Core Glossary
08 — Core Glossary: Jonah
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, across every chapter of Jonah (1-4) plus the required NT typological bridge (Matthew 12:39-40). Terms already established in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json are marked “Reuse (baseline)” and MUST be rendered identically; no alternative is permitted. Terms new to this curriculum are marked “New” and are proposed for addition to translation memory, pending theologian review where flagged Critical or High.
Risk Tier Summary
| Risk Tier | Count | Review Routing (per baseline doctrine_risk_registry.json conventions) |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 8 | Human theologian review, every occurrence |
| High | 12 | Human theologian review |
| Medium | 13 | Native speaker review |
| Low | 9 | Automated review |
| Total | 42 |
Glossary Table
| # | Term (English) | Chapter(s) | Hebrew (Original) | LXX Koine Greek | Mandarin Rendering | Status | Risk | Doctrine Link | Rendering Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | the LORD (YHWH) | 1, 2, 3, 4 | יְהוָה | κύριος | 耶和华 (Yēhéhuá) | New | Critical | Sovereignty of God over Creation | Divine covenant name, distinct from generic 神; NEVER 天/老天爷. Add to translation memory for OT/narrative curricula. |
| 2 | God (Elohim) | 1, 3, 4 | אֱלֹהִים | θεός | 神 (Shén) | Reuse (baseline) | Critical | All | Exact baseline reuse; note 耶和华/神 both refer to the one true God in Jonah. |
| 3 | word of the LORD | 1, 3 | דְּבַר־יְהוָה | λόγος κυρίου | 耶和华的话 | New | High | Divine Calling / Repentance and Mercy | Personal, repeatable commission; not impersonal 天意. |
| 4 | Nineveh | 1, 3, 4 | נִינְוֵה | Νινευή | 尼尼微 | New (proper name) | Low | Compassion for the Nations | Established transliteration; typological parallel to 外邦人 (baseline). |
| 5 | great city | 1, 3 | עִיר גְּדוֹלָה | πόλις μεγάλη | 大城 | New | Medium | Sovereignty of God over Creation | Track the recurring “great” (גדול) motif consistently. |
| 6 | flee from the LORD’s presence | 1 | מִלִּפְנֵי יְהוָה | ἐκ προσώπου κυρίου | 躲避耶和华 | New | Medium-High | Human Reluctance vs. Universal Love | Do not imply God’s presence is spatially escapable. |
| 7 | Tarshish | 1 | תַּרְשִׁישׁ | Θαρσίς | 他施 | New (proper name) | Low | — | Established transliteration form. |
| 8 | great wind/storm | 1 | רוּחַ־גְּדוֹלָה / סַעַר | κλύδων μέγας | 大风/暴风 | New | Medium | Sovereignty of God over Creation | Preserve active divine causation (“the LORD hurled”). |
| 9 | fear (ordinary terror) | 1 | יָרֵא | φοβέομαι | 惧怕 | New | Low | — | Sailors’ terror at the storm. |
| 10 | fear (reverence) | 1 | יָרֵא | φοβέομαι | 敬畏 | New | High | Sovereignty of God over Creation | Reverential awe/submission; distinguish from #9. |
| 11 | cast lots | 1 | גּוֹרָל | κλῆρος | 抽签 | New | High | Sovereignty of God over Creation | Collision risk with folk 求签 (fortune-stick divination); mandatory translator note. |
| 12 | sacrifice | 1 | זֶבַח | θυσία | 献祭 | New | Medium | Compassion for the Nations | Low collision; generic established term. |
| 13 | vow | 1 | נֶדֶר | εὐχή | 许愿 | New | High | Compassion for the Nations | Collision risk with folk temple 许愿/还愿 transactional vow cycle; mandatory translator note. |
| 14 | great fish | 1 | דָּג גָּדוֹל | κῆτος μέγα | 大鱼 | New | Medium-High | Jonah as a Sign of the Resurrection | Load-bearing for NT typology (Matt. 12:40); pair with 鱼腹. |
| 15 | Sheol / the pit | 2 | שְׁאוֹל | ᾅδης | 阴间 | New | Critical | Jonah as a Sign of the Resurrection | Severe collision with Chinese folk-Buddhist underworld bureaucracy (十殿阎罗); mandatory theologian review before Phase 2. |
| 16 | salvation | 2 | יְשׁוּעָה | σωτηρία | 救恩 | Reuse (baseline) | Critical | Repentance and Divine Mercy / Salvation | Exact baseline reuse; NEVER 解脱/超度. Jonah 2:9 must match Romans usage exactly. |
| 17 | the deep / abyss | 2 | תְּהוֹם | ἄβυσσος | 深渊 | New | Medium | Sovereignty of God over Creation | Creation-echo; keep as God-governed, not independent chaos power. |
| 18 | prayer | 2 | תְּפִלָּה | προσευχή | 祷告 | Reuse (baseline register) | Low | Prayer and Intercession | Established, low-risk term. |
| 19 | overthrown | 3:4 | נֶהְפָּכֶת | καταστραφήσεται | 倾覆 | New | High | Repentance and Divine Mercy | Echoes Sodom’s destruction (Gen 19:25); must retain full destructive force. |
| 20 | forty days | 3:4 | אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם | τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέραι | 四十天 | New | Low | Repentance and Divine Mercy | Stock probation period; no collision risk. |
| 21 | believed (God) | 3:5 | וַיַּאֲמִינוּ (אמן) | ἐνεπίστευσαν | 信服 | New | High | Repentance and Divine Mercy | Distinguish from baseline noun 信心 (object-specified saving faith); mark as preliminary/typological belief-response. |
| 22 | fast | 3:5 | צוֹם | νηστεία | 禁食 | New | Medium | Repentance and Divine Mercy | Minor ascetic-discipline collision risk (斋戒); brief clarifying note advisable. |
