Core Glossary
08 — Core Glossary: Numbers (民数记)
Destination Language: Mandarin Chinese | Curriculum: Numbers
Generated: Phase 1, Step 1
Scope: Every load-bearing theological term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, spanning Numbers 1-36. Terms already fixed in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json are marked [BASELINE — REUSED EXACTLY] and must not be altered. New terms introduced by this curriculum are marked [NEW — NUMBERS] and are proposed here for addition to the shared translation memory, pending theologian review per the baseline’s escalation rules for Critical/High risk terms.
Section 1 — Baseline Romans Terms Reused Exactly in Numbers
| Term | Mandarin | Pinyin | Risk (baseline) | Doctrine | Numbers occurrences | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| God | 神 | Shén | Critical | Deity of Christ / God | throughout | Reuse exactly; monotheism must remain explicit against Numbers’ polytheistic ANE narrative backdrop (Baal of Peor, ch. 25; Moabite/Midianite gods, ch. 22-25). |
| grace (conceptual, re: manna) | 恩典 | ēndiǎn | Critical | Grace | 11, 21 | Manna and quail are the paradigm OT case-study for grace despised; never frame provision as merit-earned (功德) or fortune (福气). |
| faith / trust | 信心 | xìnxīn | High | Faith | 13-14 (contrastively, as absence), 21:7-9 | The bronze serpent episode is the strongest OT anticipation of faith as simple trust-filled looking, not ritual performance. |
| sin | 罪 | zuì | High | Universal Human Accountability | 5, 15, 16, 21:7, 32 | Reuse exactly; distinguish from 报应 (karmic retribution). |
| holy / holiness | 圣洁 | shèngjié | High | Sanctification | 6, 8, 15-16, 18 | Ritual holiness terminology in Numbers must be taught as anticipating, not equaling, full NT sanctification. |
| sanctification / set apart | 成圣 | chéngshèng | Critical | Sanctification | 6, 8 (Levites, Nazirite) | Never present Levitical/Nazirite consecration as self-achieved; it is God’s appointment and provision appropriated through prescribed means. |
| covenant | 约 | yuē | High | Davidic Covenant / Faithfulness of Promises | 10 (ark), 18, 25 | Reuse exactly as root in compounds (约柜, 平安的约); never soften to 合同/契约. |
| peace | 平安 | píng’ān | Medium | Peace with God | 6 (priestly blessing), 25 (covenant of peace) | Distinguish from amulet-style well-wishing (平安符). |
| glory | 荣耀 | róngyào | Medium | Deity of Christ | 14:21-22 | Reuse exactly. |
| election / chosen | 拣选 | jiǎnxuǎn | High | Effectual Calling | implicit throughout (Israel as chosen people); explicit background to ch. 22-24 | Not impersonal fate/缘分; God’s personal choice. |
| intercession | 代求 | dàiqiú | Medium | Prayer and Intercession | 12, 14, 16, 21:7, 25 | Central recurring term for this curriculum’s Intercession doctrine; reuse exactly across all three intercessor studies (Moses, Aaron, Phinehas). |
| prophecy | 预言 | yùyán | Medium | Fulfillment of Prophecy | 22-24 (Balaam’s oracles) | Distinguish sharply from 占卜 (divination) — Balaam’s true prophetic content is God-given despite his forbidden divinatory method. |
| prophet | 先知 | xiānzhī | Low | Inspiration of Scripture | 11:29 (Moses’ wish for all to prophesy), 12 | Reuse exactly. |
| messiah / christ | 基督 | Jīdū | Critical | Messianic Promise | 24:17 (star/scepter oracle, background) | The “star out of Jacob” oracle is background to, not identical with, the NT term 基督; teach as the OT prophetic root the NT title fulfills. |
| thanksgiving | 感恩 | gǎn’ēn | Low | Thanksgiving | 21:17-18 (song of the well) | Reuse exactly. |
| church / assembly (conceptual parallel) | 教会 | jiàohuì | Medium | Church as God’s People | conceptual parallel only (congregation 会众 is the OT-specific term — see Section 2) | Do not substitute 教会 for OT 会众; keep the terms distinct while noting the doctrinal continuity for teaching purposes. |
| power of God | 神的大能 | Shén de dà néng | High | Power of God for Salvation | conceptual background (God’s power over Balaam’s divination, ch. 22-24; over plague, ch. 16, 25) | Reuse exactly; never 气/法力. |
Section 2 — New Terms Introduced by Numbers
| Term | Mandarin | Pinyin | Risk | Doctrine | Chapters | Alternatives rejected | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| census / numbering | 数点 / 民数 | shùdiǎn / mínshù | Medium | Census and the People of God | 1-4, 26 | 统计 (too bureaucratic/secular) | Being numbered is an act of covenantal inclusion, not a neutral bureaucratic tally. |
| tribe | 支派 | zhīpài | Low | Census and the People of God | 1-36 (pervasive) | 部落 (too generic/anthropological) | Established CUV term. |
| host / army | 军队 | jūnduì | Low | Census and the People of God | 1-2, 10, 31 | — | Distinct sense of δύναμις from baseline power_of_god; disambiguate in teaching notes. |
| camp | 营 | yíng | Low | Census and the People of God | 2, 5, 9-10 | — | God’s presence at the camp’s center is the spatial theology of the census section. |
