Core Glossary
08 Core Glossary — Mark 1–16 (English → Mandarin)
Purpose
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing theological term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, covering the full book of Mark (chapters 1–16), for direct use as Phase 2 translation memory input. Terms already present in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json / bible_term_registry.json are marked Reused and MUST be rendered exactly as recorded there — no alternative spellings, characters, or synonyms are permitted. Terms new to the Mark curriculum are marked New and are proposed for addition to translation memory at the risk tier indicated, pending the standard human theologian / native speaker review routing per the baseline’s escalation rules.
Risk tiers follow the baseline’s doctrine_risk_registry.json definitions exactly:
- Critical — mistranslation destroys essential doctrine; human theologian review required for every occurrence.
- High — mistranslation creates significant theological confusion or syncretism risk; human theologian review required.
- Medium — mistranslation reduces clarity but preserves essential meaning; native speaker review recommended.
- Low — mistranslation causes minor misunderstanding; automated review sufficient.
Section 1: Terms Reused Exactly from the Romans Baseline
| English Term | Mandarin | Pinyin | Risk (baseline) | Doctrine Link (Mark) | Key Mark Passages | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gospel | 福音 | fúyīn | Medium | Jesus as Suffering Servant and Son of God (title, 1:1); Ransom for Many | 1:1, 1:14-15, 8:35, 10:29, 13:10, 14:9, 16:15 | Reused — Romans TM |
| kingdom of God | 神的国 | Shén de guó | Medium | The Kingdom of God Breaking In | 1:15, 4:11, 4:26-32, 9:1, 10:14-15, 10:23-25, 12:34 | Reused — Romans TM |
| faith | 信心 | xìnxīn | High | Faith and Discipleship amid Fear | 2:5, 4:40, 5:34, 6:6, 9:23-24, 10:52, 11:22-24 | Reused — Romans TM |
| grace | 恩典 | ēndiǎn | Critical | (background doctrine informing Ransom for Many; not a frequent Markan lexical item but doctrinally underlying 10:45) | — | Reused — Romans TM |
| sin | 罪 | zuì | High | Jesus’ Authority over Sin; Necessity of the Cross | 1:4-5, 2:5-10, 3:28-29, 14:24 | Reused — Romans TM |
| Christ / Messiah | 基督 | Jīdū | Critical | The Messianic Secret; Jesus as Suffering Servant and Son of God | 1:1, 8:29-30, 9:41, 12:35, 13:21-22, 14:61-62, 15:32 | Reused — Romans TM |
| Son of God | 神的儿子 | Shén de érzi | Critical | Jesus as Suffering Servant and Son of God | 1:1, 1:11, 3:11, 5:7, 9:7, 15:39 | Reused — Romans TM |
| Holy Spirit | 圣灵 | Shènglíng | Critical | Jesus’ identity and empowerment | 1:8, 1:10, 1:12, 3:29, 12:36, 13:11 | Reused — Romans TM |
| God | 神 | Shén | Critical | (all doctrines) | throughout | Reused — Romans TM |
| Jesus | 耶稣 | Yēsū | Critical | (all doctrines) | throughout | Reused — Romans TM |
| lord | 主 | zhǔ | Critical | Lordship of Christ (embedded within Jesus as Son of God doctrine) | 2:28, 5:19, 7:28, 11:3, 11:9, 12:36-37, 13:20, 13:35 | Reused — Romans TM |
| gentiles | 外邦人 | wàibāngrén | Medium | Universal Scope (background to Kingdom Breaking In) | 7:24-30, 10:33, 10:42, 13:10 | Reused — Romans TM |
| glory | 荣耀 | róngyào | Medium | Jesus as Suffering Servant and Son of God | 8:38, 10:37, 13:26 | Reused — Romans TM |
| resurrection | 复活 | fùhuó | Critical | Necessity of the Cross; Resurrection fulfillment | 6:14, 8:31, 9:9-10, 9:31, 10:34, 12:18-27, 16:6 | Reused — Romans TM |
| prophet | 先知 | xiānzhī | Low | Fulfillment of Prophecy | 1:2, 6:4, 6:15, 8:28, 11:32 | Reused — Romans TM |
| covenant | 约 | yuē | High | The Ransom for Many (blood of the covenant) | 14:24 | Reused — Romans TM |
| apostle / the Twelve | 使徒 / 十二使徒 | shǐtú / shí’èr shǐtú | Low | (support structure for Discipleship doctrine) | 3:14-19, 6:7-13, 6:30 | Reused — Romans TM |
| father (God as) | 父 | fù | High | Jesus as Son of God | 8:38, 11:25, 13:32, 14:36 | Reused — Romans TM |
| abba | 阿爸 | Ābà | Medium | Jesus as Son of God (Gethsemane intimacy) | 14:36 | Reused — Romans TM |
| power of God | 神的大能 | Shén de dà néng | High | Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature | 5:30, 6:14, 9:1, 12:24, 13:26 | Reused — Romans TM |
Section 2: New Terms Introduced by the Mark Curriculum
| English Term | Mandarin | Pinyin | Greek Original | Risk (proposed) | Doctrine Link | Key Passages | Rejected Alternatives | Risk Reasoning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Son of Man | 人子 | rénzǐ | ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου | Critical | Jesus as Suffering Servant and Son of God; The Messianic Secret; Ransom for Many | 2:10, 2:28, 8:31, 9:9, 9:31, 10:33, 10:45, 13:26, 14:21, 14:41, 14:62 | 天子 (“Son of Heaven,” imperial title) | NEVER use 天子 — the historic imperial legitimacy title, held by any ruler under the Mandate of Heaven. Without teaching the Daniel 7:13-14 background (absent from Chinese cultural memory), 人子 risks being read as either a purely humble self-reference or, if confused with 天子, an impersonal political-cosmic office rather than a unique, eternal, divine-and-human person. |
| ransom | 赎价 | shújià | λύτρον | Critical | The Ransom for Many | 10:45 | 还愿式的赎金 (vow-fulfillment payment), 赎罪 (rejected under baseline justification) | The core lexical anchor of a named curriculum doctrine. Must not be read through the folk-religious framework of ritual debt-repayment to spirits/ancestors (还愿, 冥币) where humans pay to appease the spirit world — here God himself provides the price, and it secures deliverance, not appeasement. Must also avoid collision with 赎罪, already rejected in the baseline for justification, to keep the forensic/substitutionary distinctions clean across both curricula. |
| unclean spirit / demon | 污鬼 / 鬼 | wūguǐ / guǐ | πνεῦμα ἀκάθαρτον / δαιμόνιον | Critical | Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature | 1:23-27, 34, 39; 3:11, 22-30; 5:1-20; 6:7, 13; 7:25-30; 9:17-29 | 祖灵 (already rejected under baseline holy_spirit for a different reason, extended here) | Direct collision with the extensive Chinese folk-religious category of 鬼 (ghosts of the deceased, appeased via ancestor veneration and the Hungry Ghost Festival). Must be taught as personal evil spiritual beings under Satan’s authority, decisively and totally defeated by Christ’s word — never approached through ritual offering, appeasement, or exorcism-for-hire. |