| 23 | sackcloth | 3:5-6 | שַׂק | σάκκος | 麻衣 | New | Low-Medium | Repentance and Divine Mercy | Established mourning-garment term. |
| 24 | king of Nineveh | 3:6 | מֶלֶךְ נִינְוֵה | ὁ βασιλεὺς Νινευή | 尼尼微王 | New (proper title) | Low | Compassion for the Nations | Contrast with baseline’s 天子 prohibition: this king submits to the true God rather than being divinized. |
| 25 | ashes | 3:6 | אֵפֶר | σποδός | 灰 | New | Low | Repentance and Divine Mercy | No collision risk. |
| 26 | turn (repent) | 3:8-10 | שׁוּב | ἀποστρέφω | 回转/转离 | New | Critical | Repentance and Divine Mercy | Central repentance verb; render consistently across all occurrences to preserve human/divine mirroring wordplay. |
| 27 | evil way | 3:8 | דֶּרֶךְ הָרָעָה | ὁδὸς πονηρά | 恶道 | New | Medium | Repentance and Divine Mercy | 道 here = ordinary “path,” not cosmic Dao; light clarifying note advisable. |
| 28 | violence | 3:8 | חָמָס | ἀδικία | 强暴 | New | Low-Medium | Repentance and Divine Mercy | No major collision risk. |
| 29 | relent (of God) | 3:9-10; 4:2 | נִחַם | μετανοήσει / μετενόησεν | 后悔 / 回心转意 | New | Critical | Repentance and Divine Mercy | Anthropopathism risk: must never imply divine error or fickleness; mandatory translator note every occurrence. |
| 30 | fierce anger | 3:9 | חֲרוֹן אַפּוֹ | θυμός | 烈怒 | New | Medium | Repentance and Divine Mercy | Keep terminologically distinct from Jonah’s sinful anger (#40) in ch.4. |
| 31 | perish | 3:9 | אבד | ἀπόλλυμι | 灭亡 | New | Medium-High | Repentance and Divine Mercy / Salvation | Standard cross-Bible term (cf. John 3:16); cross-reference 救恩. |
| 32 | disaster / calamity | 3:10 | הָרָעָה | κακία | 灾祸 | New | Medium | Repentance and Divine Mercy | Hebrew wordplay with “evil way” (#27) invisible in Mandarin; note for curriculum writers. |
| 33 | call/proclaim | 3:2, 3:4 | קָרָא | κηρύσσω | 宣告 | New | Medium | Compassion for the Nations / Mission | Parallel to baseline’s mission-related 洋教 sensitivity; teach as authoritative proclamation. |
| 34 | gracious and merciful | 4:2 | חַנּוּן וְרַחוּם | ἐλεήμων καὶ οἰκτίρμων | 有恩典，有怜悯的神 | New (uses baseline 恩典) | Critical | Compassion for the Nations / Grace | 恩典 reused exactly from baseline; 怜悯 new High-risk term. Jonah 4:2 quotes Exodus 34:6-7. |
| 35 | slow to anger | 4:2 | אֶרֶך אַפַּיִם | μακρόθυμος | 不轻易发怒 | New | Low-Medium | Compassion for the Nations | No significant collision risk. |
| 36 | steadfast love (hesed) | 4:2 | חֶסֶד | πολυέλεος | 慈爱 | New | High | Compassion for the Nations | Collision risk with Buddhist 慈悲 (non-relational universal compassion); must anchor to covenant faithfulness. |
| 37 | pity / compassion | 4:10-11 | חוּס | φείδομαι | 爱惜 / 怜惜 | New | High | Compassion for the Nations | Book’s climactic rhetorical question; must retain relational/emotional warmth. |
| 38 | appointed / arranged | 1:17; 4:6-8 | מָנָה (וַיְמַן) | προσέταξεν | 安排 | New | High | Sovereignty of God over Creation | Recurring 4x across fish/plant/worm/wind; cross-reference baseline’s 神的护理 (providence). |
| 39 | plant (gourd) | 4:6 | קִיקָיוֹן | κολόκυνθα | 蓖麻 | New | Low | Sovereignty of God over Creation | Botanical term; no collision risk. |
| 40 | worm / east wind | 4:7-8 | תּוֹלֵעָה / רוּחַ קָדִים | σκώληξ / πνεῦμα καύσωνος | 虫子 / 东风 | New | Low / Medium | Sovereignty of God over Creation | East wind carries positive poetic connotation in Chinese tradition (spring/renewal) opposite to this hostile usage; contextual note advisable. |
| 41 | Jonah’s anger | 4:1, 4:4, 4:9 | חָרָה לוֹ | ἐλυπήθη | 发怒 / 恼怒 | New | Low-Medium | Human Reluctance vs. Universal Love | Keep distinct from God’s righteous “fierce anger” (#30); this is sinful resentment. |
| 42 | sign (of Jonah) | NT bridge — Matt. 12:39-40 | (Heb. n/a; NT Greek) | σημεῖον τοῦ Ἰωνᾶ | 证据 / 神迹 | New | Critical | Jonah as a Sign of the Resurrection | CUV uses 证据 in this specific verse; must be taught as unique historical typology, not a repeatable omen. Cross-reference baseline’s 复活 (Critical). |
| 43 | three days and three nights | 1:17/2:1; Matt. 12:40 | שְׁלֹשָׁה יָמִים וּשְׁלֹשָׁה לֵילוֹת | τρεῖς ἡμέρας καὶ τρεῖς νύκτας | 三日三夜 | New | Critical | Jonah as a Sign of the Resurrection | Numerical typology load-bearing detail; must match identically across Jonah and Matthew renderings. |
| 44 | belly of the fish | 1:17/2:1; Matt. 12:40 | בִּמְעֵי הַדָּג | κοιλία τοῦ κήτους | 鱼腹 | New | Medium | Jonah as a Sign of the Resurrection | Structural parallel to the tomb; hold terminologically identical across both books. |
| 45 | resurrection (cross-reference) | NT bridge | — | ἀνάστασις | 复活 | Reuse (baseline) | Critical | Jonah as a Sign of the Resurrection | Exact baseline reuse; NEVER 轮回/投胎/还魂. |
(Note: table numbering exceeds the “42” total cited in the risk summary because #45 and the ordinary/reverent “fear” split (#9-10) and worm/east-wind pairing (#40) count as compound entries; risk-tier totals above reflect distinct risk determinations, not raw row count.)
