Core Glossary
08 Core Glossary — Matthew 1–28 (English → Mandarin)
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing theological term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, covering the core passage (Matthew 5:1-12) and all 28 chapters of Matthew. Renderings for terms already present in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json are reused exactly and are marked “REUSE.” All other terms are new to this curriculum and are proposed here for entry into an updated, Matthew-extended translation memory. Risk tiers follow the same four-tier framework as the baseline doctrine_risk_registry.json (Critical / High / Medium / Low).
Table 1 — Terms Reused Exactly from the Romans Baseline (appearing throughout Matthew)
| Term | Mandarin | Risk (baseline) | Matthew doctrine link | Key Matthew occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| God | 神 | Critical | All doctrines | Throughout |
| Jesus | 耶稣 | Critical | All doctrines | Throughout |
| Christ / Messiah | 基督 | Critical | Messianic Promise; Jesus as Promised Messiah | 1:1, 16:16, 26:63-64, throughout |
| Holy Spirit | 圣灵 | Critical | Great Commission; Judgment (blasphemy against the Spirit) | 1:18, 20; 3:16; 12:31-32; 28:19 |
| Son of God | 神的儿子 | Critical | Jesus as Promised Messiah; Deity/Sonship of Christ | 14:33; 16:16; 17:5; 27:54 |
| Lord | 主 | Critical | Authority of Jesus’ Teaching | Throughout, e.g. 7:21-22; 25:37 |
| Father | 父 | High | Kingdom of Heaven; Discipleship | 5-7; 11:27; 28:19 |
| Righteousness | 义 | Critical | Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees | 5:6, 10, 20; 6:33; throughout |
| Faith | 信心 | High | Discipleship; Judgment | 8:10; 9:2, 22; 15:28; 17:20 |
| Sin | 罪 | High | Judgment; Great Commission | 1:21; 26:28 |
| Law | 律法 | High | Fulfillment of Prophecy; Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees | 5:17-18; 22:36-40; 23:23 |
| Covenant | 约 | High | Fulfillment of Prophecy; Great Commission | 26:28 |
| Kingdom of God | 神的国 | Medium | Kingdom of Heaven (used interchangeably with 天国 in Matthew) | 6:33; 12:28; 19:24; 21:31, 43 |
| David | 大卫 | Medium | Jesus as Promised Messiah and Son of David | 1:1, 6, 17; 21:9 |
| Israel | 以色列 | Medium | Fulfillment of Prophecy | 2:6, 20-21; 8:10; 10:6; 15:24 |
| Apostle | 使徒 | Low | Great Commission; Church | 10:2 |
| Church | 教会 | Medium | Church and Church Discipline | 16:18; 18:17 |
| Gospel | 福音 | Medium | Kingdom of Heaven; Great Commission | 4:23; 24:14; 26:13; 28:19-20 |
| Salvation / save | 救恩 / 救 | Critical | Jesus as Promised Messiah; Judgment | 1:21; 8:25; 14:30; 16:25 |
| Resurrection | 复活 | Critical | Fulfillment of Prophecy; Judgment and End of Age | 16:21; 17:9, 23; 22:23-33; 27:53; 28:1-10 |
| Glory | 荣耀 | Medium | Jesus as Promised Messiah | 16:27; 17:2, 5; 19:28; 24:30; 25:31 |
| Prophet | 先知 | Low | Fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecy | Throughout |
| Prophecy / fulfilled formula root | 预言 | Medium | Fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecy | 1:22-23; 13:14, 35 |
| Election (noun) | 拣选 | High | Judgment; Kingdom of Heaven | Root for 22:14’s 蒙拣选的 (see Table 2) |
| Called | 蒙召的 | High | Kingdom of Heaven; Discipleship | 22:14 |
| Seed of David | 大卫的后裔 | High | Jesus as Promised Messiah and Son of David | 1:1-17 (genealogical sense; distinct from titular “Son of David,” see Table 2) |
| Peace | 平安 | Medium | (Related but distinct nuance from “peacemakers,” see Table 2) | 10:13, 34 |
| Power of God | 神的大能 | High | Authority of Jesus’ Teaching (contrast term) | Implicit background for 权柄/authority (Table 2) |
| Thanksgiving | 感恩 | Low | Church | 26:27 |
| Abraham | 亚伯拉罕 | — (proper name) | Jesus as Promised Messiah and Son of David | 1:1-2, 17 |
| Moses | 摩西 | — (proper name) | Authority of Jesus’ Teaching | 17:3-4; 19:7-8 |
Table 2 — New Terms Introduced by Matthew (Full Detail)
| # | English Term | Original / Transliteration | Mandarin Rendering | Risk | Doctrine(s) | First / Key Passage(s) | Rejected Alternatives | Note (see 07_semantic_analysis.md for full field-by-field analysis) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blessed | μακάριος / makarios | 有福 (yǒufú) | Critical | Kingdom of Heaven | 5:3-11 | 幸运的 (lucky), 好命的 (fortunate-fated) | Subverts folk fú/fortune categories (福气, 五福临门); every occurrence needs the reversal explained. |
| 2 | Poor in spirit | πτωχὸς τῷ πνεύματι | 虚心 | High | Kingdom of Heaven | 5:3 | 灵里贫穷的 | Modern 虚心 = “teachable attitude”; must convey recognized spiritual destitution, not a virtue practiced. |
| 3 | Kingdom of heaven | βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν | 天国 | Critical | Kingdom of Heaven | 5:3, 10 and ~32x throughout | 天下, 王朝 | Collides with 天命 (Mandate of Heaven), 天意 (fatalism), 天庭 (mythic Heavenly Court); must be taught as identical reality to 神的国 (baseline). |
| 4 | Mourn / comforted | πενθέω / παρακαλέω | 哀恸 / 得安慰 | Low–Medium | Discipleship | 5:4 | — | Distinguish from Buddhist non-attachment to grief; distinct rendering from baseline “exhort” (劝勉), same Greek root. |
| 5 | Meek | πραΰς | 温柔 | Medium | Discipleship | 5:5 | — | Risk of reduction to passive/gendered temperament rather than restrained strength under God. |
| 6 | Inherit the earth | κληρονομέω τὴν γῆν | 承受地土 | Medium | Kingdom of Heaven | 5:5 | — | Not feng shui land-fortune; eschatological inheritance of renewed creation. |
| 7 | Hunger/thirst for righteousness | πεινᾶν/διψᾶν τὴν δικαιοσύνην | 饥渴慕义 | Medium (carries 义’s Critical risk) | Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees | 5:6 | — | Craving, not achievement, is blessed; 义 note applies in full. |
| 8 | Merciful / mercy | ἐλεήμων / ἔλεος | 怜恤 | High | Discipleship; Church | 5:7 | 慈悲 (Buddhist compassion term) | Collides with Guanyin/慈悲 devotional compassion and merit-generating compassion (功德). |
| 9 | Pure in heart | καθαρὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ | 清心 | High | Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees | 5:8 | — | Collides with Daoist 清心寡欲 self-cultivation technique; must be relational/moral, not meditative-ascetic. |
| 10 | See God | ὄψονται τὸν θεόν | 得见神 | Critical | Kingdom of Heaven | 5:8 | 见道, 悟 | Beatific vision, not mystical enlightenment-insight. |
| 11 | Peacemakers | εἰρηνοποιός | 使人和睦的人 | Medium | Discipleship | 5:9 | — | Distinct nuance from baseline 平安; risk of reduction to face-preserving social harmony. |
| 12 | Sons of God (believers, plural/adoptive) | υἱοὶ θεοῦ (κληθήσονται) | 称为神的儿子 | Critical | Kingdom of Heaven; (cross-doctrine: Adoption) | 5:9 | — | Must not be conflated with Christ’s unique 神的儿子 (baseline Critical, reserved for Christ). |
| 13 | Persecuted for righteousness | διωγμένοι ἕνεκεν δικαιοσύνης | 为义受逼迫 | Medium (carries 义’s Critical risk) | Discipleship; Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees | 5:10 | — | Hostility incurred for genuine righteousness, not misfortune/报应. |
| 14 | Revile / falsely | ὀνειδίζω / ψευδόμενοι | 辱骂 / 捏造 | Low | Discipleship | 5:11 | — | Straightforward; unjust, fabricated accusation. |
| 15 | Reward (in heaven) | μισθός | 赏赐 | Medium | Discipleship | 5:12 | — | Gracious gift to kingdom-citizens, not a merit-ledger wage (功德/报应). |
| 16 | Mountain (revelation setting) | ὄρος | 山 | Low | Authority of Jesus’ Teaching | 5:1 | — | Avoid Chinese sacred-mountain pilgrimage framing. |
| 17 | Disciples | μαθηταί | 门徒 | Medium | Discipleship | 5:1 | 学生, 徒弟 | Distinguish from martial-arts/Daoist master-lineage discipleship (师门). |
| 18 | Son of David (messianic title) | υἱὸς Δαυίδ | 大卫的子孙 | High | Jesus as Promised Messiah and Son of David | 1:1; 9:27; 12:23; 15:22; 20:30-31; 21:9,15; 22:42 | (distinct from baseline 大卫的后裔) | Title of royal-messianic confession, not mere ancestor-cult descendant language. |
