Core Glossary
08 — Core Glossary: Isaiah — English → Mandarin
This glossary catalogues every load-bearing theological term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, spanning Isaiah chapters 1-66. Terms already present in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json are marked [BASELINE — REUSED EXACTLY] and their recorded Mandarin rendering, transliteration, and risk tier are carried over without modification, per the hard rule that the baseline is the language authority. New terms introduced by Isaiah are marked [NEW] and given full risk assessment consistent with the baseline’s methodology.
Risk tiers follow the baseline’s doctrine_risk_registry.json definitions: Critical (human theologian review, every occurrence) / High (human theologian review) / Medium (native speaker review) / Low (automated review).
A. Terms Reused Exactly from the Baseline (Romans Language Package)
| English Term | Mandarin | Pinyin | Risk | Isaiah Occurrences | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| God | 神 | Shén | Critical | Throughout | Isaiah’s monotheism formula (“I am the LORD, there is no other,” ch. 45) reinforces this term; see New Term below. |
| Holy Spirit / Spirit of the LORD | 圣灵 / 耶和华的灵 | Shènglíng / Yēhéhuá de líng | Critical | 11:2; 32:15; 42:1; 44:3; 61:1; 63:10-14 | OT occurrences use 耶和华的灵 (Spirit of the LORD) rather than the full Trinitarian 圣灵 compound in most CUV renderings; teach as the same divine Person under progressive revelation, not a different or lesser spirit. |
| Righteousness | 义 | yì | Critical | 1:21,27; 5:7,16; 32:1,17; 45:8,13,24-25; 51:1,5-8; 53:11; 54:14; 56:1; 61:3,10-11 | Confucian-virtue collision note applies identically to Isaiah’s usage; every justification-context occurrence (esp. 53:11) requires the same distinguishing note as the baseline. |
| Justification / Justify | 称义 | chēngyì | Critical | 45:25; 50:8; 53:11 | 53:11’s יַצְדִּיק (yatsdiq) is the OT root of the NT doctrine; render identically to baseline. |
| Salvation | 救恩 | jiùēn | Critical | 12:2-3; 25:9; 26:1; 33:2,6; 45:8,17; 46:13; 49:6,8; 51:5-8; 52:7,10; 56:1; 59:16-17; 60:18; 61:10; 62:1,11 | NEVER 解脱 or 超度; salvation is God’s this-life deliverance, received by faith, consistent throughout Isaiah 40-66’s “comfort” oracles. |
| Grace | 恩典 | ēndiǎn | Critical | 26:10; 30:18-19 (verb form 施恩, see New Terms); 33:2; 63:7 (alongside 慈爱/chesed) | NEVER 功德/阴德/造化; Isaiah 30:18 and 55:1’s free invitation are key grace-vs-merit teaching texts. |
| Resurrection | 复活 | fùhuó | Critical | 25:8 (death swallowed, precursor); 26:19 (dead shall live) | NEVER 轮回/投胎/还魂; Isaiah 26:19 is among the clearest OT bodily-resurrection texts. |
| Lord | 主 | zhǔ | Critical | Throughout, esp. 6:1,8,11 (Adonai) | Distinct from יהוה (YHWH), rendered 耶和华; both must retain exclusive, supreme authority sense. |
| Messiah / Christ | 基督 | Jīdū | Critical | Reserved exclusively for the eschatological fulfillment of Isaiah’s Servant/Branch/anointed-king prophecies as identified in the NT; NEVER used to translate Cyrus’s “anointed” title in 45:1 (see New Terms, “anointed office-holder”) | NEVER conflate with 弥勒 (Maitreya); Isaiah adds a second, Isaiah-specific collision risk: the generic Hebrew “anointed one” (מָשִׁיחַ) applied to Cyrus, a pagan king, must not be rendered 基督. |
| Sanctification | 成圣 | chéngshèng | Critical | Thematic (48:10 refining; 6:1-7 purification pattern) | Refining-in-the-furnace and coal-purification imagery must be taught as God’s sovereign purifying act, never self-directed 修炼/修身. |
| Adoption / Sonship imagery | 儿子的名分 | érzi de míngfèn | High | 63:16; 64:8 (“you are our Father”) | Reinforces relational fatherhood; avoid ancestor-veneration framing (see 父, below). |
| Called / Calling | 蒙召的 / 呼召 | méngzhào de / hūzhào | High | 6:8 (“send me”); 41:9; 42:6; 45:3-4; 49:1 | God’s personal summons of Isaiah and of the Servant; never 天命/天命所归. |
| Holy | 圣洁 | shèngjié | High | 6:3 (adjacent to Trisagion exclamation, see New Terms); 35:8 (Highway of Holiness) | Distinct from the exclamatory Trisagion form (see New Terms); moral/relational set-apartness. |
| Saints / Holy Ones | 圣徒 | shèngtú | High | Implied corporately of the redeemed remnant/restored people | Avoid 圣人 (Confucian sage). |
| Fellowship | 团契 | tuánqì | Low | Implied in restored-community passages (chs. 54, 60-62) | No direct lexical equivalent in Isaiah; concept only. |
| Church / God’s People | 教会 | jiàohuì | Medium | Conceptually anticipated in the restored, gathered, worshiping community of chs. 60-66 | Distinguish from 庙/寺/道观. |
| Kingdom of God | 神的国 | Shén de guó | Medium | Implied in the reign of the righteous king (ch. 9, 11, 32) and God’s universal reign | Distinguish from 天下/王朝. |
| Law | 律法 | lǜfǎ | High | 2:3; 8:20; 42:4,21; 51:4 | Distinguish from 礼 (Confucian ritual propriety) and 法律 (secular law). |
| Sin | 罪 | zuì | High | 1:18; 6:7; 30:1; 40:2; 43:24-25; 53:6,10,12; 58:1; 59:2,12 | Distinguish from 报应 (karmic retribution); pairs throughout Isaiah with 罪孽/过犯 (see New Terms). |
| Gentiles / Nations | 外邦人 | wàibāngrén | Medium | 11:10; 42:1,6; 49:6,22; 60:3; 66:19-20 | Reuse for individual peoples; see New Terms for the collective “nations” (列国/万国) nuance. |
| Glory | 荣耀 | róngyào | High | 6:3; 40:5; 42:8,12; 43:7; 60:1-2; 66:18-19 | Avoid 面子/光宗耀祖. |
| Power of God | 神的大能 | Shén de dà néng | High | 40:10,26,29; 53:1 (“arm of the LORD,” see New Terms) | NEVER 气/法力. |
| Prophet | 先知 | xiānzhī | Low | Isaiah’s own office; referenced throughout | Distinguish from 算命先生. |
| Prophecy | 预言 | yùyán | Medium | Throughout (fulfillment texts, e.g., 7:14; 9:6; 53 entire) | Distinguish from 算卦/占卜. |
| Covenant | 约 | yuē | High | 24:5; 54:10; 55:3; 59:21; 61:8 | Distinguish from 合同/契约. |
| Election | 拣选 | jiǎnxuǎn | High | 41:8-9; 42:1; 43:10,20; 44:1-2; 45:4 | NEVER 天命/命运/缘分; God’s personal, gracious choice of the Servant and of Israel. |
| Intercession | 代求 | dàiqiú | Medium | 53:12; 59:16 | Distinguish from 求签/问卜; Isaiah 53:12’s intercession is accomplished through sacrificial death, a distinct sense from ordinary prayer. |
| Providence | 神的护理 | Shén de hùlǐ | High | 8:28-analog in 46:9-11 (“declaring the end from the beginning”); 64:8 (potter/clay) | NEVER 天意 alone. |
| Mission | 宣教 | xuānjiào | Medium | Implicit in Light-to-the-Nations texts (42:6; 49:6) | Avoid 洋教-stigma framing when teaching mission passages. |
| David | 大卫 | Dàwèi | Medium | 7:13; 9:7; 16:5; 22:22; 37:35; 38:5; 55:3 | Standard CUV proper name. |
| Israel | 以色列 | Yǐsèliè | Medium | Throughout | Standard CUV proper name. |
| Jesus / Christ (typological fulfillment only) | 耶稣 / 基督 | Yēsū / Jīdū | Critical | Not present in the Hebrew text; used only in cross-reference notes to NT fulfillment | Standard CUV forms. |
| Father | 父 | fù | High | 63:16; 64:8 | Distinguish from ancestor veneration (祭祖); God as personal, caring Father who cares for his children, not one cared for by them. |
| Peace | 平安 | píng’ān | Medium | 9:6 (Prince of Peace, see New Terms); 26:3,12; 32:17; 48:18,22; 53:5; 54:10,13; 57:19,21; 60:17; 66:12 | Distinguish from the everyday-amulet sense of 平安. |
| Spiritual Gifts | 属灵恩赐 | shǔlíng ēncì | Medium | Conceptually present in the Spirit’s sevenfold endowment of the Messiah (11:2) | NEVER 神通/法力. |
| Thanksgiving | 感恩 | gǎn’ēn | Low | 38:9-20 (Hezekiah’s psalm) | Standard term, low risk. |
| Seed of David | 大卫的后裔 | Dàwèi de hòuyì | High | 11:1,10 (Root/Branch); 55:3 | Must be taught together with the Branch/Root Messianic terms (New Terms). |
| Imputed Righteousness | 算为义 | suàn wéi yì | Critical | Structural parallel: 53:6’s guilt imputed to the Servant is the doctrinal mirror-image of righteousness imputed to the believer | Cross-reference required whenever teaching 53:6 or 53:11. |
B. New Terms Introduced by Isaiah (Not in Baseline)
| English Term | Original (Hebrew) | Transliteration | Mandarin | Pinyin | Doctrine | Risk | First Occurrence | Alternatives Rejected | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trisagion (“Holy, Holy, Holy”) | קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ | qadosh qadosh qadosh | 圣哉!圣哉!圣哉! | Shèng zāi! Shèng zāi! Shèng zāi! | Holiness and Majesty of God | Critical | Isaiah 6:3 | 至圣至圣至圣 (too Confucian-sage-flavored, risks 圣人/至圣 collision) | The doxological exclamation of God’s essential nature, distinct from adjectival 圣洁; anchor text for the whole doctrine, quoted Rev 4:8. |
| Seraphim | שְׂרָפִים | seraphim | 撒拉弗 | Sālāfú | Holiness and Majesty of God | Low | Isaiah 6:2 | 火龙/凤凰 (would import Chinese mythological dragon/phoenix connotations) | Transliteration; requires a brief clarifying note distinguishing from indigenous mythological beings. |
| Immanuel | עִמָּנוּ אֵל | Immanu El | 以马内利 | Yǐmǎnèilì | Incarnation / Messianic Promise | Critical | Isaiah 7:14 | 神人 (suggests deified human, forbidden already in baseline for Son of God) | “God with us”; teach with baseline 道成肉身 note. |
