Core Glossary
08 Core Glossary — Gospel of John (English–Mandarin)
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing theological term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, drawn from every chapter of John (1–21), including the core passage (John 3:1–21). Terms already established in the Romans baseline translation_memory.json are marked Baseline Reuse = Y and reused exactly with no modification; John-specific extensions or new nuances are noted but do not change the recorded Mandarin rendering. New terms introduced by John are marked Baseline Reuse = N and are proposed here for addition to translation memory ahead of Phase 2.
Risk tiers follow the baseline’s doctrine_risk_registry.json definitions:
- Critical — Human theologian review required for every occurrence.
- High — Human theologian review required.
- Medium — Native speaker review recommended.
- Low — Automated review sufficient.
Section 1 — Baseline Terms Reused Without Modification
| # | English Gloss | Greek | Mandarin | Transliteration | Risk | Doctrine Area | Key John Passages | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | God | θεός | 神 | Shén | Critical | Deity of Christ / God’s Love | 1:1,18; 3:16-18 | Reuse exactly; John 1:1 (“the Word was God,” θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος) is a Deity-of-Christ prooftext. |
| 2 | Jesus | Ἰησοῦς | 耶稣 | Yēsū | Critical | Lordship of Christ | throughout | Reuse exactly. |
| 3 | Lord | κύριος | 主 | zhǔ | Critical | Lordship of Christ | 20:28; 21:7 | Reuse exactly; climactic use at 20:28. |
| 4 | Son of God | υἱὸς θεοῦ | 神的儿子 | Shén de érzi | Critical | Deity/Sonship of Christ | 1:34,49; 3:18; 5:25; 10:36; 11:4,27; 20:31 | Reuse exactly; never abbreviate to 神人. |
| 5 | Holy Spirit | πνεῦμα ἅγιον | 圣灵 | Shènglíng | Critical | Holy Spirit as Counselor | 1:33; 3:5-8; 14:26; 20:22 | Reuse exactly; never 灵 alone or 祖灵. |
| 6 | Father | πατήρ | 父 | fù | High | Unity of Father and Son | 1:14,18; 3:35; 5:17-23; 10:30; 14:6-11; 17 | Reuse exactly. |
| 7 | Resurrection | ἀνάστασις | 复活 | fùhuó | Critical | Christ’s Death and Resurrection | 5:29; 11:25; ch. 20 | Reuse exactly; never 轮回/投胎/还魂. |
| 8 | Incarnation | ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο | 道成肉身 | dào chéng ròushēn | Critical | Deity and Pre-existence of Christ | 1:14 | Reuse exactly; John 1:14 is the direct source text for this baseline term. |
| 9 | Salvation | σωτηρία (σῴζω) | 救恩 (得救) | jiùēn (dé jiù) | Critical | Eternal Life through Faith | 3:17; 4:22,42; 5:34; 10:9; 12:47 | Reuse exactly; never 解脱/超度. |
| 10 | Faith / Believe | πίστις / πιστεύω | 信心 / 信 | xìnxīn / xìn | High | Eternal Life through Faith | 1:12; 3:15-18,36; 20:31 | Reuse exactly; John’s dominant form is the verb 信 (believe), object must be explicit. |
| 11 | Grace | χάρις | 恩典 | ēndiǎn | Critical | God’s Love / Eternal Life | 1:14,16-17 | Reuse exactly; never 功德/阴德/造化. |
| 12 | Righteousness | δικαιοσύνη | 义 | yì | Critical | Judgment / Holy Spirit’s conviction | 16:8,10 | Reuse exactly; flag Confucian-virtue collision per baseline note. |
| 13 | Law | νόμος | 律法 | lǜfǎ | High | Law/Grace contrast | 1:17,45; 7:19-23 | Reuse exactly; never 礼/法律. |
| 14 | Sin | ἁμαρτία | 罪 | zuì | High | Judgment and Belief/Unbelief | 1:29; 8:34; 9:41; 16:8-9 | Reuse exactly; never 报应-framed. |
| 15 | Glory | δόξα | 荣耀 | róngyào | Medium/High | Deity of Christ | 1:14; 2:11; 11:4; 12:23; 17:5 | Reuse exactly; ch. 17:5 is a Pre-existence prooftext. |
| 16 | Messiah / Christ | Χριστός / Μεσσίας | 基督 | Jīdū | Critical | Messianic Promise | 1:20,41; 4:25-26; 7:26-27,41-42; 20:31 | Reuse exactly; never conflate with 弥勒. |
| 17 | Kingdom of God | βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ | 神的国 | Shén de guó | Medium | New Birth; Kingdom Mission | 3:3,5; 18:36 | Reuse exactly; never 天下/王朝. |
| 18 | Israel | Ἰσραήλ | 以色列 | Yǐsèliè | Medium | Fulfillment of Prophecy | 1:31,47,49; 3:10; 12:13 | Reuse exactly. |
| 19 | David | Δαυίδ | 大卫 | Dàwèi | Low | Davidic/Messianic background | 7:42 | Reuse exactly. |
| 20 | Prophet | προφήτης | 先知 | xiānzhī | Low | Fulfillment of Prophecy | 1:21,23,45; 4:19; 6:14; 7:40; 9:17 | Reuse exactly. |
| 21 | Covenant (conceptual background) | διαθήκη (implied) | 约 | yuē | High | Davidic/Messianic background | (background to 1:14-18, 7:42) | Reuse exactly; used in teaching background material, not a frequent John lexeme itself. |
| 22 | Apostle / Sent one | ἀπόστολος (root ἀποστέλλω) | 使徒 (差/差遣 for the verb) | shǐtú (chāi/chāiqiǎn) | Low/Medium | Mission; Divine Calling | 13:16; cf. ἀποστέλλω 3:17; 20:21 | Noun 使徒 reused exactly for “apostle”; verb ἀποστέλλω rendered 差/差遣, consistent with the apostellō root shared by 使徒. |
| 23 | Election / Chosen | ἐκλέγομαι | 拣选 | jiǎnxuǎn | High | Effectual/Divine Calling | 6:70; 13:18; 15:16,19 | Reuse exactly; never 天命/命运/缘分. |
| 24 | Peace | εἰρήνη | 平安 | píng’ān | Medium | Peace with God | 14:27; 16:33; 20:19,21,26 | Reuse exactly; John explicitly contrasts Christ’s peace with the world’s (14:27). |
| 25 | Thanksgiving | εὐχαριστέω | 感恩 | gǎn’ēn | Low | (minor) | 6:11,23; 11:41 | Reuse exactly. |
| 26 | Gentiles / Greeks | Ἕλληνες | 外邦人 (or 希腊人 for ethnic Greeks specifically) | wàibāngrén / Xīlàrén | Medium | Unity of Jews and Gentiles | 7:35; 12:20 | Reuse 外邦人 for the general “nations” sense; use 希腊人 (transliteration) when the text specifies ethnic Greeks (12:20) rather than “Gentiles” generically — a distinction not required in Romans but relevant in John. |
| 27 | Adoption / Children of God | τέκνα θεοῦ (cf. υἱοθεσία) | 神的儿女 (cf. baseline 儿子的名分) | Shén de érnǚ | High | Adoption into God’s Family | 1:12-13; 11:52 | John’s own phrase τέκνα θεοῦ (“children of God”) is distinct in form from Paul’s υἱοθεσία but doctrinally continuous with baseline Adoption doctrine; render 神的儿女 for John’s phrase, retaining baseline 儿子的名分 for direct cross-reference to Romans 8. |
| 28 | Sanctification / Sanctify | ἁγιάζω | 成圣 | chéngshèng | Critical | Sanctification | 10:36; 17:17,19 | Reuse exactly; John 10:36 applies it uniquely to the Father’s setting-apart of the Son (distinct sense from 17:17’s sanctification of believers) — flag both occurrences with sense-specific notes. |
| 29 | Holy | ἅγιος | 圣洁 / (圣, in “Holy One”) | shèngjié | High | Sanctification | 6:69; 17:11 | Reuse exactly. |
Section 2 — New Terms Introduced by John (Proposed for Translation Memory)
| # | English Gloss | Greek | Mandarin | Transliteration | Risk | Doctrine Area | Key John Passages | Rejected Alternatives | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | The Word (Logos) | λόγος | 道 | dào | Critical | Deity and Pre-existence of Christ | 1:1-3,14 | 话语 (too weak — loses personal, pre-existent agent sense) | Shares the character already flagged Critical in baseline’s 道成肉身; every occurrence must clarify this is the personal, eternal, self-existent divine Word, never the impersonal Daoist cosmic principle. |
| 31 | Life | ζωή | 生命 | shēngmìng | High | Eternal Life through Faith | 1:4; 5:26; 6:33-58; 10:10; 11:25; 14:6 | 命 alone (too thin, denotes bare biological life/fate) | Base term for the 永生 (eternal life) compound; must retain God-given, qualitative sense distinct from mere biological existence (βίος). |
| 32 | Eternal life | ζωὴ αἰώνιος | 永生 | yǒngshēng | Critical | Eternal Life through Faith | 3:15-16,36; 4:14,36; 5:24; 6:27,40,47,54,68; 10:28; 12:25,50; 17:2-3 | 长生不老, 长生不死 (Daoist immortality-cultivation terms — forbidden) | Present, relational, qualitative life with God through faith in Christ; never physical-immortality achieved by technique/elixir/cultivation. |
| 33 | Light | φῶς | 光 / 光明 | guāng / guāngmíng | High | Judgment and Belief/Unbelief | 1:4-9; 3:19-21; 8:12; 9:5; 12:35-36,46 | none proposed (no viable single alternative) | Must be taught as moral-spiritual antithesis rooted in a personal God’s self-revelation, not the impersonal, complementary yin-yang (阴阳) cosmological pairing. |