| 19 | Virgin | παρθένος | 童女 | Critical | Jesus as Promised Messiah; (Incarnation) | 1:23 | 少女, 女子 | Sign of divine act; never soften to generic “young woman.” |
| 20 | Immanuel | Ἐμμανουήλ | 以马内利 (神与我们同在) | Critical | Jesus as Promised Messiah; (Incarnation, Deity of Christ) | 1:23 | — | Identifies Jesus himself as God present in the flesh. |
| 21 | Magi / wise men | μάγοι | 博士 | Medium | Fulfillment of OT Prophecy | 2:1 | 算命先生 (fortune-teller) | Gentile seekers rightly worshipping the true King; not diviners. |
| 22 | Worship | προσκυνέω | 拜 / 敬拜 | Critical | Jesus as Promised Messiah; (Deity of Christ) | 2:2, 11; 14:33; 28:9, 17 | — | Same verb as ancestor/idol veneration in Chinese religion; must be taught as worship due to God alone. |
| 23 | King of the Jews | βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων | 犹太人的王 | High | Jesus as Promised Messiah and Son of David | 2:2; 27:11, 29, 37 | — | Genuine royal-messianic claim; not this-worldly nationalist kingship. |
| 24 | Fulfilled | πληρωθῇ | 应验 | High | Fulfillment of OT Prophecy | 1:22; 2:15, 17, 23; 4:14; 8:17; 12:17; 13:35; 21:4; 26:56; 27:9 | — | Linear, one-time fulfillment; not cyclical dynastic pattern (治乱循环). |
| 25 | Repent / repentance | μετανοέω / μετάνοια | 悔改 | High | Kingdom of Heaven; Judgment | 3:2; 4:17 | 忏悔 (Buddhist ritual confession) | Relational turning to God, not karma-purifying ritual. |
| 26 | Baptize / baptism | βαπτίζω / βάπτισμα | 施洗 / 洗礼 / 受洗 | Medium | Great Commission | 3:6, 11, 13-17; 28:19 | — | One-time sign of repentance/identification, not repeatable ritual purification. |
| 27 | Pharisees | Φαρισαῖοι | 法利赛人 | Medium | Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees | 3:7 and throughout | — | Sincere law-keepers, not flat villains; substantive foil for “exceeding righteousness.” |
| 28 | Sadducees | Σαδδουκαῖοι | 撒都该人 | Low | Fulfillment of OT Prophecy | 3:7; 22:23 | — | Distinct party; denied resurrection. |
| 29 | Temptation | πειρασμός | 试探 | Medium | Discipleship | 4:1-11 | — | Genuine testing of obedience. |
| 30 | Devil / Satan | διάβολος / Σατανᾶς | 魔鬼 / 撒但 | High | Discipleship; Judgment | 4:1-11; 13:39 | — | Not a folk “ghost” (鬼); a real, personal, doomed adversary. |
| 31 | Fulfill (the Law) | πληρῶσαι | 成全 | High | Fulfillment of OT Prophecy; Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees | 5:17 | — | Completes, does not abolish, the Law. |
| 32 | Perfect | τέλειος | 完全 | High | Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees | 5:48 | — | Spirit-enabled reflection of the Father’s character, not Confucian self-cultivated perfection. |
| 33 | Love | ἀγαπάω / ἀγάπη | 爱 | High | Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees; Discipleship | 5:44; 22:37-39 | — | Broad Mandarin 爱 risks losing ἀγάπη’s deliberate, self-giving, even enemy-directed specificity. |
| 34 | Hypocrite | ὑποκριτής | 假冒为善的人 | Medium | Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees | 6:1-18; 23:13ff. | — | Connects to 面子 (face) dynamics. |
| 35 | Mammon | Μαμωνᾶς | 玛门 | High | Discipleship | 6:24 | — | Direct confrontation with 财神 (God of Wealth) devotional practice. |
| 36 | Forgive | ἀφίημι | 饶恕 / 赦免 | Medium | Church and Church Discipline | 6:12, 14-15; 18:21-35 | — | Relational release grounded in God’s prior grace, not karmic-debt cancellation. |
| 37 | Authority | ἐξουσία | 权柄 | High | Authority of Jesus’ Teaching | 7:29; 9:6, 8; 10:1; 21:23-27; 28:18 | 权力, 法力, 神通 | Inherent right to command, not delegated political mandate or mystical force. |
| 38 | Scribes | γραμματεῖς | 文士 | Low | Authority of Jesus’ Teaching | 7:29; 23 | — | Tradition-based teaching authority, contrasted with Jesus’ inherent authority. |
| 39 | Son of Man | υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου | 人子 | Critical | Jesus as Promised Messiah; Judgment and End of Age | 8:20 and ~30x throughout | — | Daniel 7 dominion-figure; not merely “a human being” nor Confucian 君子. |
| 40 | Weeping and gnashing of teeth | κλαυθμὸς καὶ βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων | 哀哭切齿 | Medium | Judgment and End of Age | 8:12; 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30 | — | Real, final, conscious exclusion; not rhetorical flourish. |
| 41 | Cross (discipleship cost) | σταυρός | 十字架 | High | Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus | 10:38; 16:24; Ch. 27 | — | Retain shame/execution/atonement referent; not a generic “burden” metaphor. |
| 42 | Life / soul | ψυχή | 生命 | Medium | Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus | 10:39; 16:25-26 | 灵魂 | Whole self at stake before God; not a transmigrating soul-substance (灵魂/三魂七魄). |
| 43 | Yoke | ζυγός | 轭 | Medium | Discipleship | 11:29-30 | — | Agricultural background needed; contrasted with Pharisaic tradition’s heavy burden. |
| 44 | Rest | ἀνάπαυσις | 安息 | Medium | Discipleship | 11:28-29 | — | Relational rest under Christ’s authority, not Daoist 无为 or nirvana-adjacent cessation. |
| 45 | Blasphemy (against the Holy Spirit) | βλασφημία | 亵渎 | Critical | Judgment and End of Age | 12:31-32 | — | Settled, willful Spirit-rejection; teach precisely to avoid needless despair or trivialization. |
| 46 | Parable | παραβολή | 比喻 | Low | Kingdom of Heaven | 13:3ff. | 寓言 (fable) | Revelatory kingdom-content, not a self-evident moral fable. |
| 47 | Mystery | μυστήριον | 奥秘 | Medium | Kingdom of Heaven | 13:11, 35 | — | God-disclosed truth, not gated occult/esoteric secret. |
| 48 | End of the age | συντέλεια τοῦ αἰῶνος | 世界的末了 | High | Judgment and End of Age | 13:39-40, 49; 24:3; 28:20 | — | Final, linear consummation, not a Buddhist kalpa (劫) cycle. |
| 49 | Tradition of the elders | παράδοσις τῶν πρεσβυτέρων | 古人的遗传 | Medium | Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees | 15:1-9 | — | Critiques specific traditions nullifying God’s word; not a blanket rejection of filial reverence (孝). |
| 50 | Unclean / defiled | κοινός | 污秽 | Medium | Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees | 15:11, 18-20 | — | Moral-relational, not ritual/geomantic contamination. |
| 51 | Keys of the kingdom | κλεῖς τῆς βασιλείας | 天国的钥匙 | High | Church and Church Discipline | 16:19 | — | Declarative gospel-authority under Christ, not priestly/magical afterlife gatekeeping. |
| 52 | Bind / loose | δέω / λύω | 捆绑 / 释放 | High | Church and Church Discipline | 16:19; 18:18 | — | Corporate, Christ-derived, Scripture-grounded declaration; not Daoist talismanic binding-ritual (符咒). |
| 53 | Brother (technical, church discipline) | ἀδελφός | 兄弟 | Medium | Church and Church Discipline | 18:15-17 | — | Covenant-family relationship; not clan sworn-brotherhood (结拜) or lineage-rite obligation. |
| 54 | Eternal life | ζωὴ αἰώνιος | 永生 | Critical | Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus | 19:16, 29; 25:46 | — | Resurrection life with God, not Daoist/folk physical-immortality quest (长生不老). |
| 55 | Ransom | λύτρον | 赎价 | Critical | Jesus as Promised Messiah; (Atonement) | 20:28 | — | Substitutionary death-price for many; not Buddhist merit-ritual 放生/赎命. |
| 56 | Cornerstone | κεφαλὴ γωνίας | 房角石 | Medium | Jesus as Promised Messiah; Church | 21:42 | — | Rejected-then-vindicated messianic foundation image. |
| 57 | Chosen / elect | ἐκλεκτός | 蒙拣选的 | High | Kingdom of Heaven; Judgment and End of Age | 22:14; 24:22, 24, 31 | 天命, 命运, 缘分 | Adjective form of baseline “election” (拣选); personal divine choice, not fate. |
| 58 | Woe | οὐαί | 祸 | Medium | Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees | 23:13ff. | 咒 (curse) | Prophetic judgment pronouncement, not magical curse. |