| Virgin / young woman (almah) | עַלְמָה | almah | 童女 | tóngnǚ | Incarnation / Virgin Birth | Critical | Isaiah 7:14 | 少女 (loses virgin-birth doctrinal weight established by LXX/Matthew) | Semantic-range flag: Hebrew almah’s range is broader than “virgin” proper (betulah); Mandarin follows the LXX/Matthew/CUV interpretive tradition. |
| Branch of the LORD / Messianic Branch / Root | צֶמַח יהוה / נֵצֶר / שֹׁרֶשׁ | tsemach YHWH / netzer / shoresh | 苗 / 枝子 / 根 | miáo / zhīzi / gēn | Coming Messiah | High | Isaiah 4:2; 11:1; 53:2 | 化身 (bodhisattva-manifestation term, forbidden under baseline Incarnation) | Unified Messianic image across chs. 4, 11, 53; teach with 大卫的后裔. |
| Wonderful Counselor | פֶּלֶא יוֹעֵץ | pele yo’etz | 奇妙策士 | qímiào cèshì | Coming Messiah / Deity of Christ | High | Isaiah 9:6 | 大军师 (military-strategist connotation, too martial/political) | First of four Messianic throne-names. |
| Mighty God | אֵל גִּבּוֹר | El Gibbor | 全能的神 | Quánnéng de Shén | Deity of Christ | Critical | Isaiah 9:6 | 神人 (deified human, forbidden) | Direct ascription of deity to the coming king; overlaps with baseline Critical 神. |
| Everlasting Father | אֲבִי־עַד | Avi-Ad | 永在的父 | Yǒngzài de Fù | Deity of Christ | Critical | Isaiah 9:6 | (none viable; must retain with modalism-guarding note) | Eternal fatherly character, not identity with the Trinitarian Father. |
| Prince of Peace | שַׂר־שָׁלוֹם | Sar-Shalom | 和平的君 | Hépíng de Jūn | Coming Messiah | Critical | Isaiah 9:6 | 太平王 (echoes Chinese dynastic “peace/prosperity” reign-title conventions) | Ties Messiah’s reign to baseline 平安. |
| Remnant | שְׁאָר / פְּלֵיטָה | she’ar / peleitah | 余民 | yúmín | Judgment / Comfort and Restoration | Medium | Isaiah 10:20-22 | 幸存者 (too generic, loses covenant-faithfulness sense) | Bridges judgment and restoration doctrines. |
| Root of Jesse | שֹׁרֶשׁ יִשָׁי | shoresh Yishai | 耶西的根 | Yēxī de gēn | Coming Messiah / Davidic Covenant | High | Isaiah 11:1,10 | (none; proper-noun-based, low ambiguity) | Quoted Romans 15:12; teach with 大卫的后裔. |
| Fear of the LORD | יִרְאַת יהוה | yir’at YHWH | 敬畏耶和华 | jìngwèi Yēhéhuá | Coming Messiah / Sanctification | Medium | Isaiah 11:2-3 | 怕神 (suggests dread/terror, not reverent awe) | Distinguish from folk fear of ghosts/spirits (怕鬼). |
| Day Star, son of Dawn | הֵילֵל בֶּן־שָׁחַר | heilel ben-shachar | 明星 | míngxīng | Sovereignty of God over the Nations | Medium | Isaiah 14:12 | 撒但 (imports a later interpretive identification as the primary sense) | Primarily anti-Babylon taunt; Satan-fall reading is a secondary Christian tradition, must be flagged as interpretive extension. |
| Swallow up death | בִּלַּע הַמָּוֶת | billa hammavet | 吞灭死亡 | tūnmiè sǐwáng | New Heavens and New Earth | High | Isaiah 25:8 | 涅槃 (Buddhist cessation-of-suffering concept, wrong category) | Precursor to 1 Cor 15:54. |
| Leviathan | לִוְיָתָן | Livyatan | 利维坦 | Lìwéitǎn | Sovereignty of God over the Nations | High | Isaiah 27:1 | 龙 (Chinese dragon — auspicious/imperial, opposite connotation) | Transliteration mandatory; never render as 龙. |
| Precious cornerstone | פִּנַּת יִקְרַת | pinnat yikrat | 房角石 / 基石 | fángjiǎoshí / jīshí | Coming Messiah | Medium-High | Isaiah 28:16 | (avoid framing that echoes 风水/fengshui foundation rituals) | Quoted Rom 9:33; 1 Pet 2:6. |
| The LORD shows grace (verb) | חָנַן | chanan | 施恩 | shī ēn | Judgment / Comfort (grace) | Critical | Isaiah 30:18 | 造化 (fortune/luck, forbidden already in baseline for 恩典) | Verb-form counterpart to baseline noun 恩典. |
| Trust/rely on (OT) | בָּטַח | batach | 倚靠 | yǐkào | Faith | Medium | Isaiah 30:12; 31:1 | 信仰 (too broad/systemic, loses relational-reliance nuance) | Conceptually related to but lexically distinct from NT 信心; teach the connection explicitly. |
| Highway of Holiness | מַסְלוּל / דֶּרֶךְ הַקֹּדֶשׁ | maslul / derekh haqqodesh | 圣洁之路 | shèngjié zhī lù | Comfort and Restoration / Holiness | Medium | Isaiah 35:8 | (none; low ambiguity) | Combines Holiness (ch. 6) and Restoration doctrines. |
| The living God | אֱלֹהִים חַיִּים | Elohim chayyim | 活神 / 永生的神 | huó Shén / yǒngshēng de Shén | Sovereignty of God over the Nations | Medium | Isaiah 37:4,17 | (none; contrast term against idols) | Idol/living-God contrast, foundational chs. 40-48. |
| Comfort | נָחַם | nacham | 安慰 | ānwèi | Comfort and Restoration | Medium | Isaiah 40:1 | 自我安慰 (too self-directed/stoic) | Anchor term for the whole comfort section, chs. 40-55. |
| Voice crying in the wilderness | קוֹל קוֹרֵא בַּמִּדְבָּר | qol qore bammidbar | 预备道路(的呼声) | yùbèi dàolù (de hūshēng) | Comfort and Restoration | Medium | Isaiah 40:3 | (none; low ambiguity) | Quoted Matt 3:3 of John the Baptist. |
| The word of God endures | דְּבַר־אֱלֹהֵינוּ יָקוּם לְעוֹלָם | devar Eloheinu yaqum le’olam | 神的话永远长存 | Shén de huà yǒngyuǎn chángcún | Inspiration of Scripture | High | Isaiah 40:8 | (none; low ambiguity) | Quoted 1 Peter 1:24-25. |
| Servant of the LORD | עֶבֶד יהוה | eved YHWH | 耶和华的仆人 | Yēhéhuá de púrén | Coming Messiah and Suffering Servant | High | Isaiah 41:8-9 | 大师/宗师 (guru/master-lineage connotation, wrong category) | Corporate (Israel) and individual (Messiah) referent must both be flagged per occurrence; culminates in ch. 53. |
| Light to the nations | אוֹר גּוֹיִם | or goyim | 万国的光 / 外邦人的光 | wànguó de guāng / wàibāngrén de guāng | Salvation Extended to the Nations | High | Isaiah 42:6 | (none; teach with baseline 外邦人) | Quoted Luke 2:32; Acts 13:47. |
| Redeemer | גֹּאֵל | go’el | 救赎主 | Jiùshú Zhǔ | Comfort and Restoration / Salvation | Critical | Isaiah 41:14; 43:1,14 | 观音式救主 (would import Guanyin/bodhisattva compassionate-savior associations); 救世主 alone (too generic, could read as any world-savior figure) | Covenant-kin redeemer who pays a price, not a compassionate bystander-deity. |
| I am the first and the last | אֲנִי רִאשׁוֹן וַאֲנִי אַחֲרוֹן | ani rishon va’ani acharon | 我是首先的,我是末后的 | wǒ shì shǒuxiān de, wǒ shì mòhòu de | Deity of Christ / Sovereignty of God | Critical | Isaiah 44:6; 48:12 | (none; low ambiguity) | Reused of risen Christ, Rev 1:17; 22:13. |
| His anointed (generic office; Cyrus) | מְשִׁיחוֹ | meshicho | 受膏者 / 我所膏的 | shòu gāo zhě / wǒ suǒ gāo de | Sovereignty of God over the Nations / Messianic Promise (contrast case) | Critical | Isaiah 45:1 | 基督 (STRICTLY FORBIDDEN here — would falsely identify the pagan king Cyrus as the eschatological Messiah) | The single most important Isaiah-specific collision risk: same root as 基督, but here a generic anointed-office term applied to a pagan king, not a Messianic title. |
| There is no other (monotheism formula) | אֲנִי יהוה וְאֵין עוֹד | ani YHWH ve’ein od | 再没有别神 | zài méiyǒu bié shén | Sovereignty of God over the Nations | Critical | Isaiah 45:5,18,22 | (none; must remain unqualified) | Reinforces baseline 神 exclusivity against folk multi-deity framework. |
| Good news / good tidings | בְּשׂוֹרָה / מְבַשֵּׂר | besorah / mevasser | 报好信 (align with baseline 福音) | bào hǎoxìn | Salvation Extended to the Nations / Gospel | High | Isaiah 52:7 | (must not diverge from baseline 福音 when taught alongside Romans 10:15) | Directly quoted Romans 10:15; cross-testament consistency required. |
| Chesed / steadfast covenant love | חֶסֶד | chesed | 慈爱 | cí’ài | Comfort and Restoration / Davidic Covenant | Critical | Isaiah 54:8,10; 55:3; 63:7 | 慈悲 (STRICTLY FORBIDDEN — the defining virtue-term of Buddhist compassion, esp. Guanyin devotion) | Recurs across multiple doctrines; escalate to theologian review at every occurrence. |
| Your Maker is your husband | בֹּעֲלַיִךְ עֹשַׂיִךְ | bo’alayikh osayikh | 你的丈夫(即造你的主) | nǐ de zhàngfu (jí zào nǐ de zhǔ) | Comfort and Restoration | Medium | Isaiah 54:5 | (avoid framing suggesting fertility-cult “sacred marriage”) | Covenant-fidelity metaphor. |
| House of prayer for all nations | בֵּית־תְּפִלָּה לְכָל־הָעַמִּים | beit tefillah lekhol ha’ammim | 万民祷告的殿 | wànmín dǎogào de diàn | Salvation Extended to the Nations | High | Isaiah 56:7 | (none; low ambiguity) | Quoted Mark 11:17. |
| Sabbath | שַׁבָּת | shabbat | 安息日 | ānxírì | Salvation Extended to the Nations / Covenant sign | Medium | Isaiah 56:2-6; 58:13 | 斋戒日 (would suggest merit-earning ritual fast day) | Covenant sign of relationship, not merit-earning observance. |
| True fasting | צוֹם | tsom | 禁食 | jìnshí | Judgment on Injustice / Grace vs. Merit | Medium | Isaiah 58:3-6 | 斋戒 (Buddhist/Daoist merit-ritual connotation) | Reinforces Critical Grace doctrine: fasting flows from relationship, not merit accumulation. |
| Anointed (verb, Messiah’s self-testimony) | מְשָׁחַנִי | meshachani | 用膏膏我 / 我受膏 | yòng gāo gāo wǒ / wǒ shòu gāo | Coming Messiah / Salvation Extended to the Nations | Critical | Isaiah 61:1 | (must be distinguished from, yet linked to, ch. 45’s generic 受膏者) | Quoted by Jesus of himself, Luke 4:18-19. |