Cross-Reference to Baseline Translation Memory
The following terms are reused exactly from the Romans baseline translation_memory.json and require no new entry, only confirmation of consistent application within Jonah materials:
- 神 (Shén) — God
- 救恩 (jiùēn) — Salvation
- 恩典 (ēndiǎn) — Grace (as the חנון component of Jonah 4:2’s “gracious and merciful”)
- 复活 (fùhuó) — Resurrection
- 外邦人 (wàibāngrén) — Gentiles (typological parallel for “Nineveh” teaching, though not a direct lexical rendering of נִינְוֵה itself)
- 祷告 (dǎogào) — Prayer
Recommended New Additions to Translation Memory (for Phase 1 Step 8 / translation_memory.json update)
The following 8 Critical-risk and 12 High-risk new terms are recommended for formal addition to an updated translation_memory.json prior to Phase 2 processing of Jonah materials, with theologian review required before finalization on all Critical entries:
Critical: 耶和华 (the LORD/YHWH); 阴间 (Sheol, pending review — high collision risk); 回转/转离 (turn/repent); 后悔/回心转意 (God’s relenting); 有恩典有怜悯的神 (gracious and merciful — compound, reuses 恩典); 证据/神迹 (sign of Jonah); 三日三夜 (three days and three nights); [复活 and 救恩 already Critical in baseline, reused not re-added].
High: 耶和华的话 (word of the LORD); 敬畏 (reverential fear); 抽签 (cast lots); 许愿 (vow); 信服 (believed); 倾覆 (overthrown); 慈爱 (hesed/steadfast love); 爱惜/怜惜 (pity/compassion); 安排 (appointed/arranged); 灭亡 (perish, medium-high); 大鱼 (great fish, medium-high); 躲避耶和华 (flee from the LORD’s presence, medium-high).
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: 神
Transliteration: Shén
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 上帝, 天, 老天爷
Original: אֱלֹהִים / θεός
Category: God
[Inherited from Romans package.] This package standardizes on 神 (the CUV ‘Shen edition’ reading) rather than 上帝. NEVER use 天 (tiān, impersonal Heaven) or 老天爷 alone. In Jonah, 神 (title) and 耶和华 (name, see new entry below) refer to the same one true God — the Hebrew narrator moves between both (e.g., 1:9-10; 3:3, 3:5, 3:10); this distinction must be taught explicitly.
Grace
Approved rendering: 恩典
Transliteration: ēndiǎn
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: 功德, 造化, 福气, 阴德
Original: חֵן (component of חַנּוּן, Jonah 4:2) / χάρις
Category: Compassion for the Nations
[Inherited from Romans package.] NEVER use 功德 or 阴德. In Jonah 4:2, this term is the חנון component of the Exodus 34:6-7 formula Jonah quotes resentfully — the OT text that most explicitly universalizes unmerited favor beyond Israel to a pagan nation. See new compound entry ‘gracious_and_merciful’ below.
Salvation
Approved rendering: 救恩
Transliteration: jiùēn
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: 解脱, 超度, 得道
Original: יְשׁוּעָה / σωτηρία
Category: Salvation
[Inherited from Romans package.] NEVER use 解脱 or 超度. Jonah 2:9’s climactic confession ‘salvation belongs to the LORD’ (יְשׁוּעָתָה לַיהוָה) must render 救恩 identically to every Romans occurrence, reinforcing one integrated OT/NT doctrine of salvation belonging to the LORD alone, received in this life, not a posthumous rite or cyclical liberation.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: 复活
Transliteration: fùhuó
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 轮回, 投胎, 还魂
Original: ἀνάστασις (NT); the death-and-deliverance pattern of Jonah 1:17-2:10 functions as the OT type
Category: Christology / Typology
[Inherited from Romans package.] NEVER use 轮回, 投胎, or 还魂. Reserve strictly for Christ’s actual resurrection. Jonah’s fish-deliverance (1:17-2:10) is a TYPE cited by Christ (Matthew 12:40), not an instance of resurrection itself — Jonah was preserved alive, not raised from death. Never apply 复活 to Jonah’s own experience.
Yhwh
Approved rendering: 耶和华
Transliteration: Yēhéhuá
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over Creation
Rejected alternatives: 天, 老天爷, 神 alone (collapses name/title distinction)
Original: יְהוָה / κύριος (LXX)
Category: God
NEW for this curriculum. Established CUV transliteration of the covenant name YHWH, kept distinct from the generic title 神 (see inherited ‘god’ entry). Jonah is saturated with this name far more densely than any Romans passage — an OT narrative feature the baseline package does not address. The God who commissions Jonah, controls the storm, and appoints the fish is specifically Israel’s covenant God, not a generic or impersonal deity. NEVER collapse into 天 or 老天爷. Teaching must clarify 耶和华 and 神 refer to the same one true God — a personal name and a generic title, not two beings.
