin
Rejected alternatives: 灵魂

Follows CUV’s own established choice at Ezekiel 18: 人 (‘person’), NOT 灵魂 (línghún, ‘soul’). 灵魂 would import a detachable, potentially reincarnating soul-concept from Buddhist/folk tradition foreign to this text’s insistence that the individual person, not a transferable soul-essence, bears responsibility.


Turn Repent Shuv

Approved rendering: 回转 / 悔改
Transliteration: huízhuǎn / huǐgǎi
Doctrine: Individual Responsibility for Sin
Rejected alternatives: 忏悔

The doctrinal center of Ezekiel 18: a wicked person’s fate is not fixed if he ‘turns.’ Must be sharply distinguished from Buddhist ritual confession 忏悔 (chànhuǐ), which purifies accumulated karma through repeatable technique, and from any notion that turning ‘earns’ a clean ledger (functionally cousin to 功德). Biblical shuv is a relational return to a personal God who responds with mercy grounded in his character.


Fathers Sons Guilt Proverb

Approved rendering: 儿子必不担当父亲的罪孽
Transliteration: ér zi bì bù dāndāng fùqīn de zuìniè
Doctrine: Individual Responsibility for Sin
Rejected alternatives: a filial-piety-based (孝道) explanatory paraphrase
Original: לֹא־יִשָּׂא הַבֵּן בַּעֲוֹן הָאָב (Ezekiel 18:20, legal-proverb formula)
Category: Individual Responsibility for Sin

CUV rendering of Ezekiel 18:20, ‘the son shall not bear the guilt of the father.’ Arguably the single sharpest worldview collision point in the whole curriculum: ancestor-based guilt/merit transfer (ancestral curses passed to descendants; the inherited-merit logic underlying 阴德) is widely assumed in Chinese folk religious practice. Translation and teaching must directly and explicitly refute this framework, not merely avoid the vocabulary.


Sea Monster Dragon

Approved rendering: 大鱼
Transliteration: dà yú
Doctrine: Judgment on Jerusalem and the Nations
Rejected alternatives: 龙, 海龙
Original: תַּנִּים
Category: Judgment on Jerusalem and the Nations

תַּנִּים applied to Pharaoh (29:3; 32:2). CUV renders this 大鱼 (‘great fish/sea monster’), NOT 龙 (lóng, ‘dragon’). 龙 is the supreme auspicious symbol of Chinese imperial majesty and cultural identity (‘descendants of the dragon,’ 龙的传人); using 龙 for a figure of divine judgment and humiliating defeat would be a severe, avoidable collision on the order of the historic 神/上帝 Term Question. 龙 is FORBIDDEN in this context under any circumstance.


Sanctuary Temple

Approved rendering: 圣所 / 殿
Transliteration: shèngsuǒ / diàn
Doctrine: The Vision of the New Temple
Rejected alternatives: 寺, 道观, 庙
Original: מִקְדָּש / בַּיִת
Category: The Vision of the New Temple

מִקְדָּש (sanctuary complex) / בַּיִת (temple building), both CUV standard. Must be clearly distinguished from Buddhist 寺 or Daoist 道观 (per baseline church note) and taught as a vision of God’s ordered, holy, restored presence, never mapped onto existing Chinese temple architecture or its associated ancestor/idol veneration practices.


Resurrection Typological

Approved rendering: 复活 (typological use, with mandatory doctrinal note)
Transliteration: fùhuó
Doctrine: Restoration and the Valley of Dry Bones
Rejected alternatives: 轮回, 投胎, 还魂
Original: (cumulative sense of Ezekiel 37:12-14 — bones, graves, breath)
Category: Restoration and the Valley of Dry Bones

Ezekiel 37:12-14’s climactic extension toward opened graves and restored life. The primary, contextual referent is national/corporate restoration of exiled Israel — not yet the individual bodily resurrection doctrine the NT later teaches. Reusing 复活-family vocabulary here is doctrinally appropriate typologically but MUST be taught with the corporate-then-individual distinction explicit, and must never be read through a reincarnation lens.