| necessity (“must”) | 必须 | bìxū | δεῖ | Critical | The Necessity of the Cross | 8:31, 9:31, 9:12, 10:33-34, 13:7, 14:31, 14:49 | 命运 (fate), 天命 (Mandate of Heaven) | This single grammatical word is the doctrine’s lexical anchor. Divine redemptive necessity — grounded in the fulfillment of Scripture and the Father’s saving purpose — must never collapse into impersonal fatalism, consistent with the baseline’s repeated caution against 命运/天命 under providence and election. |
| cross | 十字架 | shízìjià | σταυρός / σταυρόω | Critical | The Necessity of the Cross | 8:34, 10:38 (foreshadowed), 15:13-32 | 十字架(泛化为”负担”的成语用法) | Secular modern Mandarin has drained “背十字架” into an idiom for “bearing a heavy personal burden.” Every occurrence must be anchored to the literal, historical, once-for-all execution of Christ (ch.15), not a generalized burden-bearing metaphor. |
| Christ’s suffering / to suffer | 受苦 | shòukǔ | πάσχω / πάθημα | High | The Necessity of the Cross; Jesus as Suffering Servant | 8:31, 9:12 | 修炼式受苦 (self-cultivation suffering), 因果报应式受苦 (karmic-retribution suffering) | Chinese religious/philosophical traditions frame redemptive suffering either as Buddhist dukkha to be transcended or as Confucian/Daoist disciplined endurance that refines character. Christ’s suffering must be taught as vicarious, substitutionary, and unique (Isaiah 53 background), not a model of stoic self-cultivation or karma-burning. |
| servant (διάκονος) | 用人 | yòngrén | διάκονος | High | Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness | 9:35, 10:43 | 仆人 (reserved for δοῦλος, see below), 佣人 (hired laborer, too transactional) | Modern readers may hear 用人 through the lens of the pre-modern master–servant household hierarchy. Must be taught as a freely chosen posture modeled on Christ himself (10:45), not an assigned social class. |
| slave/bondservant (δοῦλος) | 仆人 | púrén | δοῦλος | High | Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness; Jesus as Suffering Servant | 10:44, 10:45 (implicit, Isaiah 53 background) | 奴仆/家奴 (chattel-slave, too narrowly legal-status), 佣人 | Collides with the historic institution of household bond-servants and with Confucian fixed-role hierarchical ethics. Must connect explicitly to Isaiah’s Suffering Servant (LXX δοῦλος/παῖς) so that voluntary, radical self-giving — not coerced low status — is the operative sense. |
| serve (verb) | 服事 | fúshì | διακονέω | High | Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness; Ransom for Many | 1:13, 1:31, 9:35, 10:43-45, 15:41 | 伺候 (too servile/domestic in register) | Verb form of 用人/仆人 above; must retain the same collision cautions and be kept visibly cross-referenced to the noun forms so translators do not drift into inconsistent renderings across the curriculum. |
| give up one’s life | 舍命 | shěmìng | δοῦναι τὴν ψυχήν | High | The Ransom for Many; Faith and Discipleship | 8:35, 10:45 | 命运式的丧命 (fatalistic loss of life) | 命 (mìng) carries strong fatalistic overtones in everyday Mandarin (命运). Must be taught as Jesus’ free, sovereign self-gift, not a fate imposed upon him — the same caution the baseline applies to 命运/天命 elsewhere. |
| baptism (literal and metaphorical) | 受洗 / 洗 | shòuxǐ / xǐ | βάπτισμα / βαπτίζω | High | The Necessity of the Cross (metaphorical use, 10:38-39); background sacrament (1:4-11) | 1:4-11, 10:38-39 | 洁净仪式 (generic ritual-cleansing rite) | Dual usage (literal sacrament vs. Jesus’ suffering-metaphor at 10:38) requires per-occurrence clarification. Must be distinguished from repeatable folk-religious ritual purification rites; Christian baptism (literal or as a suffering-metaphor) marks a once-for-all identification with Christ. |
| authority | 权柄 | quánbǐng | ἐξουσία | High | Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature | 1:22, 1:27, 2:10, 3:15, 6:7, 11:28-33 | (same root rendered differently at 10:42 — see 治理/操权管束 below) | Must be kept distinct from the negative worldly-domination sense of the same Greek root at 10:42. Jesus’ 权柄 is legitimate, self-authenticating, God-given authority — never conflated with coercive human rule. |
| lord it over / worldly domination | 治理 / 操权管束 | zhìlǐ / cāoquán guǎnshù | κατακυριεύω / κατεξουσιάζω | High | Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness | 10:42 | 权柄 (reserved for Jesus’ legitimate authority) | Describes the worldly-power pattern Jesus explicitly rejects as a model for his disciples; must not be rendered with the same term used for Jesus’ own positive, legitimate authority (权柄), or the doctrinal contrast collapses. |
| forgive (sins) | 赦免 | shèmiǎn | ἀφίημι (ἁμαρτίας) | High | Jesus’ Authority over Sin | 2:5, 2:7, 2:9-10, 3:28, 4:12, 11:25 | 消业 (dissolving karma), 功德抵消 (offsetting by merit) | Must not be conflated with the Buddhist/folk notion of karmic-debt dissolution or merit-offsetting (功德, already Critical-flagged in the baseline for grace). Forgiveness is a sovereign, gracious divine act pronounced by Jesus with unique divine authority. |
| clean / unclean (ritual and moral purity) | 洁净 / 污秽 | jiéjìng / wūhuì | καθαρός / κοινός / ἀκάθαρτος | High | Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature | 1:40-45, 7:1-23 | 不洁 (generic folk ritual-pollution term, retained only as background contrast) | Strong collision with folk-religious ritual-pollution concepts (death, blood, taboo objects, remedied by ritual cleansing). Jesus relocates purity from external/ritual to internal/moral (7:15-23) — this relocation itself is the load-bearing theological point and must survive translation. |
| eternal life | 永生 | yǒngshēng | ζωὴ αἰώνιος | High | The Kingdom of God Breaking In; Faith and Discipleship | 10:17, 10:30 | 长生不老 (Daoist physical-immortality cultivation) | Collides with the Daoist immortality-cultivation tradition of pursuing physical longevity through technique/alchemy. Biblical eternal life is resurrected, relational, God-given life secured through Christ, not self-cultivated longevity. |