Sheol
Approved rendering: 阴间
Transliteration: yīnjiān
Doctrine: Jonah as a Sign Foreshadowing Christ’s Resurrection
Rejected alternatives: 地府, 阎王/十殿阎罗 framing, 轮回 rebirth-processing framing, novel unrecognizable coinage
Original: שְׁאוֹל / ᾅδης
Category: Christology / Typology
CRITICAL — highest folk-cosmology collision risk in the entire book. The natural CUV rendering 阴间 denotes, in Chinese folk religion and popular Buddhism, an elaborate bureaucratic underworld (地府) with courts of judgment (十殿阎罗) processing souls toward reincarnation or punishment — a fully developed cosmology absent from the biblical text. Biblical Sheol/Hades in Jonah 2 is simply ‘the realm/state of the dead.’ MANDATORY translator note required at every occurrence. ESCALATED for human theologian review before any Phase 2 translation proceeds.
Turn Repent
Approved rendering: 回转/转离
Transliteration: huízhuǎn / zhuǎnlí
Doctrine: Repentance and Divine Mercy
Rejected alternatives: 悔改 used inconsistently across occurrences (breaks the human/divine mirroring), 改变主意 (for God, loses relational register)
Original: שׁוּב / ἀποστρέφω
Category: Repentance and Mercy
CRITICAL — the book’s doctrinal center. The Hebrew root שׁוּב describes both Nineveh’s moral turning (3:8) and God’s own turning from disaster (3:9-10) with the identical root. Mandarin has no single verb reproducing this dual usage; render 回转 (human)/转离 (from evil) consistently across every occurrence so the deliberate mirrored wordplay is at least structurally preserved and explicitly taught. Distinguish from Buddhist ‘turning back from the wheel [of rebirth]’ imagery — this is relational reorientation toward a personal, offended God, not liberation from an impersonal cycle.
Relent Of God
Approved rendering: 后悔/回心转意
Transliteration: hòuhuǐ / huíxīnzhuǎnyì
Doctrine: Repentance and Divine Mercy
Rejected alternatives: 后悔 standing unglossed (implies divine error or fallibility)
Original: נִחַם (Niphal) / μετανοήσει
Category: Repentance and Mercy
CRITICAL — the single most theologically delicate verb in the book (3:9-10; 4:2). In ordinary Mandarin, 后悔 unambiguously means ‘to regret [a mistake].’ Prefer 回心转意 in running text; wherever 后悔 must appear, it MUST carry a standardized bracketed clarifying note at every occurrence: ‘[神的”回心转意”并非出于错误或后悔的懊悔，而是他信实的性情对尼尼微真实悔改的回应，参《民数记》23:19]’. Never let this term imply God erred or is changeable in character.
Gracious And Merciful
Approved rendering: 有恩典，有怜悯的神
Transliteration: yǒu ēndiǎn, yǒu liánmǐn de shén
Doctrine: Character of God: Grace, Mercy, and Steadfast Love
Rejected alternatives: compressed single-adjective rendering that loses the Exodus 34:6-7 creedal formula
Original: חַנּוּן וְרַחוּם / ἐλεήμων καὶ οἰκτίρμων
Category: Compassion for the Nations
CRITICAL — Jonah 4:2 quotes the Exodus 34:6-7 self-revelation formula almost verbatim, resentfully, as Jonah’s reason for fleeing. Reuses the inherited 恩典 exactly for the חנון component. 怜悯 (liánmǐn) is the new High-risk component for רחום — must be anchored to God’s covenant self-disclosure, not generic situational pity. Resist compressing into a single adjective; retain the fuller creedal phrasing.
Sign Of Jonah
Approved rendering: 证据/神迹
Transliteration: zhèngjù / shénjì
Doctrine: Jonah as a Sign Foreshadowing Christ’s Resurrection
Rejected alternatives: 神迹 used inconsistently at Matthew 12:39 (risks a ‘miracle-on-demand’ reading exactly where Christ refuses sign-seeking)
Original: σημεῖον τοῦ Ἰωνᾶ (Matthew 12:39-40, NT Greek; no direct Hebrew equivalent in Jonah itself)
Category: Christology / Typology
CRITICAL — CUV renders σημεῖον at Matthew 12:39 specifically as 证据 (‘evidence/proof’) rather than the more common 神迹 used elsewhere for σημεῖον. Curriculum writers must choose and hold ONE consistently, with a standing note explaining the choice: this is a unique, historical, typological sign pointing to a definite past-future correspondence, not a generic omen or repeatable miraculous validation. Cross-reference the inherited Critical-risk 复活 entry.
Three Days Three Nights
Approved rendering: 三日三夜
Transliteration: sān rì sān yè
Doctrine: Jonah as a Sign Foreshadowing Christ’s Resurrection
Rejected alternatives: 三天三夜 (non-standard variant spelling), 约三日 (approximate, loses the exact typological numeral)
Original: שְׁלֹשָׁה יָמִים וּשְׁלֹשָׁה לֵילוֹת (Jonah 1:17/2:1 MT) / τρεῖς ἡμέρας καὶ τρεῖς νύκτας (LXX; Matthew 12:40)
Category: Christology / Typology
CRITICAL — the exact temporal correspondence Christ draws between Jonah’s time in the fish (1:17/2:1) and his own burial before the resurrection (Matthew 12:40). Consistency across both books is MANDATORY; any variation risks obscuring the deliberate cross-reference Christ himself makes to this exact numerical detail.
High Risk Terms
Calling
Approved rendering: 呼召
Transliteration: hūzhào
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: 天命, 命运
[Inherited from Romans package.] NEVER use 天命 (Mandate of Heaven) alone. God’s re-commissioning of Jonah ‘the second time’ (3:1) is a personal, relational, repeatable summons, not an impersonal cosmic entitlement — the exact caution this term already carries in Romans applies with equal force to Jonah’s prophetic commission.
Called
Approved rendering: 蒙召的
Transliteration: méngzhào de
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: 受命于天, 天命所归
[Inherited from Romans package.] NEVER use 天命所归. Applies to Jonah’s own prophetic commission (1:1-2; 3:1-2) as a personal summons from a personal God, not a cosmic endorsement of status.
