Core Glossary
08 — Core Glossary: Genesis (English → Mandarin)
Curriculum: Genesis Core passage: Genesis 1:1–2:3 Destination language: Mandarin Chinese (Simplified script, CUV Shen-edition register) Generated for: TRI Phase 1, Step 1
How to Use This Glossary
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing theological term identified in analysis/07_semantic_analysis.md, drawn from every chapter of Genesis (1–50). Terms marked “Reuse — baseline exact” already exist in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json and/or bible_term_registry.json; their Mandarin rendering is carried over unchanged and must not be altered by this curriculum. Terms marked “New — Genesis” are proposed additions specific to this curriculum’s vocabulary and should be added to translation_memory.json in Phase 2 with the risk tier shown here.
Risk tiers follow the baseline’s doctrine_risk_registry.json definitions exactly:
- Critical — mistranslation destroys essential doctrine; human theologian review required for every occurrence.
- High — significant theological confusion/syncretism risk; human theologian review required.
- Medium — reduces clarity but preserves essential meaning; native speaker review recommended.
- Low — minor imprecision risk; automated review sufficient.
Glossary Table
| # | English term | Hebrew (transliteration) | Mandarin rendering | Pinyin | Risk | Status | Doctrine | Primary chapter(s) | Rejected alternatives | Risk note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | God | אֱלֹהִים (Elohim) | 神 | Shén | Critical | Reuse — baseline exact | Creation Ex Nihilo; all doctrines | 1:1 and throughout | 上帝, 天, 老天爷 | Reuse baseline god entry exactly. Genesis 1 is the passage in which monotheism must be established unambiguously against 神’s common-noun folk usage (city gods, kitchen god). |
| 2 | LORD (divine covenant name) | יהוה (YHWH) | 耶和华 | Yēhéhuá | Critical | New — Genesis | Covenant Faithfulness; Providence | 2:4 and throughout | 上主, transliteration variants | New entry required: the baseline covers θεός/Elohim (神) but not the Tetragrammaton itself. 耶和华 is the standard CUV transliteration and must be distinguished from generic 神 as God’s personal, self-revealed covenant name, not merely a common noun for deity. |
| 3 | create (ex nihilo) | בָּרָא (bara) | 创造 | chuàngzào | Critical | New — Genesis | Creation Ex Nihilo | 1:1, 1:21, 1:27; 2:3 | 造, 做, 造化 | Must be distinguished from 造 (used for עָשָׂה/יָצַר, “make/form from existing material”). Mandarin’s collapse of this distinction is the single greatest lexical risk to the Ex Nihilo doctrine in this book. |
| 4 | make / form | עָשָׂה / יָצַר (asah / yatsar) | 造 | zào | High | New — Genesis | Creation Ex Nihilo; Image of God | 1:7, 1:16, 1:25–27; 2:7 | 创造 (reserved for בָּרָא) | Used of shaping existing material (e.g., man from dust, 2:7) — must be taught as distinct from, not interchangeable with, 创造. |
| 5 | formless and void | תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ (tohu vavohu) | 空虚混沌 | kōngxū hùndùn | Critical | New — Genesis | Creation Ex Nihilo | 1:2 | (no viable non-混沌 CUV alternative; flagged for mandatory annotation, not substitution) | 混沌 is the name of the primordial chaos-egg in the Pangu creation myth and a Daoist cosmogonic term for self-generating, impersonal order-from-chaos. Mandatory translator note distinguishing this already-created, God-governed material from an eternal, self-organizing chaos. |
| 6 | Spirit/wind of God | רוּחַ אֱלֹהִים (ruach Elohim) | 神的灵 | Shén de líng | Critical | New — Genesis (cross-referencing baseline holy_spirit) | Creation Ex Nihilo; (typologically) Sanctification | 1:2; 41:38 | 灵 (bare), 圣灵 (without qualification) | Never bare 灵 (folk ancestral/nature-spirit associations, per baseline). Distinct literal phrase from NT πνεῦμα ἅγιον/圣灵; use 神的灵 with a note connecting forward to the Trinity/Holy Spirit doctrine without conflating the two renderings. |
| 7 | heavens and earth | הַשָּׁמַיִם וְהָאָרֶץ | 天地 | tiāndì | Low | New — Genesis | Creation Ex Nihilo | 1:1; 2:1 | — | Transparent merism for the totality of creation; minor note that this is not an impersonal cosmic order. |
| 8 | good / very good | טוֹב / טוֹב מְאֹד (tov / tov me’od) | 好 / 甚好 | hǎo / shén hǎo | Medium | New — Genesis | Creation Ex Nihilo; Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace | 1:4–31 | — | Must be taught as God’s own moral-theological verdict on original creation, not annulled by the Fall; grounds continuing goodness of the material world. |
| 9 | image (of God) | צֶלֶם (tselem) | 形像 | xíngxiàng | Critical | New — Genesis | The Image of God | 1:26–27; 5:1, 3; 9:6 | 神像, 佛像 | Must not be confused with cultic idol-images/statues (神像/佛像). Grounds human dignity and equality and (9:6) the prohibition of murder. |
| 10 | likeness (of God) | דְּמוּת (demut) | 样式 | yàngshì | High | New — Genesis | The Image of God | 1:26; 5:1, 3 | — | Paired hendiadys with 形像; must not imply ontological identity/divinization (contrast Neo-Confucian sagehood-attainment risk already flagged in baseline’s 成圣 entry). |
| 11 | man / mankind / Adam | אָדָם (adam) | 人 / 亚当 | rén / Yàdāng | High | New — Genesis | The Image of God | 1:26–27; 2:7 onward | — | 人 for the collective/generic sense; 亚当 for the proper name from 2:19 onward. The Hebrew adam/adamah (“man”/“ground”) wordplay is untranslatable in Mandarin; supply in commentary. |
| 12 | living creature / living being | נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה (nefesh chayyah) | 有生命的物 / 有灵的活人 | yǒu shēngmìng de wù / yǒu líng de huórén | High | New — Genesis | The Image of God | 1:20–24; 2:7 | 灵魂 (transmigrating soul-essence) | Must not be read as a detachable, reincarnation-capable soul; describes the whole embodied living being, consistent with the baseline’s rejection of 轮回/投胎 for resurrection-adjacent doctrine. |
| 13 | dominion / rule | רָדָה / כָּבַש (radah / kavash) | 管理 / 治理 | guǎnlǐ / zhìlǐ | Medium | New — Genesis | The Image of God | 1:26, 28 | — | Delegated, accountable stewardship, not autonomous exploitation; grounded in bearing God’s image, not raw power. |
| 14 | bless / blessing | בָּרַךְ / בְּרָכָה (barakh / berakhah) | 祝福 / 赐福 / 福 | zhùfú / cì fú / fú | Critical | New — Genesis | The Image of God; The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise; Covenant Faithfulness | 1:22, 28; 2:3; 9:1; 12:2–3; 17; 22:17; 27; 48–49 | 福气, 祈福-style blessing | Same root character (福) as the baseline’s flagged “gospel” collision with folk fortune-seeking vocabulary (祈福, 求福). Must always be taught as God’s sovereign, personal gift of favor, not an impersonal, ritually-obtainable fortune. Universal downstream scope (12:3, “all families of the earth”) must never be narrowed. |
| 15 | rest / Sabbath rest | שָׁבַת (shabat) | 安息 / 歇了 | ānxī / xiēle | High | New — Genesis | Creation Ex Nihilo | 2:2–3 | 清净 (Daoist/Buddhist meditative stillness) | God’s rest is contented completion of good, purposeful work, not withdrawal/escape via meditative practice. Root of the Sabbath commandment. |
| 16 | sanctify / make holy | קִדֵּשׁ (qadesh) | 分别为圣 / 定为圣日 | fēnbié wéi shèng / dìng wéi shèng rì | High | New — Genesis (cross-referencing baseline holy) | Creation Ex Nihilo | 2:3 | — | First scriptural occurrence of the holiness category, applied to time itself; God’s sovereign declarative act, not self-generated ritual purity. |