| hell / Gehenna | 地狱 | dìyù | γέεννα | High | Jesus’ Authority over Sin; eschatological warning | 9:43-48 | 阴间/地府 (folk-Buddhist/Daoist bureaucratic underworld) | Collides with the Chinese folk-Buddhist underworld bureaucracy (courts, graduated punishments, ritual transfer of merit via 超度). Biblical Gehenna is final, God-determined judgment, not a bureaucratic afterlife-state subject to ritual appeal. |
| Son of David (title) | 大卫的子孙 | Dàwèi de zǐsūn | υἱὸς Δαυίδ | High | The Messianic Secret; background Davidic covenant | 10:47-48, 12:35-37 | (none; distinguish from baseline’s 大卫的后裔, a lineage-only phrase) | Consistent with the baseline’s Davidic Covenant risk tier; requires OT background explanation, since Chinese dynastic tradition has no analogous perpetual, unconditional covenant to one royal line (Mandate of Heaven is revocable by nature). |
| blasphemy | 亵渎 | xièdú | βλασφημία | High | The Messianic Secret; Jesus’ Authority; Deity of Christ | 3:28-29, 14:63-64 | 得罪神明 (offending a folk deity/spirit) | Must retain the narrow biblical sense (willful, knowing rejection of God’s clear self-revelation), especially at the Sanhedrin trial (14:61-64) where it triggers the crucifixion — not generalized into ordinary taboo-breaking against folk deities, which carries a different, negotiable retribution logic. |
| betray / hand over | 出卖 / 交给 | chūmài / jiāogěi | παραδίδωμι | Medium–High | The Necessity of the Cross | 3:19, 9:31, 10:33, 14:10-11, 14:18-21, 14:41-46, 15:1, 15:10, 15:15 | (single flattened rendering for all occurrences) | The same Greek verb covers both Judas’s culpable betrayal and the deeper theological sense of the Father/Son “giving up” the Son in redemptive love. A single undifferentiated Mandarin rendering risks confusing human treachery with divine self-giving; translators must select 出卖 for Judas’s action and 交给/舍 for the theological “handing over” sense, with a note explaining the distinction. |
| temple | 圣殿 | shèngdiàn | ἱερόν / ναός | High | The Kingdom of God Breaking In; Necessity of the Cross (temple judgment) | 11:11, 11:15-17, 11:27, 13:1-2, 14:58, 15:29, 15:38 | 庙 / 寺 / 道观 (folk/Buddhist/Daoist temples) | Consistent with the baseline’s church-term caution; the Jerusalem Temple is the unique historical dwelling of the one true God under the old covenant, never a functional equivalent of a general folk-religious sacred site. |
| repentance | 悔改 | huǐgǎi | μετάνοια / μετανοέω | Medium | The Kingdom of God Breaking In; Faith and Discipleship | 1:4, 1:15, 6:12 | 后悔 (mere regret) | Must convey more than emotional regret — a decisive reorientation of allegiance toward God’s inaugurated reign, inseparable from faith in the gospel. |
| Sabbath | 安息日 | ānxírì | σάββατον | Medium | Jesus’ Authority (Lord of the Sabbath) | 1:21, 2:23-28, 3:1-6, 6:2, 16:1 | 黄历择日 (folk auspicious-day selection) | Distinguish God-commanded covenantal rest from folk calendrical luck/taboo-day concepts. |
| synagogue | 会堂 | huìtáng | συναγωγή | Low | (setting for Authority/teaching doctrine) | 1:21, 1:29, 1:39, 3:1, 6:2 | 庙 (folk temple) | Standard, low-risk term; noted only to avoid drift toward temple vocabulary. |
| scribes | 文士 | wénshì | γραμματεῖς | Low–Medium | The Messianic Secret (as antagonists) | 1:22, 2:6, 3:22, 7:1, 12:38 | 士大夫/文人 (elevated Confucian-literati framing) | Minor risk of over-elevating the term via the honored status of Confucian literati; scribes in Mark are frequently antagonists, not sages to be emulated. |
| Pharisees | 法利赛人 | Fǎlìsàirén | Φαρισαῖοι | Low | (antagonist group across multiple doctrines) | 2:16-24, 3:6, 7:1-5, 8:11, 10:2, 12:13 | — | Proper-noun transliteration; standard, low risk. |
| high priest | 大祭司 | dà jìsī | ἀρχιερεύς | Medium | The Messianic Secret (trial) | 14:53-65, 15:1-11 | 道士/和尚 (Daoist/Buddhist priestly roles) | Distinguish the unique OT covenant priestly office from unrelated Chinese religious-practitioner roles. |
| parable | 比喻 | bǐyù | παραβολή | Low–Medium | The Kingdom of God Breaking In; The Messianic Secret | 3:23, 4:2-34, 7:17, 12:1-12, 13:28 | 寓言 (generic secular fable) | Must retain the revealing/concealing dual function tied to the Messianic Secret, not read as a generic moral fable. |
| mystery | 奥秘 | àomì | μυστήριον | Medium | The Kingdom of God Breaking In; The Messianic Secret | 4:11 | 秘传/内丹奥秘 (esoteric initiate-only transmission) | Must not be read as technique-attained esoteric knowledge (Daoist inner-alchemy secrets, Buddhist esoteric transmission); the kingdom’s mystery is graciously revealed, not attained. |
| ”I am” (divine-Name echo) | 是我 / 我是 | shì wǒ / wǒ shì | ἐγώ εἰμι | High | Jesus as Son of God (implicit deity claim) | 6:50, 13:6, 14:62 | (plain self-identification alone, without translator’s note) | Mandarin surface rendering reads as mundane self-identification; the Exodus 3:14 divine-Name echo must be surfaced via translator’s note at each occurrence, especially 14:62. |
| stumbling (cause to sin) | 绊倒 | bàndǎo | σκανδαλίζω | Medium | Jesus’ Authority over Sin | 4:17, 6:3, 9:42-47, 14:27-29 | — | Standard term; moderate risk only in ensuring the moral/spiritual sense (causing another to sin) is not read as mere physical stumbling. |
| watch/be alert | 警醒 | jǐngxǐng | γρηγορέω | Low–Medium | Faith and Discipleship amid Fear | 13:33-37, 14:34-38 | 避凶趋吉式的警觉 (superstitious vigilance against ill omens) | Distinguish expectant, faith-rooted readiness for Christ’s return from folk-superstitious wariness of inauspicious signs. |
| tribulation | 患难 | huànnàn | θλῖψις | Medium | The Kingdom of God Breaking In (eschatological) | 13:19, 13:24 | — | Minor risk of reading as generic hardship rather than the specific end-time distress in view. |
| false prophets/christs | 假先知 / 假基督 | jiǎ xiānzhī / jiǎ Jīdū | ψευδοπροφήτης / ψευδόχριστος | Medium | The Messianic Secret | 13:6, 13:21-22 | 弥勒信仰式的救世主期待 (millenarian future-savior expectation) | Cross-reference the baseline’s messiah entry: false christs must not be assimilated to, nor should Christ himself be confused with, Maitreya-style future-savior expectations in Chinese folk-Buddhist millenarianism. |