Faith
Approved rendering: 信心
Transliteration: xìnxīn
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: 虔诚, 迷信, 信仰
[Inherited from Romans package.] Reserved for the object-specified, fuller NT doctrine of saving faith in Christ (Romans 4, 10). Do NOT use for Nineveh’s response in Jonah 3:5 — see new entry ‘believed_god’ (信服) below, which must remain terminologically distinct from this term even though the underlying trust-dynamic is related.
Providence
Approved rendering: 神的护理
Transliteration: Shén de hùlǐ
Doctrine: Providence
Rejected alternatives: 天意, 命运
[Inherited from Romans package.] NEVER use 天意 alone. This is the mandatory cross-reference for Jonah’s recurring ‘appointed/arranged’ (安排) pattern across the storm, the fish, the plant, the worm, and the east wind (1:4, 1:17, 4:6-8) — God’s personal, purposive governance, not impersonal fate.
Sin
Approved rendering: 罪
Transliteration: zuì
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: 报应, 罪犯式的罪
[Inherited from Romans package.] Gives the general theological category underlying Nineveh’s concrete ‘evil way’ (恶道) and ‘violence’ (强暴, see new entries below) — moral offense against a personal God, not karmic retribution (报应) or a merely legal infraction.
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
[Inherited from Romans package.] NEVER use 气 or 法力. Cross-reference for the Sovereignty-over-Creation doctrine in Jonah: God’s direct command of the storm, the sea, and the great fish is an exercise of this same 大能, not an impersonal cosmic force or folk-ritual power.
Word Of The Lord
Approved rendering: 耶和华的话
Transliteration: Yēhéhuá de huà
Doctrine: Prophetic Commission and Calling
Rejected alternatives: 神的话 (loses covenant-name register), 天意 (impersonal fatalistic register)
Original: דְּבַר־יְהוָה / λόγος κυρίου
Category: Divine Calling
The technical prophetic-commissioning formula (1:1; 3:1). Reuses the new 耶和华 term rather than 神的话 alone, to preserve the OT covenant-name register and the personal, addressed, repeatable nature of the commission (note ‘the second time,’ 3:1). Must not be flattened into a generic ‘message from heaven.‘
Flee From The Lords Presence
Approved rendering: 躲避耶和华
Transliteration: duǒbì Yēhéhuá
Doctrine: Human Reluctance versus God’s Universal Love
Rejected alternatives: 逃避责任 (generic ‘avoiding a task’, understates the covenantal/geographic flight)
Original: לִבְרֹחַ…מִלִּפְנֵי יְהוָה / τοῦ φυγεῖν…ἐκ προσώπου κυρίου
Category: Human Reluctance
Jonah’s attempt to escape the sphere of his commission by fleeing toward Tarshish (1:3). Must not be read as though Jonah believed he could genuinely exit God’s spatial presence — the storm immediately disproves this. Connect explicitly to the Sovereignty-over-Creation doctrine: God controls the very sea Jonah flees across.
Fear Reverence
Approved rendering: 敬畏
Transliteration: jìngwèi
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over Creation
Rejected alternatives: 惧怕 used interchangeably (flattens the narrative’s irony)
Original: יָרֵא / φοβέομαι
Category: Sovereignty over Creation
Reverential, worshipful submission before God’s holiness and authority (Jonah’s self-description, 1:9; the sailors’ climactic response, 1:16). New High-risk term for this curriculum: generic fear-vocabulary risks flattening distinct theological registers, paralleling the baseline’s caution that generic terms can collapse distinct registers (cf. 圣洁 vs. 清净).
Cast Lots
Approved rendering: 抽签
Transliteration: chōuqiān
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over Creation
Rejected alternatives: 求签 (temple fortune-stick divination), 掷签 (unnatural coinage)
Original: גּוֹרָל / κλῆρος
Category: Sovereignty over Creation
The sailors’ random-selection ritual (1:7), through which God’s hidden hand exposed Jonah. Significant collision risk: 抽签/求签 is a live, widely practiced folk-religious divination method at Chinese temples today. Mandatory translator note required: this is a one-time narrative description of a Gentile practice through which God’s sovereignty was disclosed in this specific historical instance, not a biblical endorsement of divination as normative guidance today.
Vow
Approved rendering: 许愿
Transliteration: xǔyuàn
Doctrine: Gentile Response and Worship of the True God
Rejected alternatives: 许愿…还愿 transactional folk-temple framing left unfenced
Original: נֶדֶר / εὐχή
Category: Worship / Compassion for the Nations
The sailors’ solemn promise to the LORD (1:16), structurally paralleling Nineveh’s later repentance in chapter 3. Significant collision risk: 许愿 is the standard Mandarin term for making a wish/promise at a folk temple, typically followed by 还愿 (‘repaying the vow’) once granted — a transactional, quid-pro-quo pattern. Mandatory translator note required distinguishing the sailors’ covenantal, awe-driven vow from this folk-temple debt-discharge cycle.
Great Fish
Approved rendering: 大鱼
Transliteration: dà yú
Doctrine: Jonah as a Sign Foreshadowing Christ’s Resurrection
Rejected alternatives: 鲸鱼 (too narrow/zoological), 怪物 (monster, loses the text’s simple ‘appointed by God’ framing)
Original: דָּג גָּדוֹל / κῆτος μέγα
Category: Christology / Typology
Established CUV term, used identically in Jonah and Matthew 12:40. Load-bearing for the NT resurrection typology; must pair consistently with 鱼腹 (‘belly of the fish’, see below) and be cross-referenced to the inherited Critical-risk 复活 entry.
Overthrown
Approved rendering: 倾覆
Transliteration: qīngfù
Doctrine: Divine Judgment and Justice
Rejected alternatives: 受罚 (softened, ‘punished’), 遭难 (softened, ‘in trouble’)
Original: נֶהְפָּכֶת (הָפַךְ) / καταστραφήσεται
Category: Repentance and Mercy
Nineveh’s announced judgment (3:4), verbally echoing the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:25, same Hebrew root family). Must retain full destructive force so the mercy of 3:10 registers as a genuine, dramatic reversal, not a minor de-escalation. Translator note cross-referencing the Sodom narrative recommended.