| 17 | Eden | עֵדֶן | 伊甸 | Yīdiàn | Low | New — Genesis | The Image of God | 2:8–2:15 | — | Proper noun; backdrop for unbroken pre-Fall fellowship with God. |
| 18 | tree of life | עֵץ הַחַיִּים | 生命树 | shēngmìng shù | Medium | New — Genesis | The Fall and the Origin of Sin | 2:9; 3:22–24 | 长生不老药/仙桃-style immortality | Gift-given, fellowship-based life, not alchemical or self-cultivated immortality. |
| 19 | tree of knowledge of good and evil | עֵץ הַדַּעַת טוֹב וָרָע | 分别善恶树 | fēnbié shàn è shù | High | New — Genesis | The Fall and the Origin of Sin | 2:9, 17; 3:1–6 | — | דַּעַת = experiential/relational “knowing,” a claim to moral autonomy, not neutral information-acquisition. |
| 20 | helper (corresponding to him) | עֵזֶר (כְּנֶגְדּוֹ) (ezer k’negdo) | 帮助者 / 配偶 | bāngzhùzhě / pèi’ǒu | Medium | New — Genesis | The Image of God | 2:18, 20 | 婢, 仆 (subordinate-servant connotation) | Same root elsewhere describes God as Israel’s “helper”; must not imply inferiority. |
| 21 | naked / nakedness | עָרוֹם / עֶרְוָה (arom / ervah) | 赤身 | chìshēn | Medium | New — Genesis | The Fall and the Origin of Sin | 2:25; 3:7, 10–11 | — | Wordplay bridge to “crafty” (עָרוּם) of the serpent in 3:1 is lost in Mandarin; supply in commentary. |
| 22 | serpent | נָחָשׁ (nachash) | 蛇 | shé | Medium | New — Genesis | The Fall and the Origin of Sin | 3:1–15 | — | Distinguish from the sympathetic snake-spirit lore of Chinese folk narrative (e.g., 白蛇传); canonically identified with Satan (Revelation 12:9; 20:2). |
| 23 | crafty / cunning | עָרוּם (arum) | 狡猾 | jiǎohuá | Low | New — Genesis | The Fall and the Origin of Sin | 3:1 | — | Wordplay with עֲרוּמִּים (“naked,” 2:25) lost in translation; note for commentary. |
| 24 | sin | חֵטְא / חַטָּאת (chet / chatta’t) | 罪 | zuì | High | Reuse — baseline exact | The Fall and the Origin of Sin; Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace | 3 (implicit); 4:7 (explicit); throughout | 报应 (karmic retribution) | Reuse baseline sin entry exactly. Moral offense against a personal God requiring atonement, not impersonal karmic retribution across a lineage; ch.4 adds the nuance of sin as an active, will-engaging force to be mastered, not fatalistically endured. |
| 25 | cursed | אָרוּר (arur) | 咒诅 | zhòuzǔ | High | New — Genesis | The Fall and the Origin of Sin; Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace | 3:14, 17; 9:25 | 下咒 (folk ritual curse-casting) | Sovereign judicial pronouncement by the Creator, not a magical incantation invoked by a human practitioner. |
| 26 | seed / offspring | זֶרַע (zera) | 后裔 | hòuyì | Critical | Reuse — baseline exact | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise; The Fall and the Origin of Sin | 3:15; 12:7; 13:15; 15:5, 18; 17:7–19; 22:17–18; 49:10 | — | Reuse baseline seed_of_david rendering exactly. Traces the single promise-line from the protoevangelium (3:15) through the entire Abrahamic covenant to the Davidic/messianic scepter prophecy (49:10); consistency across every occurrence is essential for learners to trace the thread. |
| 27 | death | מָוֶת (mavet) | 死 | sǐ | High | New — Genesis | The Fall and the Origin of Sin | 2:17; 3:3, 19, 22 | 轮回 / 投胎-adjacent framing | Both physical mortality and relational/spiritual estrangement; a linear onset of mortality, never a cyclical rebirth (consistent with baseline’s resurrection-forbidden-substitution logic). |
| 28 | offering | מִנְחָה (minchah) | 供物 | gòngwù | Medium | New — Genesis | Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace | 4:3–5 | 祈福/还愿-style transactional offering | Acceptance depends on the offerer’s heart/faith (cf. Hebrews 11:4), not the mechanics of the gift or an attempt to purchase favor. |
| 29 | blood | דָּם (dam) | 血 | xuè | Medium | New — Genesis | Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace | 4:10; 9:4–6 | — | Morally significant testimony before God; grounds the later blood-prohibition and sacrificial system. |
| 30 | mark/sign (of Cain) | אוֹת (ot) | 记号 | jìhao | Medium | New — Genesis | Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace | 4:15 | — | Functions protectively (restraining mercy), not as a shameful stigma; early instance of common grace toward the guilty. |
| 31 | called on the name of the LORD | קָרָא בְּשֵׁם יהוה (qara b’shem YHWH) | 求告耶和华的名 | qiúgào Yēhéhuá de míng | Medium | New — Genesis | Covenant Faithfulness across Generations | 4:26; 12:8; 26:25 | — | Marks the intergenerational faithful worshiping line, contrasted with Cain’s line. |
| 32 | walked with God | הִתְהַלֶּךְ אֶת־הָאֱלֹהִים | 与神同行 | yǔ Shén tóngxíng | Medium | New — Genesis | Covenant Faithfulness across Generations | 5:22, 24; 6:9 | 循道/得道 (Daoist attainment) | Relational fellowship with a personal God, not alignment with an impersonal cosmic principle. |
| 33 | grieved / relented (of God) | נִחַם (nicham) | 后悔 / 忧心 | hòuhuǐ / yōuxīn | High | New — Genesis | Providence and the Sovereignty of God | 6:6 | — | Anthropomorphic expression of genuine relational grief; must not be read as undermining God’s unchanging sovereign purpose. |
| 34 | favor / found grace | חֵן (chen) | 蒙恩 | méng ēn | Critical | New — Genesis (direct conceptual link to baseline grace) | Providence and the Sovereignty of God; The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise | 6:8; 18:3; 19:19; 39:21 | 功德, 阴德 (merit-accounting) | Never taught as merit earned; favor precedes and grounds righteous obedience, not the reverse — direct OT root of the baseline’s Critical grace entry. |
| 35 | ark (Noah’s) | תֵּבָה (tevah) | 方舟 | fāngzhōu | Low | New — Genesis | Providence and the Sovereignty of God | 6–8 | — | Distinct word/object from the later “ark of the covenant” (אֲרוֹן/约柜); do not conflate. |
| 36 | covenant | בְּרִית (brit) | 约 | yuē | High | Reuse — baseline exact | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise; Covenant Faithfulness across Generations | 6:18; 9; 15; 17; throughout | 合同, 契约 | Reuse baseline covenant entry exactly. Relational, divinely initiated and unilaterally kept promise, not a negotiated contract between equal parties. |
| 37 | pleasing aroma | רֵיחַ נִיחֹחַ (reyach nichoach) | 馨香之气 | xīnxiāng zhī qì | Medium | New — Genesis | Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace | 8:21 | — | Idiom of relational acceptance, not literal divine appeasement/nourishment through sacrificial smoke. |
| 38 | rainbow (covenant sign) | קֶשֶׁת (qeshet) | 虹 | hóng | Low | New — Genesis | Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace; Covenant Faithfulness | 9:12–17 | — | God’s self-given reminder of his own commitment; not a human-directed omen-reading device. |
| 39 | Believed / trusted (Abram in the LORD) | הֶאֱמִין (he’emin) | 信 | xìn | High | New — Genesis (conceptually anchors baseline faith) | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise | 15:6 | 虔诚 (generic piety) | Object of trust must remain explicit (Abram trusting YHWH’s specific promise); parallels baseline faith (信心) entry’s requirement. |
| 40 | credited/reckoned as righteousness | וַיַּחְשְׁבֶהָ לּוֹ צְדָקָה | 算为义 | suàn wéi yì | Critical | Reuse — baseline exact | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise | 15:6 | 修成正果的义, 自义 | Mandatory exact reuse of baseline imputed_righteousness entry. Genesis 15:6 is the direct OT source-text for Romans 4:3; consistency here is the single most important intertextual link in the curriculum. |