| The LORD’s favor (acceptable year) | שְׁנַת־רָצוֹן לַיהוה | shenat ratson la-YHWH | 耶和华的恩年 | Yēhéhuá de ēnnián | Salvation Extended to the Nations / Grace | High | Isaiah 61:2 | (none; low ambiguity) | Jubilee-echo grace image. |
| Watchman | שֹׁמְרִים | shomerim | 守望者 | shǒuwàngzhě | Comfort and Restoration | Low | Isaiah 62:6 | (none; low ambiguity) | Intercessory vigilance imagery. |
| Day of vengeance | יוֹם נָקָם | yom naqam | 报仇的日子 | bàochóu de rìzi | Sovereignty of God over the Nations | Medium | Isaiah 63:4 | (none; pairs with Day of the LORD) | Judgment-aspect of the Day of the LORD. |
| Potter and clay | יֹצְרֵנוּ / חֹמֶר | yotserenu / chomer | 窑匠与泥 / 陶匠与泥 | yáojiàng yǔ ní / táojiàng yǔ ní | Sovereignty of God over the Nations / Providence | Medium | Isaiah 64:8 | 命运的泥团 (fatalistic, impersonal framing forbidden) | Personal, purposive shaping relationship, not impersonal fate. |
| New heavens and new earth | שָׁמַיִם חֲדָשִׁים וָאָרֶץ חֲדָשָׁה | shamayim chadashim va’arets chadashah | 新天新地 | xīn tiān xīn dì | New Heavens and New Earth | High | Isaiah 65:17; 66:22 | 新一劫 (would suggest a recurring Buddhist/Daoist cosmic cycle) | Final, non-cyclical cosmic renewal; quoted 2 Pet 3:13; Rev 21:1. |
| Unquenchable fire | אֵשׁ לֹא תִכְבֶּה | esh lo tikhbeh | 永不熄灭的火 | yǒng bù xímiè de huǒ | New Heavens and New Earth / Judgment | High | Isaiah 66:24 | 地狱之火(暗示轮回) (would suggest cyclical, temporary Buddhist hell-realm) | Eternal, non-cyclical judgment; quoted Mark 9:48. |
| All flesh shall worship | כׇּל־בָּשָׂר… יִשְׁתַּחֲוּוּ | kol basar…yishtachavu | 凡有血气的…都来敬拜 | fán yǒu xuèqì de…dōu lái jìngbài | Salvation Extended to the Nations | Medium | Isaiah 66:23 | (none; low ambiguity) | Closing universal-worship statement. |
C. Verse-by-Verse Core Passage Terms (Isaiah 53:1-12) — Consolidated Cross-Reference
All terms below are analyzed in full in 07_semantic_analysis.md Part 1 and are listed here for glossary completeness and Phase 2 lookup convenience. Mandarin renderings must be applied consistently across every future Isaiah 53 segment.
| Verse | Term | Mandarin | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| 53:1 | report/message (shemu’ah) | 所传的(信息) | High |
| 53:1 | arm of the LORD (zeroa YHWH) | 耶和华的膀臂 | Medium |
| 53:2 | root (shoresh) | 根 | High |
| 53:2 | no beauty/majesty (to’ar/hadar) | 佳形美容 | Medium |
| 53:3 | despised (nivzeh) | 被藐视 | High |
| 53:3 | man of sorrows (ish makh’ovot) | 多受痛苦的人 | High |
| 53:3 | grief (choli) | 忧患 | Medium |
| 53:4 | borne/carried (nasa) | 担当 | Critical |
| 53:4 | carried as burden (sabal) | 背负 | High |
| 53:4 | stricken, smitten by God (nagua/mukkeh Elohim) | 被神击打 | Critical |
| 53:5 | pierced (mecholal) | 刺 | Critical |
| 53:5 | transgressions (pesha) | 过犯 | Medium |
| 53:5 | iniquities (avon) | 罪孽 | Medium |
| 53:5 | crushed (medukka) | 压伤 | High |
| 53:5 | punishment (musar) | 刑罚 | Critical |
| 53:5 | stripes (chavurah) | 鞭伤 | High |
| 53:5 | healed (nirpa) | 医治 | Medium |
| 53:6 | gone astray (ta’inu) | 走迷 | High |
| 53:6 | laid on him (hifgia) | 归在他身上 | Critical |
| 53:7 | did not open his mouth | 不开口 | High |
| 53:7 | lamb (seh/kerachel) | 羊羔 | Critical |
| 53:7 | slaughter (tevach) | 宰杀 | Medium |
| 53:8 | judgment (mishpat) | 审判 | High |
| 53:8 | cut off (nigzar) | 剪除 | High |
| 53:8 | land of the living (erets chayyim) | 活人之地 | Medium |
| 53:9 | violence (chamas) | 强暴 | High |
| 53:9 | deceit (mirmah) | 诡诈 | High |
| 53:9 | grave (qever) | 坟墓 | Medium |
| 53:10 | it pleased the LORD (chafets) | 耶和华的旨意/喜悦 | Critical |
| 53:10 | to crush him (dakko) | 压碎 | Critical |
| 53:10 | guilt offering (asham) | 赎罪祭 | Critical |
| 53:10 | offspring (zera) | 后裔 | High |
| 53:11 | righteous servant (avdi tsaddiq) | 我的义仆 | Critical |
| 53:11 | justify (yatsdiq) | 称义 | Critical |
| 53:11 | the many (rabbim) | 许多人 | High |
| 53:11 | bear (yisbol) | 担当 | Critical |
| 53:12 | portion with the great | 使他与位大的同分 | High |
| 53:12 | poured out his soul to death | 将命倾倒,以致于死 | Critical |
| 53:12 | numbered with transgressors | 被列在罪犯之中 | High |
| 53:12 | bore the sin of many (nasa) | 担当多人的罪 | Critical |
| 53:12 | makes intercession (yafgia) | 代求 | Critical |
Escalation Note for Phase 2
The following terms require mandatory human theologian review at every occurrence, in addition to the baseline’s existing Critical-tier terms: 受膏者/我所膏的 (Cyrus’s “anointed,” Isaiah 45:1 — collision risk with 基督), 慈爱 (chesed — collision risk with Buddhist 慈悲), 救赎主 (Redeemer — collision risk with bodhisattva-savior figures), 赎罪祭 (guilt offering — collision risk with the secularized 替罪羊 idiom), and every occurrence of 担当/背负 (bearing verbs) in Isaiah 53. These five terms are Isaiah-specific extensions of the baseline’s escalation rules and must be added to the Phase 2 AI translation requirements document in Step 12 revision.
Critical Risk Terms
Grace
Approved rendering: 恩典
Transliteration: ēndiǎn
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: 功德, 造化, 福气, 阴德
Original: חֵן
Category: Salvation
CRITICAL: NEVER 功德 or 阴德. Unearned favor apart from merit-accounting. [Inherited from Romans package.] Isaiah 30:18’s verbal form (施恩) and Isaiah 55’s free invitation are key OT grace-vs-merit teaching texts extending this doctrine.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: 义
Transliteration: yì
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: 道德, 善行
Original: צֶדֶק / צְדָקָה
Category: Salvation
CRITICAL: also a Confucian Five Constant Virtue; requires a distinguishing note in every justification context. [Inherited from Romans package.] Isaiah 53:11’s ‘my righteous servant’ (我的义仆) and the mishpat-tsedaqah social pairing (公义, a new Isaiah term) both require this same distinguishing note; 公义 is the social outworking of, not identical to, this forensic term.
Justification
Approved rendering: 称义
Transliteration: chēngyì
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: 修成正果, 赎罪
Original: צָדַק (הִצְדִּיק)
Category: Salvation
CRITICAL: forensic declaration, not a process. NEVER 修成正果. [Inherited from Romans package.] Isaiah 53:11’s יַצְדִּיק (yatsdiq, ‘he will justify’) is the direct OT root of this NT doctrine and must render identically.
Salvation
Approved rendering: 救恩
Transliteration: jiùēn
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: 解脱, 超度, 得道
Original: יְשׁוּעָה / תְּשׁוּעָה
Category: Salvation
CRITICAL: NEVER 解脱 or 超度. This-life deliverance through Christ, received by faith. [Inherited from Romans package.] Isaiah 12, 25-26, 40-66’s salvation oracles reinforce this identically; NEVER read through a posthumous-rite lens.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: 成圣
Transliteration: chéngshèng
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: 修身, 修炼
Original: קָדַשׁ (refining/purification motif)
Category: Sanctification
CRITICAL: borrowed Neo-Confucian self-cultivation term; requires a clarifying note every occurrence that this is the Spirit’s work in an already-justified believer, not self-achieved perfection. [Inherited from Romans package.] Isaiah 6:6-7’s coal-purification of Isaiah’s lips and 48:10’s refining-furnace image must be taught as God’s sovereign purifying act, never self-directed 修炼/修身.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: 复活
Transliteration: fùhuó
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 轮回, 投胎, 还魂
Original: חָיָה (יִחְיוּ מֵתֶיךָ) / בִּלַּע הַמָּוֶת
Category: Eschatology
CRITICAL: NEVER 轮回, 投胎, or 还魂. [Inherited from Romans package.] Isaiah 26:19 (‘the dead shall live’) is among the clearest OT bodily-resurrection texts; Isaiah 53:10’s implication that the dead Servant ‘sees his offspring’ also requires resurrection. See also the new term swallow_up_death (吞灭死亡, Isaiah 25:8).
Lord
Approved rendering: 主
Transliteration: zhǔ
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 主人, 老爷
Established term for exclusive divine Lordship. [Inherited from Romans package.] Also renders אֲדֹנָי (Adonai) in Isaiah 6:1,8,11, distinct from the personal covenant name יהוה (see new term yhwh, rendered 耶和华); both must retain exclusive, supreme authority and must not be softened toward 主人/老爷.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: 神的儿子
Transliteration: Shén de érzi
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 天子, 神人
CRITICAL: NEVER 天子 (Son of Heaven, the imperial title). [Inherited from Romans package.] Isaiah 9:6’s throne-names (全能的神, 永在的父, new terms) assert the same eternal divine Sonship from within the OT itself, prior to any NT text.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: 道成肉身
Transliteration: dào chéng ròushēn
Doctrine: Incarnation
Rejected alternatives: 化身, 转世, 下凡
CRITICAL: NEVER 化身, 下凡, or 转世; 道 must always be taught as the personal, eternal divine Word, not the impersonal Daoist Way. [Inherited from Romans package.] Isaiah 7:14’s Immanuel (以马内利, new term) is the OT root of this doctrine and must be taught alongside this note.