| clan / father’s house | 宗族 | zōngzú | Medium | Census and the People of God | 1, 3 | 家族 (weaker covenantal resonance) | Distinguish from ancestor-veneration lineage associations (祭祖). |
| firstborn | 长子 | zhǎngzǐ | Low | (background to Intercession/Redemption) | 3 | — | Cross-reference to NT “firstborn” Christology; not a Romans baseline term. |
| redeem / redemption (ransom) | 赎 / 赎价 | shú / shújià | High | Faithfulness of God’s Promises | 3 | 超度 (posthumous Buddhist/Daoist rite — REJECTED) | Mechanism (payment/substitution) distinct from 救恩 (resulting deliverance); never conflate with rites for the dead. |
| service / ministry | 事奉 | shìfèng | Low | (background to Separation unto God’s Service) | 4, 8, 18 | 服务 (too secular) | Established Chinese Christian vocabulary. |
| unclean / clean | 不洁净 / 洁净 | bù jiéjìng / jiéjìng | Medium | (background to Sanctification) | 5, 19 | — | Ceremonial, not moral-equivalent, purity; distinguish from 圣洁/成圣. |
| guilt/trespass offering | 赎愆祭 | shúqiānjì | Medium | (background to Intercession/Atonement) | 5 | — | Distinct compound from general 赎罪; addresses a named trespass with restitution. |
| oath | 誓 / 起誓 | shì / qǐshì | Medium | Faithfulness of God’s Promises | 5, 14, 30, 32 | 合同/契约 (REJECTED, per baseline covenant precedent) | Sacred, God-witnessed declaration, not a commercial pledge. |
| Nazirite | 拿细耳人 | Násì’ěr rén | Medium | (background to Separation unto God’s Service) | 6 | — | Distinguish from Buddhist/Daoist ascetic monasticism (出家) pursued for merit/enlightenment. |
| vow | 愿 / 许愿 | yuàn / xǔyuàn | Medium | (background to Separation unto God’s Service) | 6, 30 | — | Distinguish from transactional temple-deity bargaining (许愿 in folk usage). |
| priestly blessing | 祝福 | zhùfú | Medium | Balaam and God’s Sovereign Blessing (also ch. 6) | 6, 22-24 | 祈福 (REJECTED — folk fortune-solicitation) | God-sourced, sovereignly given; not solicited or earned favor. |
| offering (general) | 供物 | gòngwù | Low | (background to Intercession/worship) | 7, 28-29 | 供品 (too closely tied to idol/ancestor-offering register) | Directed to the one true God specifically. |
| consecrate / dedicate | 奉献 | fèngxiàn | Medium | (background to Separation unto God’s Service) | 8 | 修身 (REJECTED — Confucian self-cultivation) | God’s appointment and cleansing, not self-earned status. |
| Passover | 逾越节 | Yúyuè jié | Low | Faithfulness of God’s Promises | 9 | — | Established CUV term. |
| cloud / fire of the presence | 云柱 / 火柱 | yúnzhù / huǒzhù | Medium | Faithfulness of God’s Promises | 9-10, 14 | — | Personal divine guidance, not omen-reading (占兆). |
| trumpet | 号 / 号筒 | hào / hàotǒng | Low | Census and the People of God | 10 | — | — |
| ark of the covenant | 约柜 | yuē guì | Medium | Faithfulness of God’s Promises | 10 | — | Built on baseline 约; reuse exactly. |
| manna | 吗哪 | Mǎnǎ | Medium | God’s Patience and Judgment / Grace | 11, 21 | — | Rejection of manna = paradigm rejection of grace. |
| quail | 鹌鹑 | ānchún | Low | God’s Patience and Judgment | 11 | — | — |
| murmur / complain | 发怨言 | fā yuànyán | High | Unbelief and the Wilderness Generation | 11, 14, 16, 17, 21 | 抱怨 (too weak/secular for the covenantal offense) | MUST be rendered identically at every occurrence across the whole book for doctrinal and pedagogical consistency. |
| Spirit of the LORD | 耶和华的灵 | Yēhéhuá de líng | Critical | (background to Holy Spirit doctrine) | 11 | 灵 alone (REJECTED per baseline holy_spirit), 祖灵 (REJECTED) | Never render bare 灵; always qualify. |
| leprosy | 大痲风 | dà máfēng | Low | God’s Patience and Judgment | 12 | — | Established CUV term. |
| meek / humble | 谦和 / 谦卑 | qiānhé / qiānbēi | Low | Intercession | 12 | — | Qualifies Moses as intercessor. |
| spies | 探子 | tànzi | Low | Unbelief and the Wilderness Generation | 13 | — | Established CUV term. |
| land flowing with milk and honey | 流奶与蜜之地 | liú nǎi yǔ mì zhī dì | Low | Faithfulness of God’s Promises | 13 | — | Established CUV idiom. |
| giants (Anakim) | 巨人 / 亚衲族人 | jùrén / Yànà zú rén | Low | Unbelief and the Wilderness Generation | 13 | — | — |
| rebellion | 背叛 / 悖逆 | bèipàn / bèinì | High | Unbelief and the Wilderness Generation | 14, 16 | — | Aggravated, decisive stage beyond mere complaint (发怨言). |
| wrath / judgment | 忿怒 | fènnù | High | God’s Patience and Judgment | 14 | 报应 (REJECTED — impersonal karmic retribution) | Personal, holy response of God, not cosmic mechanism. |
| generation | 这一代人 | zhè yī dài rén | Medium | Unbelief and the Wilderness Generation | 14 | — | Anchors Hebrews 3-4 NT application; keep consistent for future cross-curriculum work. |
| unintentional sin | 无意犯的罪 | wúyì fàn de zuì | Medium | God’s Patience and Judgment | 15 | — | Receives atoning remedy. |