High Risk Terms

Sin

Approved rendering:
Transliteration: zuì
Doctrine: Individual Responsibility for Sin; Judgment on Jerusalem and the Nations
Rejected alternatives: 报应, 罪犯式的罪

Inherited from Romans package. Ezekiel additionally uses 罪孽 for עָוֹן (avon, guilt/liability borne for wrongdoing) — see iniquity_avon entry — distinguished from 报应 (impersonal karmic retribution); this is guilt owed to a personal covenant God.


Covenant

Approved rendering:
Transliteration: yuē
Doctrine: Covenant of Peace; Judgment on Jerusalem and the Nations
Rejected alternatives: 合同, 契约
Original: בְּרִית
Category: Covenant

Inherited from Romans package. Ezekiel 16’s marriage-covenant allegory intensifies the baseline warning against reducing 约 to an ordinary commercial contract between equals; covenant-breaking is portrayed specifically as marital betrayal.


David

Approved rendering: 大卫
Transliteration: Dàwèi
Doctrine: Restoration and the Valley of Dry Bones

Inherited from Romans package (Medium there). Elevated to High for Ezekiel because ‘David my servant’ as future shepherd-prince (34:23-24; 37:24-25) must be kept distinct from God’s own role as ultimate Shepherd — see shepherd and prince_nasi entries.


Seed Of David

Approved rendering: 大卫的后裔
Transliteration: Dàwèi de hòuyì
Doctrine: Restoration and the Valley of Dry Bones

Inherited from Romans package. Relevant background concept for Ezekiel’s David-my-servant/shepherd-prince promises, though Ezekiel’s own text favors ‘David my servant’ and נָשִׂיא (prince) phrasing — see prince_nasi.


Holy

Approved rendering: 圣洁
Transliteration: shèngjié
Doctrine: The New Heart and New Spirit
Rejected alternatives: 清净, 圣人般的

Inherited from Romans package. Applies to Ezekiel’s holiness-of-worship regulations (chs. 40-46) and the sanctification trajectory anticipated by the New Heart/New Spirit doctrine (chs. 11, 36).


Calling

Approved rendering: 呼召
Transliteration: hūzhào
Doctrine: Call and Commissioning of the Prophet
Rejected alternatives: 天命, 命运

Inherited from Romans package. Ezekiel 1-3’s commissioning of the prophet is an instance of specific-ministry calling; must convey a sovereign, personal summons, not an impersonal cosmic mandate (天命).


Called

Approved rendering: 蒙召的
Transliteration: méngzhào de
Doctrine: Call and Commissioning of the Prophet
Rejected alternatives: 受命于天, 天命所归

Inherited from Romans package. Applicable to Ezekiel’s own call narrative (1:1-3:27); guard against 天命所归-style framing of the prophetic office.


Power Of God

Approved rendering: 神的大能
Transliteration: Shén de dà néng
Doctrine: The Glory and Sovereignty of God
Rejected alternatives: 气, 法力

Inherited from Romans package. Pairs with hand_of_the_lord (耶和华的手) throughout Ezekiel to keep the sovereignty emphasis explicit; never use 气 (qì, Daoist/qigong vital-energy) or 法力 (folk-ritual power).


Son Of Man

Approved rendering: 人子
Transliteration: rénzǐ
Doctrine: Call and Commissioning of the Prophet
Rejected alternatives: 凡人, 世人
Original: בֶּן־אָדָם
Category: Prophetic Office

God’s repeated address to Ezekiel (~93 occurrences). Identical Mandarin compound to Christ’s NT messianic self-designation ‘the Son of Man,’ but here signals mortal creatureliness, not divine sonship — the opposite connotation. Requires a context note at first occurrence (2:1) and periodically thereafter to prevent readers from importing NT Christological weight into the OT usage.


Iniquity Avon

Approved rendering: 罪孽
Transliteration: zuìniè
Doctrine: Individual Responsibility for Sin; Judgment on Jerusalem and the Nations
Rejected alternatives: 报应

עָוֹן (avon) specifically carries the sense of guilt/liability borne for wrongdoing (Ezekiel lies on his side bearing Israel’s avon symbolically, 4:4-6). Must be distinguished from 报应 (bàoyìng, impersonal karmic retribution); this is guilt owed to a personal covenant God.