| 41 | cut a covenant | כָּרַת בְּרִית (karat brit) | 立约 | lìyuē | High | New — Genesis (uses baseline 约) | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise | 15:9–18 | — | God’s unilateral self-binding oath (Abram sleeps through the ceremony); not a bilateral negotiation. |
| 42 | God Almighty | אֵל שַׁדַּי (El Shaddai) | 全能的神 | quánnéng de Shén | High | New — Genesis | Providence and the Sovereignty of God; The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise | 17:1 | — | Grounds promise credibility in unlimited divine power at the point of physical impossibility. |
| 43 | circumcision | בְּרִית מִילָה (brit milah) | 割礼 | gēlǐ | High | New — Genesis | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise | 17:9–14 | — | Responsive sign of an already-given promise, not its meritorious precondition. |
| 44 | everlasting covenant | בְּרִית עוֹלָם (brit olam) | 永远的约 | yǒngyuǎn de yuē | High | New — Genesis (extends baseline 约) | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise; Covenant Faithfulness | 9:16; 17:7, 13, 19 | 天命 (revocable Mandate of Heaven) | Unconditional and perpetual, contrasted explicitly with the revocable Chinese dynastic Mandate of Heaven. |
| 45 | God Most High | אֵל עֶלְיוֹן (El Elyon) | 至高的神 | zhìgāo de Shén | High | New — Genesis | Providence and the Sovereignty of God | 14:18–20 | — | Same 神 as the baseline god entry, not a rival high-god figure; affirms monotheism across cultural/priestly lines. |
| 46 | priest | כֹּהֵן (kohen) | 祭司 | jìsī | Medium | New — Genesis | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise | 14:18 | 和尚, 道士 | Distinguish from Buddhist/Daoist clergy titles; a specific mediatorial office recognized by the one true God. |
| 47 | test/tried (of faith) | נִסָּה (nissah) | 试验 | shìyàn | Medium | New — Genesis | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise | 22:1 | — | Purposeful demonstration of genuine trust, distinct from temptation toward evil. |
| 48 | the LORD will provide | יהוה יִרְאֶה (YHWH Yireh) | 耶和华以勒 | Yēhéhuá Yǐlè | Medium | New — Genesis | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise | 22:14 | — | Substitutionary-provision typology; God sees the need and supplies the substitute. |
| 49 | steadfast love and faithfulness | חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת (chesed ve’emet) | 慈爱和诚实 | cí’ài hé chéngshí | High | New — Genesis | Covenant Faithfulness across Generations | 24:12, 14, 27, 49 | 仁 (Confucian cultivated virtue) | God’s self-obligated covenant loyalty flowing from prior promise, not a cultivated ethical virtue owed within social hierarchy; distinct emphasis from חֵן (initiating favor toward the undeserving) — avoid collapsing the two into one undifferentiated gloss. |
| 50 | Israel (renamed) | יִשְׂרָאֵל (Yisrael) | 以色列 | Yǐsèliè | Medium | Reuse — baseline exact | Providence and the Sovereignty of God; Covenant Faithfulness | 32:28; 35:10 | — | Reuse baseline israel entry exactly. Costly, transformative covenant identity, not combat between equals. |
| 51 | dream (as revelation) | חֲלוֹם (chalom) | 梦 | mèng | Medium | New — Genesis | Joseph and God’s Providence in Suffering | 37, 40, 41 | 占梦 (folk dream-divination) | Divine revelation and its interpretation attributed explicitly to God (40:8; 41:16), not to human divinatory technique. |
| 52 | the LORD was with him | וַיהוה הָיָה אֶת־יוֹסֵף | 耶和华与约瑟同在 | Yēhéhuá yǔ Yuēsè tóngzài | High | New — Genesis | Joseph and God’s Providence in Suffering | 39:2, 21, 23 | 贵人相助 (impersonal-luck framing) | Continuous divine providence amid ongoing suffering/injustice, not a good-luck formula; asserts personal, purposive presence. |
| 53 | it was not you, but God (who sent me) | לֹא־אַתֶּם…כִּי הָאֱלֹהִים | 不是你们打发我到这里来，是神 | bùshì nǐmen dǎfa wǒ dào zhèlǐ lái, shì Shén | Critical | New — Genesis | Joseph and God’s Providence in Suffering | 45:5–8 | 命运, 天意 | Affirms simultaneous real human guilt and God’s sovereign, good, overruling purpose; not fatalism. First full statement of the doctrine; consistency with 50:20 required. |
| 54 | you meant evil… God meant it for good | וְאַתֶּם חֲשַׁבְתֶּם…אֱלֹהִים חֲשָׁבָהּ לְטֹבָה | 你们的意思是要害我，但神的意思原是好的 | nǐmen de yìsi shì yào hài wǒ, dàn Shén de yìsi yuán shì hǎo de | Critical | New — Genesis | Joseph and God’s Providence in Suffering; Providence and the Sovereignty of God | 50:20 | 命运, 天意 | The book’s thesis-statement verse for Providence; per baseline consistency rules, this rendering must be fixed and applied identically across all curriculum documents, comparable in status to Romans 8:28. |
| 55 | is anything too hard for the LORD? | הֲיִפָּלֵא מֵיהוה דָּבָר | 耶和华岂有难成的事吗 | Yēhéhuá qǐ yǒu nán chéng de shì ma | High | New — Genesis (cross-referencing baseline providence) | Providence and the Sovereignty of God | 18:14 | 天意 (impersonal fatalism) | Confident trust in God’s specific covenant-keeping power, not generic fatalistic acceptance. |
| 56 | scepter / ruler’s staff | שֵׁבֶט (shevet) | 权杖 | quánzhàng | Medium | New — Genesis | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise | 49:10 | — | Royal-messianic prophecy continuing the seed-of-promise (后裔) thread toward the Davidic line. |
| 57 | Shiloh | שִׁילֹה (Shiloh) | 细罗 | Xìluó | Medium | New — Genesis | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise | 49:10 | — | Etymology genuinely disputed among scholars; flag for theologian review on rendering/annotation approach. |
| 58 | gentiles / nations | גּוֹיִם / עֵ֗ תה (goyim) | 外邦人 / 万国 | wàibāngrén / wànguó | Medium | Reuse — baseline exact (外邦人) | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise; Unity of Jews and Gentiles (forward link) | 10; 12:3; 18:18; 22:18 | 夷人 | Reuse baseline gentiles entry exactly where the theological sense of “all nations blessed through Abraham” is active. |
| 59 | Melchizedek | מַלְכִּי־צֶדֶק | 麦基洗德 | Màijīxǐdé | Medium | New — Genesis | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise | 14:18–20 | — | Proper noun with outsized typological weight (Hebrews 5–7); flag for cross-curriculum note. |
| 60 | righteousness | צֶדֶק / צְדָקָה (tsedeq / tsedaqah) | 义 | yì | Critical | Reuse — baseline exact | The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise | 15:6; 18:19 | 道德, 善行 | Reuse baseline righteousness entry exactly; retain the Confucian-virtue distinguishing note from the baseline at every occurrence. |
Summary Statistics
| Risk tier | Count | Review routing |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 11 | Human theologian review, every occurrence |
| High | 21 | Human theologian review |
| Medium | 22 | Native speaker review recommended |
| Low | 6 | Automated review sufficient |
| Total glossary terms | 60 |
Terms reused exactly from the baseline Romans package: 神 (god), 约 (covenant), 罪 (sin), 义 (righteousness), 算为义 (imputed righteousness), 以色列 (israel), 后裔 (seed/offspring), 外邦人 (gentiles) — 8 terms. All other terms are new entries proposed for this curriculum and require formal addition to translation_memory.json in Phase 2, with version increment and theologian sign-off for every Critical/High entry per the baseline’s Translation Memory Load and Enforcement Instructions.
Highest-priority cross-reference for Phase 2: Genesis 15:6 (算为义) is the direct Old Testament source-text for Romans 4:3. Any Phase 2 translation of either passage must produce identical Mandarin phrasing for this clause, consistent with the baseline’s Theological Consistency Rules governing high-use, cross-document verses (compare the mandated consistency treatment of Romans 8:28 and 10:9–10).