| presumptuous sin | 任意妄为的罪 / 故意干犯的罪 | rènyì wàngwéi de zuì | High | God’s Patience and Judgment | 15 | — | No sacrificial remedy under the law; distinguishes categories of wilderness failure. |
| censer | 香炉 | xiānglú | Low | (background to Separation unto God’s Service) | 16 | — | — |
| earth swallowed (judgment) | 地开了口 | dì kāi le kǒu | Low | God’s Patience and Judgment | 16 | — | Established vivid CUV phrase. |
| budding rod / staff | 发芽的杖 | fāyá de zhàng | Medium | (background to Resurrection typology) | 17 | — | Not magical potency in the object; God’s sovereign confirmation. |
| tithe | 十分之一 | shí fēn zhī yī | Low | (background to Census/People of God) | 18 | — | — |
| red heifer | 红母牛 | hóng mǔniú | Medium | (background to Intercession/Atonement) | 19 | — | — |
| water of purification / defilement by death | 洁净的水 / 因死尸沾染不洁净 | jiéjìng de shuǐ | Medium | (background to Sin/Atonement) | 19 | 超度 (REJECTED — posthumous rite for the dead) | Cleanses the living defiled person, not the deceased. |
| Meribah / strife-testing | 米利巴 / 争闹 | Mǐlìbā / zhēngnào | Medium | Unbelief and the Wilderness Generation / God’s Patience and Judgment | 20 | — | Judgment reaches even Moses. |
| song of the well | 井的歌 | jǐng de gē | Low | Faithfulness of God’s Promises / Thanksgiving | 21 | — | Narrative contrast to complaint. |
| serpent | 蛇 | shé | Critical | The Bronze Serpent as a Type of Christ / God’s Patience and Judgment | 21 (core) | — | Same word for judgment-serpent and healing-image-serpent; preserve typological identity. See 07_semantic_analysis.md Part A. |
| bronze / brass | 铜 | tóng | Critical | The Bronze Serpent as a Type of Christ | 21 (core) | — | Never suggest inherent object-power; teaching must resist idol-veneration misreading (cf. 2 Kings 18:4). |
| pole / standard | 杆 | gān | High | The Bronze Serpent as a Type of Christ | 21 (core) | 幡/符 (REJECTED — talismanic connotations) | Visible communal sign, not a magic charm. |
| divination | 占卜 | zhānbǔ | Critical | Balaam and God’s Sovereign Blessing | 22-24 | — | Forbidden practice; never presented as a legitimate parallel revelation-path. Reuses baseline prophecy caution. |
| angel of the LORD | 耶和华的使者 | Yēhéhuá de shǐzhě | Medium | Balaam and God’s Sovereign Blessing | 22 | — | — |
| curse | 咒诅 | zhòuzǔ | Medium | Balaam and God’s Sovereign Blessing | 22-24 | 咒语 (REJECTED — folk magic-spell register) | Solemn pronouncement, not sorcery-craft. |
| star and scepter (messianic oracle) | 星 / 杖 | xīng / zhàng | High | Balaam and God’s Sovereign Blessing / Messianic Promise | 24:17 | — | Genuine Spirit-given prediction despite the diviner-speaker; cross-reference baseline messiah. |
| idolatry | 拜偶像 | bài ǒuxiàng | High | God’s Patience and Judgment | 25 | — | Teach with pastoral sensitivity toward Mandarin-speaking readers’ family/ancestral backgrounds. |
| sexual immorality | 淫乱 | yínluàn | Medium | God’s Patience and Judgment | 25 | — | — |
| zeal | 热心 / 忌邪的心 | rèxīn / jìxié de xīn | High | Intercession | 25 | — | Bounded to God’s exclusive honor in this narrative; avoid generalized zealotry application. |
| atonement | 赎罪 | shúzuì | Critical | Intercession / God’s Patience and Judgment | 25, 29 | 修成正果 (REJECTED, per baseline justification) | REQUIRES distinguishing note in every occurrence: atonement (赎罪) ≠ justification (称义); related but distinct categories. See baseline justification entry. |
| plague | 灾殃 / 瘟疫 | zāiyāng / wēnyì | Medium | God’s Patience and Judgment | 16, 25 | 报应 (REJECTED) | Personal divine judgment, not karmic mechanism. |
| casting lots | 拈签 / 抽签 | niānqiān / chōuqiān | Medium | Census and the People of God / Faithfulness of God’s Promises | 26, 33-34 | 求签 (REJECTED — repeatable folk divinatory practice) | One-time, God-directed land allocation, not personal-guidance divination. |
| inheritance (land) | 产业 | chǎnyè | Medium | Faithfulness of God’s Promises | 27, 32, 34, 36 | — | Physical/territorial sense; consonant with but distinct from baseline adoption’s spiritual inheritance-rights sense. |
| laying on of hands | 按手 | ànshǒu | Low | Census and the People of God (leadership succession) | 27 | — | Established Chinese Christian term. |
| burnt offering | 燔祭 | fánjì | Low | (background to Intercession/Atonement) | 28-29 | — | Established CUV term. |
| Day of Atonement | 赎罪日 | shúzuì rì | Critical | Intercession / God’s Patience and Judgment | 29 | — | Same distinguishing-note requirement as 赎罪 above. |
| Feast of Tabernacles | 住棚节 | Zhùpéng jié | Low | Faithfulness of God’s Promises | 29 | — | Established CUV term. |
| New Moon | 月朔 | yuèshuò | Low | (background) | 28-29 | — | — |
| vengeance | 报仇 / 伸冤 | bàochóu / shēnyuān | High | God’s Patience and Judgment | 31 | 圣战 (REJECTED — modern religious-violence connotations) | Bounded to this specific, divinely commanded, historically limited episode. |