Idols Gillulim

Approved rendering: 偶像
Transliteration: ǒuxiàng
Doctrine: Judgment on Jerusalem and the Nations

Ezekiel’s favored, most frequent term for idols (~39 occurrences), carrying deliberate contempt in the Hebrew (possibly ‘dung-pellets’), largely lost in the neutral-register Mandarin 偶像. Teachers must note that Ezekiel’s own vocabulary choice communicates visceral disgust, not neutral description.


Abomination

Approved rendering: 可憎的事
Transliteration: kězēng de shì
Doctrine: Judgment on Jerusalem and the Nations
Rejected alternatives: 禁忌
Original: תּוֹעֵבָה
Category: Judgment on Jerusalem and the Nations

A detestable, covenant-breaking cultic or moral offense, especially idolatry within the temple itself. Must be taught as covenant-breaking practice provoking God’s holy revulsion, not merely a strong cultural taboo (禁忌), which in Chinese folk usage often carries superstitious rather than moral-covenantal weight.


Clean Water

Approved rendering: 洁净的水
Transliteration: jiéjìng de shuǐ
Doctrine: The New Heart and New Spirit
Rejected alternatives: 法水, 净化仪式用水
Original: מַיִם טְהוֹרִים
Category: The New Heart and New Spirit

Pure water God sprinkles for cleansing, accompanying the New Heart/New Spirit gift (36:25). Must be distinguished from repeatable ritual lustration/exorcistic water-sprinkling found in folk Daoist and Buddhist purification practice; this is a once-for-all divine cleansing, not a repeatable technique available to any practitioner.


For My Names Sake

Approved rendering: 为我的名 / 为我圣名的缘故
Transliteration: wèi wǒ de míng / wèi wǒ shèngmíng de yuángù
Doctrine: Sovereign Grace (“For My Name’s Sake”)
Rejected alternatives: 因你们配得 (implying earned merit)
Original: לְמַעַן שְׁמִי
Category: Glory and Sovereignty of God

God’s stated motivation for preserving and restoring a persistently rebellious people (chs. 20, 36) — his own reputation/character, not their merit. The OT’s clearest structural parallel to the baseline’s Critical-risk Grace doctrine.


Recognition Formula

Approved rendering: 你们/他们就知道我是耶和华
Transliteration: nǐmen/tāmen jiù zhīdào wǒ shì Yēhéhuá
Doctrine: The Glory and Sovereignty of God
Rejected alternatives: 你们/他们就明白这是耶和华做的 (a weaker paraphrase that loses the relational yada sense)
Original: וְיָדְעוּ / וִידַעְתֶּם כִּי־אֲנִי יְהוָה
Category: Glory and Sovereignty of God

The book’s most frequent theological refrain (~65 occurrences). יָדַע (yada) includes intimate, relational, covenantal knowing (cf. Genesis 4:1), not mere cognitive identification. Sheer repetition risks flattening this into a trivial refrain; teaching materials must preserve its relational depth at every occurrence.


Harlotry Unfaithfulness

Approved rendering: 行淫
Transliteration: xíngyín
Doctrine: Covenant Unfaithfulness as Spiritual Adultery
Rejected alternatives: 卖淫
Original: זָנָה
Category: Judgment on Jerusalem and the Nations

A covenant-unfaithfulness metaphor picturing idolatry as marital infidelity (chs. 16, 23). Must be taught consistently as metaphor, never literalized or sensationalized; register must remain formal and pastoral.


Prince Nasi

Approved rendering: 君王
Transliteration: jūnwáng
Doctrine: Restoration and the Valley of Dry Bones; The Vision of the New Temple
Rejected alternatives: 王, 国王, 皇帝
Original: נָשִׂיא
Category: Restoration; The Vision of the New Temple

נָשִׂיא, deliberately distinct from מֶלֶך (‘king,’ 王), applied to the future Davidic ruler in Ezekiel’s restoration and temple visions. Reflects theocratic subordination — David’s heir rules under God’s own kingship. Collapsing into plain 王 risks importing a Mandate-of-Heaven-style dynastic-legitimacy framing.


Eden Garden Of God

Approved rendering: 伊甸 / 神的园子
Transliteration: Yīdiàn / Shén de yuánzi
Doctrine: Judgment on Jerusalem and the Nations
Original: עֵדֶן / גַּן־אֱלֹהִים
Category: Judgment on Jerusalem and the Nations

The primeval garden imagery used in the oracle against the king of Tyre (28:11-19). Popular tradition often reads this as Satan’s primordial fall, though the primary grammatical/historical referent is the human king of Tyre. Flag as an interpretive question; do not foreclose the primary sense.