| torn curtain | 幔子 | mànzi | καταπέτασμα | Medium | The Ransom for Many (access to God opened) | 15:38 | — | Requires Temple-architecture background explanation; no direct folk-religious collision, but significance is easily under-taught. |
| Hosanna | 和散那 | hésànnà | ὡσαννά | Low | The Messianic Secret (public but partial acclaim) | 11:9-10 | — | Transliteration with gloss; minimal collision risk. |
| beloved Son | 爱子 | àizǐ | υἱὸς ἀγαπητός | Critical | Jesus as Suffering Servant and Son of God | 1:11, 9:7, 12:6 | (adoptive/honorary “favored son” framing) | Extension of the baseline’s 神的儿子 Critical tier; must convey the Father’s eternal, pre-existing relationship with the Son, not an adoptive elevation of an otherwise ordinary figure to exalted status. |
| sign | 神迹 / 迹象 | shénjì / jìxiàng | σημεῖον | Medium | Faith and Discipleship amid Fear/unbelief | 8:11-12, 13:4, 13:22 | 占卜的征兆 (divination omen) | Distinguish an evidentiary act authenticating God’s revealed word from a divinatory omen predicting fortune. |
| crucify | 钉十字架 | dìng shízìjià | σταυρόω | Critical | The Necessity of the Cross (literal fulfillment) | 15:13-27 | (same idiom-drift caution as 十字架 above) | Verb form of 十字架; carries the same critical caution against idiomatic drift into a generic-burden metaphor. |
| King of the Jews | 犹太人的王 | Yóutàirén de wáng | βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων | Medium | The Messianic Secret (ironic mockery-turned-truth) | 15:2, 15:9, 15:12, 15:18, 15:26, 15:32 | — | Preserve Mark’s deliberate irony (mockery title that is theologically true) rather than resolving it prematurely in translation notes. |
| kingdom mission / preach to all creation | 传福音给万民 | chuán fúyīn gěi wànmín | κηρύσσω τὸ εὐαγγέλιον πάσῃ τῇ κτίσει | Medium | The Kingdom of God Breaking In; Universal Scope | 13:10, 16:15 | 洋教传播 (already rejected in baseline for mission) | Consistent with the baseline’s mission entry; avoid framing that reinforces the historic “foreign religion” (洋教) stigma. |
Section 3: Doctrine-to-Term Cross-Reference Summary
| Curriculum Doctrine | Risk Tier | Primary Terms (Reused + New) |
|---|---|---|
| Jesus as the Suffering Servant and Son of God | Critical | 人子 (new), 神的儿子 (reused), 爱子 (new), 仆人/用人 (new), 荣耀 (reused) |
| The Kingdom of God Breaking In | Medium–High | 神的国 (reused), 比喻 (new), 奥秘 (new), 悔改 (new) |
| Faith and Discipleship amid Fear | High | 信心 (reused), 不信 (new), 警醒 (new), 神迹 (new) |
| The Necessity of the Cross | Critical | 必须 (new), 十字架/钉十字架 (new), 杯 (new), 受洗 (new) |
| Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness | High | 用人 (new), 仆人 (new), 服事 (new), 治理/操权管束 (new) |
| The Messianic Secret | Critical | 基督 (reused), 人子 (new), 奥秘 (new), 亵渎 (new) |
| Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature | Critical–High | 权柄 (new), 污鬼/鬼 (new), 赦免 (new), 洁净/污秽 (new) |
| The Ransom for Many | Critical | 赎价 (new), 舍命 (new), 约/立约的血 (reused/new compound) |
Section 4: Translation Memory Update Instructions (Phase 2 Handoff)
- All Section 1 terms are already present in
translation_memory.json; Phase 2 processing must load and enforce them exactly with no modification. - All Section 2 terms are proposed additions. Before Phase 2 translation of Mark begins, each new term must be:
a. Reviewed by a human theologian (Critical/High tier) or native speaker (Medium tier) per the baseline’s escalation rules.
b. Written into
translation_memory.jsonwith an incremented version number. c. Cross-checked against the baseline’s forbidden-substitution list to confirm no collision (e.g. confirm 人子 is never interchangeable with 天子; confirm 赎价 is never interchangeable with 赎罪). - The following terms require MANDATORY human theologian review on every occurrence, extending the baseline’s escalation rules to Mark: 人子, 赎价, 十字架/钉十字架, 必须 (δεῖ), 污鬼/鬼, 爱子, and any ἐγώ εἰμι (“I am”) occurrence (6:50, 14:62).
- The following terms require native speaker review: 悔改, 奥秘, 安息日, 大祭司, 幔子, 患难, 假先知/假基督, 传福音给万民.
- Automated review is sufficient for: 会堂, 法利赛人, 和散那, 犹太人的王 (subject to the irony-preservation note above).
This glossary is Step 1 output for the Mark curriculum, extending — never contradicting — the baseline Romans Language Package. It must be loaded alongside 07_semantic_analysis.md before Step 2 (doctrine risk registry construction) and before any Phase 2 translation operation.
Critical Risk Terms
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 exactly. Infrequent as a Markan noun but doctrinally underlies the Ransom for Many (10:45): the ransom Christ gives is a gift, not a merit transaction. NEVER use 功德/阴德/造化.
Messiah Christ
Approved rendering: 基督
Transliteration: Jīdū
Doctrine: Messianic Promise / The Messianic Secret
Rejected alternatives: 弥勒, 救世主式泛称
Original: Χριστός
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package exactly. NEVER conflate with 弥勒 (Maitreya). Mark-specific: Peter’s confession (8:29) is immediately followed by Jesus silencing the disciples (8:30) and reinterpreting the title through necessary suffering (8:31) — never let 基督 stand alone without this correction taught alongside it.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: 神的儿子
Transliteration: Shén de érzi
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ / Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 天子, 神人
Original: υἱὸς θεοῦ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Mark brackets the entire Gospel with this title (1:1 // 15:39), resolving the Suffering-Servant/Son-of-God tension at the cross. NEVER 天子. Mandatory theologian review at 15:39 per the baseline’s deity-of-Christ escalation rule.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: 圣灵
Transliteration: Shènglíng
Doctrine: Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit
Rejected alternatives: 祖灵, 灵
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Descends on Jesus at baptism (1:10); named in the one unforgivable-sin warning (3:29). NEVER 灵 alone or 祖灵. The 3:28-29 warning requires mandatory theologian review, distinguished from folk-taboo logic of offending a spirit/deity (得罪神明).