| ”your sin will find you out” | 你们的罪必追上你们 | nǐmen de zuì bì zhuī shàng nǐmen | Medium | God’s Patience and Judgment | 32 | — | Built on baseline 罪. |
| boundary | 境界 | jìngjiè | Low | Faithfulness of God’s Promises | 34 | — | — |
| city of refuge | 逃城 | táochéng | Low | (background to Intercession/Justice) | 35 | — | Established CUV term. |
| avenger of blood | 报血仇的人 | bào xuèchóu de rén | Medium | (background) | 35 | — | — |
| manslayer | 误杀人的 | wùshā rén de | Medium | God’s Patience and Judgment | 35 | — | Applies the presumptuous/unintentional distinction (ch. 15) to homicide. |
Section 3 — Chapters Reviewed with No New Theological Vocabulary
| Chapter | Status |
|---|---|
| 4 | Reviewed — reuses ch. 1-3 census/Levite vocabulary; introduces only 事奉 (low risk, logged in Section 2). |
| 26 | Reviewed — reuses ch. 1-2 census vocabulary exactly (数点, 支派, 军队); introduces only 拈签 (logged in Section 2). |
| 30 | Reviewed — reuses ch. 6 vow vocabulary (愿/许愿) exactly; no new risk-bearing term beyond the descriptive phrase 所出的话 (low risk). |
| 32 | Reviewed — reuses 产业, 誓, 支派 exactly; introduces only the idiom 你们的罪必追上你们 (logged in Section 2). |
| 33 | Reviewed — itinerary/travel-log chapter; no new theological vocabulary. Reuses established place-names and journey terms from chs. 10-21. |
| 36 | Reviewed — codifies ch. 27 inheritance law; reuses 产业 and 支派 exactly; introduces no new theological vocabulary. |
Section 4 — Critical/High Risk Terms Requiring Mandatory Human Theologian Review (Phase 2 Escalation)
Per the baseline 12_ai_translation_requirements.md escalation rules, the following NEW Numbers terms are flagged Critical or High and must be routed to human theologian review on every occurrence, in addition to the baseline’s existing Critical/High list:
Critical: 蛇 (serpent, in ch. 21 typological context), 铜 (bronze), 耶和华的灵 (Spirit of the LORD), 占卜 (divination, contrastive use), 赎罪 / 赎罪日 (atonement / Day of Atonement — distinguishing note mandatory)
High: 发怨言 (murmur/complain), 杆 (pole/standard), 背叛/悖逆 (rebellion), 忿怒 (wrath), 任意妄为的罪 (presumptuous sin), 星/杖 (star/scepter messianic oracle), 拜偶像 (idolatry), 热心/忌邪的心 (zeal), 报仇/伸冤 (vengeance)
These terms must be added to a Numbers-specific extension of translation_memory.json and doctrine_risk_registry.json in the next pipeline step, following the exact baseline JSON schema.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: 神
Transliteration: Shén
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 上帝, 天, 老天爷
Original: θεός / אֱלֹהִים / יהוה
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Numbers-specific context: the ANE narrative backdrop of Numbers (Baal of Peor, ch. 25; Moabite/Midianite deities, ch. 22-25) makes explicit monotheism especially load-bearing — 神 is also the common noun for any deity/spirit in folk usage, so every occurrence set against a polytheistic narrative must make clear only the LORD acts with real power.
Grace
Approved rendering: 恩典
Transliteration: ēndiǎn
Doctrine: Rejection of Grace (Manna Despised)
Rejected alternatives: 功德, 造化, 福气, 阴德
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Numbers-specific context: manna (ch. 11, 21) is the paradigm OT case-study of despising unearned grace — teaching must frame the people’s complaint as active ingratitude toward a free gift, not dietary preference, reinforcing the baseline’s anti-merit-ledger caution.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: 成圣
Transliteration: chéngshèng
Doctrine: Levitical Service and Substitutionary Redemption
Rejected alternatives: 修身, 修炼
Original: ἁγιασμός / καθαγιάζω
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Numbers-specific context: the formal setting-apart of the Levites (ch. 8) and the Nazirite’s voluntary consecration (ch. 6) must never be presented as self-achieved status; it is God’s appointment and provision appropriated through prescribed means, resisting the Neo-Confucian self-cultivation collision already flagged in the baseline.
Messiah
Approved rendering: 基督
Transliteration: Jīdū
Doctrine: Messianic Promise (Star and Scepter Oracle)
Rejected alternatives: 弥勒, 救世主式泛称
Original: Χριστός / מָשִׁיחַ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. NEVER used to render the OT oracle itself (24:17) directly — 基督 is the NT title bound to the historical person of Jesus; Numbers 24:17 is OT prophetic background taught via cross-reference, not by inserting 基督 into the OT text. NEVER conflate with 弥勒 (Maitreya).
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: 圣灵
Transliteration: Shènglíng
Doctrine: God’s Patience and Judgment
Rejected alternatives: 祖灵, 灵
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly for NT-era/systematic cross-reference only. Numbers itself uses the qualified OT phrase 耶和华的灵 (see spirit_of_the_lord entry) — never bare 灵. Teaching notes should draw the canonical line forward to 圣灵 without collapsing the OT/NT distinction.