Living Water

Approved rendering: 活水
Transliteration: huóshuǐ
Doctrine: The Vision of the New Temple
Rejected alternatives: 仙水, 长生不老泉
Original: מַיִם חַיִּים
Category: The Vision of the New Temple

Fresh, flowing water issuing from the restored temple (ch. 47). Major typological bridge to Jesus’ ‘living water’ sayings (John 4, 7) and Revelation 22’s river of life; must be explicitly distinguished from Daoist immortality-water/elixir mythology.


Lord Is There

Approved rendering: 耶和华的所在
Transliteration: Yēhéhuá de suǒzài
Doctrine: God’s Presence Departing and Returning
Rejected alternatives: 耶和华-沙玛 (bare transliteration, loses the meaning)
Original: יְהוָה שָׁמָּה
Category: God’s Presence Departing and Returning

The book’s final phrase (48:35), declaring God’s permanent dwelling with his restored people. Deliberately answers the book’s opening (ch.1) and central crisis (chs. 8-11): the glory that departed has not merely returned temporarily but now permanently dwells with God’s people.


Live Come To Life

Approved rendering:
Transliteration: huó
Doctrine: Restoration and the Valley of Dry Bones
Rejected alternatives: 复活 (reserved for the baseline resurrection doctrine — see resurrection_typological)
Original: חָיָה
Category: Restoration and the Valley of Dry Bones

The central verb of Ezekiel 37: whether what is dead can be made alive again by God alone. Must be kept distinct from baseline resurrection = 复活.


Medium Risk Terms

Peace

Approved rendering: 平安
Transliteration: píng’ān
Doctrine: The Covenant of Peace; Judgment on Jerusalem and the Nations
Rejected alternatives: 安宁, 平安符式的平安

Inherited from Romans package. Ezekiel 13’s false prophets pronouncing a hollow, ritualistic 平安 directly dramatizes the baseline’s own amulet-blessing warning — a built-in teaching opportunity. Ezekiel 37:26’s ‘covenant of peace’ (平安的约) is High risk as a compound and must be taught as God-secured, not merely wished-for.


Israel

Approved rendering: 以色列
Transliteration: Yǐsèliè
Doctrine: Restoration and the Valley of Dry Bones
Original: יִשְׂרָאֵל
Category: Covenant

Inherited from Romans package. Be aware of contemporary political sensitivity around this proper name; theological usage should remain unambiguous. See house_of_israel for the corporate ‘whole house’ compound.


Prophecy

Approved rendering: 预言
Transliteration: yùyán
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: 算卦, 占卜

Inherited from Romans package. See word_of_the_lord and the verb form under prophesy_prophecy (Ezekiel 37:4, 9): the prophetic word is effective because it is God’s own word, not a divination technique.


Living Creatures

Approved rendering: 活物
Transliteration: huówù
Doctrine: The Glory and Sovereignty of God
Rejected alternatives: 龙, 麒麟, 四灵
Original: חַיּוֹת
Category: Glory & Sovereignty of God

CUV standard for the four living beings attending God’s glory-throne (ch. 1, 10). Avoid conflation with Chinese mythological composite-beast/auspicious-creature imagery, which carries cosmological-luck associations foreign to their function as attendants of divine glory.


Cherub

Approved rendering: 基路伯
Transliteration: jīlùbó
Doctrine: The Glory and Sovereignty of God; God’s Presence Departing and Returning
Original: כְּרוּב
Category: Glory & Sovereignty of God

Established CUV transliteration. Same beings as ch. 1’s chayot, later named explicitly (ch. 10) and shown bearing God’s glory as it departs the temple. The ch. 28 occurrence (king of Tyre in Eden) requires interpretive caution regarding popular ‘Satan’s fall’ readings — see eden_garden_of_god.


Watchman

Approved rendering: 守望者
Transliteration: shǒuwàngzhě
Doctrine: Individual Responsibility for Sin
Rejected alternatives: 哨兵
Original: צֹפֶה
Category: Individual Responsibility for Sin

A sentry responsible to warn of danger, figuratively the prophet’s accountability to warn Israel (3:16-21; 33:1-9). Must be taught alongside ch. 18/33 so the watchman is never understood as bearing others’ guilt — a subtle but important corrective given clan/ancestor-based guilt-transfer assumptions in Chinese folk religious thought.