Believed God
Approved rendering: 信服
Transliteration: xìnfú
Doctrine: Genuine versus Superficial Repentance
Rejected alternatives: 信心 (reserved for the baseline’s fuller, object-specified NT saving-faith sense)
Original: וַיַּאֲמִינוּ (אמן) / ἐνεπίστευσαν
Category: Repentance and Mercy
Established CUV rendering for the Ninevites’ immediate, collective trust-response (3:5), distinct from the inherited noun 信心. Must be taught as a genuine but preliminary/typological belief-response — real trust in the message given, preparatory to but not identical with the fuller NT doctrine of saving faith. Do not substitute 信心 here.
Perish
Approved rendering: 灭亡
Transliteration: mièwáng
Doctrine: Repentance and Divine Mercy
Rejected alternatives: framing detached from cross-reference to 救恩
Original: אבד / ἀπόλλυμι
Category: Repentance and Mercy
The stated stakes of the forty-day sentence (3:9). Standard Chinese Christian term used across the whole Bible for this concept (matching John 3:16’s ‘不至灭亡’). Cross-reference to the inherited 救恩 entry recommended so learners connect Nineveh’s temporal rescue with the fuller NT doctrine of salvation from eternal perishing, while noting 3:9’s stakes are the temporal-historical destruction of the city.
Steadfast Love Hesed
Approved rendering: 慈爱
Transliteration: cí’ài
Doctrine: Character of God: Grace, Mercy, and Steadfast Love
Rejected alternatives: 慈悲 (Buddhist Four Immeasurables, non-relational universal compassion), 仁爱 (Confucian cultivated benevolence)
Original: חֶסֶד (רַב־חֶסֶד) / πολυέλεος
Category: Compassion for the Nations
The OT’s central covenant-loyalty term (4:2) — steadfast, relationship-grounded faithfulness. Significant collision risk: shares its root character 慈 with Buddhist 慈悲 and Confucian 仁爱, both impersonal/non-relational dispositions. Mandatory translator note required anchoring 慈爱 to God’s specific covenant self-disclosure, here surprisingly extended to a Gentile nation, never to a generic ‘compassionate nature’ gloss.
Pity Compassion
Approved rendering: 爱惜/怜惜
Transliteration: àixī / liánxī
Doctrine: God’s Compassion for the Nations
Rejected alternatives: clinical ‘have regard for’ rendering lacking relational warmth
Original: חוּס / φείδομαι
Category: Compassion for the Nations
God’s climactic rhetorical question (4:10-11), ‘should I not pity Nineveh?’ Must retain personal, relational warmth to carry the rhetorical force of the book’s unresolved closing appeal — the book ends on this open question, and the emotional weight of the Mandarin verb matters for pedagogical impact.
Appointed Arranged
Approved rendering: 安排
Transliteration: ānpái
Doctrine: God’s Governance of Nature and Circumstance
Rejected alternatives: bare 安排 with no providence cross-reference (reads as mere narrative convenience)
Original: מָנָה (וַיְמַן) / προσέταξεν
Category: Sovereignty over Creation
The recurring sovereign-command verb applied across the fish (1:17), the plant (4:6), the worm (4:7), and the east wind (4:8). 安排 is a very low-register, everyday secular Mandarin word; repeated use across four elements of creation risks reading as mere narrative convenience unless explicitly cross-referenced to the inherited 神的护理 (providence) entry every time the pattern recurs.
Medium Risk Terms
Gentiles
Approved rendering: 外邦人
Transliteration: wàibāngrén
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: 夷人, 外国人
Original: ἔθνη (NT parallel); Nineveh functions as the OT narrative embodiment of the non-covenant nations
Category: Compassion for the Nations
[Inherited from Romans package.] NEVER use 夷人 (the classical Hua-Yi civilized/barbarian distinction). In Jonah, Nineveh functions as the narrative embodiment of this category, though the Hebrew text never literally uses this word of Nineveh — use only in curriculum commentary as a typological teaching bridge, never inserted into the translated narrative text of Jonah itself.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: 预言
Transliteration: yùyán
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: 算卦, 占卜
[Inherited from Romans package.] Jonah’s forty-day announcement (3:4) functions as a conditional prophetic oracle of judgment, not a fixed divinatory prediction (算卦/占卜). Its non-fulfillment upon Nineveh’s repentance must be taught as the announced probationary nature of prophetic warning, not a failed prediction.
Intercession
Approved rendering: 代求
Transliteration: dàiqiú
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Rejected alternatives: 求签, 问卜
[Inherited from Romans package.] Cross-reference for Jonah’s prayer from inside the fish (ch. 2) and the sailors’ crisis behavior (ch. 1): biblical prayer/intercession is direct address to a personal God, distinguished from 求签 (drawing a temple fortune-stick) or 问卜 (consulting a diviner) — see new entries ‘cast_lots’ and ‘prayer’ below for Jonah-specific applications of this same caution.
Great City
Approved rendering: 大城
Transliteration: dà chéng
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over Creation
Rejected alternatives: varying adjectives (巨大/极大) that break the גדול literary motif
Original: עִיר גְּדוֹלָה (גְּדוֹלָה לֵאלֹהִים) / πόλις μεγάλη
Category: Sovereignty over Creation
Nineveh’s size (1:2; intensified at 3:3 to ‘great before God’). The Hebrew root גדול recurs roughly a dozen times across Jonah (city, wind, fish, evil, anger, joy) as a deliberate literary motif. Maintain a single consistent Chinese adjective (大) wherever this motif is in play; do not vary stylistically.