Justification
Approved rendering: 称义
Transliteration: chēngyì
Doctrine: Atonement: The Turning Away of Wrath
Rejected alternatives: 修成正果, 赎罪
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly, cross-referenced here because the baseline entry explicitly rejects 赎罪 as an alternative rendering for 称义. Every Numbers occurrence of 赎罪 (atonement) requires a note distinguishing it from this forensic term. See atonement entry below.
Spirit Of The Lord
Approved rendering: 耶和华的灵
Transliteration: Yēhéhuá de líng
Doctrine: God’s Patience and Judgment
Rejected alternatives: 灵, 祖灵
Original: πνεῦμα κυρίου
Category: God
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 11:17, 25, 29 — God’s own personal Spirit empowering the seventy elders. NEVER render bare 灵, which in Chinese folk religion covers ancestral spirits, nature spirits, and ghosts invoked in ancestor-veneration ritual. Always qualify with 耶和华的; connects forward to baseline 圣灵 without collapsing the OT/NT distinction.
Serpent
Approved rendering: 蛇
Transliteration: shé
Doctrine: The Bronze Serpent as a Type of Christ
Original: ὄφις
Category: Christology
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 21:6, 8-9 (CORE PASSAGE). MUST render identically for BOTH the judgment-serpents and the bronze healing image — the John 3:14 typological identity (the instrument of death becomes the means of life) depends on this single Mandarin word being used for both. Highest-priority Critical term in the curriculum.
Bronze
Approved rendering: 铜
Transliteration: tóng
Doctrine: The Bronze Serpent as a Type of Christ
Original: χαλκοῦς
Category: Christology
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 21:8-9 (CORE PASSAGE). Mandatory anti-idol-veneration note on every occurrence: the bronze serpent held no inherent power (cf. 2 Kings 18:4, Nehushtan). Chinese folk religion’s living tradition of venerating cast bronze/metal temple images makes this the single highest object-veneration collision risk in the curriculum.
Divination
Approved rendering: 占卜
Transliteration: zhānbǔ
Doctrine: Balaam and God’s Sovereign Blessing
Original: μαντεία
Category: Judgment
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapters 22-24. Balaam’s own forbidden professional method. NEVER presented as a legitimate parallel revelation-path alongside 预言, especially given China’s widely practiced, socially respectable divinatory traditions (占卜, 算卦/I Ching, 风水). Cf. Deuteronomy 18:10.
Atonement
Approved rendering: 赎罪
Transliteration: shúzuì
Doctrine: Atonement: The Turning Away of Wrath
Rejected alternatives: 修成正果
Original: ἐξιλασμός / ἐξιλάσκομαι
Category: Salvation
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 25:13; 29:7-11. Correct standard CUV term for atonement, but the baseline justification entry specifically rejects 赎罪 as a rendering for 称义 (justification), since 赎罪 can suggest a process rather than a forensic declaration. EVERY occurrence requires the note: ‘赎罪 here means the atoning turning-away of divine wrath, not the forensic declaration of righteousness called 称义 in Romans; the two are related but distinct.‘
Day Of Atonement
Approved rendering: 赎罪日
Transliteration: shúzuì rì
Doctrine: Atonement: The Turning Away of Wrath
Original: ἡμέρα ἐξιλασμοῦ
Category: Salvation
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 29:7-11. Built on the 赎罪 root; carries the identical distinguishing-note requirement given for atonement above.
High Risk Terms
Faith
Approved rendering: 信心
Transliteration: xìnxīn
Doctrine: The Bronze Serpent as a Type of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 虔诚, 迷信, 信仰
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Numbers-specific context: dramatized negatively across the spies’ unbelief (ch. 13-14) and positively anticipated by the simple, trust-filled act of looking at the bronze serpent (21:7-9), the strongest OT anticipation of faith as trust rather than ritual performance.
Sin
Approved rendering: 罪
Transliteration: zuì
Doctrine: Unbelief and the Wilderness Generation
Rejected alternatives: 报应, 罪犯式的罪
Original: ἁμαρτία / ἁμαρτάνω
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Numbers 21:7 is a compact confession-and-intercession cycle; 罪 must remain a moral offense against a personal God confessed directly to him, not a karmic-retribution mechanism (报应).
Holy
Approved rendering: 圣洁
Transliteration: shèngjié
Doctrine: Separation unto God’s Service (Nazirite Vow)
Rejected alternatives: 清净, 圣人般的
Original: ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Numbers’ extensive ritual-holiness legislation (ch. 5-6, 8, 15-16, 18) must be taught as anticipating, not equaling, the full moral/relational holiness of the baseline doctrine.
Covenant
Approved rendering: 约
Transliteration: yuē
Doctrine: Faithfulness of God’s Promises despite Human Failure
Rejected alternatives: 合同, 契约
Original: διαθήκη
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly as root in compounds (约柜, 平安的约). Numbers-specific context: God’s covenant faithfulness persists unilaterally despite the wilderness generation’s repeated failure (ch. 13-14), Balaam’s hired opposition (ch. 22-24), and the conquest’s delay — never soften toward 合同/契约.
Election
Approved rendering: 拣选
Transliteration: jiǎnxuǎn
Doctrine: Balaam and God’s Sovereign Blessing
Rejected alternatives: 天命, 命运, 缘分
Original: ἐκλογή
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Numbers-specific context: God’s personal, gracious choice of Israel is presupposed throughout and vindicated against Balaam’s hired curse (23:8-9) — never impersonal fate (天命/命运/缘分).