God
Approved rendering: 神
Transliteration: Shén
Doctrine: Deity
Rejected alternatives: 上帝, 天, 老天爷
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package exactly. This package standardizes on 神 (Shen edition) throughout Mark, never 天/老天爷 alone.
Jesus
Approved rendering: 耶稣
Transliteration: Yēsū
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ / Deity of Christ
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Standard CUV transliteration, used uniformly throughout Mark.
Lord
Approved rendering: 主
Transliteration: zhǔ
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 主人, 老爷
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Mark 2:28’s ‘Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath’ and 12:35-37’s veiled greater-than-David claim both extend the baseline’s Lordship doctrine; never soften to 主人/老爷.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: 复活
Transliteration: fùhuó
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 轮回, 投胎, 还魂
Original: ἀνάστασις / ἐγείρω
Category: Eschatology
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Reserved for the technical resurrection sense (8:31; 9:9-10,31; 10:34; 12:18-27; 16:6). Jairus’s daughter’s foreshadowing ‘rising’ (5:41-42) must use ordinary vocabulary (起来), NOT this term, to protect the climactic occurrence at 16:6.
Son Of Man
Approved rendering: 人子
Transliteration: rénzǐ
Doctrine: Jesus as the Suffering Servant and Son of God / The Messianic Secret
Rejected alternatives: 天子
Original: ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου
Category: Christology
New Mark term, established Chinese Christian coinage. NEVER equate with 天子 (‘Son of Heaven’, the historic imperial legitimacy title under the Mandate of Heaven). Without teaching the Daniel 7:13-14 background (absent from Chinese cultural memory), risks being read as either a purely humble self-reference or an impersonal political-cosmic office. Every occurrence must hold together both the humility (8:31; 10:45) and exaltation (13:26; 14:62) poles.
Beloved Son
Approved rendering: 爱子
Transliteration: àizǐ
Doctrine: Jesus as the Suffering Servant and Son of God
Original: υἱὸς ἀγαπητός
Category: Christology
New Mark term; extension of 神的儿子’s Critical tier. The Father’s direct address at Jesus’ baptism (1:11) and Transfiguration (9:7), and Jesus’ self-referential parable image (12:6). Must convey the Father’s eternal, pre-existing relationship and love, not an adoptive or meritorious elevation comparable to a Mandate-of-Heaven-granted status.
Ransom
Approved rendering: 赎价
Transliteration: shújià
Doctrine: The Ransom for Many
Rejected alternatives: 还愿式的赎金, 赎罪
Original: λύτρον
Category: Salvation
New Mark term; CUV-established rendering. The core lexical anchor of the named curriculum doctrine (10:45). Must not be read through folk-religious ritual debt-repayment to spirits/ancestors (还愿, burning 冥币) — here God himself, in Christ, provides the price on humanity’s behalf. Must be kept distinct from 赎罪 (already rejected under the baseline’s justification entry) to preserve forensic/substitutionary clarity. Mandatory theologian review on every occurrence per the baseline’s atonement-language escalation rule.
Necessity Must
Approved rendering: 必须
Transliteration: bìxū
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross
Rejected alternatives: 命运, 天命
Original: δεῖ
Category: Salvation
New Mark term. The single grammatical word anchoring the entire doctrine (8:31; 9:12,31; 10:33-34; 13:7; 14:31,49). As a bare grammatical particle it carries no theological content by default and must never collapse into impersonal fate (命运) or an unavoidable curse (天命). Every occurrence requires an explicit theological anchor clause grounding it in divine redemptive purpose and Scripture’s fulfillment.
Cross
Approved rendering: 十字架
Transliteration: shízìjià
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross
Rejected alternatives: 背十字架 used loosely as a drained generic-burden idiom
Original: σταυρός
Category: Salvation
New Mark term, established Chinese Christian term. Secular modern Mandarin has drained ‘背十字架’ into an idiom for ‘bearing a heavy personal burden.’ Every doctrinal occurrence (8:34; 10:38 foreshadowed; 15:13-32) must be anchored to the literal, historical, necessary death of Christ, never reduced to a generalized burden-bearing metaphor.
Crucify
Approved rendering: 钉十字架
Transliteration: dìng shízìjià
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross
Original: σταυρόω
Category: Salvation
New Mark term. Verb form of 十字架; carries the same critical caution against idiomatic drift. The literal, historical fulfillment (15:13-27) of the necessity announced since 8:31.
Unclean Spirit Demon
Approved rendering: 污鬼 / 鬼
Transliteration: wūguǐ / guǐ
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sin and Unclean Spirits
Rejected alternatives: 祖灵
Original: πνεῦμα ἀκάθαρτον / δαιμόνιον
Category: Authority
New Mark term. Direct collision with the extensive Chinese folk-religious category of 鬼 (ghosts of the deceased, appeased at the Hungry Ghost Festival and through ancestor rites). Must be taught unmistakably as personal evil spiritual beings under Satan’s authority, decisively defeated by Christ’s word (1:23-27,34,39; 3:22-30; 5:1-20; 9:17-29) — never approached through ritual offering, appeasement, or exorcism-for-hire.
High Risk Terms
Faith
Approved rendering: 信心
Transliteration: xìnxīn
Doctrine: Faith and Discipleship amid Fear
Rejected alternatives: 虔诚, 迷信, 信仰
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package exactly. The object of faith (Jesus specifically) must remain explicit at every occurrence in a fear-context (4:40; 5:34; 6:6; 9:23-24; 10:52; 11:22-24), not generic religious devoutness directed at any deity or practice.
Sin
Approved rendering: 罪
Transliteration: zuì
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sin
Rejected alternatives: 报应, 罪犯式的罪
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Moral transgression against a personal God (1:4-5; 2:5-10; 3:28-29; 14:24), not merely legal infraction or karmic-retribution consequence.
Covenant
Approved rendering: 约
Transliteration: yuē
Doctrine: Covenant Blood and the New Covenant
Rejected alternatives: 合同, 契约
Original: διαθήκη
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package exactly. In the compound 立约的血 (14:24), practical risk rises to Critical due to direct doctrinal linkage with 赎价/舍命 (10:45’s ‘for many’) — must be translated and taught in deliberate harmony, not as an unrelated sacramental formula.
Father
Approved rendering: 父
Transliteration: fù
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 祖先, 老天爷
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Invoked at Gethsemane (14:36) and in eschatological/forgiveness teaching (8:38; 11:25; 13:32). Distinguish from ancestor veneration (祭祖) and impersonal Heaven (老天爷).