| 34 | Darkness | σκοτία / σκότος | 黑暗 | hēi’àn | High | Judgment and Belief/Unbelief | 1:5; 3:19; 8:12; 12:35,46 | none proposed | Same yin-yang collision risk as 光; pair the two terms in any teaching note. |
| 35 | World (positive: object of love; negative: hostile order) | κόσμος | 世界 / 世人 | shìjiè / shìrén | High | God’s Love for the World | 1:9-10,29; 3:16-19; 12:31; 15:18-19; 16:33; 17:6-25 | 天下 (too politically/dynastically loaded) | Same Mandarin word must carry both positive and negative senses; requires contextual glossing at every occurrence. |
| 36 | Flesh | σάρξ | 肉身 / 肉体 | ròushēn / ròutǐ | Critical / Medium (context-dependent) | Incarnation; New Birth | 1:14; 3:6; 6:51-56 | none proposed — reuse baseline’s 肉身 from 道成肉身 | Positive sense (Christ’s real humanity, 1:14) vs. negative/limited sense (merely-human origin, 3:6) — same Mandarin word, opposite valence; flag each occurrence. |
| 37 | Only begotten / One-of-a-kind | μονογενής | 独生子 (with υἱός) / 独生 (adjectival) | dúshēngzǐ / dúshēng | Critical | Deity and Pre-existence of Christ | 1:14,18; 3:16,18 | 独一的子 (a possible alternative gloss, less collision-prone but non-standard in CUV tradition) | 独生子 collides with the modern one-child-policy social category (独生子女); mandatory translator’s note at every occurrence distinguishing the theological “unique Son” sense from the demographic “only child” sense. |
| 38 | Born again / Born from above | γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν | 重生 (margin: 从上头生) | chóngshēng (cóng shàngtou shēng) | Critical | The New Birth and Regeneration by the Spirit | 3:3,7; 1:13 (conceptually) | 转世 (forbidden — reincarnation) | Must never be conflated with secular “getting a second lease on life” nor Buddhist 轮回; supply 从神而生 to preserve the “from above/from God” sense lost when only 重生 is used. |
| 39 | Wind / Spirit (wordplay) | πνεῦμα | 风 (wind) / 圣灵 (Spirit) | fēng / Shènglíng | High (translation-loss flag) | The New Birth | 3:8 | — | Mandarin cannot reproduce the single-word Greek/Hebrew pun; mandatory explanatory teaching note. |
| 40 | Son of Man | ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου | 人子 | rénzǐ | Medium | Deity/Judgment; Substitutionary Death | 1:51; 3:13-14; 5:27; 6:27,53,62; 8:28; 9:35; 12:23,34; 13:31 | 天子 (forbidden — imperial “Son of Heaven” title) | Requires explicit Daniel 7 background teaching; low intrinsic collision risk but zero intuitive meaning without it. |
| 41 | Lifted up (crucified/exalted) | ὑψόω | 举起来 / 被举起来 | jǔ qǐlái / bèi jǔ qǐlái | High | Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection | 3:14; 8:28; 12:32,34 | 升天 (forbidden here — implies triumph without suffering, Daoist immortal-ascension resonance) | Preserve the paradox of simultaneous humiliation and glorification. |
| 42 | Perish | ἀπόλλυμι | 灭亡 | mièwáng | Medium | Judgment and Belief/Unbelief | 3:16; 10:28; 17:12 | none proposed | Distinguish personal/eternal sense from political/national “ruin” sense and from Buddhist annihilationist misreadings. |
| 43 | Judge / Judgment | κρίνω / κρίσις | 审判 | shěnpàn | High | Judgment and Belief/Unbelief | 3:17-19; 5:22-30; 7:24; 8:15-16; 9:39; 12:31,48; 16:8,11 | none proposed (avoid 报应-framed glossing) | Distinguish sharply from the Chinese folk underworld-tribunal system (十殿阎罗/阎王) and from impersonal karmic retribution (报应); God’s judgment is personal, present, and tied to belief/unbelief in the Son. |
| 44 | Believe | πιστεύω | 信 | xìn | High | Eternal Life through Faith | pervasive (98x in John) | 迷信, 信仰 (per baseline faith-noun cautions) | Object of belief (the Son) must always be explicit; avoid a bare-assent reading. |
| 45 | Truth | ἀλήθεια | 真理 | zhēnlǐ | Medium/High | The Seven “I Am” Statements; Holy Spirit as Counselor | 1:14,17; 3:21; 4:23-24; 8:32,44; 14:6,17; 16:13; 18:37-38 | 真如 (Buddhist “suchness” — avoid as primary gloss) | Personal, revealed, Christ-embodied reality (14:6), not an impersonal metaphysical absolute realized through meditation. |
| 46 | Lamb of God | ἀμνὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ | 神的羔羊 | Shén de gāoyáng | High | Christ’s Substitutionary Death | 1:29,36 | none proposed | Distinguish from repeated folk-religious animal-offering rituals to appease deities/ancestors; this is a unique, once-for-all substitutionary sacrifice. |
| 47 | Rabbi | ῥαββί | 拉比 (avoid 夫子 as primary gloss) | lābǐ | High | (Christological understatement motif) | 1:38,49; 3:2; 4:31; 6:25; 9:2; 11:8 | 夫子 (Confucian-coded, risk-flagged) | Avoid Confucian sage-teacher framing; retain transliteration with explanatory note. |
| 48 | Sign | σημεῖον | 神迹 | shénjī | High | Eternal Life through Faith (belief-producing signs) | 2:11,23; 3:2; 4:54; 6:2,14,26,30; 7:31; 9:16; 11:47; 12:18,37; 20:30 | 灵异 (folk “paranormal event,” avoid) | Distinguish from generic folk-religious 灵验 (efficacious-response) miracle claims; John’s signs specifically disclose Christ’s identity and call for belief. |
| 49 | Comforter / Counselor / Advocate (Paraclete) | παράκλητος | 保惠师 | bǎohuìshī | Critical | The Holy Spirit as Counselor | 14:16,26; 15:26; 16:7 | 律师 (secular lawyer — avoid), 法师 (folk ritual-power intermediary — avoid) | Coined Christian term, low prior collision risk but must be actively taught (legal-advocate + comforter + continuing-presence-of-Christ senses); never a professional service-role or manipulable ritual power. |
| 50 | Spirit of truth | πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας | 真理的圣灵 | zhēnlǐ de Shènglíng | High | The Holy Spirit as Counselor | 14:17; 15:26; 16:13 | none proposed | Retains full divine personhood (reuse 圣灵 Critical baseline term); not an impersonal “spirit of truthfulness.” |
| 51 | Living water | ὕδωρ ζῶν | 活水 | huóshuǐ | Medium/High | Eternal Life through Faith; Holy Spirit | 4:10-14; 7:38 | 符水 (Daoist talisman-water — avoid conflation) | Symbol for Christ himself / the Spirit received by faith; not a magical substance or location. |
| 52 | Worship (in spirit and truth) | προσκυνέω | 敬拜 | jìngbài | Medium | (Worship redefined beyond sacred geography) | 4:20-24; 9:38; 12:20 | none proposed | Distinguish from site-based ritual worship (temple incense-offering, fixed ancestral shrine rites). |
| 53 | Savior of the world | σωτὴρ τοῦ κόσμου | 世界的救主 | shìjiè de jiùzhǔ | High | God’s Love for the World; Universal Scope | 4:42 | none proposed | Reuses 救 root from baseline 救恩; retain full universal (not ethnically-narrowed) scope. |
| 54 | Equal with God | ἴσος τῷ Θεῷ | 与神平等 | yǔ Shén píngděng | Critical | Deity and Pre-existence of Christ | 5:18 | none proposed | The text’s own explicit gloss on Jesus’s Sonship claim; must never be softened. |
| 55 | Resurrection of life / of judgment | ἀνάστασις ζωῆς / ἀνάστασις κρίσεως | 复活得生 / 复活受审判 | fùhuó dé shēng / fùhuó shòu shěnpàn | High | Judgment and Belief/Unbelief; Resurrection | 5:28-29 | none proposed | Reuses baseline 复活 exactly; clarifies resurrection divides into two distinct destinies. |
| 56 | Bread of life | ὁ ἄρτος τῆς ζωῆς | 生命的粮 | shēngmìng de liáng | High | Seven “I Am” Statements; Eternal Life | 6:35,48,51 | none proposed | Christ’s own person received by faith, not ritual food-offering to spirits/ancestors. |
| 57 | Draw (effectual calling) | ἑλκύω | 吸引 | xīyǐn | High | New Birth / Effectual Calling | 6:44; 12:32 | 天命, 命运 (per baseline election/calling cautions) | Personal, gracious divine initiative, not an impersonal mechanical force. |
| 58 | Abide / Remain | μένω | 常在 / 住 | cháng zài / zhù | High | Christian Identity in Christ | 6:56; 8:31,35; 14:10,17; 15:4-10 | 安住, 入定 (Daoist/Buddhist meditative-abiding — avoid as primary frame) | Relationship of dependent faith sustained by Christ, tied to obedience and prayer (15:7,10), not a meditative technique/state. |
| 59 | Feast of Tabernacles | σκηνοπηγία | 住棚节 | Zhùpéngjié | Low | (festival background) | 7:2 | none proposed | Requires brief OT background gloss. |