Messiah
Approved rendering: 基督
Transliteration: Jīdū
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Rejected alternatives: 弥勒, 救世主式泛称
CRITICAL: NEVER conflate with 弥勒 (Maitreya). [Inherited from Romans package.] Isaiah-specific extension: this term must NEVER be used for Cyrus’s generic ‘anointed’ office-title (Isaiah 45:1, see new term cyrus_anointed, 受膏者); the two derive from the same Hebrew root (mashiach) but are entirely different referents. Reserve 基督 strictly for the eschatological fulfillment of Isaiah 7, 9, 11, 42, 49, 53, 61.
Jesus
Approved rendering: 耶稣
Transliteration: Yēsū
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
CUV standard transliteration. [Inherited from Romans package.] Not present in the Hebrew text of Isaiah; used only in cross-reference teaching notes identifying the NT fulfillment of Isaiah’s Servant/Messiah/Immanuel prophecies.
God
Approved rendering: 神
Transliteration: Shén
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 上帝, 天, 老天爷
Original: אֱלֹהִים
Category: God
CRITICAL: this package standardizes on 神 (Shen edition), never 上帝, 天, or 老天爷. [Inherited from Romans package.] Isaiah’s repeated exclusive-monotheism formula (‘I am the LORD, there is no other,’ ch. 45, see new term there_is_no_other) reinforces the requirement that monotheism be made explicit, since 神 is also the common noun for any folk deity.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: 圣灵
Transliteration: Shènglíng
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: 祖灵, 灵
Original: רוּחַ יהוה / פְּנֵימָתָא
Category: God
CRITICAL: NEVER 灵 alone or 祖灵. [Inherited from Romans package.] Isaiah’s OT occurrences typically render as 耶和华的灵 (‘Spirit of the LORD,’ 11:2; 32:15; 42:1; 44:3; 61:1; 63:10-14); teach as the same divine Person under progressive revelation, never a lesser or different spirit.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: 算为义
Transliteration: suàn wéi yì
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: 修成正果的义, 自义
Original: יַצְדִּיק… לָרַבִּים
Category: Salvation
CRITICAL: credited righteousness, never earned. [Inherited from Romans package.] Structural parallel to Isaiah 53:6’s guilt imputed TO the Servant (see new term laid_on_him_imputation, 归在他身上) — here righteousness moves to the guilty believer, there guilt moves to the innocent Servant; cross-reference required whenever teaching either passage.
Yhwh
Approved rendering: 耶和华
Transliteration: Yēhéhuá
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over the Nations
Rejected alternatives: 上帝, 天, 老天爷
Original: יהוה
Category: God
The personal, covenant name of God (Exodus 3:14-15), used over 400 times in Isaiah. Must remain consistently 耶和华, distinct from the generic noun 神 (Elohim) and the title 主 (Adonai), to preserve the personal, self-revealing, covenantal quality of the name against generic folk-deity nouns.
Trisagion
Approved rendering: 圣哉!圣哉!圣哉!
Transliteration: Shèng zāi! Shèng zāi! Shèng zāi!
Doctrine: The Holiness and Majesty of God
Rejected alternatives: 至圣至圣至圣
Original: קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ
Category: Holiness
The seraphim’s threefold doxological exclamation (Isaiah 6:3, quoted Revelation 4:8). Distinct from the adjectival 圣洁. Rejected 至圣至圣至圣 as too Confucian-sage-flavored (至圣, ‘Utmost Sage,’ is Confucius’s honorific). Anchor text for the whole Holiness doctrine; retain the exclamatory doxological form exactly.
Immanuel
Approved rendering: 以马内利
Transliteration: Yǐmǎnèilì
Doctrine: The Incarnation and Virgin Birth
Rejected alternatives: 神人
Original: עִמָּנוּ אֵל
Category: Christology
‘God with us’ (Isaiah 7:14), quoted Matthew 1:23. Must be taught together with the baseline incarnation note (道成肉身), distinguishing the personal eternal Word from the impersonal Daoist 道. Never abbreviate to 神人 (deified human).
Virgin Almah
Approved rendering: 童女
Transliteration: tóngnǚ
Doctrine: The Incarnation and Virgin Birth
Rejected alternatives: 少女
Hebrew almah’s normal range is ‘young woman of marriageable age’ and does not lexically guarantee virginity (betulah is the more technical term); the LXX/Matthew/CUV interpretive tradition renders it as virgin. Follow that tradition (童女), never the semantically broader 少女, but flag for theologian review so teachers can explain the interpretive move explicitly rather than presenting it as an uncontested lexical fact.
Mighty God
Approved rendering: 全能的神
Transliteration: Quánnéng de Shén
Doctrine: Deity of Christ in the Messianic Throne-Names
Rejected alternatives: 神人
Original: אֵל גִּבּוֹר
Category: Christology
CRITICAL: direct overlap with the baseline’s Critical term 神 (God); an explicit ascription of full deity to the coming king, Isaiah 9:6. Must never soften to ‘godlike’ or ‘divinely favored’; never 神人 (deified human).
Everlasting Father
Approved rendering: 永在的父
Transliteration: Yǒngzài de Fù
Doctrine: Deity of Christ in the Messianic Throne-Names
Original: אֲבִי־עַד
Category: Christology
Isaiah 9:6. Requires a theologian-authored modalism-guarding note: affirms the Messiah’s eternal, fatherly character toward his people, NOT identity with the first Trinitarian Person (see baseline father term).
Prince Of Peace
Approved rendering: 和平的君
Transliteration: Hépíng de Jūn
Doctrine: Deity of Christ in the Messianic Throne-Names
Rejected alternatives: 太平王
Original: שַׂר־שָׁלוֹם
Category: Christology
Isaiah 9:6. Rejected 太平王 (‘king of great peace’) for echoing Chinese dynastic reign-title conventions, risking a this-worldly political-dynasty reading rather than the cross-secured peace with God of Isaiah 53:5. Ties directly to baseline 平安.
Lord Shows Grace Verb
Approved rendering: 施恩
Transliteration: shī ēn
Doctrine: Grace and God’s Free Favor (chen/chesed)
Rejected alternatives: 造化
Original: חָנַן
Category: Salvation
Isaiah 30:18, ‘the LORD waits to be gracious to you.’ Verb-form counterpart to baseline noun 恩典; NEVER 造化 (fortune/luck). Must preserve unmerited-favor sense against merit-based (功德) expectation.
Redeemer
Approved rendering: 救赎主
Transliteration: Jiùshú Zhǔ
Doctrine: The Redeemer of Israel
Rejected alternatives: 观音式救主, 救世主
Original: גֹּאֵל
Category: Salvation
CRITICAL: God as Israel’s go’el, a relational, covenant-kin redeemer who pays a price (41:14; 43:1,14; 44:6,24; 47:4; 48:17; 49:26; 54:5,8; 59:20; 63:16). MUST NOT suggest Buddhist bodhisattva savior-figures (Guanyin 观音, Amitabha 阿弥陀佛); rejected 救世主 alone as too generic. Teach with the kinsman-redeemer legal background (cf. Ruth, Leviticus 25).
I Am First And Last
Approved rendering: 我是首先的,我是末后的
Transliteration: wǒ shì shǒuxiān de, wǒ shì mòhòu de
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over the Nations
Original: אֲנִי רִאשׁוֹן וַאֲנִי אַחֲרוֹן
Category: God
Isaiah 44:6; 48:12. God’s self-disclosure formula of exclusive, eternal deity; reused of the risen Christ in Revelation 1:17; 22:13, a strong cross-testament witness to Christ’s full deity.
Cyrus Anointed
Approved rendering: 受膏者 / 我所膏的
Transliteration: shòu gāo zhě / wǒ suǒ gāo de
Doctrine: God’s Sovereign Use of Pagan Rulers (Cyrus)
Rejected alternatives: 基督
Original: מְשִׁיחוֹ
Category: Sovereignty of God
CRITICAL — the single most important Isaiah-specific collision risk: Isaiah 45:1 applies the same Hebrew root as ‘Messiah/Christ’ (mashiach) generically to Cyrus, a pagan Persian king, as God’s chosen historical instrument. STRICTLY FORBIDDEN to render 基督 here. Every mashiach-family occurrence in Isaiah must be checked against context before term selection (see messiah entry).
There Is No Other
Approved rendering: 再没有别神
Transliteration: zài méiyǒu bié shén
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over the Nations
Original: אֲנִי יהוה וְאֵין עוֹד
Category: God
Isaiah 45:5,18,22, the exclusive-monotheism declaration formula repeated across chs. 44-46. Must retain unqualified exclusivity, resisting any softening toward a folk-religious multi-deity framework (city gods, kitchen god).
Chesed Steadfast Love
Approved rendering: 慈爱
Transliteration: cí’ài
Doctrine: Grace and God’s Free Favor (chen/chesed)
Rejected alternatives: 慈悲
Original: חֶסֶד
Category: Comfort and Restoration
CRITICAL — Isaiah’s highest-density new collision risk: MUST NEVER be rendered 慈悲, the defining devotional term of Buddhist compassion, inseparably associated with Guanyin (观音). Recurs Isaiah 54:8,10; 55:3; 63:7. Escalate to theologian review at every occurrence; teachers must explicitly name and reject the 慈悲 association.
Messiah Self Anointing
Approved rendering: 用膏膏我 / 我受膏
Transliteration: yòng gāo gāo wǒ / wǒ shòu gāo
Doctrine: Spirit-Anointed Messianic Mission
Original: מְשָׁחַנִי
Category: Christology
Isaiah 61:1, quoted by Jesus of himself, Luke 4:18-19. Must be distinguished from, yet linked to, Cyrus’s generic 受膏者 (ch. 45, cyrus_anointed) even while sharing the same Hebrew root; here the verb directly grounds Jesus’s own Messianic self-understanding.
Bear Carry Substitution
Approved rendering: 担当
Transliteration: dāndāng
Doctrine: The Suffering Servant and Substitutionary Atonement
Rejected alternatives: 同情, 分担
Original: נָשָׂא
Category: Salvation
CRITICAL: the key substitutionary verb (nasa), recurring Isaiah 53:4, 11, 12. The OT root of substitutionary atonement doctrine. Must render consistently as 担当 across every occurrence; never softened to ‘sympathized with’ (同情) or ‘shared in’ (分担). Mandatory theologian review at every occurrence.
Stricken Smitten By God
Approved rendering: 被神击打
Transliteration: bèi Shén jī dǎ
Doctrine: Imputation of Guilt to the Servant
Original: נָגוּעַ / מֻכֵּה אֱלֹהִים
Category: Salvation
CRITICAL: Isaiah 53:4. This is the onlookers’ MISTAKEN assumption that the Servant’s suffering was divine punishment for his own sin, corrected in v.5. Without this note, Mandarin readers steeped in a retribution (报应) worldview may read this as confirming the Servant deserved his suffering.