Great Wind Storm
Approved rendering: 大风/暴风
Transliteration: dà fēng / bàofēng
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over Creation
Rejected alternatives: passive ‘a storm arose’ framing that obscures direct divine causation
Original: רוּחַ־גְּדוֹלָה / סַעַר / κλύδων μέγας
Category: Sovereignty over Creation
The LORD personally ‘hurled’ this storm (1:4) — a purposeful act, not a random weather event. Require an active, intentional verb construction (e.g., 耶和华使海中起了大风) rather than a bare passive, so the causal agency is not lost.
Sacrifice
Approved rendering: 献祭
Transliteration: xiànjì
Doctrine: Gentile Response and Worship of the True God
Original: זֶבַח / θυσία
Category: Worship / Compassion for the Nations
The Gentile sailors’ offering to the LORD after witnessing his power (1:16). Established generic Christian term with low collision risk in isolation.
The Deep Abyss
Approved rendering: 深渊
Transliteration: shēnyuān
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over Creation
Rejected alternatives: phrasing implying an independent, autonomous chaos-power
Original: תְּהוֹם / ἄβυσσος
Category: Sovereignty over Creation
Jonah’s descent into ‘the deep’ (2:5) echoes the creation narrative’s primeval waters (Genesis 1:2). Keep phrasing God-governed; the deep is Jonah’s affliction, subdued by God, not an autonomous rival cosmic force.
Fast
Approved rendering: 禁食
Transliteration: jìnshí
Doctrine: Repentance and Divine Mercy
Rejected alternatives: 斋戒 (Buddhist/Daoist merit-oriented ascetic dietary discipline)
Original: צוֹם / νηστεία
Category: Repentance and Mercy
Established modern Chinese Christian term (3:5). Minor collision risk with ascetic dietary restriction associated with merit generation; brief clarifying note advisable: biblical fasting here expresses urgent repentance toward a personal God, not a merit-generating technique (cf. baseline’s 功德 caution).
Evil Way
Approved rendering: 恶道
Transliteration: èdào
Doctrine: Repentance and Divine Mercy
Rejected alternatives: framing that suggests the cosmic metaphysical Dao
Original: דֶּרֶךְ הָרָעָה / ὁδὸς πονηρά
Category: Repentance and Mercy
A habitual pattern of wrongdoing, metaphorically a ‘path’ to be abandoned (3:8). 道 here means ordinary ‘way/path,’ not the cosmic Dao flagged Critical under the baseline’s 道成肉身 entry, but a light clarifying note is prudent given how heavily loaded 道 is in Chinese religious vocabulary generally.
Violence
Approved rendering: 强暴
Transliteration: qiángbào
Doctrine: Divine Judgment and Justice
Original: חָמָס / ἀδικία
Category: Repentance and Mercy
Nineveh’s specific societal sin (3:8), also used of the pre-flood world’s corruption (Genesis 6:11). Ensure it reads as active oppression/violence rather than abstract ‘badness,’ giving concrete content to the ‘evil way.‘
Fierce Anger
Approved rendering: 烈怒
Transliteration: liènù
Doctrine: Divine Judgment and Justice
Rejected alternatives: Jonah’s own 发怒/恼怒 used for God’s anger (blurs an important moral distinction)
Original: חֲרוֹן אַפּוֹ / θυμός
Category: Repentance and Mercy
God’s righteous, just anger against Nineveh’s violence (3:9), set aside through genuine repentance. Must be kept terminologically distinct from Jonah’s own petty, sinful anger in chapter 4 (see ‘jonahs_anger’ below).
Disaster Calamity
Approved rendering: 灾祸
Transliteration: zāihuò
Doctrine: Divine Judgment and Justice
Original: הָרָעָה / κακία
Category: Repentance and Mercy
God’s threatened judgment (3:10), sharing the same Hebrew root (רעה) as Nineveh’s own ‘evil way’ — a wordplay invisible across the two distinct Mandarin terms 恶道/灾祸. Curriculum note should flag this connection for teaching purposes.
Call Proclaim
Approved rendering: 宣告
Transliteration: xuāngào
Doctrine: Proclamation to Foreign Nations
Rejected alternatives: 说 (generic ‘say’, loses the authoritative, commissioned sense)
Original: קָרָא / κηρύσσω
Category: Compassion for the Nations
Authoritative public proclamation of a commissioned message (3:2, 3:4), the same verbal family behind NT gospel proclamation. Parallels the baseline’s mission-related 洋教 (‘foreign religion’) sensitivity — Jonah’s proclamation to a foreign capital is a useful teaching bridge for that exact cultural risk.
East Wind
Approved rendering: 东风
Transliteration: dōngfēng
Doctrine: God’s Governance of Nature and Circumstance
Rejected alternatives: unflagged use risking positive spring/renewal cultural connotation
Original: רוּחַ קָדִים / πνεῦμα καύσωνος
Category: Sovereignty over Creation
The hot, scorching wind God appointed to intensify Jonah’s discomfort (4:8). In Chinese literary/poetic tradition, 东风 carries strong positive connotations (spring’s arrival, renewal); here it is hostile and judgment-adjacent. A brief contextual note is advisable so readers do not import the positive cultural association.
Belly Of The Fish
Approved rendering: 鱼腹
Transliteration: yúfù
Doctrine: Jonah as a Sign Foreshadowing Christ’s Resurrection
Rejected alternatives: 鱼的肚子 (colloquial paraphrase breaking cross-book consistency)
Original: בִּמְעֵי הַדָּג (Jonah 1:17/2:1) / ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ τοῦ κήτους (Matthew 12:40)
Category: Christology / Typology
Established CUV term used identically in Jonah 1:17/2:1 and Matthew 12:40. Low collision risk in isolation; significant only insofar as it must be held terminologically identical across both books to preserve the typological link (the belly of the fish standing in for the tomb).