Power Of God
Approved rendering: 神的大能
Transliteration: Shén de dà néng
Doctrine: Balaam and God’s Sovereign Blessing
Rejected alternatives: 气, 法力
Original: δύναμις θεοῦ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Numbers-specific context: God’s power over Balaam’s forbidden divination (ch. 22-24) and over the onset/cessation of plague (16, 25); never 气 or 法力.
Redemption Ransom
Approved rendering: 赎 / 赎价
Transliteration: shú / shújià
Doctrine: Levitical Service and Substitutionary Redemption
Rejected alternatives: 超度
Original: λυτρόω / λύτρα
Category: Salvation
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapter 3:12, 40-51. Distinct from baseline 救恩 (salvation, the resulting deliverance) — 赎 denotes the mechanism, a price paid in substitution for the living within a covenant relationship. NEVER confuse with 超度, the Buddhist/Daoist posthumous rite for the dead.
Priestly Blessing
Approved rendering: 祝福
Transliteration: zhùfú
Doctrine: The Priestly Blessing as God’s Sovereign Gift
Rejected alternatives: 祈福
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapters 6:22-27; 22-24 (Balaam’s oracles). God-sourced, sovereignly given favor; never 祈福 (folk practice of petitioning a deity/idol for good fortune). High risk specifically in the Balaam context, where the point is God’s unilateral sovereignty overriding a hired curse, not a contest of ritual power. Shares the 福-root caution flagged under baseline gospel.
Murmur Complain
Approved rendering: 发怨言
Transliteration: fā yuànyán
Doctrine: Unbelief and the Wilderness Generation
Rejected alternatives: 抱怨
Original: γογγύζω / καταλαλέω
Category: Judgment
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapters 11, 14, 16, 17, 21. MUST render identically at EVERY occurrence. Must retain that the object of complaint includes God himself (向耶和华发怨言), not only Moses — avoid the softening error of a labor-relations-grievance reading. Never use 抱怨 (too weak/secular).
Rebellion
Approved rendering: 背叛 / 悖逆
Transliteration: bèipàn / bèinì
Doctrine: Unbelief and the Wilderness Generation
Original: ἀπειθέω
Category: Judgment
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapters 14, 16. Marks an aggravated, decisive stage beyond mere complaint (发怨言) — must not be flattened to the same register. Named at the spies’ report (ch. 14) and Korah’s revolt (ch. 16).
Wrath Judgment
Approved rendering: 忿怒
Transliteration: fènnù
Doctrine: God’s Patience and Judgment
Rejected alternatives: 报应
Original: ὀργή / θυμός
Category: Judgment
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapter 14:12-20 and elsewhere. God’s righteous, personal response to persistent covenant-breaking rebellion. NEVER equated with 报应 (impersonal cosmic-karmic retribution). Numbers repeatedly shows wrath checked, not eliminated, by intercession (14:12-20; 16:46-48; 25:11-13).
Presumptuous Sin
Approved rendering: 任意妄为的罪 / 故意干犯的罪
Transliteration: rènyì wàngwéi de zuì / gùyì gānfàn de zuì
Doctrine: Presumptuous versus Unintentional Sin
Original: ἐν ὑπερηφανίᾳ
Category: Sin
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 15:30-31. Deliberate, defiant transgression with no sacrificial remedy under the law. Must be sharply distinguished from 无意犯的罪 — collapsing this distinction removes the explanatory logic for why some wilderness failures receive mercy and others decisive judgment.
Pole Standard
Approved rendering: 杆
Transliteration: gān
Doctrine: The Bronze Serpent as a Type of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 幡, 符
Original: σημεῖον
Category: Christology
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 21:8-9 (CORE PASSAGE). Per established CUV phrase 挂在杆上. NEVER 幡/符 (talisman-pole or spirit-flag, folk exorcism/protection ritual). A visible communal sign, not a ritual implement with its own potency.
Look Epiblepo
Approved rendering: 望 / 观看
Transliteration: wàng / guānkàn
Doctrine: The Bronze Serpent as a Type of Christ
Original: ἐπιβλέπω
Category: Faith
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 21:9 (CORE PASSAGE). Per CUV “望一望”/“看他就活了”. Must convey trust-filled looking, not an apotropaic warding-gaze (cf. protective mirror-charms 镜镖, door-guardian imagery) — a genuine live Chinese folk-practice collision.
Live Zao
Approved rendering: 活 / 得存活
Transliteration: huó / dé cúnhuó
Doctrine: The Bronze Serpent as a Type of Christ
Original: ζάω
Category: Salvation
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 21:8-9 (CORE PASSAGE). Keep visibly linked in teaching notes to the standard CUV term for ‘eternal life’ (永生) used in John 3:15-16 cross-reference material, preserving the typological link across documents.
Star And Scepter
Approved rendering: 星 / 杖
Transliteration: xīng / zhàng
Doctrine: Messianic Promise (Star and Scepter Oracle)
Rejected alternatives: 弥赛亚（直接插入民数记文本本身）
Original: ἀστήρ … σκῆπτρον
Category: Christology
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 24:15-19. A genuine Spirit-given messianic prediction spoken through a pagan diviner. Disambiguate 杖 from Aaron’s budding 杖 (ch. 17) by context. NEVER conflate with 弥勒 (Maitreya); 星 risks folk-astrological (占星) misreading as omen rather than one-fulfillment prophecy.