Pierced
Approved rendering: 刺
Transliteration: cì
Doctrine: The Suffering Servant and Substitutionary Atonement
Original: מְחֹלָל
Category: Salvation
Isaiah 53:5 (mecholal), a specific, concrete verb of violent wounding with a sense of desecration; foreshadows the crucifixion’s piercing. Must not be abstracted into generic ‘hurt.‘
Penal Punishment
Approved rendering: 刑罚
Transliteration: xíngfá
Doctrine: The Suffering Servant and Substitutionary Atonement
Rejected alternatives: 苦难
Original: מוּסָר
Category: Salvation
CRITICAL: Isaiah 53:5 (musar), the judicial chastisement securing peace for others — explicit penal-substitutionary language. Must retain the judicial/penal sense; softening to ‘hardship’ (苦难) would erase the doctrine of penal substitution.
Laid On Him Imputation
Approved rendering: 归在他身上
Transliteration: guī zài tā shēnshang
Doctrine: Imputation of Guilt to the Servant
Original: הִפְגִּיעַ
Category: Salvation
CRITICAL: Isaiah 53:6 (hifgia), the single clearest OT statement of imputation — God as active agent transferring the guilt of ‘us all’ onto the Servant. The structural mirror of baseline 算为义. Forms a deliberate literary echo with the same root’s use in v.12 for intercession (yafgia); requires theologian review and a cross-reference note every occurrence.
Lamb Of Sacrifice
Approved rendering: 羊羔
Transliteration: yánggāo
Doctrine: The Guilt Offering and Sacrificial Fulfillment
Original: שֶׂה / כְּרָחֵל
Category: Salvation
CRITICAL: Isaiah 53:7 (seh/kerachel), sacrificial/slaughter-bound livestock imagery preparing the NT identification of Jesus as ‘the Lamb of God’ (John 1:29). Must retain the sacrificial connotation; distinguish clearly from generic livestock vocabulary with no sacrificial weight.
Lords Good Pleasure
Approved rendering: 耶和华的旨意/喜悦
Transliteration: Yēhéhuá de zhǐyì / xǐyuè
Doctrine: The Voluntary and Purposive Suffering of the Servant
CRITICAL: Isaiah 53:10 (chafets), ‘it pleased the LORD to crush him.’ Requires careful theologian-level framing to avoid either portraying God as arbitrarily cruel, or collapsing into impersonal fate (天意); this is the Father’s purposive redemptive will, not cruelty for its own sake.
To Crush Him Dakko
Approved rendering: 压碎
Transliteration: yā suì
Doctrine: The Voluntary and Purposive Suffering of the Servant
CRITICAL: Isaiah 53:10 (dakko), same root as v.5’s 压伤 (crushed), with God now named the direct agent — intensifies the doctrine that the cross was, from the divine side, a deliberate, purposive act of the Father.
Guilt Offering
Approved rendering: 赎罪祭
Transliteration: shúzuì jì
Doctrine: The Guilt Offering and Sacrificial Fulfillment
Rejected alternatives: 回向式赎罪
Original: אָשָׁם
Category: Salvation
CRITICAL: Isaiah 53:10 (asham), the specific Levitical guilt/reparation offering (Leviticus 5, 7); the theological center of the whole passage. NEVER render suggesting Buddhist merit-transfer (回向). The everyday idiom 替罪羊 (‘scapegoat’) has drifted from this concept to mean merely ‘someone unfairly blamed’; teachers must explicitly restore the technical, cultic, atoning meaning. Escalate to theologian review at every occurrence.
Righteous Servant
Approved rendering: 我的义仆
Transliteration: wǒ de yì pú
Doctrine: Justification Through the Servant’s Knowledge and Work
Original: עַבְדִּי צַדִּיק
Category: Christology
CRITICAL: Isaiah 53:11 (avdi tsaddiq), God’s own designation of the Servant’s righteousness. Must carry the baseline’s mandatory Confucian-virtue-distinguishing note on 义 whenever used in this justification context.
Poured Out His Soul To Death
Approved rendering: 将命倾倒,以致于死
Transliteration: jiāng mìng qīngdào, yǐzhìyú sǐ
Doctrine: The Voluntary and Purposive Suffering of the Servant
Original: הֶעֱרָה לַמָּוֶת נַפְשׁוֹ
Category: Christology
CRITICAL: Isaiah 53:12 (he’erah lammavet nafsho); emphasizes the voluntary, complete self-emptying nature of the Servant’s death — not an accident or defeat imposed against his will, but a willing self-offering essential to a valid, genuine sacrifice.
Bore The Sin Of Many
Approved rendering: 担当多人的罪
Transliteration: dāndāng duōrén de zuì
Doctrine: The Suffering Servant and Substitutionary Atonement
CRITICAL: Isaiah 53:12 (chet rabbim nasa), closing the substitution theme with the most direct term for ‘sin’ (חֵטְא, close kin to baseline 罪), tying the whole chapter’s guilt-bearing language directly to the baseline’s central sin term. Must use 担当, consistent with bear_carry_substitution.
High Risk Terms
Faith
Approved rendering: 信心
Transliteration: xìnxīn
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: 虔诚, 迷信, 信仰
Personal trust placed in Christ specifically. [Inherited from Romans package.] Isaiah’s OT trust vocabulary (בָּטַח, batach, rendered 倚靠) is conceptually related but lexically distinct; teach the continuity without asserting lexical identity.
Called
Approved rendering: 蒙召的
Transliteration: méngzhào de
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: 受命于天, 天命所归
Original: קָרָא
Category: Salvation
NEVER 天命所归. Personal, relational summons. [Inherited from Romans package.] Isaiah’s own commissioning (6:8) and God’s naming of the Servant, Cyrus, and Israel (41:9; 42:6; 45:3-4) extend this doctrine with unusually high density (chs. 41-49), raising cumulative exposure to a 天命-style misreading.
Calling
Approved rendering: 呼召
Transliteration: hūzhào
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: 天命, 命运
NEVER 天命 alone. [Inherited from Romans package.] Reinforced across Isaiah’s calling-dense chapters 41-49; see also the new term commissioning_sending (差遣) for the verbal-commissioning sense of Isaiah 6:8.
Holy
Approved rendering: 圣洁
Transliteration: shèngjié
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: 清净, 圣人般的
Original: קָדוֹשׁ
Category: Holiness
Set apart for God, morally pure. Avoid 清净 (Daoist/Buddhist ritual purity). [Inherited from Romans package.] Distinct from the exclamatory Trisagion doxology (圣哉!圣哉!圣哉!, a new Isaiah term) used in Isaiah 6:3; also used of the Highway of Holiness (35:8, 圣洁之路).
Saints
Approved rendering: 圣徒
Transliteration: shèngtú
Doctrine: Sainthood
Rejected alternatives: 圣人, 高僧
Original: קְדוֹשִׁים (implied)
Category: Church
NEVER 圣人 (Confucian sage, e.g. Confucius as 至圣). [Inherited from Romans package.] Applies corporately to Isaiah’s redeemed, restored remnant/people (chs. 54, 60-62).
Adoption
Approved rendering: 儿子的名分
Transliteration: érzi de míngfèn
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: 过继, 收养
Full relational sonship and inheritance, not instrumental heir-transfer (过继). [Inherited from Romans package.] Isaiah 63:16 and 64:8’s ‘you are our Father’ reinforce this relational sonship imagery.
Law
Approved rendering: 律法
Transliteration: lǜfǎ
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: 礼, 道德规范, 法律
Original: תּוֹרָה
Category: Covenant
NEVER equate with 礼 (Confucian ritual propriety) or 法律 (secular law). [Inherited from Romans package.] Isaiah 2:3; 8:20; 42:4,21; 51:4.
Sin
Approved rendering: 罪
Transliteration: zuì
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: 报应, 罪犯式的罪
Original: חֵטְא
Category: Sin
Distinguish from 报应 (karmic retribution). [Inherited from Romans package.] Isaiah pairs this general term with two distinct near-synonyms, 罪孽 (iniquity, avon) and 过犯 (transgression, pesha) — see new term entries — for rhetorical intensification in chapters 1 and 53; teach as a stacked triad, not redundant synonymy.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: 神的大能
Transliteration: Shén de dà néng
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Rejected alternatives: 气, 法力
Original: כֹּחַ / עֹז
Category: God
NEVER 气 or 法力. [Inherited from Romans package.] Isaiah 40:10,26,29; also the metaphorical ‘arm of the LORD’ (耶和华的膀臂, new term, Isaiah 53:1) is a related anthropomorphic power-image.
Covenant
Approved rendering: 约
Transliteration: yuē
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: 合同, 契约
Original: בְּרִית
Category: Covenant
Avoid 合同/契约 (commercial contract). [Inherited from Romans package.] Isaiah 24:5; 54:10; 55:3; 59:21; 61:8.
Election
Approved rendering: 拣选
Transliteration: jiǎnxuǎn
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: 天命, 命运, 缘分
Original: בָּחַר
Category: Salvation
NEVER 天命/命运/缘分. [Inherited from Romans package.] Isaiah 41:8-9; 42:1; 43:10,20; 44:1-2; 45:4, God’s personal choice of the Servant and Israel.
Providence
Approved rendering: 神的护理
Transliteration: Shén de hùlǐ
Doctrine: Providence
Rejected alternatives: 天意, 命运
Original: (declaring the end from the beginning, 46:9-11; potter/clay, 64:8)
Category: God
NEVER 天意 alone. [Inherited from Romans package.] Isaiah 46:9-11 (‘declaring the end from the beginning’) and the new term potter_and_clay (窑匠与泥, Isaiah 64:8) extend this doctrine.
Father
Approved rendering: 父
Transliteration: fù
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: 祖先, 老天爷
Original: אָב
Category: God
Distinguish from ancestor veneration (祭祖). [Inherited from Romans package.] Isaiah 63:16; 64:8, ‘you are our Father’; also required as a modalism-guarding contrast for the new term everlasting_father (永在的父, Isaiah 9:6), which describes the Messiah’s eternal fatherly character, not identity with this first Trinitarian Person.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: 大卫的后裔
Transliteration: Dàwèi de hòuyì
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: שֹׁרֶשׁ יִשַׁי / שֹׁרֶשׁ (as lineage image)
Category: Covenant
Conveys physical lineage and OT covenant fulfillment. [Inherited from Romans package.] Isaiah 11:1,10 (Root/Branch imagery) and 55:3; must be taught together with the new terms messianic_branch and root_of_jesse.
Messianic Branch
Approved rendering: 苗 / 枝子 / 根
Transliteration: miáo / zhīzi / gēn
Doctrine: The Messianic Branch and Davidic Lineage
Rejected alternatives: 化身
Original: צֶמַח יהוה / נֵצֶר / שֹׁרֶשׁ
Category: Christology
Unified Messianic Branch/Root/Sprout motif spanning Isaiah 4:2, 11:1, and 53:2. NEVER 化身 (bodhisattva manifestation — implies a temporary, repeatable divine appearance rather than a genuine, permanent lineage fulfillment). Teach as one motif together with 大卫的后裔.