| 60 | Light of the world | τὸ φῶς τοῦ κόσμου | 世界的光 | shìjiè de guāng | High | Seven “I Am” Statements | 8:12; 9:5 | see 光 above | Direct Christological self-identification; reuse 光 risk note. |
| 61 | Freedom (from sin) | ἐλευθερόω / ἐλεύθερος | 释放 / 自由 | shìfàng / zìyóu | High | (Truth and freedom) | 8:31-36 | 解脱 (Buddhist liberation from samsara — forbidden) | Freedom from sin’s power through abiding in Christ’s word, not liberation from a suffering-cycle. |
| 62 | ”Before Abraham was, I am” | ἐγώ εἰμι (absolute) | 我是 (echoed in CUV as “还没有亚伯拉罕就有了我”) | wǒ shì | Critical | Deity and Pre-existence of Christ | 8:24,28,58; 13:19; 18:5-6,8 | none proposed | Echoes the divine name (Exodus 3:14 LXX); mandatory teaching note connecting occurrences, since the Mandarin surface text does not make the echo self-evident. |
| 63 | Good Shepherd | ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλός | 好牧人 | hǎo mùrén | Medium | Seven “I Am” Statements; Substitutionary Death | 10:11,14 | none proposed | Defining mark: willingness to die for the sheep (contra hired hand). |
| 64 | I am the door | ἡ θύρα | 门 | mén | Medium | Seven “I Am” Statements | 10:7,9 | none proposed | Retain exclusivity (“the door,” not “a door”). |
| 65 | Lay down one’s life | τίθημι τὴν ψυχήν | 舍命 | shěmìng | High | Christ’s Substitutionary Death | 10:11,15,17-18; 15:13 | none proposed | Voluntary self-sacrifice, not externally imposed victimhood. |
| 66 | ”I and the Father are one” | ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἕν ἐσμεν | 我与父原为一 | wǒ yǔ Fù yuán wéi yī | Critical | Unity of the Father and the Son | 10:30 | 和 (relational-harmony framing — avoid as sole gloss) | Ontological unity of shared divine being, not mere agreement/harmony. |
| 67 | Resurrection and the life | ἡ ἀνάστασις καὶ ἡ ζωή | (复活和生命, using baseline 复活) | fùhuó hé shēngmìng | Critical | Seven “I Am” Statements; Resurrection | 11:25 | none proposed | Reuses baseline 复活 exactly. |
| 68 | One man dies for the people | εἷς ἄνθρωπος ἀποθάνῃ ὑπὲρ τοῦ λαοῦ | 替百姓死 | tì bǎixìng sǐ | High | Christ’s Substitutionary Death | 11:50-52 | none proposed | Unwitting prophecy (Caiaphas) fulfilled ironically. |
| 69 | Ruler of this world | ὁ ἄρχων τοῦ κόσμου τούτου | 这世界的王 | zhè shìjiè de wáng | High | (Satan’s defeat at the cross) | 12:31; 14:30; 16:11 | none proposed | Distinguish from 神的国 and from any legitimate political “王.” |
| 70 | New commandment | ἐντολὴ καινή | 新命令 | xīn mìnglìng | High | (Christ-grounded love ethic) | 13:34 | 仁, 礼 (Confucian relational-ethics terms — avoid as source-framing) | Grounded in Christ’s own sacrificial love, not a duty owed within a fixed social hierarchy. |
| 71 | The way, the truth, and the life | ἡ ὁδὸς καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωή | 道路、真理、生命 | dàolù, zhēnlǐ, shēngmìng | High | Seven “I Am” Statements; Eternal Life | 14:6 | none proposed | 道路 shares root character with λόγος’s 道 (ch.1) — note the resonance and the Daoist-道 collision risk for both. |
| 72 | True vine | ἡ ἄμπελος ἡ ἀληθινή | 真葡萄树 | zhēn pútáoshù | Medium | Seven “I Am” Statements; Christian Identity in Christ | 15:1,5 | none proposed | Fruitfulness contingent on abiding union, not independent effort. |
| 73 | Fruit | καρπός | 果子 | guǒzi | Medium | (fruit of abiding) | 15:2-8,16 | 功德 (merit — forbidden framing) | Evidence, not achievement, of abiding union with Christ. |
| 74 | Friends (vs. servants) | φίλοι (vs. δοῦλοι) | 朋友 | péngyou | Medium | (relational intimacy granted by Christ) | 15:13-15 | none proposed | Status granted by revelation and sacrifice, not earned. |
| 75 | Overcome | νικάω | 胜了 / 得胜 | shèng le / déshèng | Medium | (assurance grounded in accomplished victory) | 16:33; cf. 1 John 5:4-5 | none proposed | Preserve perfect-tense “already accomplished” force. |
| 76 | ”That they may be one” | ἵνα ἓν ὦσιν | 合而为一 | héér wéiyī | High | Unity of the Father and the Son (extended to believers) | 17:11,21-23 | none proposed | Relational/missional unity modeled on, but not identical in kind to, the Father-Son ontological unity (10:30). |
| 77 | Know (relational) | γινώσκω | 认识 | rènshi | High | Eternal Life through Faith | 17:3 | none proposed | Personal, relational, experiential knowledge, not mere information. |
| 78 | Crucify | σταυρόω | 钉十字架 | dìng shízìjià | High | Christ’s Substitutionary Death | 19:16-23 | none proposed | Real, historical, physically brutal execution. |
| 79 | ”It is finished” | τετέλεσται | 成了 | chéng le | High | Christ’s Substitutionary Death | 19:30 | none proposed | Triumphant completion of a finished redemptive task, not resigned defeat; avoid merit-accumulation-model drift. |
| 80 | Blood and water | αἷμα καὶ ὕδωρ | 血和水 | xuè hé shuǐ | Medium | Humanity of Christ; historicity of his death | 19:34 | none proposed | Evidentiary detail confirming real, physical death. |
| 81 | ”My Lord and my God” | ὁ Κύριός μου καὶ ὁ Θεός μου | 我的主，我的神 | wǒ de Zhǔ, wǒ de Shén | Critical | Deity and Lordship of Christ | 20:28 | none proposed | Gospel’s climactic confession; reuses baseline 主 and 神 exactly, never softened. |
| 82 | Gospel purpose statement (believe → have life) | ἵνα πιστεύητε … ζωὴν ἔχητε | 信 … 生命 (fixed rendering recommended) | xìn … shēngmìng | High | Eternal Life through Faith (Gospel thesis) | 20:30-31 | none proposed | Recommend cross-document consistency-lock, parallel to baseline’s treatment of Romans 1:16-17. |
| 83 | ἀγαπάω / φιλέω alternation | ἀγαπάω / φιλέω | 爱 (both) | ài | High (translation-loss flag) | (Peter’s restoration) | 21:15-17 | none proposed | Do not overbuild doctrine on an unrecoverable lexical distinction in Mandarin; emphasize the threefold repetition instead. |
| 84 | Shepherd/feed my sheep | ποιμαίνω / βόσκω | 牧养 / 喂养 | mùyǎng / wèiyǎng | Medium | (pastoral commissioning) | 21:15-17 | none proposed | Ties directly back to ch.10’s 好牧人; Peter’s commission is derivative of Christ’s own shepherding. |
Section 3 — Cross-Reference to Curriculum Doctrine List
| Curriculum Doctrine | Primary Glossary Terms | Primary Passages |
|---|---|---|
| The Deity and Pre-existence of Christ (the Word) | 道 (Logos), 独生子 (only begotten), 与神平等 (equal with God), 我是 (I am), 荣耀 (glory, 17:5) | 1:1-18; 5:18; 8:58; 17:5 |
| The New Birth and Regeneration by the Spirit | 重生 (born again), 水和圣灵 (water and Spirit), 风/圣灵 wordplay, 神的儿女 (children of God) | 1:12-13; 3:1-8 |
| Eternal Life through Faith in Christ | 永生 (eternal life), 信 (believe), 生命的粮 (bread of life), 道路、真理、生命 (way/truth/life), 认识 (know) | 3:15-16,36; 6:35-58; 14:6; 17:3; 20:30-31 |
| God’s Love for the World | 爱 (agapē), 世人/世界 (world), 世界的救主 (Savior of the world) | 3:16; 4:42 |
| Judgment and Belief/Unbelief | 审判 (judgment), 信/不信 (belief/unbelief), 光/黑暗 (light/darkness), 灭亡 (perish) | 3:17-21,36; 5:24-29; 9; 12:48 |
| The Seven “I Am” Statements | 生命的粮; 世界的光; 好牧人; 门; 复活和生命; 道路、真理、生命; 真葡萄树 | 6:35; 8:12; 10:7,11; 11:25; 14:6; 15:1,5 |
| The Holy Spirit as Counselor | 保惠师 (Paraclete), 真理的圣灵 (Spirit of truth), 圣灵 (Holy Spirit) | 14:16-26; 15:26; 16:7-15 |
| Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection | 神的羔羊 (Lamb of God), 舍命 (lay down life), 替百姓死 (die for the people), 钉十字架 (crucify), 成了 (it is finished), 复活 (resurrection) | 1:29; 10:11-18; 11:50-52; 19; 20 |
| Unity of the Father and the Son | 我与父原为一 (I and Father are one), 合而为一 (that they may be one), 我的主我的神 (My Lord and my God) | 10:30; 17:11,21-23; 20:28 |
Section 4 — Validation Reminders for Phase 2
- All Section 1 terms MUST be enforced exactly as recorded in the Romans baseline
translation_memory.json; no re-derivation permitted. - All Section 2 (John-specific) terms are proposed for addition to translation memory and require Human Theologian sign-off before Phase 2 use for every Critical-tier entry (items 30, 32, 37, 38, 41, 43, 47, 49, 54, 58, 62, 66, 67, 71, 76, 79, 81, 82).