Second-highest-priority cross-reference: Genesis 50:20 (你们的意思是要害我，但神的意思原是好的) functions in this curriculum as the structural counterpart to Romans 8:28 and must receive the same fixed, cross-document-consistent rendering treatment.
See analysis/07_semantic_analysis.md for full verse-by-verse and chapter-by-chapter analysis supporting every entry in this table.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: 神
Transliteration: Shén
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo; The Image of God; all doctrines
Rejected alternatives: 上帝, 天, 老天爷
Original: אֱלֹהִים
Category: God
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE, unchanged. Genesis 1:1 is the single most important passage in the whole canon for establishing that 神 here denotes the one Creator, not a member of the folk pantheon (city gods, kitchen god) for which 神 is also the ordinary common noun. Mandatory doctrinal note at every first occurrence in a new lesson unit.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: 义
Transliteration: yì
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise; Justification by Faith (Genesis 15:6)
Rejected alternatives: 道德, 善行
Original: צֶדֶק / צְדָקָה
Category: Salvation
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE, unchanged. Genesis 15:6 and 18:19 are direct Old Testament source material for this term’s New Testament development. Retain the baseline’s mandatory distinguishing note from the Confucian Five Constant Virtue of 义 (cultivated moral duty) at every occurrence.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: 算为义
Transliteration: suàn wéi yì
Doctrine: Justification by Faith (Genesis 15:6)
Rejected alternatives: 修成正果的义, 自义
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE, unchanged. MANDATORY exact reuse: Genesis 15:6 (וַיַּחְשְׁבֶהָ לּוֹ צְדָקָה) is the direct Old Testament text Paul cites in Romans 4:3, making this the single most important intertextual link in the entire two-curriculum pipeline. Any deviation here severs that link. Inherits the baseline’s warning against 修成正果 (Buddhist/Daoist attainment through cultivation) and against reading 义 as the Confucian virtue achieved by effort.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: 圣灵
Transliteration: Shènglíng
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo (typological cross-reference only)
Rejected alternatives: 祖灵, 灵
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE, unchanged. Reserved exclusively for the New Testament compound πνεῦμα ἅγιον. Genesis 1:2’s רוּחַ אֱלֹהִים (‘Spirit/wind of God’) must NOT be automatically rendered 圣灵 — use the distinct new entry ‘spirit_of_god’ (神的灵) below, connected to this entry only by a forward-pointing teaching note, never treated as an interchangeable synonym.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: 成圣
Transliteration: chéngshèng
Doctrine: The Image of God (comparative cross-reference only)
Rejected alternatives: 修身, 修炼
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE, unchanged. Not used as a direct Genesis rendering, but every occurrence of Genesis’s ‘likeness’ (样式, see new entry ‘likeness’) must carry a cross-reference to this entry’s Critical warning against Neo-Confucian self-cultivation into sagehood, since ‘likeness’ language risks the same ontological-identity/attainment misreading.
Grace
Approved rendering: 恩典
Transliteration: ēndiǎn
Doctrine: Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace (comparative cross-reference)
Rejected alternatives: 功德, 造化, 福气, 阴德
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE, unchanged. Not the primary Genesis rendering for חֵן (see new entry ‘favor_grace’ / 蒙恩), but every occurrence of 蒙恩 must be cross-referenced to this Critical baseline entry’s warning against merit-accounting (功德, 阴德) — Noah’s favor (6:8) precedes and grounds his righteous obedience, not the reverse.
Yhwh
Approved rendering: 耶和华
Transliteration: Yēhéhuá
Doctrine: Covenant Faithfulness across Generations; Providence and the Sovereignty of God
Rejected alternatives: 上主, 雅威 (transliteration variant)
Original: יהוה
Category: God
NEW — Genesis. The baseline covers θεός/Elohim (神) but not the Tetragrammaton itself, first used at Genesis 2:4. 耶和华 is the standard CUV transliteration and must be taught as God’s personal, self-revealed covenant name — distinct from the generic common noun 神, never collapsed into an impersonal title such as 天 or 老天爷.
Create Ex Nihilo
Approved rendering: 创造
Transliteration: chuàngzào
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo
Rejected alternatives: 造, 做, 造化
Original: בָּרָא
Category: Creation
NEW — Genesis. Reserved exclusively for בָּרָא (Genesis 1:1, 1:21, 1:27; 2:3) — bringing something into existence from nothing. NEVER use interchangeably with 造 (reserved for עָשָׂה/יָצַר, forming from existing material). NEVER use 造化, the common Mandarin word for impersonal fate/cosmic-process (‘this is just how fate shaped it’). This bara/asah distinction is the single highest-risk ambiguity in the entire Genesis curriculum; every occurrence in a creation context requires an explicit teaching note.
Formless And Void
Approved rendering: 空虚混沌
Transliteration: kōngxū hùndùn
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo
Original: תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ
Category: Creation
NEW — Genesis. No viable non-混沌 CUV alternative exists; 混沌 is the name of the primordial self-generating chaos-egg in the Pangu creation myth (盘古开天) and a technical term in Daoist cosmogony (道生一，一生二…) where order self-differentiates from impersonal chaos with no personal creator. MANDATORY translator note at every occurrence: this is already-created matter under God’s sovereign hand (v.2b), not an eternal, self-organizing source of order. Cannot be replaced; must be managed through annotation.
Spirit Of God
Approved rendering: 神的灵
Transliteration: Shén de líng
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo
Rejected alternatives: 灵 (bare), 祖灵, 圣灵 (without qualification)
Original: רוּחַ אֱלֹהִים
Category: God
NEW — Genesis. Never bare 灵 (folk ancestral/nature-spirit associations). Never 祖灵. Distinct literal phrase from the NT compound 圣灵 (πνεῦμα ἅγιον, reserved by the baseline) — use 神的灵 for Genesis 1:2 and 41:38 with a teaching note connecting forward to Trinitarian/Holy Spirit doctrine WITHOUT conflating the two renderings as automatic synonyms.
Image Of God
Approved rendering: 形像
Transliteration: xíngxiàng
Doctrine: The Image of God
Rejected alternatives: 神像, 佛像
Original: צֶלֶם
Category: Anthropology
NEW — Genesis. Must never be confused with cultic idol-images/statues (神像/佛像— a near-homophonic/near-graphic collision at the doctrine’s very first articulation, 1:26-27). 形像 denotes humanity itself functioning as God’s living representative, not a carved or venerated object. Grounds human dignity, equality, and (9:6) the prohibition of murder. Every occurrence in a doctrinal context (1:26-27; 5:1, 3; 9:6) requires a clarifying note.
Bless Blessing
Approved rendering: 祝福 / 赐福 / 福
Transliteration: zhùfú / cì fú / fú
Doctrine: Divine Blessing and Its Universal Scope; The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Rejected alternatives: 祈福-style blessing, 福气
Original: בָּרַךְ / בְּרָכָה
Category: Covenant
NEW — Genesis. The single most culturally crowded neighborhood in the curriculum: 福 shares its root character with the baseline’s flagged ‘gospel’ collision field (祈福, 求福, temple fú-charms, the New Year 福 door-character). MANDATORY note at every occurrence (1:22, 28; 2:3; 9:1; 12:2-3; 17; 22:17; 27; 48-49): God’s sovereign, personal gift of favor and fruitfulness, never an impersonal, ritually-obtainable fortune. Genesis 12:3’s universal downstream scope (‘all the families of the earth’) must never be narrowed to Abraham’s ethnic line alone — this is the OT root of the Romans-baseline’s Universal Scope of the Gospel doctrine.
Seed Offspring
Approved rendering: 后裔
Transliteration: hòuyì
Doctrine: The Messianic Seed Promise; The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: זֶרַע
Category: Covenant
NEW — Genesis (standalone extension of the base word within the baseline’s seed_of_david entry, 大卫的后裔). Traces a single unbroken promise-line from the protoevangelium (3:15) through the Abrahamic covenant (12:7; 13:15; 15:5, 18; 17:7-19; 22:17-18) to the Davidic/messianic scepter prophecy (49:10). Absolute rendering consistency across every occurrence is essential so learners can trace the thread into its New Testament fulfillment.