Wonderful Counselor
Approved rendering: 奇妙策士
Transliteration: qímiào cèshì
Doctrine: Deity of Christ in the Messianic Throne-Names
Rejected alternatives: 大军师
Original: פֶּלֶא יוֹעֵץ
Category: Christology
First of the four throne-names, Isaiah 9:6. Rejected 大军师 (military strategist) as too narrowly martial/political for the Messiah’s supernatural, comprehensive wisdom.
Root Of Jesse
Approved rendering: 耶西的根
Transliteration: Yēxī de gēn
Doctrine: The Messianic Branch and Davidic Lineage
Original: שֹׁרֶשׁ יִשָׁי
Category: Christology
Isaiah 11:1,10, quoted Romans 15:12. Must render consistently with 大卫的后裔 for cross-testament recognition when Paul’s citation is taught.
Swallow Up Death
Approved rendering: 吞灭死亡
Transliteration: tūnmiè sǐwáng
Doctrine: Resurrection Hope in the Servant and in Israel
Rejected alternatives: 涅槃
Original: בִּלַּע הַמָּוֶת
Category: Eschatology
Isaiah 25:8, precursor to 1 Corinthians 15:54. NEVER 涅槃 (Buddhist nirvana/cessation of suffering) — a categorically different concept; retain the concrete victorious ‘swallowing/abolishing’ image tied to bodily resurrection.
Leviathan
Approved rendering: 利维坦
Transliteration: Lìwéitǎn
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over the Nations
Rejected alternatives: 龙
Original: לִוְיָתָן
Category: Sovereignty of God
Isaiah 27:1. MUST NOT be rendered 龙 (dragon) — an auspicious, imperial Chinese symbol, the near-opposite connotation of a judged chaos-monster. Transliteration mandatory.
Precious Cornerstone
Approved rendering: 房角石 / 基石
Transliteration: fángjiǎoshí / jīshí
Doctrine: The Cornerstone and the Stumbling Stone
Original: פִּנַּת יִקְרַת
Category: Christology
Isaiah 28:16, quoted Romans 9:33; 1 Peter 2:6. Must be distinguished from Chinese fengshui (风水) cornerstone-laying rituals for good fortune in construction; secures salvation through faith, not geomantic luck.
Word Of God Endures
Approved rendering: 神的话永远长存
Transliteration: Shén de huà yǒngyuǎn chángcún
Doctrine: Inspiration and Permanence of God’s Word
Original: דְּבַר־אֱלֹהֵינוּ יָקוּם לְעוֹלָם
Category: Prophecy
Isaiah 40:8, quoted 1 Peter 1:24-25. Must be distinguished from the Chinese classical canon (经, jīng), authoritative as sage-wisdom, rather than as the direct, verbal communication of a personal God through human authors.
Servant Of The Lord
Approved rendering: 耶和华的仆人
Transliteration: Yēhéhuá de púrén
Doctrine: Servant of the LORD — Corporate and Individual
Rejected alternatives: 大师, 宗师
Original: עֶבֶד יהוה
Category: Christology
First applied corporately to Israel/Jacob (41:8-9), then increasingly to an individual figure culminating in the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53). AMBIGUITY NOTE: the corporate/individual referent shift is a genuine, historically debated interpretive question; flag every occurrence rather than silently resolving. NEVER 大师/宗师 (guru/master-lineage connotation).
Light To The Nations
Approved rendering: 万国的光 / 外邦人的光
Transliteration: wànguó de guāng / wàibāngrén de guāng
Doctrine: Salvation Extended to the Nations
Original: אוֹר גּוֹיִם
Category: Nations
Isaiah 42:6; 49:6, quoted Luke 2:32; Acts 13:47. Must be read together with baseline 外邦人.
Good News Tidings
Approved rendering: 报好信(与福音对应)
Transliteration: bào hǎoxìn
Doctrine: The Gospel Proclamation Rooted in Isaiah
Original: בְּשׂוֹרָה / מְבַשֵּׂר
Category: Nations
Isaiah 52:7, quoted Romans 10:15 using gospel vocabulary. Must render so as to visibly correspond to baseline 福音, not read as an unrelated generic ‘news’ term; flag for native speaker review whenever taught alongside Romans 10:15.
House Of Prayer For All Nations
Approved rendering: 万民祷告的殿
Transliteration: wànmín dǎogào de diàn
Doctrine: Salvation Extended to the Nations
Original: בֵּית־תְּפִלָּה לְכָל־הָעַמִּים
Category: Nations
Isaiah 56:7, quoted Mark 11:17. Direct textual foundation for Salvation Extended to the Nations and the baseline’s Universal Scope of the Gospel doctrine.
Lords Favor Acceptable Year
Approved rendering: 耶和华的恩年
Transliteration: Yēhéhuá de ēnnián
Doctrine: Grace and God’s Free Favor (chen/chesed)
Original: שְׁנַת־רָצוֹן לַיהוה
Category: Nations
Isaiah 61:2, echoing the Jubilee-year release. Grace-doctrine reinforcement in temporal, proclaimed form: release from debt-bondage/captivity as a picture of salvation received freely, not earned.
New Heavens And New Earth
Approved rendering: 新天新地
Transliteration: xīn tiān xīn dì
Doctrine: The New Heavens and New Earth
Rejected alternatives: 新一劫
Original: שָׁמַיִם חֲדָשִׁים וָאָרֶץ חֲדָשָׁה
Category: Eschatology
Isaiah 65:17; 66:22, quoted 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1. Rejected 新一劫 (‘a new kalpa/cosmic age’), which would suggest a recurring Buddhist/Daoist cosmic cycle (劫); the biblical hope is single, final, non-cyclical.
Unquenchable Fire
Approved rendering: 永不熄灭的火
Transliteration: yǒng bù xímiè de huǒ
Doctrine: The New Heavens and New Earth
Rejected alternatives: 地狱之火(暗示轮回)
Original: אֵשׁ לֹא תִכְבֶּה
Category: Eschatology
Isaiah 66:24, quoted Mark 9:48. Rejected any framing suggesting the temporary, karmically-exitable Buddhist hell-realms (地狱), from which a being may eventually be reborn out; biblical judgment here is final and unending.
Idols
Approved rendering: 偶像
Transliteration: ǒuxiàng
Doctrine: Judgment on Israel’s Idolatry and Injustice
Original: פְּסִילִים / עֲצַבִּים
Category: Judgment
Man-made cultic images worshiped as or representing deities (chs. 2, 40-48). Central to Isaiah’s idol polemic. Distinguish sharply from ancestor-veneration tablets (祖先牌位), which the polemic does not directly address; the doctrine targets image-worship as rivalry to God, not filial ancestor-honoring practice generally.
Rebellion
Approved rendering: 悖逆
Transliteration: bèinì
Doctrine: Judgment on Israel’s Idolatry and Injustice
Original: פֶּשַׁע / מָרוֹד
Category: Judgment
Isaiah 1’s opening charge; willful covenant-breaking rebellion against a rightful, personal sovereign, not merely political insubordination.
Justice Social
Approved rendering: 公义
Transliteration: gōngyì
Doctrine: Judgment on Israel’s Idolatry and Injustice
Original: מִשְׁפָּט / צְדָקָה
Category: Judgment
The mishpat-tsedaqah pairing (Isaiah 1:17,21,27; 5:7,16), the social-ethical outworking of God’s own righteous character. Distinct from, but related to, the forensic baseline term 义 (righteousness) — teach the relationship, not identity; also distinguish from 礼 (Confucian ritual propriety/social conformity).
Davidic Covenant Lovingkindness
Approved rendering: 大卫那可靠的慈爱
Transliteration: Dàwèi nà kěkào de cí’ài
Doctrine: The Davidic Covenant
Original: חַסְדֵי דָוִד הַנֶּאֱמָנִים
Category: Covenant
Isaiah 55:3, ‘the sure mercies/steadfast love of David,’ quoted Acts 13:34; uses the chesed root (see chesed_steadfast_love). No Chinese dynastic analogue exists to an unconditional, perpetual royal promise; Mandate of Heaven is revocable, this covenant is not.
Commissioning Sending
Approved rendering: 差遣
Transliteration: chāiqiǎn
Doctrine: Divine Calling and Commissioning
Rejected alternatives: 天命
Isaiah 6:8, ‘Here am I, send me.’ Ties directly to baseline 呼召; must be taught as a personal, relational summons to a specific prophetic task, never an impersonal cosmic mandate (天命).
Report Message
Approved rendering: 所传的(信息)
Transliteration: suǒ chuán de (xìnxī)
Doctrine: The Suffering Servant and Substitutionary Atonement
Original: שְׁמֻעָה
Category: Faith
Isaiah 53:1, ‘Who has believed our report?’ Must connect lexically to baseline 信心 so learners see Romans 10:16’s quotation of this verse as continuous with Isaiah; the Servant’s message must be believed, not merely observed.
Root Shoresh
Approved rendering: 根
Transliteration: gēn
Doctrine: The Messianic Branch and Davidic Lineage
Isaiah 53:2, echoing 11:1’s ‘root of Jesse’; the Servant’s lowly, unpromising origin belies his royal Davidic lineage. Must be taught alongside 大卫的后裔, not as a standalone botanical image.
Despised
Approved rendering: 被藐视
Transliteration: bèi miǎoshì
Doctrine: The Suffering Servant and Substitutionary Atonement
Isaiah 53:3. Direct antonym of 荣耀 (glory) — the Servant bears dishonor properly belonging to sinners, in their place.
Man Of Sorrows
Approved rendering: 多受痛苦的人
Transliteration: duō shòu tòngkǔ de rén
Doctrine: The Suffering Servant and Substitutionary Atonement
Original: אִישׁ מַכְאֹבוֹת
Category: Christology
Isaiah 53:3, the doctrinal title-summary of the whole Servant Song; the Servant’s identity is defined by sorrow as a title, not incidental description. Must never be flattened to ‘a sad man.‘
Carried As Burden
Approved rendering: 背负
Transliteration: bēifù
Doctrine: The Suffering Servant and Substitutionary Atonement
Original: סָבַל
Category: Salvation
Isaiah 53:4, 11 (sabal), a distinct Hebrew verb from nasa (担当), reinforcing the physical/existential weight the Servant takes on for others. Pair consistently with 担当 to show two distinct verbs both pointing at substitution, not redundancy.
Crushed
Approved rendering: 压伤
Transliteration: yā shāng
Doctrine: The Suffering Servant and Substitutionary Atonement
Original: מְדֻכָּא
Category: Salvation
Isaiah 53:5 (medukka), severe violent crushing, stronger than ‘bruised’; echoed in v.10’s ‘it pleased the LORD to crush him’ (see to_crush_him_dakko). Render consistently across both verses.