High Place

Approved rendering: 邱坛
Transliteration: qiūtán
Doctrine: Judgment on Jerusalem and the Nations
Rejected alternatives: 庙, 道观
Original: בָּמָה
Category: Judgment on Jerusalem and the Nations

An illegitimate cultic worship site. Distinguish from a generic temple/shrine already flagged under baseline church; this specifically denotes illegitimate worship, not a category Chinese readers should map onto their own temple architecture.


Remnant

Approved rendering: 余民
Transliteration: yúmín
Doctrine: Restoration and the Valley of Dry Bones
Rejected alternatives: 幸存者, 福气
Original: שְׁאָר / פְּלֵטָה
Category: Restoration

A portion of the exiled people preserved by God for covenant purposes. Must be taught as preserved by grace for covenant purposes, not a ‘lucky survivor’ framing.


Wicked Rasha

Approved rendering: 恶人
Transliteration: èrén
Doctrine: Individual Responsibility for Sin
Rejected alternatives: 罪犯

One who actively opposes God’s covenant through unrepented wrongdoing, not merely a socially disapproved person.


Shepherd

Approved rendering: 牧人
Transliteration: mùrén
Doctrine: Restoration and the Valley of Dry Bones
Rejected alternatives: 牧师
Original: רֹעֶה
Category: Restoration

God is named the true Shepherd (34:11-16) who also raises up ‘My servant David’ as shepherd-prince (34:23-24); the two roles must be kept distinct — God as ultimate Shepherd, David’s heir as under-shepherd/prince.


Pattern Form

Approved rendering: 样式
Transliteration: yàngshì
Doctrine: The Vision of the New Temple
Rejected alternatives: 设计图
Original: תַּבְנִית
Category: The Vision of the New Temple

The divinely revealed blueprint/pattern shown to Ezekiel for the new temple (43:11). Avoid vocabulary suggesting a humanly designed architectural ideal detached from revelation.


Bones Dry

Approved rendering: 骸骨 (枯干的)
Transliteration: háigǔ (kūgān de)
Doctrine: Restoration and the Valley of Dry Bones
Original: עֲצָמוֹת (יְבֵשׁוֹת)
Category: Restoration and the Valley of Dry Bones

The bare, desiccated skeletal remains of a nation corporately dead in exile (37:1-2). Chinese ancestor-bone veneration and geomantic/feng shui grave concerns are a significant cultural backdrop; teaching must clarify these bones represent the corporate death of a nation in exile, not an ancestor-veneration or grave-geomancy scene.


Army Host

Approved rendering: 军队
Transliteration: jūnduì
Doctrine: Restoration and the Valley of Dry Bones
Rejected alternatives: 侵略部队
Original: חַיִל
Category: Restoration and the Valley of Dry Bones

The restored nation pictured standing up as a great army/host (37:10). Avoid any rendering suggesting militaristic conquest ambition; the image is of restored covenant vitality and capability, not aggression.


Hope Tikvah

Approved rendering: 指望 / 希望
Transliteration: zhǐwàng / xīwàng
Doctrine: Restoration and the Valley of Dry Bones
Rejected alternatives: 福气式的期盼

The exiles’ expectation of future good, voiced as despair in 37:11 and answered by God’s vision. Must be distinguished from generic optimism or a fortune-telling expectation of good luck; biblical hope here rests on God’s promise, not chance or fate.


Grave

Approved rendering: 坟墓
Transliteration: fénmù
Doctrine: Restoration and the Valley of Dry Bones
Original: קֶבֶר
Category: Restoration and the Valley of Dry Bones

The figurative ‘graves’ of exile from which God promises to raise his people (37:12-13). Chinese funerary/ancestral-grave culture (祭祖, 扫墓, feng shui grave-siting) is a significant cultural backdrop; teaching must clarify this is figurative language for exile’s national death, not literal grave-opening ritual or ancestor-appeasement.