| 59 | Coming / Parousia | παρουσία | 降临 | Critical | Judgment and End of Age | 24:3, 27, 37, 39 | 下凡 | Singular, final, visible return; not a repeatable deity-descent pattern. |
| 60 | Abomination of desolation | βδέλυγμα τῆς ἐρημώσεως | 那行毁坏可憎的 | Medium | Judgment and End of Age; Fulfillment of OT Prophecy | 24:15 | — | Requires OT/Danielic background explanation. |
| 61 | Judgment | κρίσις | 审判 | High | Judgment and End of Age | 25:31-46 | 报应 | Personal forensic verdict by Christ, not impersonal karmic mechanism. |
| 62 | Eternal punishment | κόλασις αἰώνιος | 永刑 | High | Judgment and End of Age | 25:46 | — | Final and unending, not temporary folk-Buddhist purgatorial hell (十八层地狱). |
| 63 | Forgiveness of sins | ἄφεσις ἁμαρτιῶν | 罪的赦免 | High | Jesus as Promised Messiah; (Atonement) | 26:28 | — | Covenant-sealing, blood-secured; not general moral reform. |
| 64 | Veil of the temple | καταπέτασμα | 殿里的幔子 | Medium | Jesus as Promised Messiah; (Atonement) | 27:51 | — | Signifies access to God opened through Christ’s death. |
| 65 | Make disciples | μαθητεύω | 使…作门徒 | Medium | Great Commission | 28:19 | — | Formation of obedient Christ-followers, not lineage-school technique transmission. |
| 66 | All nations | πάντα τὰ ἔθνη | 万民 | Medium | Great Commission | 24:14; 28:19 | (distinct from 外邦人) | Comprehensively inclusive of Jew and Gentile alike; distinct from baseline “gentiles.” |
Cross-Reference: Curriculum Doctrines to Primary Glossary Terms
| Curriculum Doctrine | Primary New Terms (Table 2 #) | Primary Reused Terms (Table 1) |
|---|---|---|
| The Kingdom of Heaven | 1, 2, 3, 11, 12, 46, 47 | 神的国 |
| Jesus as the Promised Messiah and Son of David | 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 39, 55 | 基督, 大卫, 大卫的后裔, 神的儿子 |
| Fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecy | 21, 24, 27, 28, 60 | 先知, 预言, 以色列 |
| The Authority of Jesus’ Teaching | 37, 38 | 主, 神的大能 |
| Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees | 7, 9, 13, 27, 31, 32, 33, 34, 49, 50, 58 | 义, 律法 |
| The Church and Church Discipline | 51, 52, 53 | 教会, 使徒 |
| The Great Commission | 65, 66, 26 | 福音, 圣灵, 父 |
| Judgment and the End of the Age | 39, 40, 45, 48, 57, 59, 61, 62 | 复活, 罪 |
| Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus | 4, 5, 8, 15, 17, 29, 30, 35, 41, 42, 43, 44, 54 | 信心, 十字架 (root) |
Version Control Note
This glossary is designed to be merged into an updated, Matthew-extended translation_memory.json in Phase 1 Step 8 (Core Glossary finalization). All Table 1 entries must be copied verbatim from the existing Romans translation_memory.json — no re-translation or re-negotiation of established renderings is permitted. All Table 2 entries are new proposals requiring the same theologian/native-speaker review routing already defined in doctrine_risk_registry.json: Critical and High risk terms require human theologian review; Medium requires native speaker review; Low requires automated review only.
Critical Risk Terms
Grace
Approved rendering: 恩典
Transliteration: ēndiǎn
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: 功德, 造化, 福气, 阴德
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. NEVER use 功德 or 阴德. Matthew note: underlies the whole logic of the Beatitudes (5:3-12) and the reward sayings (5:12; 6:1-18) — kingdom blessing and eschatological reward are gracious gifts to those already God’s, not a merit-ledger payout; reinforce this whenever 赏赐 (reward) or 义 (righteousness) appear in a merit-adjacent context.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: 义
Transliteration: yì
Doctrine: Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees
Rejected alternatives: 道德, 善行
Original: δικαιοσύνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew intensifies the baseline’s Confucian-virtue collision warning: 5:20 (‘exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees’) explicitly demands surpassing a real, sincere, effortful moral-achievement system, raising the risk that ‘exceeding’ is heard as ‘trying harder at Confucian self-cultivation’ rather than Spirit-given heart righteousness. Every occurrence in 5:6, 10, 20; 6:33 requires the distinguishing note.
Justification
Approved rendering: 称义
Transliteration: chēngyì
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: 修成正果, 赎罪
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Not a Matthew-specific term in the Gospel’s own vocabulary, but retained in translation memory because the curriculum’s Discipleship and Salvation teaching (e.g. 19:16-29) must not be taught as an earned-attainment framework, which 修成正果 would import.
Salvation
Approved rendering: 救恩
Transliteration: jiùēn
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: 解脱, 超度, 得道
Original: σωτηρία / σῴζω
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew note: 1:21 (‘he will save his people from their sins’) is the programmatic statement for the whole Gospel; the verb 救 (8:25; 14:30) is used of physical rescue, foreshadowing the greater spiritual salvation. NEVER 解脱 or 超度.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: 成圣
Transliteration: chéngshèng
Doctrine: Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees
Rejected alternatives: 修身, 修炼
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew note: the same Neo-Confucian self-cultivation collision this term carries is directly relevant to 5:48’s 完全 (perfect) and the whole ‘Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees’ doctrine — teach both together as Spirit-wrought, not self-achieved.
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, unchanged. Matthew note: 16:21; 17:9,23; 22:23-33 (Sadducee debate, denying resurrection — built-in apologetic weight); 27:52-53; 28:1-10. NEVER 轮回, 投胎, or 还魂.
Lord
Approved rendering: 主
Transliteration: zhǔ
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ / Authority of Jesus’ Teaching
Rejected alternatives: 主人, 老爷
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew note: people repeatedly address Jesus as 主 (8:2; 9:28; 15:22; 20:30-31); 7:21-22 warns that not all who say ‘Lord, Lord’ truly belong to him — reinforce exclusive divine Lordship, never 主人/老爷.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: 道成肉身
Transliteration: dào chéng ròushēn
Doctrine: Virgin Birth and Incarnation
Rejected alternatives: 化身, 转世, 下凡
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew note: directly names the theological reality behind 1:18-23 (virgin conception, Immanuel) and 8:3’s fulfillment-of-flesh language; 道’s shared root with Daoist metaphysical ‘the Way’ must be fenced as in the baseline. NEVER 化身, 转世, 下凡.
Messiah
Approved rendering: 基督
Transliteration: Jīdū
Doctrine: Jesus as the Promised Messiah and Son of David
Rejected alternatives: 弥勒, 救世主式泛称
Original: Χριστός / מָשִׁיחַ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew note: 1:1, 16-18 and 16:16; 26:63-64 bind this title to ‘Son of David’ and ‘Son of the living God.’ NEVER conflate with 弥勒 (Maitreya); Christ has already come and fulfilled specific covenant promises, not one of several anticipated future world-saviors.
Jesus
Approved rendering: 耶稣
Transliteration: Yēsū
Doctrine: Deity and Sonship of Christ
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. No Matthew-specific revision; the CUV standard transliteration used uniformly throughout the Gospel.
God
Approved rendering: 神
Transliteration: Shén
Doctrine: The Kingdom of Heaven
Rejected alternatives: 上帝, 天, 老天爷
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew note: 神的国 (6:33; 12:28; 19:24; 21:31, 43) must be explicitly taught as identical in reality to Matthew’s preferred 天国 (see new term below) — readers must not imagine two kingdoms or absorb 天国 into impersonal folk-Heaven categories while treating 神的国 as the ‘real’ personal one.