Idolatry
Approved rendering: 拜偶像
Transliteration: bài ǒuxiàng
Doctrine: Idolatry and Covenant Unfaithfulness at Baal of Peor
Original: εἰδωλολατρία
Category: Sin
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapter 25. Requires pastoral sensitivity: the doctrinal point is covenant unfaithfulness to the one true God (神) via joining a rival cult plus sexual sin — not a blanket ethnographic condemnation of all image-related or ancestral practice familiar to many Mandarin-speaking readers’ families.
Zeal
Approved rendering: 热心 / 忌邪的心
Transliteration: rèxīn / jìxié de xīn
Doctrine: Intercession (Moses, Aaron, Phinehas)
Original: ζῆλος
Category: Faith
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 25:11, 13. Must be bounded strictly to zeal for God’s exclusive honor against this specific covenant-breaking idolatry — never a template for individually initiated religious violence or generalized zealotry.
Vengeance
Approved rendering: 报仇 / 伸冤
Transliteration: bàochóu / shēnyuān
Doctrine: Vengeance and Divinely Commanded Judgment on Midian
Rejected alternatives: 圣战
Original: ἐκδίκησις
Category: Judgment
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 31:1-54. Framed explicitly as ‘the LORD’s vengeance’ — a specific, historically bounded, divinely commanded judgment. NEVER render with 圣战 (‘holy war’), which carries modern connotations of ongoing religiously sanctioned violence; never generalize into a template for present-day religiously motivated violence.
Medium Risk Terms
Peace
Approved rendering: 平安
Transliteration: píng’ān
Doctrine: Intercession (Moses, Aaron, Phinehas)
Rejected alternatives: 安宁, 平安符式的平安
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Numbers-specific context: God’s covenant of peace granted to Phinehas’ priestly line (25:12-13) and the peace pronounced in the priestly blessing (6:26); distinguish from the amulet-style well-wishing sense (平安符).
Glory
Approved rendering: 荣耀
Transliteration: róngyào
Doctrine: God’s Patience and Judgment
Rejected alternatives: 面子, 光宗耀祖
Original: δόξα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Numbers-specific context: God’s glory appears before the whole congregation at moments of judgment and mercy (14:10, 21-22; 16:19; 20:6); avoid collapsing into 面子 or 光宗耀祖.
Intercession
Approved rendering: 代求
Transliteration: dàiqiú
Doctrine: Intercession (Moses, Aaron, Phinehas)
Rejected alternatives: 求签, 问卜
Original: εὔχομαι / ἔντευξις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. MUST be rendered identically for all three intercessors in this curriculum — Moses (11, 12, 14, 21), Aaron (16), and Phinehas (25) — distinguished from 求签/问卜 (temple divination practices).
Prophecy
Approved rendering: 预言
Transliteration: yùyán
Doctrine: Messianic Promise (Star and Scepter Oracle)
Rejected alternatives: 算卦, 占卜
Original: προφητεία
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Numbers-specific context: God-inspired declaration spoken through Balaam’s oracles (ch. 22-24) despite his forbidden divinatory profession — must be sharply distinguished from 占卜 in this narrative.
Church
Approved rendering: 教会
Transliteration: jiàohuì
Doctrine: Census and the People of God
Rejected alternatives: 庙, 寺, 道观
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly, but reserved for the NT parallel only. Do NOT substitute 教会 for the OT congregation, which uses 会众 (see congregation entry below); note doctrinal continuity for teaching while keeping the terms lexically distinct.
Census Numbering
Approved rendering: 数点 / 民数
Transliteration: shùdiǎn / mínshù
Doctrine: Census and the People of God
Rejected alternatives: 人口普查, 户口登记
Original: ἐπίσκεψις / ἀριθμός
Category: Census
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapters 1-4, 26. Being numbered is covenantal inclusion, organized around God’s presence at the camp’s center (ch. 2), not a neutral bureaucratic tally. Guard against associative drift toward modern household-registration bureaucracy (户口), which carries contemporary political connotations foreign to the text.
Clan Fathers House
Approved rendering: 宗族
Transliteration: zōngzú
Doctrine: Census and the People of God
Rejected alternatives: 家族
Original: δῆμος / οἶκος πατριᾶς
Category: Census
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapters 1, 3. Carries strong ancestor-veneration and lineage-ritual associations (clan temples, ancestral tablets) in Chinese culture; clarify this denotes covenant-community family structure, not ancestor-worship obligation.
Unclean Clean
Approved rendering: 不洁净 / 洁净
Transliteration: bù jiéjìng / jiéjìng
Doctrine: Ceremonial Purity and Provision for Atonement
Original: ἀκάθαρτος / καθαρός
Category: Sanctification
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapters 5, 19. Ritual/ceremonial purity, kept distinct from the baseline’s moral-purity sense (圣洁/成圣). OT ceremonial uncleanness anticipates but does not equal the deeper moral uncleanness grace addresses.
Guilt Trespass Offering
Approved rendering: 赎愆祭
Transliteration: shúqiānjì
Doctrine: Ceremonial Purity and Provision for Atonement
Original: πλημμέλεια
Category: Worship
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapter 5:5-10. Established CUV compound for an offense requiring restitution to a wronged party and atonement before God; keep distinct from the general 赎罪 compound (ch. 25/29).