Power Of God
Approved rendering: 神的大能
Transliteration: Shén de dà néng
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sickness and Nature
Rejected alternatives: 气, 法力
Original: δύναμις θεοῦ
Category: Authority
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Evident in Jesus’ healing ministry (5:30; 6:14) and end-time coming (13:26). NEVER 气 (Chinese medicine/qigong vital-energy) or 法力 (folk practitioner’s ritual power).
I Am Divine Name
Approved rendering: 是我 / 我是
Transliteration: shì wǒ / wǒ shì
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: ἐγώ εἰμι
Category: Christology
New Mark term. Jesus’ self-identification while walking on the sea (6:50) and before the Sanhedrin (14:62), plausibly echoing the divine Name of Exodus 3:14 LXX. Plain Mandarin reads as mundane self-identification and loses the echo entirely; mandatory translator’s note at every occurrence, especially 14:62, which directly triggers the blasphemy charge.
Son Of David
Approved rendering: 大卫的子孙
Transliteration: Dàwèi de zǐsūn
Doctrine: Davidic Messiahship
Original: υἱὸς Δαυίδ
Category: Covenant
New Mark term. Distinct from the baseline’s genealogical seed_of_david (大卫的后裔); here functions as an acclaimed royal title (Bartimaeus, 10:47-48; debated 12:35-37). Requires OT covenant background explanation, since Chinese dynastic tradition has no analogous perpetual, unconditional covenant to one royal line.
Give Up Life
Approved rendering: 舍命
Transliteration: shěmìng
Doctrine: The Ransom for Many
Rejected alternatives: 命运式的丧命
Original: δοῦναι τὴν ψυχήν
Category: Salvation
New Mark term. 命 carries strong fatalistic overtones in everyday Mandarin (命运, ‘fate’). Must be taught as Jesus’ free, sovereign self-gift (8:35; 10:45), not a fate imposed on him from outside.
Eternal Life
Approved rendering: 永生
Transliteration: yǒngshēng
Doctrine: Eternal Life and the Cost of Discipleship
Rejected alternatives: 长生不老
Original: ζωὴ αἰώνιος
Category: Salvation
New Mark term. Collides with the Daoist immortality-cultivation tradition (长生不老, pursued through alchemy, diet, technique). Biblical 永生 (10:17,30) is resurrected, relational, God-given life secured through total faith-surrender to Christ, never self-cultivated physical longevity.
Forgive Sins
Approved rendering: 赦免
Transliteration: shèmiǎn
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority to Forgive Sins
Rejected alternatives: 消业, 功德抵消
Original: ἀφίημι (ἁμαρτίας)
Category: Sin
New Mark term. Must not be conflated with the Buddhist/folk notion of dissolving karmic debt (消业) or offsetting wrongdoing through accumulated merit (功德, already Critical-flagged under grace in the baseline). Jesus’ pronouncement (2:5,7,9-10; 3:28; 11:25) is a sovereign, gracious divine act tied directly to the Son of Man title.
Blasphemy
Approved rendering: 亵渎
Transliteration: xièdú
Doctrine: Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit
Rejected alternatives: 得罪神明
Original: βλασφημία
Category: Sin
New Mark term. Must retain the narrow biblical sense of willful, knowing rejection of God’s clear self-revelation (3:28-29; 14:63-64), not generalized taboo-breaking against a folk deity (得罪神明), which carries a different, negotiable, this-worldly retribution logic. The 14:63-64 occurrence is doctrinally decisive (it triggers the crucifixion) and requires mandatory theologian review.
Clean Unclean
Approved rendering: 洁净 / 污秽
Transliteration: jiéjìng / wūhuì
Doctrine: Purity Relocated to the Heart
Rejected alternatives: 不洁 (retained only as background contrast, never as the translation itself)
Original: καθαρός / κοινός / ἀκάθαρτος
Category: Sin
New Mark term. Strong collision with folk-religious ritual-pollution concepts (death, blood, taboo objects, remedied by ritual cleansing rites). Jesus’ relocation of defilement from external/ritual to internal/moral (7:15-23) is itself the load-bearing theological point; no ritual washing may be implied as sufficient — only God’s forgiveness (赦免) and inner transformation address the heart’s defilement.
Betray Hand Over
Approved rendering: 出卖 / 交给
Transliteration: chūmài / jiāogěi
Doctrine: Betrayal and the Divine Plan
Rejected alternatives: a single flattened rendering applied to all occurrences
Original: παραδίδωμι
Category: Sin
New Mark term. The same Greek verb παραδίδωμι covers both Judas’s culpable betrayal (14:10-11,43-46 — use 出卖) and the theological sense of the Son being ‘given up’ within the Father’s redemptive plan (9:31; 10:33; 14:41 — use 交给). A single flattened rendering risks confusing human treachery with divine self-giving love; each occurrence requires an explanatory note distinguishing the two senses.
Servant Diakonos
Approved rendering: 用人
Transliteration: yòngrén
Doctrine: Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness
Rejected alternatives: 仆人 (reserved for δοῦλος), 佣人
Original: διάκονος
Category: Discipleship
New Mark term, CUV rendering at 9:35/10:43. Modern readers may hear 用人 through the pre-modern master-servant household hierarchy; must be taught as a freely chosen posture open to ‘whoever’ desires greatness (9:35; 10:43), modeled on Christ himself (10:45), not an assigned social class.
Slave Doulos
Approved rendering: 仆人
Transliteration: púrén
Doctrine: Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness / Jesus as the Suffering Servant
Rejected alternatives: 奴仆/家奴, 佣人
Original: δοῦλος
Category: Discipleship
New Mark term, CUV rendering at 10:44. Collides with the historic Chinese household bond-servant institution (奴仆/家奴) and Confucian fixed-role hierarchical ethics (君臣/父子). Must connect explicitly to Isaiah 52:13-53:12’s Suffering Servant (LXX δοῦλος/παῖς) so voluntary, radical self-giving — not coerced low status — is the operative sense.
Serve Verb
Approved rendering: 服事
Transliteration: fúshì
Doctrine: Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness / The Ransom for Many
Rejected alternatives: 伺候
Original: διακονέω
Category: Discipleship
New Mark term. Verb form of 用人/仆人; used of angels serving Jesus (1:13), Peter’s mother-in-law (1:31), and definitively of the Son of Man’s own mission (10:45). Must be kept visibly cross-referenced to the noun forms across chapters 1, 9, 10, and 15.