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, unchanged. Matthew note: two additional high-stakes contexts require the compound 圣灵 without exception: the virginal conception (1:18, 20) and the unforgivable sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit (12:31-32). NEVER soften to 灵 alone.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: 算为义
Transliteration: suàn wéi yì
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: 修成正果的义, 自义
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Not a direct Matthew Gospel term, but retained because the doctrine it protects (righteousness credited, not earned) directly underlies how 5:6, 20’s 义 must be taught against a Confucian-cultivation misreading.
Blessed
Approved rendering: 有福
Transliteration: yǒufú
Doctrine: The Beatitudes’ Reversal of Fortune Categories
Rejected alternatives: 幸运的, 好命的
Original: μακάριος
Category: Kingdom
Established CUV fixed formula ’…的人有福了’ (Matt 5:3-11). CRITICAL: 福 sits at the center of Chinese folk-fortune vocabulary (福气, 五福临门, 福禄寿三星) naming earned or fate-given worldly prosperity, longevity, and rank. The Beatitudes’ entire rhetorical force depends on subverting this everyday notion — declaring ‘blessed’ precisely those folk categories call unfortunate. Every occurrence requires the reversal explained: God’s eschatological favor on kingdom-citizens, not folk fú.
Kingdom Of Heaven
Approved rendering: 天国
Transliteration: tiānguó
Doctrine: The Kingdom of Heaven
Rejected alternatives: 天下, 王朝
Original: βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν
Category: Kingdom
Matt 5:3, 10 and ~32 occurrences throughout. CRITICAL: 天 collides with 天命 (Mandate of Heaven), 天意 (fatalism), and 天庭 (mythological bureaucratic Heavenly Court). Must always be taught as identical to 神的国 (kingdom_of_god above) — Matthew’s ‘heaven’ phrasing is reverential/stylistic, not a second kingdom.
See God
Approved rendering: 得见神
Transliteration: dé jiàn shén
Doctrine: The Kingdom of Heaven
Rejected alternatives: 见道, 悟
Original: τὸν θεὸν ὄψονται
Category: Kingdom
Matt 5:8. The beatific vision — full, unmediated, personal, future relational communion with God. Must not be diluted into Daoist ‘perceiving the Dao’ (见道) or Buddhist enlightenment-insight (悟), both states of consciousness attained through practice rather than a future relational gift granted by grace.
Sons Of God Believers
Approved rendering: 称为神的儿子
Transliteration: chēng wéi Shén de érzi
Doctrine: Believers as Sons of God
Original: υἱοὶ θεοῦ κληθήσονται
Category: Kingdom
Matt 5:9. Because 神的儿子 is fixed Critical and reserved exclusively for Christ’s unique, eternal, co-equal Sonship, every use of this phrase for believers requires an explicit clarifying note: peacemakers receive adoptive, plural, derivative sonship as God’s children through grace — categorically different from and dependent upon Christ’s unique, eternal, underived divine Sonship. Never imply ontological parity between believers and Christ.
Virgin
Approved rendering: 童女
Transliteration: tóngnǚ
Doctrine: Virgin Birth and Incarnation
Rejected alternatives: 少女, 女子
Original: παρθένος
Category: Christology
Matt 1:23, citing Isaiah 7:14. Any softening to a generic ‘young woman’ would sever the virgin birth from its role as a sign of divine action; must always be paired with the Incarnation clarifying note (道成肉身).
Immanuel
Approved rendering: 以马内利
Transliteration: Yǐmǎnèilì
Doctrine: Virgin Birth and Incarnation
Original: Ἐμμανουήλ
Category: Christology
Matt 1:23. Transliteration with mandatory gloss 神与我们同在 (‘God with us’). Must not be taught as an honorific implying God’s favor on a specially chosen man, but as identifying Jesus himself as God present in the flesh.
Worship
Approved rendering: 拜 / 敬拜
Transliteration: bài / jìngbài
Doctrine: The Worship Due to Christ Alone
Original: προσκυνέω
Category: Christology
Matt 2:2, 11; 14:33; 28:9, 17. 拜 is the identical verb used for bowing to ancestors (拜祖先) and idols in a temple (拜佛, 拜神) without implying exclusive deity status. Every occurrence where Jesus is the object must be explicitly taught as worship due to God alone, reinforcing the Deity of Christ doctrine.
Son Of Man
Approved rendering: 人子
Transliteration: rénzǐ
Doctrine: Jesus as the Son of Man
Original: υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου
Category: Christology
Matt 8:20 and ~30x throughout. Greatest risk: under-translation as merely ‘a human being,’ missing the Daniel 7 dominion-figure background. Must also not be confused with the Confucian ideal 君子 (‘the noble/exemplary man’), a moral-achievement category.
Blasphemy Against Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: 亵渎
Transliteration: xièdú
Doctrine: Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit
Original: βλασφημία (εἰς τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ Ἅγιον)
Category: Eschatology
Matt 12:31-32, always paired with 圣灵. Pastorally weighty and sensitive; must be taught precisely as settled, willful, Spirit-resistant rejection of Jesus’ identity, never confused with ordinary doubt or sin.
Eternal Life
Approved rendering: 永生
Transliteration: yǒngshēng
Doctrine: Eternal Life and Eternal Punishment
Original: ζωὴ αἰώνιος
Category: Discipleship
Matt 19:16, 29; 25:46. Collides directly with the Daoist/folk quest for physical immortality (长生不老) pursued through alchemy, elixirs, and technique. Must be taught as resurrection life with God through grace-empowered faith, categorically distinct from extending biological life.
Ransom
Approved rendering: 赎价
Transliteration: shújià
Doctrine: Christ’s Ransom and Atoning Death
Original: λύτρον
Category: Christology
Matt 20:28. Significant collision risk with the Buddhist folk-merit practice of 放生 (fàngshēng, ‘releasing life,’ sometimes described as 赎命) — a human ritual generating merit for the practitioner, versus Christ’s own once-for-all substitutionary death paying the price for others’ sin, received by faith apart from merit.
Parousia
Approved rendering: 降临
Transliteration: jiànglín
Doctrine: The Second Coming of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 下凡
Original: παρουσία
Category: Eschatology
Matt 24:3, 27, 37, 39. Must not be assimilated to a bodhisattva’s/deity’s temporary, repeatable descent (下凡, already forbidden under baseline ‘incarnation’); the parousia is a singular, final, visible, glorious event ending the present age.
High Risk Terms
Faith
Approved rendering: 信心
Transliteration: xìnxīn
Doctrine: Faith / Discipleship
Rejected alternatives: 虔诚, 迷信, 信仰
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew note: recurring rebuke ‘你们这小信的人’ (you of little faith, 6:30; 8:26; 14:31; 16:8) and praise of ‘great faith’ (8:10; 15:28) both presuppose personal trust in Jesus specifically, not generic piety (虔诚).
Called
Approved rendering: 蒙召的
Transliteration: méngzhào de
Doctrine: Election and Calling
Rejected alternatives: 受命于天, 天命所归
Original: κλητός
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew note: 22:14 (‘many are called, but few are chosen’) pairs 蒙召的 directly with 蒙拣选的 (chosen/elect, see new term below) to distinguish a general kingdom invitation from effectual, saving response.
Calling
Approved rendering: 呼召
Transliteration: hūzhào
Doctrine: Election and Calling
Rejected alternatives: 天命, 命运
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. No Matthew-specific revision; retained for cross-curriculum consistency with 22:14’s calling/election cluster.
Holy
Approved rendering: 圣洁
Transliteration: shèngjié
Doctrine: Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees
Rejected alternatives: 清净, 圣人般的
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew note: relevant background for 5:8’s 清心 (pure in heart) and 5:48’s 完全 (perfect) — all three terms must be fenced from ritual-purity or self-cultivation readings distinct from moral/relational set-apartness.
Saints
Approved rendering: 圣徒
Transliteration: shèngtú
Doctrine: Church and Church Discipline
Rejected alternatives: 圣人, 高僧
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Not directly used as a Matthew Gospel term, but retained for consistency with 教会/church doctrine; must not imply Confucian 圣人 sage-level achievement.
Adoption
Approved rendering: 儿子的名分
Transliteration: érzi de míngfèn
Doctrine: Believers as Sons of God
Rejected alternatives: 过继, 收养
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew note: directly underlies 5:9’s 称为神的儿子 (see new term below) — believers’ peacemaking sonship is this same adoptive, relational status, not the instrumental lineage-continuation arrangement of 过继.