- Terms flagged with a forbidden-alternatives column entry must be checked against the validation rules in
12_ai_translation_requirements.md(to be extended for John in a subsequent Phase 1 step) exactly as the Romans package checks 解脱/超度/功德/轮回/化身/气/天子. - Terms sharing a Mandarin root character with a flagged baseline term (道 for both λόγος and δια Δαοϊστ risk; 肉身 for both positive/negative σάρξ senses; 复活 reused across John’s resurrection passages) require a context-sensitive note at each occurrence, not a single blanket note.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: 神
Transliteration: Shén
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 上帝, 天, 老天爷
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package (reused exactly, no modification). This package standardizes on 神 (Shen edition) rather than 上帝, per the baseline’s Term Question resolution. John extension: John 1:1’s ‘the Word was God’ (道就是神) is a direct Deity-of-Christ prooftext; doctrinal contexts must make monotheism explicit.
Jesus
Approved rendering: 耶稣
Transliteration: Yēsū
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Inherited from Romans package (reused exactly). CUV standard transliteration used uniformly across all John curriculum materials.
Lord
Approved rendering: 主
Transliteration: zhǔ
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 主人, 老爷
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package (reused exactly). John extension: climactic use at 20:28 (‘我的主，我的神’) and 13:13-14; never softened toward a social-honorific master/landlord reading.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: 神的儿子
Transliteration: Shén de érzi
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 天子, 神人
Original: υἱὸς θεοῦ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package (reused exactly). John extension: recurs at 1:34,49; 3:18; 5:25; 10:36; 11:4,27; 20:31 — never abbreviate to 神人, never equate with the transferable imperial title 天子.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: 圣灵
Transliteration: Shènglíng
Doctrine: Holy Spirit as Counselor
Rejected alternatives: 祖灵, 灵
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package (reused exactly). John extension: John develops the Spirit’s identity most fully as the Paraclete (14:16-26; 15:26; 16:7-15) and at the creation-echoing breath of 20:22; never 灵 alone or 祖灵.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: 复活
Transliteration: fùhuó
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 轮回, 投胎, 还魂
Original: ἀνάστασις
Category: Eschatology
Inherited from Romans package (reused exactly). John extension: narrated with concrete physical detail (grave-clothes, invitation to touch wounds, ch. 20) functioning as an implicit anti-docetic, anti-ghost-story argument; never 轮回/投胎/还魂.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: 道成肉身
Transliteration: dào chéng ròushēn
Doctrine: Incarnation
Rejected alternatives: 化身, 转世, 下凡
Original: ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package (reused exactly). John 1:14 is the direct source text for this baseline term; 道 within the phrase carries the same Daoist-metaphysics collision risk as the standalone Logos entry below.
Salvation
Approved rendering: 救恩
Transliteration: jiùēn
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: 解脱, 超度, 得道
Original: σωτηρία / σῴζω
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (reused exactly). John extension: verb form 得救 (3:17; 4:22,42; 5:34; 10:9; 12:47) reuses the same 救 root; never 解脱 or 超度.
Grace
Approved rendering: 恩典
Transliteration: ēndiǎn
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: 功德, 造化, 福气, 阴德
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (reused exactly). John extension: ‘grace upon grace’ (1:14,16-17), mediated through Christ and contrasted with the Law given through Moses; never 功德/阴德/造化.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: 义
Transliteration: yì
Doctrine: Sin and the Spirit’s Conviction
Rejected alternatives: 道德, 善行
Original: δικαιοσύνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (reused exactly). John extension: 16:8,10 — one of three things the Spirit convicts the world concerning; every occurrence must be flagged to distinguish forensic standing before God from the Confucian virtue of the same name.
Messiah
Approved rendering: 基督
Transliteration: Jīdū
Doctrine: Messianic Promise and Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: 弥勒, 救世主式泛称
Original: Χριστός / Μεσσίας
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package (reused exactly). John extension: 1:20,41; 4:25-26; 7:26-27,41-42; 20:31 — never conflate with 弥勒 (Maitreya).
Sanctification
Approved rendering: 成圣
Transliteration: chéngshèng
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: 修身, 修炼
Original: ἁγιάζω
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package (reused exactly). John extension: 10:36 (the Father’s unique consecration of the Son for his mission) and 17:17,19 (the Spirit/truth-grounded sanctification of believers) are two distinct senses of the same verb requiring separate sense-specific notes at each occurrence, both distinct from Neo-Confucian self-cultivation into sagehood.
Logos
Approved rendering: 道
Transliteration: dào
Doctrine: Deity and Pre-existence of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 话语, 逻各斯
Original: λόγος
Category: Christology
New term. 道 is the central technical term of Daoist metaphysics (the impersonal, self-generating cosmic Way of the Dao De Jing) and also shares the character used in the baseline’s 道成肉身. 话语 is too weak (loses personal, pre-existent agent sense); 逻各斯 (a Greek transliteration) is theologically opaque to ordinary readers and would sever CUV continuity with 道成肉身. Every occurrence (1:1-3,14) must clarify this is the personal, eternal, self-existent divine Word, never the impersonal Daoist cosmic principle.
Eternal Life
Approved rendering: 永生
Transliteration: yǒngshēng
Doctrine: Eternal Life through Faith in Christ
Rejected alternatives: 长生不老, 长生不死
Original: ζωὴ αἰώνιος
Category: Salvation
New term. Risks collision with the Daoist pursuit of physical immortality through alchemy, elixirs, or self-cultivation aimed at becoming an immortal (仙人/神仙). Must be taught explicitly as present, relational, qualitative life with God through faith in Christ, received now, never physical-immortality achieved by technique. Ranked as one of the highest-risk core-passage ambiguities (3:15-16,36; 4:14,36; 5:24; 6:27,40,47,54,68; 10:28; 12:25,50; 17:2-3).
Flesh
Approved rendering: 肉身 / 肉体
Transliteration: ròushēn / ròutǐ
Doctrine: Incarnation / New Birth and Regeneration by the Spirit
Original: σάρξ
Category: Christology
New term (reuses baseline’s 肉身 root from 道成肉身). Positive sense (Christ’s real humanity, 1:14) vs. negative/limited sense (merely-human origin, unable to produce spiritual life, 3:6; 6:51-56) share the same Mandarin word with opposite valence; flag each occurrence to avoid either denying Christ’s real flesh or affirming human flesh as spiritually sufficient.
Only Begotten
Approved rendering: 独生子
Transliteration: dúshēngzǐ
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 独一的子
New term. 独生子 collides with the modern demographic/legal category 独生子女 (‘only child,’ saturated with one-child-policy-era social meaning, 1979-2015). 独一的子 is a possible alternative gloss, less collision-prone but non-standard in CUV tradition — retain 独生子 as CUV-established, with a mandatory translator’s note at every occurrence (1:14,18; 3:16,18) distinguishing the theological ‘unique, one-of-a-kind Son’ sense from the demographic ‘only child’ sense.
Born Again
Approved rendering: 重生
Transliteration: chóngshēng
Doctrine: The New Birth and Regeneration by the Spirit
Rejected alternatives: 转世
Original: γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν
Category: Salvation
New term. Ranked as the single highest-risk ambiguity in the core passage. 重生 is common secular Mandarin for any dramatic life-turnaround (surviving illness, disaster) and must be explicitly taught as a Spirit-wrought, God-originated re-creation, never a self-motivated ‘new leaf’ nor Buddhist 轮回 (reincarnation into a new body across lives). Supply the compound gloss 从神而生 / 从上头生 alongside 重生 at every occurrence (3:3,7; cf. 1:13) to preserve ἄνωθεν’s lost spatial ‘from above’ sense. NEVER 转世 (reincarnation) as a gloss.