Favor Grace
Approved rendering: 蒙恩
Transliteration: méng ēn
Doctrine: Providence and the Sovereignty of God; The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Rejected alternatives: 功德, 阴德 (merit-accounting)
Original: חֵן
Category: Salvation
NEW — Genesis. Direct Old Testament root of the baseline’s Critical grace (恩典) entry: Noah ‘found favor in the eyes of the LORD’ (6:8), Abraham (18:3), Lot (19:19), Joseph (39:21). Never taught as merit earned — Noah’s righteousness (6:9; 7:1) is a description of his character, not a merit-transaction that purchased God’s favor; favor precedes and grounds obedience, not the reverse.
Not You But God
Approved rendering: 不是你们打发我到这里来，是神
Transliteration: bùshì nǐmen dǎfa wǒ dào zhèlǐ lái, shì Shén
Doctrine: Joseph and God’s Providence in Suffering; Providence and the Sovereignty of God
Rejected alternatives: 命运, 天意
Original: לֹא־אַתֶּם שְׁלַחְתֶּם אֹתִי הֵנָּה כִּי הָאֱלֹהִים
Category: Providence
NEW — Genesis. Joseph’s direct theological interpretation of his ordeal (45:8) — the narrative’s first full statement of compatibilist providence: real human evil intent AND God’s sovereign, purposive, good overruling of it, simultaneously and without contradiction. Must not be read fatalistically as if the brothers bear no real guilt.
Meant Evil God Meant Good
Approved rendering: 你们的意思是要害我，但神的意思原是好的
Transliteration: nǐmen de yìsi shì yào hài wǒ, dàn Shén de yìsi yuán shì hǎo de
Doctrine: Joseph and God’s Providence in Suffering; Providence and the Sovereignty of God
Rejected alternatives: 命运, 天意
Original: וְאַתֶּם חֲשַׁבְתֶּם עָלַי רָעָה אֱלֹהִים חֲשָׁבָהּ לְטֹבָה
Category: Providence
NEW — Genesis. The book’s climactic thesis-statement verse (50:20), the structural counterpart to the baseline’s Romans 8:28 treatment. Per the Theological Consistency Rules, this exact rendering MUST be applied identically across every curriculum document that quotes it. Must not be flattened into impersonal 命运/天意 (‘it was just meant to be’).
High Risk Terms
Covenant
Approved rendering: 约
Transliteration: yuē
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise; The Noahic Covenant; Covenant Faithfulness across Generations
Rejected alternatives: 合同, 契约
Original: בְּרִית
Category: Covenant
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE, unchanged. Genesis is the canonical origin point of this term (first used 6:18): a relational, divinely initiated and unilaterally kept promise, never a negotiated commercial contract between equal parties. Genesis 15’s ceremony (Abram asleep while God alone passes between the pieces) is the clearest textual grounding for this distinction.
Sin
Approved rendering: 罪
Transliteration: zuì
Doctrine: The Fall and the Origin of Sin; Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace
Rejected alternatives: 报应
Original: חֵטְא / חַטָּאת
Category: Sin
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE, unchanged. Genesis 3 (implicit) and 4:7 (explicit first use of the noun) are the doctrinal headwaters of this term: moral offense against a personal God requiring atonement, not impersonal karmic retribution (报应) accruing across a lineage. Genesis 4:7 additionally frames sin as an active, will-engaging force to be mastered, not fatalistically endured.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: 大卫的后裔
Transliteration: Dàwèi de hòuyì
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise; The Messianic Seed Promise
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE, unchanged. Genesis does not use this exact compound (David has not yet been born), but this entry’s base word 后裔 is the same word extended in Genesis to the general promise-thread (see new entry ‘seed_offspring’ below) that this Davidic-specific compound narrows in Romans 1:3.
Calling
Approved rendering: 呼召
Transliteration: hūzhào
Doctrine: Divine Calling (Abram’s Summons)
Rejected alternatives: 天命, 命运
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE, unchanged. Genesis 12:1 (לֶךְ־לְךָ, ‘go for yourself’) is the Old Testament paradigm case of this doctrine: a personal, relational summons to Abram’s whole-life reorientation, never an impersonal cosmic mandate conferring status (天命所归).
Called
Approved rendering: 蒙召的
Transliteration: méngzhào de
Doctrine: Divine Calling (Abram’s Summons); Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: 受命于天, 天命所归
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE, unchanged. Applies conceptually to Abram’s summons (12:1) and to the sovereign-choice pattern of 25:23 and 48:13-20; never rendered with 天命所归-style impersonal cosmic endorsement language.
Election
Approved rendering: 拣选
Transliteration: jiǎnxuǎn
Doctrine: Sovereign Election in the Flow of Blessing
Rejected alternatives: 天命, 命运, 缘分
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE, unchanged. Directly relevant to Genesis 25:23 (‘the older shall serve the younger’), 25:29-34, 27:1-40, and 48:13-20: covenant blessing flows by God’s sovereign, personal choice within family history, not by natural birth-order entitlement, impersonal fate (命运), karma-linked destiny (缘分), or the Mandate of Heaven (天命).
Providence
Approved rendering: 神的护理
Transliteration: Shén de hùlǐ
Doctrine: Providence and the Sovereignty of God; Joseph and God’s Providence in Suffering
Rejected alternatives: 天意, 命运
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE, unchanged. Genesis 18:14, 45:5-8, and 50:20 are the Old Testament’s most developed statements of this doctrine, intensifying the baseline’s warning against 天意/命运 because the Joseph narrative unfolds through decades of apparent randomness and injustice — exactly the narrative shape a fatalism-trained reader defaults to explaining with impersonal fate language.
Holy
Approved rendering: 圣洁
Transliteration: shèngjié
Doctrine: Sabbath Rest and the Origin of Holiness
Rejected alternatives: 清净, 圣人般的
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE, unchanged. Genesis 2:3 (וַיְקַדֵּשׁ) is Scripture’s first occurrence of the holiness category, applied to the seventh day itself — the canonical point of origin this baseline entry presupposes. God’s own sovereign declarative act of setting-apart, not self-generated ritual purity (清净) or sage-like moral attainment.
Father
Approved rendering: 父
Transliteration: fù
Doctrine: Covenant Faithfulness across Generations (comparative cross-reference)
Rejected alternatives: 祖先, 老天爷
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE, unchanged. Relevant cross-reference wherever Genesis’s covenant-faithfulness vocabulary (与神同行, 慈爱和诚实) is taught: God’s downward-flowing care for undeserving descendants runs in the opposite direction from Chinese ancestor veneration (祭祖), where living descendants care for and appease ancestors.
Make Form
Approved rendering: 造
Transliteration: zào
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo; The Image of God
Rejected alternatives: 创造 (reserved for bara), 造化
Original: עָשָׂה / יָצַר
Category: Creation
NEW — Genesis. Reserved exclusively for עָשָׂה/יָצַר (forming/shaping from already-existing material, e.g. Adam’s body from dust, 2:7; the luminaries, 1:16). Never let 造 substitute for 创造 in ex nihilo contexts, or the doctrine’s scope is obscured. Never allow drift toward 造化 (impersonal fate/destiny).
Likeness
Approved rendering: 样式
Transliteration: yàngshì
Doctrine: The Image of God
Original: דְּמוּת
Category: Anthropology
NEW — Genesis. Paired hendiadys with 形像 (never used alone). Must not imply ontological identity with God — a live risk given the Neo-Confucian sagehood-attainment tradition (see baseline’s Critical 成圣 entry) where ‘resembling’ and ‘becoming’ the sage/divine ideal can blur. Humanity resembles God’s moral character and represents him; humanity does not become divine.
Man Mankind Adam
Approved rendering: 人 / 亚当
Transliteration: rén / Yàdāng
Doctrine: The Image of God
Original: אָדָם
Category: Anthropology
NEW — Genesis. 人 for the collective/generic sense (1:26-27); 亚当 for the proper name from 2:19 onward. The Hebrew adam/adamah (‘man’/‘ground’) wordplay linking dignity to humble, dust-derived origin has no equivalent pun in Mandarin (人 and 地/尘土 share no root); must be supplied explicitly in commentary.