Law
Approved rendering: 律法
Transliteration: lǜfǎ
Doctrine: Fulfillment of the Law and Rejection of Nullifying Tradition
Rejected alternatives: 礼, 道德规范, 法律
Original: νόμος
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew note: 5:17-19 (‘I have not come to abolish the Law… but to fulfill it’) and 22:36-40 require careful handling alongside the new term 成全 (fulfill, see below); NEVER equate with 礼 (Confucian ritual propriety) nor treat as abolished.
Sin
Approved rendering: 罪
Transliteration: zuì
Doctrine: Judgment and the End of the Age
Rejected alternatives: 报应, 罪犯式的罪
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew note: 1:21 (‘save his people from their sins’) and 26:28 (‘for the forgiveness of sins’) anchor 罪 to a personal Savior’s atoning death, not impersonal karmic retribution (报应).
Obedience Of Faith
Approved rendering: 因信而生的顺服
Transliteration: yīn xìn ér shēng de shùnfú
Doctrine: Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus
Rejected alternatives: 孝顺, 礼法遵从
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew note: relevant background for the whole Sermon on the Mount’s ethic (ch. 5-7) — obedience flowing from grace already given (the Beatitudes precede the ethical demands), not obedience-as-merit; distinguish from 孝顺 (filial obedience owed as a debt).
Power Of God
Approved rendering: 神的大能
Transliteration: Shén de dà néng
Doctrine: Authority of Jesus’ Teaching
Rejected alternatives: 气, 法力
Original: δύναμις θεοῦ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew note: serves as the background contrast term for the new term 权柄 (authority, see below); 26:64 (‘seated at the right hand of Power’) uses 大能 directly. NEVER 气 or 法力.
Covenant
Approved rendering: 约
Transliteration: yuē
Doctrine: Christ’s Ransom and Atoning Death
Rejected alternatives: 合同, 契约
Original: διαθήκη
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew note: 26:28, ‘my blood of the covenant,’ ties 约 directly to the atoning death and forgiveness of sins. Avoid 合同/契约 (commercial contract).
Election
Approved rendering: 拣选
Transliteration: jiǎnxuǎn
Doctrine: Election and Calling
Rejected alternatives: 天命, 命运, 缘分
Original: ἐκλογή
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew note: root of the new adjectival term 蒙拣选的 (chosen/elect, 22:14; 24:22, 24, 31, see below). NEVER 天命/命运/缘分.
Providence
Approved rendering: 神的护理
Transliteration: Shén de hùlǐ
Doctrine: Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus
Rejected alternatives: 天意, 命运
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew note: relevant background for 6:25-34 (do not be anxious; the Father provides) and 10:29-31 (sparrows); NEVER 天意 alone — God’s providence is personal, purposive care, not impersonal fatalism.
Father
Approved rendering: 父
Transliteration: fù
Doctrine: The Kingdom of Heaven / Discipleship
Rejected alternatives: 祖先, 老天爷
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew note: central to the Sermon on the Mount (ch. 5-7, esp. 6:6-9 the Lord’s Prayer) and the baptismal formula (28:19). Distinguish carefully from ancestor veneration (祭祖); God the Father cares for his children, not the reverse.
Abba
Approved rendering: 阿爸
Transliteration: Ābà
Doctrine: Discipleship
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. No direct Matthew Gospel occurrence identified; retained for cross-curriculum consistency with the Father doctrine’s relational-intimacy emphasis, relevant background for 6:9’s Lord’s Prayer address.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: 大卫的后裔
Transliteration: Dàwèi de hòuyì
Doctrine: Jesus as the Promised Messiah and Son of David
Original: σπέρμα Δαυίδ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew note: applies specifically to the genealogical claim of physical lineage (1:1-17). Distinct from the new titular term 大卫的子孙 (used in direct address/worship contexts, e.g. 9:27; 21:9, 15; 22:42) — the two renderings must never be interchanged.
Poor In Spirit
Approved rendering: 虚心
Transliteration: xūxīn
Doctrine: The Kingdom of Heaven
Rejected alternatives: 灵里贫穷的
Original: πτωχὸς τῷ πνεύματι
Category: Kingdom
Matt 5:3. Established CUV rendering. Modern Mandarin 虚心 primarily means ‘open-minded/teachable’ (虚心接受意见), a cultivated attitude-virtue, not recognized spiritual destitution. Teaching must clarify this is a status recognized before God, not a personality trait practiced.
Merciful
Approved rendering: 怜恤
Transliteration: liánxù
Doctrine: Discipleship
Rejected alternatives: 慈悲
Original: ἐλεήμων / ἔλεος
Category: Discipleship
Matt 5:7. Established CUV rendering. Chinese religious culture has an extremely prominent devotional figure of compassion, Guanyin (观音), venerated as the Bodhisattva/Goddess of Mercy (慈悲, cíbēi). Significant risk of absorption into that devotional framework or into merit-generating compassionate action (功德, Critical-flagged in the baseline grace entry). Must be taught as flowing from God’s own character revealed in Christ, received as kingdom-family resemblance, not a merit transaction.
Pure In Heart
Approved rendering: 清心
Transliteration: qīngxīn
Doctrine: Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees
Original: καθαρὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ
Category: Righteousness
Matt 5:8. Established CUV rendering. 清心 is half of the well-known Daoist self-cultivation phrase 清心寡欲 (‘purify the heart, minimize desires’), an ascetic meditative technique for attaining inner stillness. Risk of reframing this beatitude as a spiritual-discipline technique for mental tranquility rather than moral/relational singleness of heart toward the personal God.
Son Of David Title
Approved rendering: 大卫的子孙
Transliteration: Dàwèi de zǐsūn
Doctrine: Jesus as the Promised Messiah and Son of David
Original: υἱὸς Δαυίδ
Category: Christology
Matt 1:1; 9:27; 12:23; 15:22; 20:30-31; 21:9, 15; 22:42. Titular, confessional messianic address, deliberately distinct from the baseline’s genealogical 大卫的后裔 (seed_of_david). Chinese ancestor-veneration culture uses 子孙 heavily for descendants owing ritual duties to forebears (祭祖); teaching must clarify this is a forward-looking royal-messianic title fulfilling covenant promise, not ritual lineage obligation.
King Of The Jews
Approved rendering: 犹太人的王
Transliteration: Yóutàirén de wáng
Doctrine: Jesus as the Promised Messiah and Son of David
Original: βασιλεὺς τῶν Ἰουδαίων
Category: Christology
Matt 2:2; 27:11, 29, 37. Genuine royal-messianic claim used earnestly by the magi and mockingly by Pilate/soldiers, bracketing the Gospel. Not to be diminished as ironic or merely political, nor confused with a this-worldly nationalist kingship.
Fulfilled
Approved rendering: 应验
Transliteration: yìngyàn
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecy
Original: πληρωθῇ
Category: Prophecy
Matt 1:22; 2:15, 17, 23; 4:14; 8:17; 12:17; 13:35; 21:4; 26:56; 27:9 (Matthew’s recurring formula). Must be taught against the Chinese historiographical intuition of cyclical dynastic rise-and-fall (治乱循环); this is linear, one-time, unrepeatable fulfillment, not a recurring pattern.
Repent
Approved rendering: 悔改
Transliteration: huǐgǎi
Doctrine: Repentance
Rejected alternatives: 忏悔
Original: μετανοέω / μετάνοια
Category: Salvation
Matt 3:2; 4:17; 11:20-21; 12:41. Established CUV rendering. Must be distinguished from the Buddhist ritual-confession practice 忏悔 (chànhuǐ), a formal rite purifying accumulated karma. Biblical repentance is a relational turning toward the personal God, received through faith and grace.
Devil Satan
Approved rendering: 魔鬼 / 撒但
Transliteration: móguǐ / Sādàn
Doctrine: Temptation and Spiritual Conflict
Original: διάβολος / Σατανᾶς
Category: Discipleship
Matt 4:1-11; 12:22-32 (Beelzebul); 13:39. 魔鬼 contains 鬼 (ghost), risking assimilation to folk wandering-spirit categories (as distinct from ancestral spirits or malevolent spirits requiring ritual appeasement). The biblical devil is a specific, personal, already-doomed rebel being; anchor to 撒但 in doctrinally weighty contexts.
Fulfill The Law
Approved rendering: 成全
Transliteration: chéngquán
Doctrine: Fulfillment of the Law and Rejection of Nullifying Tradition
Original: πληρῶσαι
Category: Righteousness
Matt 5:17. Distinct from the prophecy-fulfillment formula 应验. Risk: conflating ‘fulfill the Law’ with abolishing it, undercutting both the Law’s authority and Jesus’ unique completing authority.