Paraclete
Approved rendering: 保惠师
Transliteration: bǎohuìshī
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit as Counselor
Rejected alternatives: 律师, 法师, 帮助者
Original: παράκλητος
Category: God
New term (coined Chinese Christian compound). Largely free of prior secular or folk-religious baggage, which is itself a risk: must be actively taught, never assumed self-evident. NEVER 律师 (secular lawyer) or 法师 (a folk-religious spirit-medium/ritual intermediary who channels or manipulates spiritual power for a client); 帮助者 (‘helper’) loses the legal-advocate dimension. The Spirit-Paraclete is a personal, divine Person continuing Christ’s own presence and ministry (14:16,26; 15:26; 16:7), not a professional service-role or manipulable ritual power.
Equal With God
Approved rendering: 与神平等
Transliteration: yǔ Shén píngděng
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: ἴσος τῷ Θεῷ
Category: Christology
New term. The text’s own explicit doctrinal gloss on Jesus’s Sonship claim (5:18): ‘he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.’ Must never be softened toward ‘an especially exalted man’ or a Mandate-of-Heaven-style elevated ruler; render plainly as full divine equality.
I Am Absolute
Approved rendering: 我是
Transliteration: wǒ shì
Doctrine: Deity and Pre-existence of Christ
Original: ἐγώ εἰμι
Category: Christology
New term. Jesus’s absolute self-identification formula, echoing the divine name revealed at Exodus 3:14 LXX (8:24,28,58; 13:19; 18:5-6,8). No lexical fix is possible: the Mandarin surface rendering (‘我是’ / CUV’s ‘就有了我’ at 8:58) does not itself carry an audible echo of the divine name; a mandatory cross-referencing teaching note connecting all six occurrences is required.
I And The Father Are One
Approved rendering: 我与父原为一
Transliteration: wǒ yǔ Fù yuán wéi yī
Doctrine: Unity of the Father and the Son
Rejected alternatives: 和
Original: ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἕν ἐσμεν
Category: Christology
New term. Direct scriptural statement of ontological unity (10:30), provoking a charge of blasphemy. Must never be softened toward Confucian relational-harmony (和, hé) language implying mere agreement or cooperative concord between two distinct, hierarchically related persons — a near-automatic drift risk in everyday Mandarin. This is the single sharpest unity-of-Father-and-Son prooftext in the entire book.
Resurrection And Life
Approved rendering: 复活和生命
Transliteration: fùhuó hé shēngmìng
Doctrine: The Seven ‘I Am’ Statements / Resurrection of Christ
Original: ἡ ἀνάστασις καὶ ἡ ζωή
Category: Christology
New term. ‘I am the resurrection and the life’ (11:25). Reuses baseline 复活 exactly; Christ himself, not a future event or an ongoing cycle, is the personal source and agent of resurrection — never conflated with 轮回/投胎.
My Lord And My God
Approved rendering: 我的主，我的神
Transliteration: wǒ de Zhǔ, wǒ de Shén
Doctrine: Deity of Christ / Lordship of Christ
Original: Ὁ Κύριός μου καὶ ὁ Θεός μου
Category: Christology
New term (compound; reuses baseline 主 and 神 exactly). Thomas’s climactic confession (20:28), the Gospel’s capstone Christological statement, placed deliberately at the narrative climax. Must never be softened toward a merely social-honorific reading (cf. baseline’s caution against 老爷/主人) — it is the Gospel’s own worshiped-deity confession and must never be qualified.
Receive Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: 领受圣灵
Transliteration: lǐngshòu Shènglíng
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit as Counselor
Original: λάβετε Πνεῦμα Ἅγιον
Category: God
New term. Christ’s post-resurrection commissioning act of breathing the Spirit on the disciples (20:22), echoing Genesis 2:7’s creation-breath — a new-creation motif tying the Holy Spirit’s reception to the New Birth doctrine (ch. 3). Reuses baseline 圣灵 exactly; must not be presented as a repeatable ritual technique but as Christ’s own unique commissioning gift.
High Risk Terms
Father
Approved rendering: 父
Transliteration: fù
Doctrine: Unity of the Father and the Son
Rejected alternatives: 祖先, 老天爷
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package (reused exactly). John extension: central to the Father-Son relational and ontological unity developed throughout John (1:14,18; 3:35; 5:17-23; 10:30; 14:6-11; 17); distinguish from the inverted care-direction of ancestor veneration (祭祖).
Faith
Approved rendering: 信心
Transliteration: xìnxīn
Doctrine: Faith and Belief in Christ
Rejected alternatives: 虔诚, 迷信, 信仰
Original: πίστις / πιστεύω
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package (reused exactly). John’s dominant form is the verb 信 (occurring nearly 100 times) rather than the noun; see the separate ‘believe’ entry below for verb-specific guidance. Object of faith (the Son) must always be explicit.
Law
Approved rendering: 律法
Transliteration: lǜfǎ
Doctrine: Law/Grace Contrast
Rejected alternatives: 礼, 道德规范, 法律
Original: νόμος
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package (reused exactly). John extension: 1:17 (‘the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ’); 7:19-23. Never equate with 礼 or 法律.
Sin
Approved rendering: 罪
Transliteration: zuì
Doctrine: Sin and the Spirit’s Conviction
Rejected alternatives: 报应, 罪犯式的罪
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package (reused exactly). John extension: 1:29; 8:34; 9:41; 16:8-9 — never framed as impersonal karmic retribution (报应).
Glory
Approved rendering: 荣耀
Transliteration: róngyào
Doctrine: Pre-existence of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 面子, 光宗耀祖
Original: δόξα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package (reused exactly; risk elevated from Medium to High for John). John extension: 1:14; 2:11; 11:4; 12:23; 17:5 — 17:5’s pre-existent glory ‘before the world existed’ is a key Pre-existence-of-Christ prooftext and must be linked back to 1:1-14 in teaching.
Covenant
Approved rendering: 约
Transliteration: yuē
Doctrine: Messianic Promise and Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: 合同, 契约
Original: διαθήκη (implied background)
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package (reused exactly). Used chiefly as OT covenant background to John’s messianic/Davidic references (7:42; cf. 1:14-18) rather than a frequent Johannine lexeme itself.
Election
Approved rendering: 拣选
Transliteration: jiǎnxuǎn
Doctrine: Effectual Calling (the Father’s Drawing)
Rejected alternatives: 天命, 命运, 缘分
Original: ἐκλέγομαι
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (reused exactly). John extension: 6:70; 13:18; 15:16,19 — Christ’s choosing of his disciples; never 天命/命运/缘分.
Adoption
Approved rendering: 儿子的名分
Transliteration: érzi de míngfèn
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: 过继, 收养
Inherited from Romans package (reused exactly). John extension: John’s own phrase τέκνα Θεοῦ (‘children of God,’ 1:12-13; 11:52) is rendered 神的儿女 (Shén de érnǚ) — doctrinally continuous with this baseline term but distinct in surface form; cross-reference both when teaching Romans 8 alongside John. Distinguish from 过继 (clan-internal heir transfer for ancestor-rite continuation).
Holy
Approved rendering: 圣洁
Transliteration: shèngjié
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: 清净, 圣人般的
Original: ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package (reused exactly). John extension: 6:69 (‘the Holy One of God,’ applied as a divine title to Christ); 17:11. Avoid 清净 or ‘sage-like’ framing.
Life Zoe
Approved rendering: 生命
Transliteration: shēngmìng
Doctrine: Eternal Life through Faith in Christ
Rejected alternatives: 命
Original: ζωή
Category: Salvation
New term. Base term for the 永生 compound. 命 alone is too thin, denoting bare biological life or impersonal fate. Must retain God-given, qualitative sense distinct from mere biological existence (βίος) at 1:4; 5:26; 6:33-58; 10:10; 11:25; 14:6.
Light
Approved rendering: 光 / 光明
Transliteration: guāng / guāngmíng
Doctrine: Light and Darkness (Moral-Spiritual Antithesis)
Original: φῶς
Category: God
New term. Must be taught as a moral-spiritual antithesis rooted in a personal God’s self-revelation (1:4-9; 3:19-21; 8:12; 9:5; 12:35-36,46), not the impersonal, complementary yin-yang (阴阳) cosmological pairing in which light and darkness are morally neutral principles in dynamic balance.
Darkness
Approved rendering: 黑暗
Transliteration: hēi’àn
Doctrine: Light and Darkness (Moral-Spiritual Antithesis)
Original: σκοτία / σκότος
Category: God
New term. Same yin-yang collision risk as 光; pair the two terms in every teaching note (1:5; 3:19; 8:12; 12:35,46).
World Kosmos
Approved rendering: 世界 / 世人
Transliteration: shìjiè / shìrén
Doctrine: God’s Love for the World
Rejected alternatives: 天下
Original: κόσμος
Category: God
New term. The same Mandarin word must carry both the positive sense (object of God’s saving love, 3:16) and the negative sense (hostile, God-opposing order, 15:18-19; 17:14) — both senses recur within a few verses of each other in ch. 17. Requires contextual glossing at every occurrence. Avoid 天下 (politically/dynastically loaded).