Gog Magog

Approved rendering: 歌革 / 玛各
Transliteration: Gēgé / Mǎgè
Doctrine: Judgment on Jerusalem and the Nations
Original: גּוֹג / מָגוֹג
Category: Judgment on Jerusalem and the Nations

Apocalyptic figures representing hostile powers ultimately defeated by God (chs. 38-39). Established transliterations; avoid over-identifying with any specific modern nation or people group.


House Of Israel

Approved rendering: 以色列全家
Transliteration: Yǐsèliè quánjiā
Doctrine: Restoration and the Valley of Dry Bones
Rejected alternatives: 以色列人 (individualizes, loses corporate scope)
Original: בֵּית־יִשְׂרָאֵל
Category: Restoration and the Valley of Dry Bones

The whole covenant nation, addressed corporately as the subject of the dry-bones vision (37:11). Must retain the corporate, whole-nation scope; this is not a private, individual vision.


Nations Goyim

Approved rendering: 列国 / 万国
Transliteration: lièguó / wànguó
Doctrine: Judgment on Jerusalem and the Nations
Rejected alternatives: 外邦人 (the baseline Romans term, used there for the distinct Jew-Gentile Unity doctrine)

Ezekiel’s oracles against Ammon, Moab, Edom, Tyre, Sidon, Egypt, and the Gog/Magog coalition address ‘the nations’ as objects of divine judgment for pride and violence — a distinct doctrinal context from the baseline gentiles entry’s Jew-Gentile unity doctrine. Do not reuse 外邦人 here; keep the two books’ distinct usages and doctrines separate in teaching material.


Vision Appearance Mareh

Approved rendering: 形像 / 样子
Transliteration: xíngxiàng / yàngzi
Doctrine: The Glory and Sovereignty of God
Rejected alternatives: 偶像的形象 (would misleadingly suggest an idol-image)

Used repeatedly of Ezekiel’s inaugural vision (‘the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD,’ 1:28). This carefully hedged visionary language is itself an anti-idolatry safeguard, describing an indescribable reality without producing an image to be worshiped.


Low Risk Terms

Prophet

Approved rendering: 先知
Transliteration: xiānzhī
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: 算命先生
Original: נָבִיא
Category: Fulfillment of Prophecy

Inherited from Romans package. Ezekiel’s own condemnation of false prophets (ch. 13) reinforces the baseline’s distinction from 算命先生 (a fortune-teller) from within the text itself.


Priest

Approved rendering: 祭司
Transliteration: jìsī
Doctrine: The Vision of the New Temple
Original: כֹּהֵן
Category: The Vision of the New Temple

Standard vocabulary; low collision risk in Mandarin.


Word Of The Lord

Approved rendering: 耶和华的话
Transliteration: Yēhéhuá de huà
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Original: דְּבַר־יְהוָה
Category: Fulfillment of Prophecy

God’s specific prophetic utterance to Ezekiel, the creative, effective instrument of both judgment and resurrection-restoration (echoing Genesis 1’s creation-by-speech at 37:4-7).


Vine Allegory Riddle

Approved rendering: 葡萄树 / 比喻 / 谜语
Transliteration: pútáoshù / bǐyù / míyǔ
Doctrine: Judgment Oracle Literary Forms
Original: גֶּפֶן / מָשָׁל / חִידָה
Category: Judgment on Jerusalem and the Nations (Literary Form)

Literary devices Ezekiel uses to deliver judgment oracles (chs. 15, 17, 19). Genre/literary-device vocabulary; no significant doctrinal collision.


Scroll

Approved rendering: 书卷
Transliteration: shūjuàn
Doctrine: Call and Commissioning of the Prophet
Original: מְגִלָּה
Category: Call and Commissioning of the Prophet

The scroll Ezekiel is commanded to eat (3:1-3), signifying internalizing God’s word before proclaiming it.


Hand Of The Lord

Approved rendering: 耶和华的手
Transliteration: Yēhéhuá de shǒu
Doctrine: The Glory and Sovereignty of God
Original: יַד־יְהוָה
Category: Glory and Sovereignty of God

A metonym for divine power/control seizing Ezekiel and initiating his visions. Transparent, no folk-religious collision; pair with baseline power_of_god (神的大能) vocabulary to keep sovereignty emphasis clear.

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.

Give feedback

How would you rate this page?

0 / 500 words