Lord It Over Worldly Domination
Approved rendering: 治理 / 操权管束
Transliteration: zhìlǐ / cāoquán guǎnshù
Doctrine: Servanthood versus Worldly Greatness
Rejected alternatives: 权柄 (reserved exclusively for Jesus’ own legitimate authority)
Original: κατακυριεύω / κατεξουσιάζω
Category: Discipleship
New Mark term. Describes the worldly-power pattern Jesus explicitly rejects for his disciples (10:42) — same Greek root as ἐξουσία, opposite moral valence. Must NEVER be rendered with the same term used for Jesus’ own legitimate authority (权柄), or the 10:42-45 doctrinal antithesis collapses.
Suffering
Approved rendering: 受苦
Transliteration: shòukǔ
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross / Jesus as the Suffering Servant
Rejected alternatives: 修炼式受苦, 因果报应式受苦
Original: πάσχω / πάθημα
Category: Salvation
New Mark term. Chinese religious/philosophical traditions frame redemptive suffering either as Buddhist dukkha to be transcended or Confucian/Daoist disciplined self-cultivation (修炼) that refines character. Christ’s suffering (8:31; 9:12) must be taught as vicarious, substitutionary, and unique (Isaiah 53 background), never a model of stoic self-cultivation or karmic burning-off.
Baptism
Approved rendering: 受洗 / 洗
Transliteration: shòuxǐ / xǐ
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross (metaphorical use)
Rejected alternatives: 洁净仪式
Original: βάπτισμα / βαπτίζω
Category: Salvation
New Mark term. Dual usage: literal sacrament (1:4-11) and Jesus’ metaphorical ‘baptism of suffering’ (10:38-39) require per-occurrence clarification. Must be distinguished from repeatable folk-religious ritual purification rites; marks a once-for-all identification with Christ’s death, not a repeatable purification technique.
Authority
Approved rendering: 权柄
Transliteration: quánbǐng
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sickness, Sin, and Nature
Original: ἐξουσία
Category: Authority
New Mark term, established CUV term. Jesus’ legitimate, self-authenticating right to teach, forgive sin, command unclean spirits, and delegate to his disciples (1:22,27; 2:10; 3:15; 6:7; 11:28-33). Must be kept clearly distinct from the same Greek root’s negative worldly-domination use at 10:42 (rendered 治理/操权管束) — never conflated with coercive human rule.
Hell Gehenna
Approved rendering: 地狱
Transliteration: dìyù
Doctrine: Eschatological Judgment and Hell
Rejected alternatives: 阴间/地府
Original: γέεννα
Category: Eschatology
New Mark term. Collides with the elaborate Chinese folk-Buddhist/Daoist underworld bureaucracy (阴间/地府 — courts, graduated punishments, ritual intervention for the dead via 超度, already Critical-flagged under salvation in the baseline). Biblical γέεννα (9:42-48) is final and God-determined, not a temporary bureaucratic afterlife-state subject to ritual appeal or merit transfer.
Temple
Approved rendering: 圣殿
Transliteration: shèngdiàn
Doctrine: Temple Judgment and Access to God
Rejected alternatives: 庙, 寺, 道观
Original: ἱερόν / ναός
Category: Covenant
New Mark term. Consistent with the baseline’s church-term caution: NEVER 庙/寺/道观. The Jerusalem Temple (11:11-17,27; 13:1-2; 14:58; 15:29,38) is the unique historical dwelling of the one true God under the old covenant, not a functional equivalent of a general folk-religious sacred site.
Medium Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: 福音
Transliteration: fúyīn
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: 好消息, 喜讯
Original: εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Names the entire book at its opening (Mark 1:1) and recurs throughout (8:35; 10:29; 13:10; 14:9; 16:15). Root 福 sits within folk fortune-seeking language; every occurrence must be taught as the announcement of salvation through the crucified and risen Christ, not an omen of coming luck.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: 外邦人
Transliteration: wàibāngrén
Doctrine: Universal Mission to All Nations
Rejected alternatives: 夷人, 外国人
Original: ἔθνη
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Used both of the coercive worldly-rule pattern Jesus rejects for his disciples (10:42) and of the eventual recipients of gospel proclamation (13:10). NEVER 夷人.
Glory
Approved rendering: 荣耀
Transliteration: róngyào
Doctrine: Jesus as the Suffering Servant and Son of God
Rejected alternatives: 面子, 光宗耀祖
Original: δόξα
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package exactly. At 10:37 must not collapse into 面子 (‘face’/status) — this is precisely the misreading James and John embody, which Jesus corrects; the Mandarin must preserve, not resolve, this irony. Also at 8:38; 13:26.
Abba
Approved rendering: 阿爸
Transliteration: Ābà
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Original: Ἀββά
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Preserved untranslated at Mark 14:36 (阿爸父), retained alongside 父 to convey filial closeness the formal term alone may not carry.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: 神的国
Transliteration: Shén de guó
Doctrine: The Kingdom of God Breaking In
Rejected alternatives: 天下, 王朝
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ
Category: Kingdom
Inherited from Romans package exactly. Mark’s ‘already/not yet’ parable tension (4:11,26-32; 9:1; 10:14-15,23-25; 12:34) must not collapse into a this-worldly political/dynastic order (天下, 王朝).
King Of The Jews
Approved rendering: 犹太人的王
Transliteration: Yóutàirén de wáng
Doctrine: The Messianic Secret
Original: βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων
Category: Christology
New Mark term. Mockery-title used by Roman soldiers and inscribed on the cross (15:26), ironically true. Preserve Mark’s deliberate irony rather than resolving it prematurely with an explanatory gloss.
Sign
Approved rendering: 神迹 / 迹象
Transliteration: shénjì / jìxiàng
Doctrine: Faith and Discipleship amid Fear
Rejected alternatives: 占卜的征兆
Original: σημεῖον
Category: Faith
New Mark term. An evidentiary act demanded by unbelieving opponents (8:11-12) or given as an eschatological marker (13:4,22); must be distinguished from a divination omen (占卜的征兆) sought in folk practice.
Stumbling
Approved rendering: 绊倒
Transliteration: bàndǎo
Doctrine: Eschatological Judgment and Hell
Original: σκανδαλίζω
Category: Sin
New Mark term. Standard term for causing another to sin or fall away, especially ‘little ones’ (9:42-47). Ensure the moral/spiritual sense is retained, not read as mere physical stumbling.
Watch Be Alert
Approved rendering: 警醒
Transliteration: jǐngxǐng
Doctrine: The Second Coming and Watchfulness
Rejected alternatives: 避凶趋吉式的警觉
Original: γρηγορέω
Category: Faith
New Mark term. Vigilant, expectant readiness for Christ’s uncertain-timing but certain return (13:33-37) and against spiritual failure in Gethsemane (14:34-38); must be distinguished from folk-superstitious vigilance against inauspicious omens.