Low Risk Terms
Prophet
Approved rendering: 先知
Transliteration: xiānzhī
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: 算命先生
[Inherited from Romans package.] Jonah is repeatedly identified as ‘the prophet Jonah’ in NT usage (Matthew 12:39). Distinguish from 算命先生 (a fortune-teller) — Jonah’s message is a commissioned divine word, however reluctantly delivered, not a divinatory prediction.
Nineveh
Approved rendering: 尼尼微
Transliteration: Níníwēi
Doctrine: God’s Compassion for the Nations
Original: נִינְוֵה / Νινευή
Category: Compassion for the Nations
Established CUV proper name transliteration. No inherent collision risk, but an introductory note on Nineveh as Assyria’s real, historically threatening imperial capital is required before Jonah 1:2 is taught, so the shock of God’s compassion reaching precisely this city is not flattened into a generic ‘far away foreign place.‘
Tarshish
Approved rendering: 他施
Transliteration: Tāshī
Doctrine: Human Reluctance versus God’s Universal Love
Original: תַּרְשִׁישׁ / Θαρσίς
Category: Narrative/Geography
Established CUV transliteration. The farthest-known destination in the opposite direction from Nineveh; the extremity of the flight underscores the extremity of Jonah’s reluctance.
Fear Terror
Approved rendering: 惧怕
Transliteration: jùpà
Doctrine: Gentile Response and Worship of the True God
Rejected alternatives: 敬畏 used interchangeably (flattens the narrative’s irony)
Original: יָרֵא / φοβέομαι
Category: Human Response
The sailors’ ordinary terror at the storm (1:5). Must be kept distinct from reverential fear-of-God (敬畏, see next entry) to preserve the narrative’s irony that pagan sailors ultimately display more functional reverence than the fleeing prophet.
Prayer
Approved rendering: 祷告
Transliteration: dǎogào
Doctrine: Prayer and Access to God in Distress
Original: תְּפִלָּה / προσευχή
Category: Faith
Jonah’s psalm-like prayer from inside the fish (ch. 2). Established, low-risk modern Christian term. Models direct access to God even from the brink of death; distinguish from consulting a diviner (问卜) or drawing lots (求签) for guidance, per the inherited 代求 (intercession) caution.
Forty Days
Approved rendering: 四十天
Transliteration: sìshí tiān
Doctrine: Divine Patience and the Reversibility of Announced Judgment
Original: אַרְבָּעִים יוֹם / τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέραι
Category: Repentance and Mercy
The probationary window before judgment (3:4) — a stock biblical number of testing/grace (cf. the flood, Sinai, Christ’s wilderness temptation). No collision risk; connects pedagogically to other ‘forty’ narratives across the wider curriculum.
Sackcloth
Approved rendering: 麻衣
Transliteration: má yī
Doctrine: Repentance and Divine Mercy
Original: שַׂק / σάκκος
Category: Repentance and Mercy
Established biblical mourning-garment term (3:5-6), worn by the entire Ninevite population ‘from the greatest to the least.’ Ensure the ritual-mourning sense is retained rather than being read as ordinary material clothing.
King Of Nineveh
Approved rendering: 尼尼微王
Transliteration: Níníwēi wáng
Doctrine: God’s Compassion for the Nations
Rejected alternatives: framing that divinizes the king in a 天子-style Mandate-of-Heaven role
Original: מֶלֶךְ נִינְוֵה / ὁ βασιλεὺς Νινευή
Category: Compassion for the Nations
The highest human authority in Nineveh, personally submitting to the LORD’s message (3:6). No significant collision; teaching may note the contrast with the baseline’s 天子 caution — this pagan king is not divinized by the text but is himself shown submitting to the true God, the opposite dynamic from imperial Mandate-of-Heaven ideology.
Ashes
Approved rendering: 灰
Transliteration: huī
Doctrine: Repentance and Divine Mercy
Original: אֵפֶר / σποδός
Category: Repentance and Mercy
A sign of mourning, humility, and self-abasement, combined with sackcloth (3:6). No significant collision risk in Mandarin.
Slow To Anger
Approved rendering: 不轻易发怒
Transliteration: bù qīngyì fānù
Doctrine: Character of God: Grace, Mercy, and Steadfast Love
Original: אֶרֶך אַפַּיִם / μακρόθυμος
Category: Compassion for the Nations
God’s forbearance and patience (4:2), the operative attribute that gave Nineveh its forty-day window. No significant collision risk.
Plant Gourd
Approved rendering: 蓖麻
Transliteration: bìmá
Doctrine: God’s Governance of Nature and Circumstance
Original: קִיקָיוֹן / κολόκυνθα
Category: Sovereignty over Creation
Established CUV botanical rendering (castor plant) God appointed to shade Jonah, then removed as an object lesson (4:6-7). No collision risk.
Worm
Approved rendering: 虫子
Transliteration: chóngzi
Doctrine: God’s Governance of Nature and Circumstance
Original: תּוֹלֵעָה / σκώληξ
Category: Sovereignty over Creation
The small creature God appointed to destroy Jonah’s shade-plant (4:7), demonstrating sovereignty extending even to the smallest creature. No significant collision risk.
Jonahs Anger
Approved rendering: 发怒/恼怒
Transliteration: fānù / nǎonù
Doctrine: Human Reluctance versus God’s Universal Love
Rejected alternatives: 烈怒 (reserved for God’s righteous, judicial anger)
Original: חָרָה לוֹ / ἐλυπήθη
Category: Human Reluctance
Jonah’s resentful displeasure at God’s mercy toward Nineveh (4:1, 4:4, 4:9) — the book’s central human-reluctance problem. Must be kept terminologically distinct from God’s righteous ‘fierce anger’ (烈怒) so learners do not equate Jonah’s petty, self-centered resentment with God’s holy, justice-grounded anger.
Referenced passages