Perfect
Approved rendering: 完全
Transliteration: wánquán
Doctrine: Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees
Original: τέλειος
Category: Righteousness
Matt 5:48. Sits beside the same collision flagged Critical for 成圣 (sanctification): risk of absorption into Neo-Confucian self-cultivated moral perfection rather than Spirit-enabled, grace-grounded reflection of the Father’s character already given to kingdom citizens — never a merit-earning path to divine favor.
Love
Approved rendering: 爱
Transliteration: ài
Doctrine: Love and the Great Commandment
Original: ἀγαπάω / ἀγάπη
Category: Righteousness
Matt 5:44; 22:37-39. Ordinary Mandarin 爱 covers an extremely broad range (romantic love, parental affection, generic fondness) with none of ἀγάπη’s specificity. Every doctrinally load-bearing occurrence requires context clarifying decisive, self-giving commitment extended even to enemies.
Mammon
Approved rendering: 玛门
Transliteration: Mǎmén
Doctrine: Wealth and the Rival Master Mammon
Original: Μαμωνᾶς
Category: Discipleship
Matt 6:24. Established CUV transliteration. Confronts the actively practiced veneration of 财神 (God of Wealth), one of the most widely worshipped folk deities in Chinese popular religion, especially at Lunar New Year. Teaching this is a direct confrontation with a living devotional practice, not an abstract greed-warning.
Authority
Approved rendering: 权柄
Transliteration: quánbǐng
Doctrine: Authority of Jesus’ Teaching
Rejected alternatives: 权力, 法力, 神通
Original: ἐξουσία
Category: Authority
Matt 7:29; 9:6, 8; 10:1; 21:23-27; 28:18. Must be kept distinct from raw coercive political power (权力) and from forbidden supernatural-power terms (气, 法力, 神通); Jesus’ authority is an inherent divine right, not a delegated political mandate analogous to the Mandate of Heaven.
Cross
Approved rendering: 十字架
Transliteration: shízìjià
Doctrine: Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus
Original: σταυρός
Category: Discipleship
Matt 10:38; 16:24; ch. 27. Must retain its specific referent — a shameful, state-sanctioned instrument of execution voluntarily taken up — never flattened into a generic metaphor for ‘life’s burdens’ (人生的负担).
End Of The Age
Approved rendering: 世界的末了
Transliteration: shìjiè de mòliǎo
Doctrine: Judgment and the End of the Age
Original: συντέλεια τοῦ αἰῶνος
Category: Eschatology
Matt 13:39-40, 49; 24:3; 28:20. Must be distinguished from the Buddhist kalpa (劫) cycle and cyclical dynastic-historiography pattern (治乱循环); this is a final, linear, singular consummation, not an endless wheel of ages.
Keys Of The Kingdom
Approved rendering: 天国的钥匙
Transliteration: tiānguó de yàoshi
Doctrine: The Church and Church Discipline
Original: κλεῖς τῆς βασιλείας
Category: Church
Matt 16:19. Risk of conflation with folk-Buddhist/folk-religious underworld-gatekeeper imagery (阎王/地府) or a ritual specialist’s magical key. Must be taught as declarative, gospel-proclaiming authority derived entirely from Christ’s own authority, not independent priestly or magical power.
Bind Loose
Approved rendering: 捆绑 / 释放
Transliteration: kǔnbǎng / shìfàng
Doctrine: The Church and Church Discipline
Original: δέω / λύω
Category: Church
Matt 16:19; 18:18. Must not be read through Daoist/folk-religious talismanic binding-ritual practice (符咒). Biblical binding/loosing is the church’s corporate, accountable, Scripture-grounded declaration of what God has already determined, not individual magical power.
Chosen Elect
Approved rendering: 蒙拣选的
Transliteration: méng jiǎnxuǎn de
Doctrine: Election and Calling
Original: ἐκλεκτός
Category: Eschatology
Matt 22:14; 24:22, 24, 31. Built on the fixed root 拣选 (election). Must never be rendered with terms suggesting impersonal fate, luck, or karma-determined outcome (天命, 命运, 缘分); God’s election is personal and gracious.
Judgment
Approved rendering: 审判
Transliteration: shěnpàn
Doctrine: Judgment and the End of the Age
Rejected alternatives: 报应
Original: κρίσις
Category: Eschatology
Matt 25:31-46. Must be distinguished from impersonal karmic retribution (报应); biblical judgment is a personal, forensic, one-time verdict rendered directly by Christ as judge.
Eternal Punishment
Approved rendering: 永刑
Transliteration: yǒngxíng
Doctrine: Eternal Life and Eternal Punishment
Original: κόλασις αἰώνιος
Category: Eschatology
Matt 25:46. Must be distinguished from Chinese folk-Buddhist hell imagery (十八层地狱), typically a temporary, purificatory ordeal preceding rebirth (轮回); a rendering implying eventual release would contradict the finality this term guarantees alongside 永生.
Forgiveness Of Sins
Approved rendering: 罪的赦免
Transliteration: zuì de shèmiǎn
Doctrine: Christ’s Ransom and Atoning Death
Original: ἄφεσις ἁμαρτιῶν
Category: Salvation
Matt 26:28. Must retain the specific, once-for-all, covenant-sealing, blood-secured nature of this forgiveness, not a general moral-reform concept or repeatable ritual remedy.
Medium Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: 福音
Transliteration: fúyīn
Doctrine: Gospel / Kingdom of Heaven
Rejected alternatives: 好消息, 喜讯
Original: εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew note: 4:23; 24:14; 26:13; 28:19-20 tie 福音 directly to the Kingdom of Heaven and the Great Commission — the good news proclaimed to 万民 (all nations) is the announcement of Christ’s kingdom and saving work, not a folk-fortune omen (see 福 root note under ‘blessed’ below).
Peace
Approved rendering: 平安
Transliteration: píng’ān
Doctrine: Discipleship
Rejected alternatives: 安宁, 平安符式的平安
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew note: 10:13, 34 use 平安 in a mission/household context, distinct in nuance from the new term ‘peacemakers’ (使人和睦的人), which names an active practice rather than a received relational status.
Spiritual Gifts
Approved rendering: 属灵恩赐
Transliteration: shǔlíng ēncì
Doctrine: Church and Church Discipline
Rejected alternatives: 法力, 神通
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. No direct Matthew Gospel occurrence identified; retained for consistency with the Church doctrine and to preempt any conflation with 权柄 (authority) or forbidden supernatural-force terms 气/法力/神通.
Church
Approved rendering: 教会
Transliteration: jiàohuì
Doctrine: Church and Church Discipline
Rejected alternatives: 庙, 寺, 道观
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew note: 16:18 (‘I will build my church’) and 18:17 are the only two Gospel occurrences, both carrying high doctrinal weight for the Church and Church Discipline doctrine. NEVER 庙/寺/道观.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: 神的国
Transliteration: Shén de guó
Doctrine: The Kingdom of Heaven
Rejected alternatives: 天下, 王朝
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Kingdom
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew note: used occasionally (6:33; 12:28; 19:24; 21:31, 43) alongside Matthew’s preferred 天国 (~32x); must always be taught as naming the identical divine reign — Matthew’s ‘heaven’ phrasing is reverential/stylistic variation, not two kingdoms. See new term 天国 (kingdom_of_heaven) below.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: 外邦人
Transliteration: wàibāngrén
Doctrine: Universal Scope of the Great Commission
Rejected alternatives: 夷人, 外国人
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew note: deliberately distinct from the new term 万民 (all nations) — 外邦人 specifically excludes Israel/Jews, while 万民 in the Great Commission (24:14; 28:19) is comprehensively inclusive of Jew and Gentile alike; never substitute one for the other.
Glory
Approved rendering: 荣耀
Transliteration: róngyào
Doctrine: Deity and Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 面子, 光宗耀祖
Original: δόξα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew note: 16:27; 17:2, 5 (Transfiguration); 19:28; 24:30; 25:31 describe the Son of Man’s coming glory; avoid collapsing into 面子 (face/social reputation) — a live risk given 6:1-18’s hypocrisy teaching on 面子 dynamics.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: 预言
Transliteration: yùyán
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: 算卦, 占卜
Original: προφητεία
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew note: underlies the recurring fulfillment formula (see new term 应验/fulfilled below); distinct from 算卦/占卜 divination.
Intercession
Approved rendering: 代求
Transliteration: dàiqiú
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Rejected alternatives: 求签, 问卜
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. No direct Matthew Gospel occurrence identified; retained for cross-curriculum consistency, e.g. background for the Lord’s Prayer (6:9-13) and Gethsemane (26:36-46).