Water And Spirit
Approved rendering: 水和圣灵
Transliteration: shuǐ hé Shènglíng
Doctrine: The New Birth and Regeneration by the Spirit
Rejected alternatives: 符水
Original: ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ πνεύματος
Category: Salvation
New term. John 3:5. Chinese folk religion uses ritual ‘talisman water’ (符水), blessed by a Daoist priest and drunk or sprinkled for healing/exorcism, as a magical cleansing technique. Must clarify this New Birth is God’s sovereign act received by faith, evoking covenant-cleansing/baptismal imagery with the Spirit as the effective agent, not a ritual technique performed to obtain spiritual benefit.
Wind Spirit Wordplay
Approved rendering: 风 / 圣灵
Transliteration: fēng / Shènglíng
Doctrine: The New Birth and Regeneration by the Spirit
Original: πνεῦμα (ὅπου θέλει πνεῖ)
Category: Salvation
New term (translation-loss flag). John 3:8. Mandarin has no single lexeme spanning both ‘wind’ (风) and ‘Spirit’ (圣灵), unlike Greek πνεῦμα or Hebrew ruach, so the wordplay illustrating the Spirit’s sovereign, untraceable regenerating work cannot be reproduced. Mandatory explanatory teaching note required; retain CUV’s simile-bridge construction rather than forcing an artificial pun.
Lifted Up
Approved rendering: 举起来
Transliteration: jǔ qǐlái
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Death and Resurrection
Rejected alternatives: 升天
Original: ὑψόω
Category: Christology
New term. Deliberate Johannine double meaning fusing physical elevation on the cross with honorific exaltation/glorification (3:14; 8:28; 12:32,34). NEVER 升天, which carries Daoist immortal-ascension connotations of triumphant departure without suffering. The paradox of simultaneous humiliation and glorification must be preserved intact, never resolved toward only the triumphant sense.
Judgment
Approved rendering: 审判
Transliteration: shěnpàn
Doctrine: Judgment and Belief/Unbelief
Original: κρίνω / κρίσις
Category: Judgment
New term. Must be sharply distinguished from the elaborate Chinese folk-religious postmortem judgment apparatus (十殿阎罗, the Ten Courts of the Kings of Hell; 阎王 weighing deeds against a karmic ledger) and from impersonal 报应 (karmic retribution). God’s judgment in John is personal, present, and belief-contingent (3:17-19; 5:22-30; 7:24 [non-eschatological sense]; 9:39; 12:31,48; 16:8,11), not a bureaucratic underworld tribunal.
Believe
Approved rendering: 信
Transliteration: xìn
Doctrine: Faith and Belief in Christ
Rejected alternatives: 迷信
New term (verb form; cf. baseline noun 信心). John’s dominant soteriological verb, occurring nearly 100 times. 信 alone risks a bare cognitive-assent reading in everyday Mandarin (‘I believe that…’); the object of belief (the Son) must always be explicit in context (1:12; 3:15-18,36; 20:30-31).
Truth
Approved rendering: 真理
Transliteration: zhēnlǐ
Doctrine: The Seven ‘I Am’ Statements / Holy Spirit as Counselor
Rejected alternatives: 真如
Original: ἀλήθεια
Category: God
New term. Must be distinguished from the Buddhist concept 真如 (zhēnrú, ‘suchness,’ ultimate reality attained through enlightenment/meditation) and from a popular relativistic ‘your truth/my truth’ usage. Johannine truth is personal and revealed in Christ (14:6), not an impersonal metaphysical absolute realized through spiritual technique (1:14,17; 3:21; 4:23-24; 8:32,44; 16:13; 18:37-38).
Lamb Of God
Approved rendering: 神的羔羊
Transliteration: Shén de gāoyáng
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Death
Original: ἀμνὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ
Category: Christology
New term. John the Baptist’s title for Jesus (1:29,36), evoking the Passover lamb and Isaiah 53. Must be distinguished from the repeated animal-offering rituals of Chinese folk religion performed to appease deities or ancestors; this Lamb’s death is a unique, unrepeatable, once-for-all substitutionary atonement, not one offering among many.
Rabbi
Approved rendering: 拉比
Transliteration: lābǐ
Doctrine: Deity of Christ (understatement motif)
Rejected alternatives: 夫子
Original: ῥαββί
Category: Christology
New term. A respectful but Christologically inadequate honorific (1:38,49; 3:2; 4:31; 6:25; 9:2; 11:8). Avoid 夫子, which carries strong Confucian resonance (孔夫子, ‘Master Kong’) and risks framing Jesus as a Confucian-style sage-teacher; retain the transliteration 拉比 with an explanatory note.
Sign
Approved rendering: 神迹
Transliteration: shénjī
Doctrine: Eternal Life through Faith in Christ (belief-producing signs)
Rejected alternatives: 灵异
Original: σημεῖον
Category: Christology
New term. John’s technical term for miracles revealing Christ’s identity and glory, distinct from the Synoptic emphasis on δύναμις (2:11,23; 3:2; 4:54; 6:2,14,26,30; 7:31; 9:16; 11:47; 12:18,37; 20:30). Must be distinguished from folk-religious 灵验 (‘efficacious response’ to prayer at any temple, generic evidence of any deity’s power) and from 灵异 (folk ‘paranormal event’); John’s signs are revelatory and identity-disclosing, unique to the incarnate Son.
Spirit Of Truth
Approved rendering: 真理的圣灵
Transliteration: zhēnlǐ de Shènglíng
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit as Counselor
Original: πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας
Category: God
New term. Reinforces the Holy Spirit’s identity and mission as inseparable from Christ’s own truth (14:17; 15:26; 16:13); must retain full divine personhood via baseline 圣灵, never an impersonal ‘spirit of truthfulness’ or a rival independent revelatory source.
Living Water
Approved rendering: 活水
Transliteration: huóshuǐ
Doctrine: Eternal Life through Faith / Holy Spirit as Counselor
Rejected alternatives: 符水
Original: ὕδωρ ζῶν / ποταμοὶ ὕδατος ζῶντος
Category: God
New term. Symbol for Christ’s/the Spirit’s life-giving presence (4:10-14; 7:38-39). Must be distinguished from Daoist/folk ‘immortality spring’ or magical healing-water motifs and from 符水 (talisman water); this living water is Christ himself/the Spirit received by faith, not a location or substance with inherent ritual power.
Savior Of The World
Approved rendering: 世界的救主
Transliteration: shìjiè de jiùzhǔ
Doctrine: God’s Love for the World / Universal Scope of the Gospel
Original: σωτὴρ τοῦ κόσμου
Category: Church
New term. The Samaritans’ confession (4:42), universalizing the earlier Jewish-specific messianic hope. Reuses the baseline 救 root (救恩); must retain full universal scope, resisting any narrowing toward a single ethnic or national savior-figure.
Resurrection Of Life And Judgment
Approved rendering: 复活得生 / 复活受审判
Transliteration: fùhuó dé shēng / fùhuó shòu shěnpàn
Doctrine: Judgment and Belief/Unbelief
Original: ἀνάστασις ζωῆς / ἀνάστασις κρίσεως
Category: Judgment
New term. Reuses baseline 复活 exactly (5:28-29); clarifies that resurrection itself divides into two distinct eschatological destinies depending on one’s response to the Son — must not be softened into a uniformly positive event.
Bread Of Life
Approved rendering: 生命的粮
Transliteration: shēngmìng de liáng
Doctrine: The Seven ‘I Am’ Statements
Original: ὁ ἄρτος τῆς ζωῆς
Category: Christology
New term. ‘I am the bread of life’ (6:35,48,51) — Christ himself, not manna, as the true sustaining source of eternal life. Must be distinguished from Buddhist/folk ritual food-offerings to hungry ghosts or ancestors; this bread is Christ’s own person received by faith, not ritual sustenance offered to spirits.
Draw
Approved rendering: 吸引
Transliteration: xīyǐn
Doctrine: Effectual Calling (the Father’s Drawing)
Rejected alternatives: 天命, 命运
Original: ἑλκύω
Category: Salvation
New term. The Father’s sovereign, effectual drawing of people to the Son (6:44,65; 12:32). Must not be read as an impersonal, mechanical force comparable to 气 (qì) or a folk-ritual pull; God’s drawing is personal and gracious, paralleling the baseline’s caution against 天命/命运 for election/calling.
Abide
Approved rendering: 常在
Transliteration: cháng zài
Doctrine: Christian Identity in Christ (Abiding)
Rejected alternatives: 安住, 入定
Original: μένω
Category: Sanctification
New term. The definitive Johannine term for ongoing, life-giving union with Christ (6:56; 8:31,35; 14:10,17; 15:4-10). Must be clearly distinguished from Daoist/Buddhist meditative ‘abiding’ (安住, 入定) cultivated through stillness technique; here it is a relationship of dependent faith sustained by Christ, explicitly tied to obedience and answered prayer (15:7,10), not a meditative state achieved by practice.