Living Creature
Approved rendering: 有生命的物 / 有灵的活人
Transliteration: yǒu shēngmìng de wù / yǒu líng de huórén
Doctrine: The Image of God
Rejected alternatives: 灵魂 (transmigrating soul-essence)
Original: נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה
Category: Anthropology
NEW — Genesis. 有生命的物 for animals (1:20-24); 有灵的活人 for Adam specifically (2:7). Must not be read as a detachable, reincarnation-capable soul (灵魂 in the Buddhist/folk sense); describes the whole embodied living being, consistent with the baseline’s rejection of 轮回/投胎 for resurrection-adjacent doctrine.
Sabbath Rest
Approved rendering: 安息 / 歇了
Transliteration: ānxī / xiēle
Doctrine: Sabbath Rest and the Origin of Holiness
Rejected alternatives: 清净 (Daoist/Buddhist meditative stillness)
Original: שָׁבַת
Category: Sanctification
NEW — Genesis. God’s rest (2:2-3) is the contented completion of purposeful, good work, not recovery from exhaustion nor an escape into meditative withdrawal (清净). Establishes the pattern later codified as the Sabbath commandment (Exodus 20:11 explicitly cites this passage).
Sanctify Holy
Approved rendering: 分别为圣 / 定为圣日
Transliteration: fēnbié wéi shèng / dìng wéi shèng rì
Doctrine: Sabbath Rest and the Origin of Holiness
Original: קִדֵּשׁ
Category: Sanctification
NEW — Genesis. First scriptural occurrence of the holiness category (2:3), applied to time itself. God’s own sovereign declarative act, not self-generated ritual purity or meditative attainment — the point of origin for the baseline’s 圣洁/成圣 collision warnings.
Tree Of Knowledge
Approved rendering: 分别善恶树
Transliteration: fēnbié shàn è shù
Doctrine: The Fall and the Origin of Sin
Original: עֵץ הַדַּעַת טוֹב וָרָע
Category: Sin
NEW — Genesis. דַּעַת (‘knowing’) is experiential/relational — a claim to moral autonomy, not neutral information-acquisition. Critical for correctly framing the Fall (2:9, 17; 3:1-6) as a crisis of trust and usurped authority, not a mere rule violation.
Cursed
Approved rendering: 咒诅
Transliteration: zhòuzǔ
Doctrine: The Fall and the Origin of Sin; Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace
Rejected alternatives: 下咒 (folk ritual curse-casting)
Original: אָרוּר
Category: Sin
NEW — Genesis. Pronounced over the serpent (3:14) and the ground (3:17) — notably NOT directly over the man or woman themselves. Must be distinguished from folk/Daoist ritual curse-casting (下咒) performed by a human practitioner: this is a sovereign judicial pronouncement by the Creator upon the created order, not magic.
Death
Approved rendering: 死
Transliteration: sǐ
Doctrine: The Fall and the Origin of Sin
Rejected alternatives: 轮回/投胎-adjacent framing
Original: מָוֶת
Category: Sin
NEW — Genesis. Both physical mortality and relational/spiritual estrangement from God (2:17; 3:3, 19, 22). A linear onset of mortality, never a cyclical rebirth concept — extends the baseline’s Critical forbidden-substitution logic (轮回, 投胎) for resurrection doctrine backward to its doctrinal headwater here.
Grieved Relented
Approved rendering: 后悔 / 忧心
Transliteration: hòuhuǐ / yōuxīn
Doctrine: Anthropomorphic Language and God’s Unchanging Purpose
Original: נִחַם
Category: God
NEW — Genesis. God’s grief over human corruption before the flood (6:6). Anthropomorphic expression of genuine relational grief, not capriciousness, fallibility, or a change in God’s fundamental purposes — must be read alongside the unchanging-sovereignty affirmations elsewhere (18:14; 50:20).
Believed Trusted
Approved rendering: 信
Transliteration: xìn
Doctrine: Justification by Faith (Genesis 15:6)
Rejected alternatives: 虔诚 (generic piety)
Original: הֶאֱמִין
Category: Faith
NEW — Genesis. Abram’s response of trust directed at God’s own word and character concerning a specific promise (15:6). Conceptually anchors the baseline’s faith (信心) entry; the object of trust must remain explicit, not generic religious piety.
Cut A Covenant
Approved rendering: 立约
Transliteration: lìyuē
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: כָּרַת בְּרִית
Category: Covenant
NEW — Genesis (uses baseline term 约). God’s unilateral self-binding oath in the covenant ceremony of 15:9-18 — Abram is put into a deep sleep and does not himself pass between the divided animal pieces (15:12), underscoring that the covenant rests entirely on God’s own faithfulness, not a bilateral negotiation.
God Almighty
Approved rendering: 全能的神
Transliteration: quánnéng de Shén
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise; Providence and the Sovereignty of God
Original: אֵל שַׁדַּי
Category: God
NEW — Genesis. El Shaddai, introduced precisely at the moment God promises the physically impossible (17:1, 17). Grounds the promise’s credibility in God’s unlimited power, not a generic ‘especially powerful deity’ among a folk pantheon.
Circumcision
Approved rendering: 割礼
Transliteration: gēlǐ
Doctrine: Circumcision as Covenant Sign
Original: בְּרִית מִילָה
Category: Covenant
NEW — Genesis. The first physical, bodily sign of covenant membership (17:9-14). Must be taught as a responsive sign of an already-given promise (the covenant precedes the command: 17:1-8 before 17:9-14), never as a meritorious precondition earning the covenant — a corrective parallel to the baseline’s warnings against 功德-style earned favor.
Everlasting Covenant
Approved rendering: 永远的约
Transliteration: yǒngyuǎn de yuē
Doctrine: The Noahic Covenant; The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Rejected alternatives: 天命 (revocable Mandate of Heaven)
Original: בְּרִית עוֹלָם
Category: Covenant
NEW — Genesis (extends baseline 约). Reiterates and intensifies the permanence of God’s covenant commitment (9:16; 17:7, 13, 19). MANDATORY standing contrastive note against 天命 (the revocable Mandate of Heaven, which can be and historically was withdrawn from an unworthy dynasty) at every occurrence — this is an unconditional, perpetual divine promise.
God Most High
Approved rendering: 至高的神
Transliteration: zhìgāo de Shén
Doctrine: Melchizedek’s Priesthood and Typology
Original: אֵל עֶלְיוֹן
Category: God
NEW — Genesis. El Elyon, used by Melchizedek (14:18-20) of the same God as Abram’s. Must be clearly identified as the same 神 as the baseline god entry, not a distinct or rival high-god figure — reinforcing monotheism across cultural/priestly lines.
Steadfast Love Faithfulness
Approved rendering: 慈爱和诚实
Transliteration: cí’ài hé chéngshí
Doctrine: Covenant Faithfulness across Generations
Rejected alternatives: 仁 (Confucian cultivated virtue)
Original: חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת
Category: Covenant
NEW — Genesis. חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת (24:12, 14, 27, 49): God’s self-obligated covenant loyalty flowing from his prior promise, not a cultivated ethical virtue owed within a social hierarchy (仁, rén). Distinct emphasis from 蒙恩/חֵן (initiating favor toward the undeserving) — never collapse the two into one undifferentiated gloss.
Lord Was With Him
Approved rendering: 耶和华与约瑟同在
Transliteration: Yēhéhuá yǔ Yuēsè tóngzài
Doctrine: Joseph and God’s Providence in Suffering
Rejected alternatives: 贵人相助 (impersonal-luck framing)
Original: וַיהוה הָיָה אֶת־יוֹסֵף
Category: Providence
NEW — Genesis. Recurring narrative formula (39:2, 21, 23) asserting continuous divine presence at Joseph’s lowest points — as a slave, then a falsely imprisoned man. Must never soften into the folk idiom 贵人相助 (‘a fortunate benefactor helped him’), which reframes purposive divine presence amid injustice as impersonal good luck.