Cup
Approved rendering: 杯
Transliteration: bēi
Doctrine: The Necessity of the Cross
Rejected alternatives: 自酿苦酒自己喝
Original: ποτήριον
Category: Salvation
New Mark term. The OT metaphor of ‘cup’ as one’s divinely appointed portion of judgment/suffering (10:38-39; 14:36) is unfamiliar to Mandarin readers; must be distinguished from the secular idiom implying self-inflicted consequence — Jesus’ cup is sovereignly appointed, vicariously borne suffering.
Parable
Approved rendering: 比喻
Transliteration: bǐyù
Doctrine: The Mystery of the Kingdom and Parables
Rejected alternatives: 寓言
Original: παραβολή
Category: Kingdom
New Mark term. Must retain the revealing/concealing dual function tied to the Messianic Secret (4:1-34; 7:17; 12:1-12; 13:28), not read as a generic secular fable.
Mystery
Approved rendering: 奥秘
Transliteration: àomì
Doctrine: The Mystery of the Kingdom and Parables
Rejected alternatives: 秘传/内丹奥秘
Original: μυστήριον
Category: Kingdom
New Mark term. Must not be assimilated to esoteric initiate-only transmission traditions (Daoist inner-alchemy secrets, Buddhist esoteric/tantric transmission attained via technique); the kingdom’s mystery (4:11) is graciously revealed by God, not attained. Pair with ‘given/made known’ (赐下/显明) verbs, never ‘attained through insight/practice’ (悟/修得).
Repentance
Approved rendering: 悔改
Transliteration: huǐgǎi
Doctrine: Repentance and the Kingdom
Rejected alternatives: 后悔
Original: μετάνοια / μετανοέω
Category: Kingdom
New Mark term, established CUV term. Must convey a decisive reorientation of allegiance toward God’s inaugurated reign (1:4,15; 6:12), not transient emotional regret.
Kingdom Mission Preach To All Creation
Approved rendering: 传福音给万民
Transliteration: chuán fúyīn gěi wànmín
Doctrine: Universal Mission to All Nations
Rejected alternatives: 洋教传播
Original: κηρύξατε τὸ εὐαγγέλιον πάσῃ τῇ κτίσει
Category: Kingdom
New Mark term. Consistent with the baseline’s mission entry; avoid framing that reinforces the historic 洋教 (‘foreign religion’) stigma associated with Christianity’s introduction to China (13:10; 16:15).
Satan
Approved rendering: 撒但
Transliteration: Sādàn
Doctrine: Jesus’ Authority over Sin and Unclean Spirits
New Mark term, established transliteration. The singular, personal chief adversary (3:22-27), accused of empowering Jesus’ exorcisms via ‘Beelzebul’ (别西卜, Biéxībo). Must be kept distinct from the generic folk-spiritual category of 鬼 — his defeat by Jesus is total and unique, not a negotiable spiritual transaction.
Sabbath
Approved rendering: 安息日
Transliteration: ānxírì
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 黄历择日
Original: σάββατον
Category: Authority
New Mark term, established CUV term. The weekly covenantal day of rest, over which Jesus claims lordship as ‘Son of Man’ (2:23-28; 3:1-6). Distinguish God-commanded covenantal rest from the folk-almanac concept of auspicious/inauspicious days (黄历/择日文化).
Tribulation
Approved rendering: 患难
Transliteration: huànnàn
Doctrine: The Second Coming and Watchfulness
Original: θλῖψις
Category: Eschatology
New Mark term. The specific end-time distress preceding Christ’s return (13:19,24); minor risk of being read as generic hardship rather than the specific eschatological referent.
False Prophets Christs
Approved rendering: 假先知 / 假基督
Transliteration: jiǎ xiānzhī / jiǎ Jīdū
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Rejected alternatives: 弥勒信仰式的救世主期待
Original: ψευδοπροφήτης / ψευδόχριστος
Category: Eschatology
New Mark term. Deceptive claimants to prophetic or messianic status who will arise before the end (13:6,21-22). Must not be assimilated to, nor should the true Christ be confused with, Maitreya-style (弥勒) future-savior expectations already Critical-flagged in Chinese folk-Buddhist millenarianism.
Torn Curtain
Approved rendering: 幔子
Transliteration: mànzi
Doctrine: Temple Judgment and Access to God
Original: καταπέτασμα
Category: Covenant
New Mark term. The Temple’s inner curtain, torn ‘from top to bottom’ at Jesus’ death (15:38), symbolizing opened access to God. Requires Temple-architecture background explanation; its significance must be explicitly connected to the ransom/necessity-of-the-cross doctrines, not under-taught.
High Priest
Approved rendering: 大祭司
Transliteration: dà jìsī
Doctrine: The Messianic Secret (trial)
Rejected alternatives: 道士, 和尚
Original: ἀρχιερεύς
Category: Church
New Mark term. Distinguish the unique OT covenant priestly office (14:53-65; 15:1-11) from unrelated Chinese religious-practitioner roles.
Scribes
Approved rendering: 文士
Transliteration: wénshì
Doctrine: The Messianic Secret (antagonists)
Rejected alternatives: 士大夫/文人
Original: γραμματεῖς
Category: Church
New Mark term. Minor risk of over-elevating via the honored status of Confucian literati; scribes in Mark (1:22; 2:6; 3:22; 7:1; 12:38) are consistently antagonists, not sages to be emulated.
Low Risk Terms
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 exactly. Used of John the Baptist and popular assessments of Jesus (6:4,15; 8:28; 11:32).
Apostle
Approved rendering: 使徒
Transliteration: shǐtú
Doctrine: Apostleship and Delegated Mission
Rejected alternatives: 宗师, 大师
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package exactly. The Twelve appointed ‘to be with him and to be sent out’ (3:14), later commissioned with delegated authority (6:7-13,30).
Synagogue
Approved rendering: 会堂
Transliteration: huìtáng
Doctrine: Setting for Authority and Teaching
Rejected alternatives: 庙
Original: συναγωγή
Category: Church
New Mark term, standard low-risk term (1:21,29,39; 3:1; 6:2); noted only to prevent drift toward folk-temple vocabulary.
Pharisees
Approved rendering: 法利赛人
Transliteration: Fǎlìsàirén
Doctrine: Antagonist Group
Original: Φαρισαῖοι
Category: Church
New Mark term, standard proper-noun transliteration, low risk (2:16-24; 3:6; 7:1-5; 8:11; 10:2; 12:13).
Hosanna
Approved rendering: 和散那
Transliteration: hésànnà
Doctrine: Public Acclamation of the Messiah
Original: ὡσαννά
Category: Christology
New Mark term, established transliteration with gloss. Cried by the crowd at the triumphal entry (11:9-10); minimal collision risk since it functions as a proper liturgical exclamation.
Referenced passages