Light Of The World
Approved rendering: 世界的光
Transliteration: shìjiè de guāng
Doctrine: The Seven ‘I Am’ Statements
Original: τὸ φῶς τοῦ κόσμου
Category: Christology
New term. Second ‘I Am’ statement (8:12; 9:5); direct Christological self-identification. Same yin-yang collision risk as the base 光/黑暗 entries; must be distinguished from Daoist complementary-duality cosmology.
Freedom From Sin
Approved rendering: 释放
Transliteration: shìfàng
Doctrine: Sin and the Spirit’s Conviction
Rejected alternatives: 解脱
Original: ἐλευθερόω / ἐλεύθερος
Category: Salvation
New term. Liberation from sin’s bondage through abiding in Christ’s word (8:31-36), corrected from a this-worldly political-liberation misreading in the passage itself. NEVER 解脱 (Buddhist liberation from the cycle of samsara, already forbidden under baseline Salvation).
Lay Down Ones Life
Approved rendering: 舍命
Transliteration: shěmìng
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Death
Original: τίθημι τὴν ψυχήν
Category: Christology
New term. Christ’s voluntary self-sacrifice for the sheep (10:11,15,17-18) and for his friends (15:13). The voluntary nature (‘I lay it down of my own accord,’ 10:18) must be preserved; this is a willing sacrificial act, not an externally imposed victimhood.
One Man Dies For The People
Approved rendering: 替百姓死
Transliteration: tì bǎixìng sǐ
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Death
Original: εἷς ἄνθρωπος ἀποθάνῃ ὑπὲρ τοῦ λαοῦ
Category: Christology
New term. Caiaphas’s unwitting prophecy (11:49-52) of Christ’s substitutionary, vicarious death for the people, extended to gathering ‘the scattered children of God.’ Teaching should highlight the deliberate narrative irony — a hostile, self-interested political statement becomes, in the narrator’s hands, true prophecy.
Ruler Of This World
Approved rendering: 这世界的王
Transliteration: zhè shìjiè de wáng
Doctrine: Judgment and Belief/Unbelief
Original: ὁ ἄρχων τοῦ κόσμου τούτου
Category: Christology
New term. Satan’s usurped, temporary authority over the fallen world-order, judicially overthrown at the cross (12:31; 14:30; 16:11). Must be clearly distinguished from the baseline term 神的国 (Kingdom of God) and from any legitimate political ‘王’; this ruler’s authority is illegitimate, temporary, and already defeated.
New Commandment
Approved rendering: 新命令
Transliteration: xīn mìnglìng
Doctrine: The New Commandment of Love
Rejected alternatives: 仁, 礼
Original: ἐντολὴ καινή
Category: Church
New term. ‘Love one another, as I have loved you’ (13:34-35; cf. 15:12-15). Must be distinguished from Confucian relational ethics — 仁 (benevolence) and 礼 (ritual propriety, already flagged under the baseline’s ‘law’ entry) — since this love flows from and images Christ’s own sacrificial love, not a duty owed within a fixed social hierarchy.
Way Truth Life
Approved rendering: 道路、真理、生命
Transliteration: dàolù, zhēnlǐ, shēngmìng
Doctrine: The Seven ‘I Am’ Statements
Original: ἡ ὁδὸς καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἡ ζωή
Category: Christology
New term. ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’ (14:6). 道路 shares the character 道 with λόγος’s rendering (道/道成肉身) — a striking but potentially confusing resonance requiring a note clarifying these are two distinct Greek terms (λόγος, ὁδός) sharing one Mandarin character, both of which must be kept clear of the impersonal Daoist metaphysical 道.
That They May Be One
Approved rendering: 合而为一
Transliteration: héér wéiyī
Doctrine: Unity of Believers (in Christ’s Prayer)
Original: ἵνα ἓν ὦσιν
Category: Christology
New term. Christ’s prayer that believers may be relationally and missionally one, patterned on but derivative of the Father-Son ontological unity (17:11,21-23). Teaching must distinguish this relational/missional unity from the ontological unity of 我与父原为一 (10:30) to avoid either overstating believers’ unity as itself divine or flattening the Father-Son unity into mere relational harmony.
Know Relational
Approved rendering: 认识
Transliteration: rènshi
Doctrine: Eternal Life through Faith in Christ
Original: γινώσκω
Category: God
New term. John 17:3 explicitly defines eternal life as personal, relational, experiential knowledge of God and the Son. Must be taught as such, not mere intellectual information-possession, paralleling the baseline’s caution that faith (信心) requires a specific relational object rather than generic assent.
Crucify
Approved rendering: 钉十字架
Transliteration: dìng shízìjià
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Death
Original: σταυρόω
Category: Christology
New term. The historical Roman method of execution by which Christ died (ch. 19). Must be presented as a real, historical, physically brutal execution, not a symbolic or mythologized event, foundational to the Substitutionary Death and Resurrection doctrine.
It Is Finished
Approved rendering: 成了
Transliteration: chéng le
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Death
Original: τετέλεσται
Category: Christology
New term. Christ’s dying declaration (19:30) that his redemptive work is fully and finally accomplished. Must retain the sense of triumphant completion, not a resigned ‘it’s over,’ resisting any drift toward a merit-accumulation model in which the finished work could still be added to.
Gospel Purpose Statement
Approved rendering: 信 … 生命
Transliteration: xìn … shēngmìng
Doctrine: Eternal Life through Faith in Christ
New term. John 20:30-31 is the Gospel’s own explicit purpose statement (‘these are written so that you may believe… and that by believing you may have life in his name’), functioning like Romans 1:16-17 in the baseline’s cross-document consistency rule. Recommend establishing this verse’s rendering as fixed and consistency-locked across all John curriculum materials.
Agape Philio Alternation
Approved rendering: 爱 (both verbs)
Transliteration: ài
Doctrine: Fellowship and Mutual Edification
New term (translation-loss flag). The threefold exchange between Jesus and Peter (21:15-17) alternates ἀγαπάω/φιλέω in Greek; Mandarin 爱 must do service for both verbs, since no natural two-word Mandarin distinction exists. Teaching materials must NOT overbuild a doctrinal distinction on a lexical difference modern Koine scholarship treats cautiously; emphasize instead the threefold repetition (mirroring and healing Peter’s threefold denial) as the passage’s real theological weight.
Scripture
Approved rendering: 经上 / 圣经
Transliteration: jīng shàng / shèngjīng
Doctrine: Messianic Promise and Fulfillment of Prophecy
New term. ‘You search the Scriptures… it is they that bear witness about me’ (5:39). Must be distinguished from the Chinese classical canon (经, jīng, e.g. the Confucian Five Classics), authoritative as sage-wisdom rather than as the verbal, God-breathed testimony of a personal God.
Works Ergon
Approved rendering: 做工 / 工作
Transliteration: zuògōng / gōngzuò
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
New term. ‘My Father is working… I am working’ (5:17) — Jesus’s claim to share in the Father’s ongoing creative/sustaining work, precisely what provokes the charge of blasphemy (5:18). Ensure the theological weight (equality with God) is preserved, not read as mere routine activity.
Medium Risk Terms
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: 神的国
Transliteration: Shén de guó
Doctrine: New Birth and Regeneration by the Spirit
Rejected alternatives: 天下, 王朝
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Kingdom
Inherited from Romans package (reused exactly). John extension: 3:3,5 (entered only through the New Birth); 18:36 (explicitly distinguished from an earthly political order before Pilate). Never 天下/王朝.
Israel
Approved rendering: 以色列
Transliteration: Yǐsèliè
Doctrine: Messianic Promise and Fulfillment of Prophecy
Original: Ἰσραήλ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package (reused exactly). John extension: 1:31,47,49; 3:10 (‘the teacher of Israel’); 12:13.
Peace
Approved rendering: 平安
Transliteration: píng’ān
Doctrine: Assurance and Victory over the World
Rejected alternatives: 安宁, 平安符式的平安
Inherited from Romans package (reused exactly). John extension: 14:27; 16:33; 20:19,21,26 — John explicitly contrasts Christ’s peace with the world’s (‘not as the world gives’), reinforcing the baseline’s amulet-blessing caution.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: 外邦人
Transliteration: wàibāngrén
Doctrine: Universal Scope of the Gospel
Rejected alternatives: 夷人, 外国人
Original: ἔθνη / Ἕλληνες
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package (reused exactly). John extension: use 外邦人 for the general ‘nations’ sense; use the transliteration 希腊人 (Xīlàrén) when the text specifies ethnic Greeks rather than Gentiles generically (7:35; 12:20) — a distinction not required in Romans but relevant in John.
Son Of Man
Approved rendering: 人子
Transliteration: rénzǐ
Doctrine: Deity of Christ / Judgment and Belief-Unbelief
Rejected alternatives: 天子
Original: ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου
Category: Christology
New term. Danielic/apocalyptic title (Dan 7:13-14) combining true humanity with exalted divine authority to judge and reign. NEVER 天子 (‘Son of Heaven,’ the transferable imperial Mandate-of-Heaven title). 人子 has no pre-existing Chinese religious resonance (an advantage) but is therefore theologically opaque without explicit Daniel 7 background teaching (1:51; 3:13-14; 5:27; 6:27,53,62; 8:28; 9:35; 12:23,34; 13:31).