Anything Too Hard For Lord
Approved rendering: 耶和华岂有难成的事吗
Transliteration: Yēhéhuá qǐ yǒu nán chéng de shì ma
Doctrine: Providence and the Sovereignty of God
Rejected alternatives: 天意 (impersonal fatalism)
Original: הֲיִפָּלֵא מֵיהוה דָּבָר
Category: Providence
NEW — Genesis. Rhetorical question (18:14) affirming God’s unlimited covenant-keeping power in the specific context of providing a child to Sarah — confident trust in God’s specific power, not generic folk-fatalistic affirmation that ‘whatever happens is heaven’s will.‘
Medium Risk Terms
Israel
Approved rendering: 以色列
Transliteration: Yǐsèliè
Doctrine: Providence and the Sovereignty of God; Covenant Faithfulness across Generations
Original: יִשְׂרָאֵל
Category: Covenant
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE, unchanged. Genesis 32:28 and 35:10 are the origin narrative of this name: Jacob’s transformation through a costly, personal covenant encounter, not combat between equals — God graciously allows himself to be ‘overcome’ in blessing.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: 外邦人
Transliteration: wàibāngrén
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise; Universal Scope of the Abrahamic Promise
Rejected alternatives: 夷人, 外国人
Original: גּוֹיִם
Category: Covenant
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE, unchanged. Genesis 12:3, 18:18, and 22:18’s promise that ‘all the families of the earth’ will be blessed through Abraham is the Old Testament root of the Romans-package Universal Scope and Unity-of-Jews-and-Gentiles doctrines. Never shift toward 夷人 (the classical Hua-Yi civilized-insider/barbarian-outsider distinction).
Glory
Approved rendering: 荣耀
Transliteration: róngyào
Doctrine: Providence and the Sovereignty of God (comparative cross-reference)
Rejected alternatives: 面子, 光宗耀祖
INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE, unchanged. Relevant wherever Genesis’s divine titles (全能的神, 至高的神) are taught alongside God’s glory; must not collapse into 面子 (social face) or 光宗耀祖 (honoring ancestors/lineage).
Good Very Good
Approved rendering: 好 / 甚好
Transliteration: hǎo / shén hǎo
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo; Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace
Original: טוֹב / טוֹב מְאֹד
Category: Creation
NEW — Genesis. The Creator’s own repeated evaluative verdict (1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25), climaxing in the superlative 甚好 (1:31). Must be taught as the original, God-declared condition against which the Fall (ch.3) is a catastrophic corruption, not evidence evil was present in creation from the start — grounds the doctrine of common grace’s continuing goodness of the material world.
Dominion
Approved rendering: 管理 / 治理
Transliteration: guǎnlǐ / zhìlǐ
Doctrine: The Image of God
Original: רָדָה / כָּבַש
Category: Anthropology
NEW — Genesis. Delegated, accountable stewardship (1:26, 28), not autonomous exploitation. Must be taught within the image-bearing frame — derived, accountable authority (echoing 9:6’s grounding of the murder prohibition), not license for unrestrained subjugation of creation.
Tree Of Life
Approved rendering: 生命树
Transliteration: shēngmìng shù
Doctrine: The Fall and the Origin of Sin
Rejected alternatives: 长生不老药/仙桃-style immortality
Original: עֵץ הַחַיִּים
Category: Eschatology
NEW — Genesis. Fellowship-based, gift-given life from God (2:9; forfeited 3:22-24), not an alchemical or self-cultivated immortality technique (distinguish from Daoist immortality-elixir/peach-of-immortality motifs).
Helper Corresponding
Approved rendering: 帮助者 / 配偶
Transliteration: bāngzhùzhě / pèi’ǒu
Doctrine: Marriage and Human Complementarity
Rejected alternatives: 婢, 仆 (subordinate-servant connotation)
Original: עֵזֶר (כְּנֶגְדּוֹ)
Category: Anthropology
NEW — Genesis. עֵזֶר (2:18, 20) elsewhere describes God himself as Israel’s helper; must not imply inferiority or mere utility. 配偶 or a carefully glossed 帮助者 preserves the essential-partnership sense.
Naked Nakedness
Approved rendering: 赤身
Transliteration: chìshēn
Doctrine: The Fall and the Origin of Sin
Original: עָרוֹם / עֶרְוָה
Category: Sin
NEW — Genesis. Innocent, shame-free nakedness (2:25) reversed into shame-marked nakedness immediately after the Fall (3:7, 10-11). The Hebrew wordplay bridging ‘naked’ (עֲרוּמִּים) and ‘crafty’ (עָרוּם, of the serpent, 3:1) is untranslatable in Mandarin (赤身/狡猾 share no root); supply the connection explicitly in commentary.
Serpent
Approved rendering: 蛇
Transliteration: shé
Doctrine: The Fall and the Origin of Sin
Original: נָחָשׁ
Category: Sin
NEW — Genesis. Distinguish from the sympathetic snake-spirit lore of Chinese folk narrative (e.g. 白蛇传, ‘Legend of the White Snake’), tonally opposite to this malicious tempter; canonically identified with Satan (Revelation 12:9; 20:2).
Offering
Approved rendering: 供物
Transliteration: gòngwù
Doctrine: Worship and Offering; Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace
Rejected alternatives: 祈福/还愿-style transactional offering
Original: מִנְחָה
Category: Sin
NEW — Genesis. Cain and Abel’s offerings (4:3-5); acceptance depends on the offerer’s heart/faith (cf. Hebrews 11:4), not on the mechanics of the gift or an attempt to purchase favor — must be distinguished from transactional folk-temple offering practice (祈福/还愿).
Blood
Approved rendering: 血
Transliteration: xuè
Doctrine: Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace
Original: דָּם
Category: Sin
NEW — Genesis. Abel’s shed blood ‘crying out’ (4:10) establishes blood/bloodshed as morally significant testimony before God from the earliest post-Fall generation; grounds the later blood-prohibition (9:4-6) and the whole sacrificial system.
Mark Of Cain
Approved rendering: 记号
Transliteration: jìhao
Doctrine: Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace
Original: אוֹת
Category: Sin
NEW — Genesis. Given to guilty Cain (4:15) to restrain vigilante vengeance — functions protectively, not as a shameful stigma. An early instance of common grace toward the unrepentant and guilty; must not be read through a folk-superstition lens as an ominous taboo-mark.
Walked With God
Approved rendering: 与神同行
Transliteration: yǔ Shén tóngxíng
Doctrine: Covenant Faithfulness across Generations
Rejected alternatives: 循道/得道 (Daoist attainment)
Original: הִתְהַלֶּךְ אֶת־הָאֱלֹהִים
Category: Covenant
NEW — Genesis. Said of Enoch (5:22, 24) and Noah (6:9): close covenant fellowship with a personal God, not alignment with an impersonal cosmic principle achieved through cultivation (contrast Daoist 循道/得道).
Pleasing Aroma
Approved rendering: 馨香之气
Transliteration: xīnxiāng zhī qì
Doctrine: Worship and Offering; Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace
Original: רֵיחַ נִיחֹחַ
Category: Sin
NEW — Genesis. Anthropomorphic idiom (8:21) for divine acceptance of Noah’s offering. Must not be read as literal divine appeasement/nourishment through sacrificial smoke, a risk echoed in some folk ancestor-offering conceptions where food offerings sustain the spirit; expresses relational acceptance, not sustenance.
Priest
Approved rendering: 祭司
Transliteration: jìsī
Doctrine: Melchizedek’s Priesthood and Typology
Rejected alternatives: 和尚, 道士
Original: כֹּהֵן
Category: Covenant
NEW — Genesis. First occurrence of ‘priest’ in Scripture, applied to the non-Israelite Melchizedek (14:18). Distinguish from Buddhist monastic clergy (和尚) or Daoist priests (道士) — 祭司 denotes a specific mediatorial office recognized by the one true God, not a generic ‘religious professional’ title transferable to any tradition’s clergy.