Stripes Wounds
Approved rendering: 鞭伤
Transliteration: biān shāng
Doctrine: The Suffering Servant and Substitutionary Atonement
Original: חֲבֻרָה
Category: Salvation
Isaiah 53:5 (chavurah), quoted 1 Peter 2:24; wounds that accomplish healing — a substitutionary exchange, not a magical energy transfer.
Gone Astray
Approved rendering: 走迷
Transliteration: zǒumí
Doctrine: Imputation of Guilt to the Servant
Isaiah 53:6 (ta’inu), ‘all we like sheep have gone astray.’ Must retain the corporate, universal ‘我们都’ scope; do not soften to an individual or optional lapse. Ties to baseline Universal Human Accountability doctrine.
Did Not Open His Mouth
Approved rendering: 不开口
Transliteration: bù kāi kǒu
Doctrine: The Voluntary and Purposive Suffering of the Servant
Isaiah 53:7, fulfilled in the Gospel trial narratives (Matthew 27:12-14) and quoted Acts 8:32-33. Silence here is volitional submission, a mark of righteous obedience, not weakness.
Judgment Mishpat 53 8
Approved rendering: 审判
Transliteration: shěnpàn
Doctrine: The Suffering Servant and Substitutionary Atonement
Isaiah 53:8 (‘by oppression and judgment he was taken away’); the Servant dies through an unjust legal process, historically fulfilled in Jesus’s trials. Distinguish from the new term justice_social (公义).
Cut Off
Approved rendering: 剪除
Transliteration: jiǎnchú
Doctrine: Resurrection Hope in the Servant and in Israel
Isaiah 53:8 (nigzar), decisive severance from ongoing life; must be taught together with v.10’s continuation of life (‘he shall see his offspring’) to prevent readers from missing the resurrection implication.
Violence Chamas
Approved rendering: 强暴
Transliteration: qiángbào
Doctrine: The Suffering Servant and Substitutionary Atonement
Isaiah 53:9 (chamas). Establishes the Servant’s total innocence, sharpening the substitution doctrine: he had no sin of his own to atone for.
Deceit Mirmah
Approved rendering: 诡诈
Transliteration: guǐzhà
Doctrine: The Suffering Servant and Substitutionary Atonement
Isaiah 53:9 (mirmah). Sinlessness extends to speech as well as action — a prerequisite for a valid, unblemished substitute.
Offspring Zera
Approved rendering: 后裔
Transliteration: hòuyì
Doctrine: Resurrection Hope in the Servant and in Israel
Isaiah 53:10 (zera); the Servant ‘sees his offspring’ following death — a resurrection implication (a dead man cannot see descendants unless he lives again), and a link to the spiritual ‘seed’ of all justified through him (cf. Galatians 3:29).
The Many
Approved rendering: 许多人
Transliteration: xǔduō rén
Doctrine: Justification Through the Servant’s Knowledge and Work
Original: רַבִּים
Category: Salvation
Isaiah 53:11-12 (rabbim), anticipating Romans 5:15-19. Requires a note distinguishing ‘many’ from a closed, ethnically or socially restricted class — inclusive but not automatically universal, consistent with Salvation Extended to the Nations.
Portion With The Great
Approved rendering: 使他与位大的同分
Transliteration: shǐ tā yǔ wèi dà de tóng fēn
Doctrine: The Voluntary and Purposive Suffering of the Servant
Isaiah 53:12. Post-resurrection exaltation and vindication of the Servant; anticipates the exaltation pattern of Philippians 2:9-11 — suffering followed by triumph and inheritance.
Numbered With Transgressors
Approved rendering: 被列在罪犯之中
Transliteration: bèi liè zài zuìfàn zhīzhōng
Doctrine: The Voluntary and Purposive Suffering of the Servant
Original: נִמְנָה עִם־פֹּשְׁעִים
Category: Christology
Isaiah 53:12 (nimnah im poshe’im), fulfilled literally in the crucifixion between two criminals (Luke 23:32-33); the sinless Servant is legally classified with sinners though he is not one.
Medium Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: 福音
Transliteration: fúyīn
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: 好消息, 喜讯
Established CUV term. Because 福 (fú, fortune/blessing) sits in the same semantic field as folk fortune-seeking language, teaching must make explicit that 福音 announces salvation through Christ, not an omen of luck. [Inherited from Romans package.] Isaiah 52:7’s besorah/good-tidings (报好信) must be taught as visibly corresponding to this term so Romans 10:15’s citation of Isaiah reads as continuous, not a novel idea.
Peace
Approved rendering: 平安
Transliteration: píng’ān
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: 安宁, 平安符式的平安
Original: שָׁלוֹם
Category: Salvation
Relational peace with God, not amulet-style good-fortune wishing. [Inherited from Romans package.] Isaiah 9:6’s Prince of Peace (和平的君, new term) and Isaiah 53:5’s ‘the punishment that brought us peace’ both ground the Messianic king’s reign and the Servant’s atonement in this same term.
Spiritual Gifts
Approved rendering: 属灵恩赐
Transliteration: shǔlíng ēncì
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts
Rejected alternatives: 法力, 神通
Original: (the Spirit’s sevenfold endowment of the Messiah, 11:2)
Category: Church
NEVER 神通 or 法力. [Inherited from Romans package.] Conceptually present in the Spirit’s sevenfold endowment of the Messiah (Isaiah 11:2).
Church
Approved rendering: 教会
Transliteration: jiàohuì
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: 庙, 寺, 道观
NEVER 庙, 寺, or 道观. [Inherited from Romans package.] Conceptually anticipated in the restored, gathered, worshiping community of Isaiah 60-66.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: 神的国
Transliteration: Shén de guó
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Rejected alternatives: 天下, 王朝
Original: (implied in the righteous king’s reign, chs. 9, 11, 32)
Category: Kingdom
Avoid 天下 and 王朝. [Inherited from Romans package.] Implied in the righteous king’s reign (Isaiah 9, 11, 32) and God’s universal sovereign rule.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: 外邦人
Transliteration: wàibāngrén
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: 夷人, 外国人
NEVER 夷人 (Hua-Yi barbarian/civilized hierarchy). [Inherited from Romans package.] Isaiah 11:10; 42:1,6; 49:6,22; 60:3; 66:19-20; must be read together with the new term light_to_the_nations (万国的光).
Glory
Approved rendering: 荣耀
Transliteration: róngyào
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 面子, 光宗耀祖
Original: כָּבוֹד
Category: God
Avoid 面子 and 光宗耀祖. [Inherited from Romans package.] Isaiah 6:3 (adjacent to the Trisagion), 40:5, 60:1-2, 66:18-19.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: 预言
Transliteration: yùyán
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: 算卦, 占卜
Original: נְבוּאָה (implied; fulfillment formulas)
Category: Prophecy
Distinguish from 算卦/占卜 (I Ching-style divination). [Inherited from Romans package.] Isaiah 7:14; 9:6; 53 (entire).
Intercession
Approved rendering: 代求
Transliteration: dàiqiú
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Rejected alternatives: 求签, 问卜
Original: פָּגַע (הִפְגִּיעַ / יַפְגִּיעַ)
Category: Faith
Distinguish from 求签/问卜. [Inherited from Romans package.] Isaiah 53:12’s ‘makes intercession for the transgressors’ is accomplished through the Servant’s sacrificial death — a distinct but related sense from ordinary prayer-intercession (59:16), and forms a deliberate wordplay with the same Hebrew root used in 53:6 for guilt being laid on him.
Mission
Approved rendering: 宣教
Transliteration: xuānjiào
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
Rejected alternatives: 洋教传播
Original: (implicit in Light-to-the-Nations texts, 42:6; 49:6)
Category: Nations
Avoid the 洋教 foreign-religion stigma framing. [Inherited from Romans package.] Implicit in Isaiah’s Light-to-the-Nations texts (42:6; 49:6, see new term light_to_the_nations).
Israel
Approved rendering: 以色列
Transliteration: Yǐsèliè
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Original: יִשְׂרָאֵל
Category: Covenant
Proper name; CUV established form. [Inherited from Romans package.] Addressed throughout Isaiah, including as the corporate sense of ‘Servant of the LORD’ (41:8-9).
Remnant
Approved rendering: 余民
Transliteration: yúmín
Doctrine: Comfort and Restoration for God’s People
Rejected alternatives: 幸存者
Original: שְׁאָר / פְּלֵיטָה
Category: Comfort and Restoration
Isaiah 10:20-22. Rejected 幸存者 (‘survivor’) as too generic, losing the covenant-faithfulness sense; teach as a sign of covenant faithfulness preserved through judgment, not chance survival.
Fear Of The Lord
Approved rendering: 敬畏耶和华
Transliteration: jìngwèi Yēhéhuá
Doctrine: Fear of the LORD as Covenant Reverence
Rejected alternatives: 怕神
Original: יִרְאַת יהוה
Category: Sanctification
Isaiah 11:2-3; 33:6. Rejected 怕神 (suggests dread). Distinguish from superstitious fear of ghosts/spirits (怕鬼); this is reverent covenant awe toward the one true God.
Day Star Son Of Dawn
Approved rendering: 明星
Transliteration: míngxīng
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over the Nations
Rejected alternatives: 撒但
Original: הֵילֵל בֶּן־שָׁחַר
Category: Sovereignty of God
Isaiah 14:12, primarily an anti-Babylon royal taunt. The later Christian interpretive identification with Satan’s fall must be flagged as a secondary interpretive extension, not the primary sense; never render directly as 撒但. Caution against reinforcing folk astrological readings of stars as fate-bearing.
Stone Of Stumbling
Approved rendering: 绊脚的石头
Transliteration: bàn jiǎo de shítou
Doctrine: The Cornerstone and the Stumbling Stone
Original: לְאֶבֶן נֶגֶף
Category: Christology
Isaiah 8:14, quoted Romans 9:33; 1 Peter 2:8. The negative-judgment counterpart to the Cornerstone image: the same divine reality is either foundation or stumbling-block depending on the hearer’s response; retain this dual-outcome force.
Trust Rely On
Approved rendering: 倚靠
Transliteration: yǐkào
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: 信仰
Original: בָּטַח
Category: Faith
Isaiah 30:12; 31:1, covenant vocabulary for trusting the LORD vs. Egypt/idols. Rejected 信仰 (too broad/systemic). Conceptually related to, but lexically distinct from, the baseline NT term 信心; introduce with a note explaining the OT/NT lexical difference.
Highway Of Holiness
Approved rendering: 圣洁之路
Transliteration: shèngjié zhī lù
Doctrine: Comfort and Restoration for God’s People
Original: מַסְלוּל / דֶּרֶךְ הַקֹּדֶשׁ
Category: Comfort and Restoration
Isaiah 35:8. Combines the Comfort/Restoration doctrine with the Holiness doctrine of chapter 6 — a road only ‘the redeemed’ may walk, not a route earned by ritual merit.