Perish
Approved rendering: 灭亡
Transliteration: mièwáng
Doctrine: Judgment and Belief/Unbelief
Original: ἀπόλλυμι
Category: Judgment
New term. Can be read in a purely this-worldly/political sense (a dynasty’s 灭亡, collapse); must clarify this is a personal, eternal, spiritual state contingent on belief/unbelief (3:16; 10:28; 17:12), distinct from a Buddhist annihilationist misreading of 无我/涅槃.
Worship
Approved rendering: 敬拜
Transliteration: jìngbài
Doctrine: Worship in Spirit and Truth
Original: προσκυνέω
Category: Church
New term. Must be distinguished from ritual, site-based folk worship practices (temple incense-offering, fixed ancestral shrine rites); true worship (4:20-24) is not tied to sacred geography. Note CUV’s ‘心灵和诚实’ risks softening πνεῦμα toward a merely psychological ‘sincere heart’ sense; clarify the Spirit’s active enabling role.
Good Shepherd
Approved rendering: 好牧人
Transliteration: hǎo mùrén
Doctrine: The Seven ‘I Am’ Statements
Original: ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλός
Category: Christology
New term. ‘I am the good shepherd’ (10:11,14). Distinguish from a generic hired caretaker (μισθωτός); the defining, non-negotiable mark is willingness to die for the sheep, which must remain explicit in any teaching gloss.
Door
Approved rendering: 门
Transliteration: mén
Doctrine: The Seven ‘I Am’ Statements
Original: ἡ θύρα
Category: Christology
New term. ‘I am the door’ (10:7,9). Must retain exclusivity (‘the door,’ not ‘a door’ among several), paralleling the baseline’s caution that Christ’s Lordship is exclusive, not one option among many.
True Vine
Approved rendering: 真葡萄树
Transliteration: zhēn pútáoshù
Doctrine: The Seven ‘I Am’ Statements / Christian Identity in Christ
Original: ἡ ἄμπελος ἡ ἀληθινή
Category: Christology
New term. ‘I am the true vine’ (15:1,5). Must not be read as endorsing an autonomous self-cultivation model of spiritual growth; fruitfulness is entirely contingent on abiding union with the vine, not independent moral effort.
Fruit
Approved rendering: 果子
Transliteration: guǒzi
Doctrine: Christian Identity in Christ (Abiding)
Rejected alternatives: 功德
Original: καρπός
Category: Church
New term. The visible outcome of abiding union with Christ (15:2-8,16). Must not be read as merit accumulated through independent effort (functionally akin to 功德, already forbidden under the baseline’s grace entry); fruit flows from union with Christ, not self-generated moral achievement.
Friends Vs Servants
Approved rendering: 朋友
Transliteration: péngyou
Doctrine: The New Commandment of Love
Original: φίλοι (vs. δοῦλοι)
Category: Church
New term. The elevated relational status of intimacy Christ grants his disciples, in place of a servant/master relation (15:13-15). This is a status granted by Christ’s revelation and sacrifice, not an earned promotion; avoid framing it as merit-based advancement.
Overcome
Approved rendering: 胜了 / 得胜
Transliteration: shèng le / déshèng
Doctrine: Assurance and Victory over the World
Original: νικάω
Category: Eschatology
New term. ‘I have overcome the world’ (16:33). Preserve the perfect-tense ‘already accomplished’ force (νενίκηκα); avoid a purely future-hope rendering that would weaken the assurance the text intends to convey.
Blood And Water
Approved rendering: 血和水
Transliteration: xuè hé shuǐ
Doctrine: Humanity of Christ
New term. Physical detail from the spear-wound (19:34), given evidentiary weight by the narrator confirming the reality of Christ’s physical death against docetic denial. Primarily emphasize the historical-evidentiary function rather than over-speculating on typological readings.
Shepherd Feed Sheep
Approved rendering: 牧养 / 喂养
Transliteration: mùyǎng / wèiyǎng
Doctrine: Shepherd and Pastoral Ministry
Original: ποιμαίνω / βόσκω
Category: Church
New term. Christ’s commissioning of Peter to continue his own shepherding ministry toward the church (21:15-17). Must be taught as directly derivative of and accountable to Christ’s own Good Shepherd ministry (ch. 10), not an independent or self-generated pastoral authority.
Temple
Approved rendering: 殿 / 圣殿
Transliteration: diàn / shèngdiàn
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 庙, 寺, 道观
New term. Refers to the historical Jerusalem Temple (ch. 2), which Jesus identifies with his own body as the true temple, anticipating his death and resurrection (2:19-22). Distinguish from the baseline’s ‘church’ caution (avoid 庙/寺/道观); this is a distinct nuance from ekklēsia — Jesus’s body as the new, true temple replacing the old.
Sabbath
Approved rendering: 安息日
Transliteration: ānxírì
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
New term. The weekly day of rest commanded in the Law (5:17-18; ch. 9). Healing on the Sabbath provokes conflict, setting up Jesus’s claim to divine authority over the Sabbath itself; should be distinguished from a generic ‘rest day’ concept, carrying covenantal, creation-rooted theological weight.
Testimony
Approved rendering: 见证 / 作证
Transliteration: jiànzhèng / zuòzhèng
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
New term. Legal/eyewitness testimony language repurposed for divine revelation-testimony throughout John (1:6-8; 3:11,33; 5:31-39; 21:24). Well-established in Mandarin Christian usage; keep the legal-eyewitness weight rather than reducing it to a subjective personal-experience report.
Passover
Approved rendering: 逾越节
Transliteration: Yúyuèjié
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Death
New term. The Jewish feast commemorating the Exodus (2:13; 6:4; 11:55; 12:1; 13:1; 18:28,39; 19:14), linking Christ’s death typologically to the Passover lamb. Requires OT background explanation, parallel to the baseline’s note on davidic_covenant needing OT background.
King Of The Jews
Approved rendering: 犹太人的王
Transliteration: Yóutàirén de wáng
Doctrine: Messianic Promise and Fulfillment of Prophecy
Original: ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων
Category: Christology
New term. Pilate’s mocking inscription over the cross (19:19), ironically an accurate messianic-royal title. Highlight the irony (intended mockery becomes true confession) in teaching; no significant folk-religious collision risk beyond ensuring the royal-messianic sense is not lost.
Bone Not Broken
Approved rendering: 他的骨头一根也不折断
Transliteration: tā de gútou yī gēn yě bù zhéduàn
Doctrine: Messianic Promise and Fulfillment of Prophecy
Original: τὸ ὀστοῦν αὐτοῦ οὐ συντριβήσεται
Category: Covenant
New term. Scripture quotation (Exodus 12:46/Numbers 9:12; Psalm 34:20) fulfilled at 19:36, tying Christ’s death typologically to the Passover lamb regulation. Reinforces the Passover-lamb typological link established at 1:29 (神的羔羊).
Low Risk Terms
David
Approved rendering: 大卫
Transliteration: Dàwèi
Doctrine: Messianic Promise and Fulfillment of Prophecy
Original: Δαυίδ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package (reused exactly). John extension: 7:42, Davidic-lineage background to messianic expectation.
Prophet
Approved rendering: 先知
Transliteration: xiānzhī
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: 算命先生
Original: προφήτης
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package (reused exactly). John extension: a recurring category of popular speculation about Jesus’s identity (1:21,23,45; 4:19; 6:14; 7:40; 9:17).
Apostle
Approved rendering: 使徒
Transliteration: shǐtú
Doctrine: Apostleship and Sending
Rejected alternatives: 宗师, 大师
Original: ἀπόστολος (root ἀποστέλλω)
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package (reused exactly). John extension: noun used sparingly (13:16); the related verb ἀποστέλλω is rendered 差/差遣, making the Father→Son→apostles→church sending-pattern visible (3:17; 17:18; 20:21).
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: 感恩
Transliteration: gǎn’ēn
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Inherited from Romans package (reused exactly). John extension: 6:11,23; 11:41.
Feast Of Tabernacles
Approved rendering: 住棚节
Transliteration: Zhùpéngjié
Doctrine: Living Water and the Spirit’s Gift
Original: σκηνοπηγία
Category: Covenant
New term. The Jewish pilgrimage Feast of Booths (7:2,37-39); its water-drawing ceremony provides the backdrop for Christ’s ‘rivers of living water’ declaration. Requires brief OT/festival-background explanation for readers with low OT narrative literacy.
Hosanna
Approved rendering: 和散那
Transliteration: hésànnà
Doctrine: Messianic Promise and Fulfillment of Prophecy
New term. Transliterated liturgical Hebrew acclamation at the triumphal entry (12:13); CUV-standard; no meaningful Mandarin paraphrase exists.
Golgotha
Approved rendering: 各各他 (骷髅地)
Transliteration: Gègètā (kūlóudì)
Doctrine: Christ’s Substitutionary Death
New term. Proper place name (19:17); follow CUV’s own dual practice of transliterating the name and supplying its meaning gloss (‘Place of a Skull’) in-text, exactly as the source text itself does.
Referenced passages