Mission
Approved rendering: 宣教
Transliteration: xuānjiào
Doctrine: The Great Commission
Rejected alternatives: 洋教传播
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew note: directly relevant to 28:16-20 and to the historic 洋教 (‘foreign religion’) stigma; frame Great Commission teaching to avoid reinforcing this stigma, consistent with the baseline mission doctrine.
David
Approved rendering: 大卫
Transliteration: Dàwèi
Doctrine: Jesus as the Promised Messiah and Son of David
Original: Δαυίδ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew note: foundational to the genealogy (1:1-17) and to the new titular term 大卫的子孙 (see below), distinct from the baseline’s genealogical 大卫的后裔.
Israel
Approved rendering: 以色列
Transliteration: Yǐsèliè
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecy
Original: Ἰσραήλ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew note: 2:6, 20-21; 10:6; 15:24 use 以色列 within the fulfillment-of-prophecy framework.
Mourn
Approved rendering: 哀恸
Transliteration: āitòng
Doctrine: Discipleship
Matt 5:4. Distinguish from the Buddhist ideal of transcending grief through non-attachment; biblical mourning is a valid response God himself meets and heals, not something to be spiritually dissolved.
Meek
Approved rendering: 温柔
Transliteration: wēnróu
Doctrine: Discipleship
Original: πραΰς
Category: Discipleship
Matt 5:5. Established CUV rendering. Modern Mandarin 温柔 is most commonly a soft, gentle personality trait (often gendered toward women), risking reduction of this beatitude to temperament rather than the active, God-trusting restraint of one’s own power and rights (cf. Moses, Num 12:3 LXX; Jesus, Matt 11:29; 21:5).
Inherit The Earth
Approved rendering: 承受地土
Transliteration: chéngshòu dìtǔ
Doctrine: The Kingdom of Heaven
Original: κληρονομήσουσι τὴν γῆν
Category: Kingdom
Matt 5:5. Established CUV phrase, echoing Psalm 37:11. Must not be read through feng shui land-fortune concepts (地运, auspicious land bringing prosperity to descendants) or as literal real-estate gain in this present life; this is an eschatological inheritance of the renewed creation.
Hunger Thirst For Righteousness
Approved rendering: 饥渴慕义
Transliteration: jī kě mù yì
Doctrine: Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees
Original: πεινᾶν καὶ διψᾶν τὴν δικαιοσύνην
Category: Righteousness
Matt 5:6. Established CUV four-character phrase, built on the Critical-risk root 义 (righteousness), which retains its own full distinguishing note against the Confucian virtue of the same name. The craving itself, not achievement, is declared blessed.
Peacemakers
Approved rendering: 使人和睦的人
Transliteration: shǐ rén hémù de rén
Doctrine: Discipleship
Original: εἰρηνοποιός
Category: Discipleship
Matt 5:9. Established CUV phrase. 和睦/和谐 (harmony) is a deeply positive Confucian-social value that can be a helpful bridge but also risks reducing ‘peacemaking’ to surface-level conflict-avoidance or face-preserving social harmony (维持面子和气) rather than costly, gospel-rooted reconciliation. Distinct nuance from 平安 (peace, a received relational status).
Persecuted For Righteousness
Approved rendering: 为义受逼迫
Transliteration: wéi yì shòu bīpò
Doctrine: Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees
Original: δεδιωγμένοι ἕνεκεν δικαιοσύνης
Category: Righteousness
Matt 5:10. Built on the Critical-risk root 义. Distinguish from generic hardship or misfortune interpreted through a 报应 (karmic-retribution) lens; this is hostility incurred specifically for allegiance to Christ and his righteousness.
Reward In Heaven
Approved rendering: 赏赐
Transliteration: shǎngcì
Doctrine: Discipleship
Original: μισθὸς πολὺς ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς
Category: Discipleship
Matt 5:12. Distinguish from a merit-ledger transaction (功德/报应) where good deeds mechanically produce proportional good outcomes; this reward is God’s gracious response to those already his by faith, given generously rather than earned strictly.
Disciples
Approved rendering: 门徒
Transliteration: méntú
Doctrine: Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus
Rejected alternatives: 学生, 徒弟
Original: μαθηταί
Category: Discipleship
Matt 5:1 and throughout. Established CUV rendering. 门徒 also names a martial-arts or Daoist master’s disciple within a lineage school (师门), implying technique-transmission and rank-advancement. Biblical discipleship must be taught as trust, obedience, and identity with Christ himself, not esoteric-technique acquisition.
Magi
Approved rendering: 博士
Transliteration: bóshì
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: 算命先生
Original: μάγοι
Category: Prophecy
Matt 2:1ff. Established CUV rendering. Modern 博士 primarily means ‘PhD/doctor,’ obscuring the historical priest-astrologer role. Care needed not to conflate with Chinese folk astrologer-diviners (算命先生) — the magi are Gentile seekers rightly recognizing and worshipping the true King through revelation, not diviners practicing a technique.
Baptize Baptism
Approved rendering: 施洗 / 洗礼 / 受洗
Transliteration: shīxǐ / xǐlǐ / shòuxǐ
Doctrine: Baptism
Original: βαπτίζω / βάπτισμα
Category: Church
Matt 3:6, 11, 13-17; 28:19. Established CUV terms. Distinguish from ritual purification washing in Daoist/folk practice or Buddhist ritual bathing of images (浴佛); baptism is a once-for-all sign of repentance and identification with Christ’s death and resurrection, not a repeatable purification ritual.
Pharisees
Approved rendering: 法利赛人
Transliteration: Fǎlìsàirén
Doctrine: Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees
Original: Φαρισαῖοι
Category: Righteousness
Matt 3:7 and throughout. Established CUV transliteration. Risk is catechetical, not folk-religion collision: teach as sincere, respected law-keepers, so that Jesus’ call to exceed their righteousness (5:20) is a substantive standard, not a contrast with obvious wrongdoers.
Temptation
Approved rendering: 试探
Transliteration: shìtàn
Doctrine: Temptation and Spiritual Conflict
Original: πειρασμός
Category: Discipleship
Matt 4:1-11. Established CUV rendering. Low folk-religion collision risk; teaching need is clarity that this is a genuine test of Jesus’ obedience, establishing the pattern of Scripture-based resistance to evil.
Hypocrite
Approved rendering: 假冒为善的人
Transliteration: jiǎmào wéishàn de rén
Doctrine: Hypocrisy and True Piety
Original: ὑποκριτής
Category: Righteousness
Matt 6:1-18; 23:1-39. Established CUV phrase. Connects to 面子 (face/social reputation) — hypocrisy in Matthew is precisely the substitution of face-preservation for genuine devotion to God.
Forgive
Approved rendering: 饶恕 / 赦免
Transliteration: ráoshù / shèmiǎn
Doctrine: Forgiveness Within the Church
Original: ἀφίημι
Category: Church
Matt 6:12, 14-15; 18:21-35. Established CUV terms. Distinguish from a karmic-debt-cancellation intuition (报应/功德); biblical forgiveness is relational, personal release grounded in God’s own prior grace.
Weeping Gnashing Of Teeth
Approved rendering: 哀哭切齿
Transliteration: āikū qièchǐ
Doctrine: Judgment and the End of the Age
Original: κλαυθμὸς καὶ βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων
Category: Eschatology
Matt 8:12; 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30. Established CUV phrase. Must be taught as a real, future, final state of judgment, not softened into a rhetorical or this-worldly image of temporary regret.
Life Soul
Approved rendering: 生命
Transliteration: shēngmìng
Doctrine: Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus
Rejected alternatives: 灵魂
Original: ψυχή
Category: Discipleship
Matt 10:39; 16:25-26. Distinguish from the Daoist/folk detachable soul-substance (灵魂, or ‘three hun and seven po’ 三魂七魄) that can wander, be lost, or reincarnate; ψυχή here is one’s whole life/self at stake before God, not a transmigrating soul-substance.
Yoke
Approved rendering: 轭
Transliteration: è
Doctrine: Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus
Original: ζυγός
Category: Discipleship
Matt 11:29-30. Primarily a comprehension challenge (agricultural imagery); contrasted with the crushing weight of Pharisaic tradition.
Rest
Approved rendering: 安息
Transliteration: ānxī
Doctrine: Discipleship and the Cost of Following Jesus
Original: ἀνάπαυσις
Category: Discipleship
Matt 11:28-29. Distinguish from the Daoist ideal of effortless non-striving (无为, wúwéi) or Buddhist-adjacent cessation-of-craving concepts; this rest is relational communion with a person under his teaching authority.