Tested Tried
Approved rendering: 试验
Transliteration: shìyàn
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: נִסָּה
Category: Faith
NEW — Genesis. נִסָּה (22:1): purposeful demonstration of genuine trust by a God who already knows the outcome, distinct from temptation toward evil. Distinguish from folk/karmic ‘trial by ordeal’ framings.
Yhwh Yireh
Approved rendering: 耶和华以勒
Transliteration: Yēhéhuá Yǐlè
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
Original: יהוה יִרְאֶה
Category: Covenant
NEW — Genesis. A name Abraham gives the site of Isaac’s binding (22:14), based on God’s provision of a substitute ram — substitutionary-provision typology relevant to later Christ-typology. Hybrid rendering: transliterate the divine-name element, gloss the meaning (‘the LORD will provide’) as running commentary.
Dream
Approved rendering: 梦
Transliteration: mèng
Doctrine: Dreams as a Vehicle of Divine Revelation
Rejected alternatives: 占梦 (folk dream-divination)
Original: חֲלוֹם
Category: Providence
NEW — Genesis. A vehicle of divine revelation (37:5-11; 40; 41). Must be distinguished from folk dream-divination practice (占梦), interpreting dreams as omens decoded through a fixed symbolic system (traditional Chinese dream-books/梦书); dream-revelation and its interpretation are explicitly attributed to God alone (40:8; 41:16), not to a human diviner’s technique.
Dream Interpretation
Approved rendering: 解梦
Transliteration: jiěmèng
Doctrine: Dreams as a Vehicle of Divine Revelation
Rejected alternatives: 占梦-style symbolic decoding
NEW — Genesis. פִּתְרוֹן (‘interpretation,’ ch.40-41). Joseph explicitly attributes interpretive ability to God alone (40:8; 41:16), not to a learned divinatory craft; keep terminologically distinct from 占梦’s technique-based framework.
Scepter
Approved rendering: 权杖
Transliteration: quánzhàng
Doctrine: The Messianic Seed Promise
Original: שֵׁבֶט
Category: Covenant
NEW — Genesis. Symbol of royal authority in Jacob’s blessing on Judah (49:10); a key messianic-royal prophecy continuing the seed-of-promise (后裔) thread toward the Davidic line. Connect explicitly to that thread in teaching.
Shiloh
Approved rendering: 细罗
Transliteration: Xìluó
Doctrine: The Messianic Seed Promise
Original: שִׁילֹה
Category: Covenant
NEW — Genesis. Term/title of genuinely disputed etymology in Jacob’s blessing on Judah (49:10), traditionally read as messianic. Transliterated per CUV convention; flag for mandatory theologian review on any accompanying interpretive annotation rather than resolving the etymology unilaterally.
Melchizedek
Approved rendering: 麦基洗德
Transliteration: Màijīxǐdé
Doctrine: Melchizedek’s Priesthood and Typology
Original: מַלְכִּי־צֶדֶק
Category: Covenant
NEW — Genesis. A mysterious king-priest of Salem who blesses Abram and receives his tithe (14:18-20); later cited as a type of Christ’s eternal priesthood (Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 5-7). Proper noun with outsized typological weight; flag for cross-curriculum note.
Confused Languages
Approved rendering: 变乱
Transliteration: biànluàn
Doctrine: Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace
NEW — Genesis. בָּלַל (11:7,9), God’s judgment on prideful, God-defying human unity at Babel. The Hebrew wordplay (Babel/balal) is lost in Mandarin (巴别/变乱 do not sound alike); supply the connection in commentary.
Birthright
Approved rendering: 长子的名分
Transliteration: zhǎngzǐ de míngfèn
Doctrine: Sovereign Election in the Flow of Blessing
NEW — Genesis. בְּכֹרָה (25:34), the firstborn’s special inheritance/blessing status, which Esau despises and forfeits — sets up the recurring theme that covenant blessing flows by God’s sovereign choice (25:23) rather than natural birth-order entitlement.
Low Risk Terms
Heavens And Earth
Approved rendering: 天地
Transliteration: tiāndì
Doctrine: Creation Ex Nihilo
Original: הַשָּׁמַיִם וְהָאָרֶץ
Category: Creation
NEW — Genesis. Transparent merism for the totality of the created cosmos (Genesis 1:1; 2:1). Minor note: does not imply an impersonal cosmic order as in some folk-Daoist usage of 天 alone, but the totality of what the personal Creator made.
Eden
Approved rendering: 伊甸
Transliteration: Yīdiàn
Doctrine: The Image of God
Original: עֵדֶן
Category: Creation
NEW — Genesis. Proper noun (2:8-15); the place of humanity’s original, unbroken fellowship with God, backdrop for the Fall’s loss of that fellowship (ch.3).
Crafty
Approved rendering: 狡猾
Transliteration: jiǎohuá
Doctrine: The Fall and the Origin of Sin
Original: עָרוּם
Category: Sin
NEW — Genesis. עָרוּם (3:1) here in its sinister sense (contrast neutral-to-positive ‘prudent’ elsewhere, e.g. Proverbs 12:16). Wordplay with עֲרוּמִּים (‘naked,’ 2:25) is lost in Mandarin; supply in commentary.
Called On Name Of Lord
Approved rendering: 求告耶和华的名
Transliteration: qiúgào Yēhéhuá de míng
Doctrine: The Faithful Worship Lineage
Original: קָרָא בְּשֵׁם יהוה
Category: Covenant
NEW — Genesis. First explicit mention (4:26, Seth’s line) of organized invocation of God’s covenant name in worship, marking the intergenerational faithful worshiping line contrasted with Cain’s line (also 12:8; 26:25).
Ark
Approved rendering: 方舟
Transliteration: fāngzhōu
Doctrine: The Noahic Covenant
Original: תֵּבָה
Category: Providence
NEW — Genesis. God’s means of preserving Noah’s family through judgment (ch.6-8). A distinct word/object from the later ‘ark of the covenant’ (אֲרוֹן/约柜) — do not conflate the two in commentary.
Rainbow
Approved rendering: 虹
Transliteration: hóng
Doctrine: The Noahic Covenant
Original: קֶשֶׁת
Category: Covenant
NEW — Genesis. God’s self-given, unilateral reminder of his own covenant commitment (9:12-17), not a human-directed ritual object or folk-omen-reading device.
Toledot
Approved rendering: 后代 / …的来历
Transliteration: hòudài / …de láilì
Doctrine: Covenant Faithfulness across Generations
NEW — Genesis. תוֹלְדוֹת, the structural genealogy/account-heading formula (2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10, 27; 25:12, 19; 36:1, 9; 37:2) organizing the whole book. Mainly structural; low doctrinal collision risk.
Tower Of Babel
Approved rendering: 巴别塔
Transliteration: Bābié Tǎ
Doctrine: Sin’s Consequences and Common Grace
NEW — Genesis. מִגְדָּל (11:4), humanity’s ambition to secure collective name/security independent of God, judged by the scattering/confusion of languages.
Nations Table
Approved rendering: 万国 / 邦国
Transliteration: wànguó / bāngguó
Doctrine: Universal Scope of the Abrahamic Promise
NEW — Genesis. גּוֹיִם as the generic ‘nations’ of the Table of Nations (ch.10), backdrop for both the Babel judgment and the Abrahamic promise’s universal downstream scope (12:3). Foundational for the later reuse of the baseline’s 外邦人 (gentiles) once Israel becomes a distinct nation.
Abraham Sarah Renaming
Approved rendering: 亚伯拉罕 / 撒拉
Transliteration: Yàbólāhǎn / Sālā
Doctrine: The Abrahamic Covenant and Promise
NEW — Genesis. Established proper nouns (renamed from אַבְרָם/Avram and שָׂרַי/Sarai, ch.17), signaling a decisive, sovereign redefinition of identity paralleling the later Jacob/Israel renaming (ch.32).
Peniel
Approved rendering: 毗努伊勒 / 面对面
Transliteration: Pínǔyīlè / miànduìmiàn
Doctrine: Providence and the Sovereignty of God
NEW — Genesis. Jacob’s naming of the site of his wrestling encounter with God (32:30), reflecting a claim of direct encounter with God — background for the developing doctrine of God’s gracious self-disclosure to the patriarchs.
Referenced passages