The Living God
Approved rendering: 活神 / 永生的神
Transliteration: huó Shén / yǒngshēng de Shén
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over the Nations
Original: אֱלֹהִים חַיִּים
Category: God
Isaiah 37:4,17. Idol/living-God contrast foundational to chapters 40-48: an inert idol cannot rescue, but the living God can and does.
Comfort
Approved rendering: 安慰
Transliteration: ānwèi
Doctrine: Comfort and Restoration for God’s People
Rejected alternatives: 自我安慰
Original: נָחַם
Category: Comfort and Restoration
Isaiah 40:1, anchor term for the whole comfort section (chs. 40-55). Rejected 自我安慰 (too self-directed/stoic); this is personal, relational consolation from God himself, not stoic self-soothing or fatalistic resignation.
Voice Crying In Wilderness
Approved rendering: 预备道路的呼声
Transliteration: yùbèi dàolù de hūshēng
Doctrine: Comfort and Restoration for God’s People
Original: קוֹל קוֹרֵא בַּמִּדְבָּר
Category: Comfort and Restoration
Isaiah 40:3, quoted Matthew 3:3 of John the Baptist. Prepares the way for both the return from exile and, typologically, the Messiah’s coming.
Maker Is Husband
Approved rendering: 你的丈夫(即造你的主)
Transliteration: nǐ de zhàngfu (jí zào nǐ de zhǔ)
Doctrine: Comfort and Restoration for God’s People
Original: בֹּעֲלַיִךְ עֹשַׂיִךְ
Category: Comfort and Restoration
Isaiah 54:5, covenant-marriage metaphor. Must be taught as relational covenant-fidelity, distinguished from any syncretistic ‘sacred marriage’ fertility-cult association or the instrumental logic of arranged marriage.
Sabbath
Approved rendering: 安息日
Transliteration: ānxírì
Doctrine: Salvation Extended to the Nations
Rejected alternatives: 斋戒日
Original: שַׁבָּת
Category: Covenant
Isaiah 56:2-6; 58:13. Rejected 斋戒日 (suggests a merit-earning ritual fast day); this is a covenant sign of relationship extended to foreigners, not a merit-earning observance.
True Fasting
Approved rendering: 禁食
Transliteration: jìnshí
Doctrine: True Worship Versus Ritual Without Justice
Rejected alternatives: 斋戒
Original: צוֹם
Category: Judgment
Isaiah 58:3-6. Rejected 斋戒 (Buddhist/Daoist merit-ritual connotation); biblical fasting flows from and expresses covenant relationship, not merit accumulation (功德); reinforces the Critical Grace doctrine.
Day Of Vengeance
Approved rendering: 报仇的日子
Transliteration: bàochóu de rìzi
Doctrine: The Day of the LORD
Original: יוֹם נָקָם
Category: Sovereignty of God
Isaiah 63:4, paired with redemption (‘the year of my redeemed has come’); God’s justice and salvation are two sides of the same climactic act, not unrelated events, and must not be presented as capricious vengeance.
Potter And Clay
Approved rendering: 窑匠与泥 / 陶匠与泥
Transliteration: yáojiàng yǔ ní / táojiàng yǔ ní
Doctrine: God’s Providence over His People (Potter and Clay)
Rejected alternatives: 命运的泥团
Original: יֹצְרֵנוּ / חֹמֶר
Category: God
Isaiah 64:8. Must retain the personal, purposive shaping relationship, never collapsing into the impersonal fatalistic image of being molded by fate (命运), already a forbidden substitution under related baseline terms.
All Flesh Shall Worship
Approved rendering: 凡有血气的都来敬拜
Transliteration: fán yǒu xuèqì de dōu lái jìngbài
Doctrine: Salvation Extended to the Nations
Original: כׇּל־בָּשָׂר… יִשְׁתַּחֲוּוּ
Category: Nations
Isaiah 66:23, closing universal-worship statement; retain unqualified universality — the book that opened with Israel’s indictment (ch. 1) closes with all humanity gathered in worship.
Latter Days
Approved rendering: 末后的日子
Transliteration: mòhòu de rìzi
Doctrine: The New Heavens and New Earth
Original: בְּאַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים
Category: Eschatology
Isaiah 2:2, establishing an eschatological horizon feeding into the New Heavens and New Earth doctrine; a purposive, personal-God-directed future, not an impersonal fatalistic endpoint.
Day Of The Lord
Approved rendering: 耶和华的日子
Transliteration: Yēhéhuá de rìzi
Doctrine: The Day of the LORD
Original: יוֹם יהוה
Category: Sovereignty of God
Isaiah 2:12; 13:6,9; 34:8. Must be distinguished from Chinese astrological ‘auspicious day’ selection culture (黄道吉日); a personal, sovereign act of God’s judgment/salvation, not a fortuitous calendar date.
Iniquity Taken Away
Approved rendering: 罪孽苏解 / 罪孽除掉
Transliteration: zuìniè sūjiě / zuìniè chúdiào
Doctrine: Purification Before Divine Service
Isaiah 6:7, the burning coal removing Isaiah’s guilt-weight — a picture of purification preceding commissioning, ties forward to the guilt/iniquity vocabulary of Isaiah 53.
Arm Of The Lord
Approved rendering: 耶和华的膀臂
Transliteration: Yēhéhuá de bǎngbì
Doctrine: The Suffering Servant and Substitutionary Atonement
Original: זְרוֹעַ יהוה
Category: God
Isaiah 53:1; also 51:9; 59:16. Anthropomorphic idiom for God’s active saving power, tied directly to baseline 神的大能; teach as a power-metaphor, distinguished from literal-armed idol statues mocked elsewhere in Isaiah (44:12-17).
No Beauty Or Majesty
Approved rendering: 佳形美容
Transliteration: jiā xíng měi róng
Doctrine: The Suffering Servant and Substitutionary Atonement
Isaiah 53:2 (‘no beauty that we should desire him’). Must not be softened into mere physical unattractiveness; a statement about the hiddenness of divine glory in humiliation, central to the Incarnation paradox.
Grief Choli
Approved rendering: 忧患
Transliteration: yōuhuàn
Doctrine: The Suffering Servant and Substitutionary Atonement
Isaiah 53:3, paired with ‘man of sorrows’ to intensify the totality of the Servant’s suffering; must not be rendered narrowly as literal physical illness only.
Healed Nirpa
Approved rendering: 医治
Transliteration: yīzhì
Doctrine: The Suffering Servant and Substitutionary Atonement
Isaiah 53:5 (nirpa), healing as the result of the Servant’s wounding, a substitutionary exchange. Must not be conflated with qì-based healing concepts (气, already forbidden under baseline power_of_god).
Slaughter Tevach
Approved rendering: 宰杀
Transliteration: zǎishā
Doctrine: The Guilt Offering and Sacrificial Fulfillment
Isaiah 53:7 (tevach); the Servant goes to a violent death as one destined for sacrifice, willingly.
Land Of The Living
Approved rendering: 活人之地
Transliteration: huórén zhī dì
Doctrine: The Suffering Servant and Substitutionary Atonement
Isaiah 53:8. The Servant genuinely, historically dies — essential to the doctrine of a real, bodily death preceding a real, bodily resurrection (复活).
Grave Qever
Approved rendering: 坟墓
Transliteration: fénmù
Doctrine: The Suffering Servant and Substitutionary Atonement
Isaiah 53:9. Historically fulfilled in Jesus’s burial in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb, matching ‘with the rich in his death.‘
Low Risk Terms
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: 感恩
Transliteration: gǎn’ēn
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Original: תּוֹדָה / הוֹדוֹת
Category: Faith
Standard term, low risk. [Inherited from Romans package.] Used of Hezekiah’s psalm, Isaiah 38:9-20.
Fellowship
Approved rendering: 团契
Transliteration: tuánqì
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: 交情, 结拜
Original: (implied in restored-community imagery)
Category: Church
Chinese Christian coinage; avoid 结拜 (sworn-brotherhood pact). [Inherited from Romans package.] Isaiah has no direct lexical equivalent; concept only, present in the restored-community imagery of chs. 54, 60-62.
Prophet
Approved rendering: 先知
Transliteration: xiānzhī
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: 算命先生
Original: נָבִיא
Category: Prophecy
Distinguish from 算命先生 (fortune-teller). [Inherited from Romans package.] Isaiah’s own prophetic office.
David
Approved rendering: 大卫
Transliteration: Dàwèi
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: דָּוִד
Category: Covenant
CUV standard proper name form. [Inherited from Romans package.] Isaiah 7:13; 9:7; 16:5; 22:22; 37:35; 38:5; 55:3.
Seraphim
Approved rendering: 撒拉弗
Transliteration: Sālāfú
Doctrine: The Holiness and Majesty of God
Rejected alternatives: 火龙, 凤凰
Original: שְׂרָפִים
Category: Holiness
Transliteration required. NEVER render with Chinese mythological dragon (龙) or phoenix (凤凰), both auspicious/imperial symbols with the opposite connotation of a holiness-declaring, self-covering heavenly being. Requires a brief functional gloss when introduced.
Watchman
Approved rendering: 守望者
Transliteration: shǒuwàngzhě
Doctrine: Comfort and Restoration for God’s People
Isaiah 62:6, intercessory vigilance for Zion’s restoration, later applied to the church’s ongoing intercessory calling.
Zion
Approved rendering: 锡安
Transliteration: Xīān
Doctrine: Comfort and Restoration for God’s People
Original: צִיּוֹן
Category: Covenant
Jerusalem’s temple mount, and by extension Jerusalem/God’s covenant city; the theological center running through Isaiah 1-66, God’s dwelling place and the seat of covenant promises.
Vineyard
Approved rendering: 葡萄园
Transliteration: pútáoyuán
Doctrine: Judgment on Israel’s Idolatry and Injustice
Original: כֶּרֶם
Category: Judgment
Isaiah 5, Israel as God’s carefully planted but fruitless vineyard; image reused by Jesus (Matthew 21:33-41).
Woe Oracle
Approved rendering: 祸哉
Transliteration: huò zāi
Doctrine: Judgment on Israel’s Idolatry and Injustice
Original: הוֹי
Category: Judgment
Formulaic funerary/prophetic lament cry introducing judgment oracles (chs. 5, 10, 28-33); standard prophetic form, low collision risk.
Key Of House Of David
Approved rendering: 大卫家的钥匙
Transliteration: Dàwèi jiā de yàoshi
Doctrine: The Davidic Covenant
Original: מַפְתֵּחַ בֵּית־דָּוִד
Category: Covenant
Isaiah 22:22, delegated administrative/royal authority over the Davidic household, later applied typologically to Christ (Revelation 3:7).
Cyrus
Approved rendering: 居鲁士
Transliteration: Jūlǔshì
Doctrine: God’s Sovereign Use of Pagan Rulers (Cyrus)
Standard CUV proper-name transliteration for the pagan Persian king named by God in advance (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1). No doctrinal risk itself beyond the anointed-title disambiguation covered under cyrus_anointed.
Referenced passages