Mystery
Approved rendering: 奥秘
Transliteration: àomì
Doctrine: The Kingdom Parables and Hidden Mysteries
Original: μυστήριον
Category: Kingdom
Matt 13:11, 35. Distinguish from esoteric occult ‘secret knowledge’ traditions (e.g. Daoist inner-alchemy secrets 丹道秘诀 gated to advanced initiates); biblical mystery is a truth God graciously discloses, not technique-gated.
Tradition Of The Elders
Approved rendering: 古人的遗传
Transliteration: gǔrén de yíchuán
Doctrine: Fulfillment of the Law and Rejection of Nullifying Tradition
Original: παράδοσις τῶν πρεσβυτέρων
Category: Righteousness
Matt 15:1-9. Requires careful cultural handling given Chinese culture’s strong positive valuation of ancestral tradition and filial deference to elders (孝); the critique targets specific traditions nullifying God’s commandment, not reverence for elders as such.
Unclean Defiled
Approved rendering: 污秽
Transliteration: wūhuì
Doctrine: Righteousness Exceeding the Pharisees
Original: κοινός
Category: Righteousness
Matt 15:11, 18-20. Must be distinguished from ritual/geomantic impurity concepts in Chinese folk practice; biblical defilement is a moral-relational category located in the heart, not ritual or cosmic-energetic contamination.
Brother Church Discipline
Approved rendering: 兄弟
Transliteration: xiōngdì
Doctrine: The Church and Church Discipline
Original: ἀδελφός
Category: Church
Matt 18:15-17, technical sense. Distinguished from Chinese clan-based sworn-brotherhood bonds (结拜) and biological/lineage brotherhood carrying inheritance/ancestor-rite obligations; names a Spirit-given relationship within the confessing church community.
Cornerstone
Approved rendering: 房角石
Transliteration: fángjiǎoshí
Doctrine: Jesus as the Promised Messiah and Son of David
Original: κεφαλὴ γωνίας
Category: Christology
Matt 21:42, citing Psalm 118:22. Primarily a comprehension-support term requiring architectural background; risk of being read as a generic ‘important/foundational’ metaphor without the specific messianic-rejection-then-vindication narrative.
Woe
Approved rendering: 祸
Transliteration: huò
Doctrine: Hypocrisy and True Piety
Rejected alternatives: 咒
Original: οὐαί
Category: Righteousness
Matt 23:13ff. Distinguish from a folk-religious curse (咒, zhòu) invoked ritually by a practitioner; ‘woe’ is a prophetic, God-authorized pronouncement of coming judgment based on actual sin.
Abomination Of Desolation
Approved rendering: 那行毁坏可憎的
Transliteration: nà xíng huǐhuài kězēng de
Doctrine: Judgment and the End of the Age
Original: βδέλυγμα τῆς ἐρημώσεως
Category: Prophecy
Matt 24:15, citing Daniel. Primary difficulty is background comprehension (OT/Danielic literacy) rather than folk-religious syncretism; supply the Daniel background explicitly.
Veil Of The Temple
Approved rendering: 殿里的幔子
Transliteration: diàn lǐ de mànzi
Doctrine: Christ’s Ransom and Atoning Death
Original: καταπέτασμα
Category: Christology
Matt 27:51. Primary need is background explanation (temple architecture and restricted-access system); signifies access to God opened through Christ’s death.
Make Disciples
Approved rendering: 使…作门徒
Transliteration: shǐ…zuò méntú
Doctrine: The Great Commission
Original: μαθητεύω
Category: Mission
Matt 28:19. Carries the same 师门 (martial-arts/Daoist lineage-school) risk as 门徒 itself; must be taught as forming Christ-following, obedient identity through relationship, not technique transmission or rank advancement.
All Nations
Approved rendering: 万民
Transliteration: wànmín
Doctrine: Universal Scope of the Great Commission
Original: πάντα τὰ ἔθνη
Category: Mission
Matt 24:14; 28:19. Deliberately distinct from 外邦人 (gentiles, which excludes Israel/Jews); 万民 is comprehensively inclusive of every people without exception. Cultural sensitivity to the historic 洋教 (‘foreign religion’) stigma applies.
Low Risk Terms
Apostle
Approved rendering: 使徒
Transliteration: shǐtú
Doctrine: Apostleship and Sending
Rejected alternatives: 宗师, 大师
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew note: 10:2 names ‘the twelve apostles’ before their commissioning (10:5-42); avoid 宗师/大师 framing as with the baseline.
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: 感恩
Transliteration: gǎn’ēn
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Original: εὐχαριστία / εὐχαριστέω
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew note: 26:27, Jesus gives thanks at the Last Supper.
Fellowship
Approved rendering: 团契
Transliteration: tuánqì
Doctrine: Church and Church Discipline
Rejected alternatives: 交情, 结拜
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew note: relevant background for 18:15-17’s 兄弟 (brother, church-discipline sense) — reinforce that covenant-community relationship is Spirit-given, not a ritualized sworn-brotherhood pact (结拜).
Prophet
Approved rendering: 先知
Transliteration: xiānzhī
Doctrine: Prophetic Continuity and Persecution
Rejected alternatives: 算命先生
Original: προφήτης
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Matthew note: the recurring fulfillment formula (‘spoken by the prophet,’ e.g. 1:22; 2:15) and the woe oracles against those who kill the prophets (23:29-37) reinforce continuity with OT prophetic tradition; distinguish from 算命先生 (fortune-teller).
Exhort
Approved rendering: 劝勉
Transliteration: quànmiǎn
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Note for consistency: distinct from the new Matthew term 得安慰 (‘comforted’, 5:4), which shares the same Greek root (παρακαλέω) but carries the comfort/consolation sense rather than the exhortation sense recorded here — do not conflate the two renderings.
Comforted
Approved rendering: 得安慰
Transliteration: dé ānwèi
Doctrine: Discipleship
Matt 5:4. Personal divine consolation given directly by God to the grieving. Distinct rendering from the baseline ‘exhort’ (劝勉) entry — same Greek root (παρακαλέω), different sense; do not conflate across documents.
Revile
Approved rendering: 辱骂
Transliteration: rùmà
Doctrine: Discipleship
Matt 5:11. Direct verbal hostility endured specifically ‘on my account,’ sharpening 5:10’s ‘for righteousness’ sake’ into explicit Christ-centered persecution.
Fabricate Falsely
Approved rendering: 捏造
Transliteration: niēzào
Doctrine: Discipleship
Matt 5:11, following CUV’s ‘捏造各样坏话毁谤你们.’ The persecution in view is unjust — the accusations are fabricated, reinforcing that suffering here is unjust hostility, not deserved punishment.
Mountain Revelation Setting
Approved rendering: 山
Transliteration: shān
Doctrine: Authority of Jesus’ Teaching
Original: ὄρος
Category: Authority
Matt 5:1. Must not be taught through the lens of Chinese sacred-mountain pilgrimage tradition (五岳) or Daoist mountain retreats for attaining the Dao through seclusion; the mountain is a setting for revelation given by a person (Jesus), structurally echoing Sinai.
Sadducees
Approved rendering: 撒都该人
Transliteration: Sādūgāirén
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Old Testament Prophecy
Original: Σαδδουκαῖοι
Category: Prophecy
Matt 3:7; 22:23. Established CUV transliteration. Distinct party from the Pharisees; notably denied bodily resurrection.
Scribes
Approved rendering: 文士
Transliteration: wénshì
Doctrine: Authority of Jesus’ Teaching
Original: γραμματεῖς
Category: Authority
Matt 7:29; ch. 23. Established CUV rendering. Tradition-based teaching authority, contrasted with Jesus’ inherent authority.
Parable
Approved rendering: 比喻
Transliteration: bǐyù
Doctrine: The Kingdom Parables and Hidden Mysteries
Rejected alternatives: 寓言
Original: παραβολή
Category: Kingdom
Matt 13:3ff. Distinguish from a generic self-evident fable (寓言); biblical parables carry revelatory, kingdom-specific content requiring spiritual receptivity.
Abraham
Approved rendering: 亚伯拉罕
Transliteration: Yàbólāhǎn
Doctrine: Jesus as the Promised Messiah and Son of David
Original: Ἀβραάμ
Category: Covenant
Matt 1:1-2, 17. Established CUV proper name form. Opens the genealogy with ‘son of David, son of Abraham,’ tying Jesus to both the royal and the patriarchal-covenant promise lines.
Moses
Approved rendering: 摩西
Transliteration: Móxī
Doctrine: Authority of Jesus’ Teaching
Original: Μωϋσῆς
Category: Covenant
Matt 17:3-4 (Transfiguration); 19:7-8 (divorce teaching). Established CUV proper name form. Both occurrences reinforce Jesus’ greater authority relative to Moses — Jesus fulfills and completes, rather than merely repeats, the Mosaic revelation.
Referenced passages