Oath
Approved rendering: 誓 / 起誓
Transliteration: shì / qǐshì
Doctrine: Vow and Oath Integrity Before God
Rejected alternatives: 合同, 契约
Original: ὅρκος
Category: Covenant
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapters 5, 14, 30, 32. A solemn, God-witnessed declaration, not a commercial pledge — never render with 合同/契约 per the baseline covenant precedent.
Nazirite
Approved rendering: 拿细耳人
Transliteration: Násì’ěr rén
Doctrine: Separation unto God’s Service (Nazirite Vow)
Rejected alternatives: 出家人
Original: ναζιραῖος
Category: Sanctification
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapter 6:1-21. Established CUV transliteration. Distinguish from Buddhist/Daoist ascetic monasticism (出家, 戒律) pursued for merit or enlightenment; the Nazirite vow is a temporary, freely chosen act of devotion within ordinary covenant life.
Vow
Approved rendering: 愿 / 许愿
Transliteration: yuàn / xǔyuàn
Doctrine: Vow and Oath Integrity Before God
Rejected alternatives: 还愿（作为交易式的酬谢）
Original: εὐχή
Category: Sanctification
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapters 6, 30. Distinguish from the transactional temple-deity bargaining sense of 许愿 in folk Chinese religious practice (a wish exchanged for a favor); biblical vow-making is a freely offered act of devotion.
Consecrate Dedicate
Approved rendering: 奉献 / 归耶和华为圣
Transliteration: fèngxiàn / guī Yēhéhuá wéi shèng
Doctrine: Levitical Service and Substitutionary Redemption
Rejected alternatives: 修身
Original: ἀφορίζω / καθαγιάζω
Category: Sanctification
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapter 8:5-22. Dedication precedes duty; God’s appointment and cleansing, never self-cultivated moral achievement (修身, Neo-Confucian self-cultivation, rejected).
Cloud Fire Presence
Approved rendering: 云柱 / 火柱
Transliteration: yúnzhù / huǒzhù
Doctrine: God’s Personal, Visible Guiding Presence
Rejected alternatives: 占兆
Original: νεφέλη / πῦρ
Category: Worship
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapters 9:15-23; 10:11-36; 14:14. Personal, visible guidance of the one true God; never equated with impersonal fate-signs or omen-reading (占兆). Establishes the standard against which later murmuring is measured as willful, not innocent.
Ark Of The Covenant
Approved rendering: 约柜
Transliteration: yuē guì
Doctrine: Faithfulness of God’s Promises despite Human Failure
Original: ἡ κιβωτὸς τῆς διαθήκης
Category: Covenant
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapter 10:33-36. Established CUV term built on baseline 约; never substitute commercial-contract vocabulary even in compound form.
Manna
Approved rendering: 吗哪
Transliteration: Mǎnǎ
Doctrine: Rejection of Grace (Manna Despised)
Original: μάννα
Category: Salvation
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapters 11, 21. Established CUV transliteration. Must be taught alongside 恩典 (Grace); rejecting manna is functionally rejecting a free, unmerited gift.
Discouraged Impatient
Approved rendering: 心中不耐烦 / 心里烦躁
Transliteration: xīnzhōng bú nàifán / xīnli fánzào
Doctrine: Unbelief and the Wilderness Generation
Rejected alternatives: 疲乏
Original: ὀλιγοψυχέω
Category: Judgment
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 21:4, the opening beat of the core passage. A collapse of inner trust/resolve, not mere physical tiredness (疲乏) — the emotional seedbed of the complaint in v.5.
Loathe
Approved rendering: 厌恶 / 厌弃
Transliteration: yànwù / yànqì
Doctrine: Rejection of Grace (Manna Despised)
Original: προσοχθίζω
Category: Judgment
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 21:5. Active contempt toward a gift already given (manna), not mere dietary boredom — preserves the ingratitude-toward-grace dimension.
Generation
Approved rendering: 这一代人
Transliteration: zhè yī dài rén
Doctrine: Unbelief and the Wilderness Generation
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 14:33-34. Anchors Hebrews 3-4’s later New Testament application; keep vocabulary consistent for future cross-curriculum harmonization.
Unintentional Sin
Approved rendering: 无意犯的罪
Transliteration: wúyì fàn de zuì
Doctrine: Presumptuous versus Unintentional Sin
Original: ἀκουσίως
Category: Sin
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 15:22-29. Sin committed in ignorance or error, receiving atoning mercy; built on baseline 罪.
Budding Rod
Approved rendering: 发芽的杖
Transliteration: fāyá de zhàng
Doctrine: Priesthood Confirmed by God’s Sovereign Sign
Rejected alternatives: 法器
Original: ῥάβδος βλαστάνουσα
Category: Worship
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 17:1-13. Do not present as magical potency inherent in the wood; frame as God’s sovereign confirmation of his own choice of priest, resisting the Daoist/folk ‘sacred ritual object’ (法器) reading.
Red Heifer
Approved rendering: 红母牛
Transliteration: hóng mǔniú
Doctrine: Ceremonial Purity and Provision for Atonement
Original: δάμαλις πυρρά
Category: Worship
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapter 19. God provides cleansing in advance for the living so defilement need never become permanently disqualifying.
Water Of Purification
Approved rendering: 洁净的水
Transliteration: jiéjìng de shuǐ
Doctrine: Ceremonial Purity and Provision for Atonement
Rejected alternatives: 超度
Original: ὕδωρ ῥαντισμοῦ
Category: Worship
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 19:9-22. Cleanses the LIVING person defiled by corpse-contact, not the dead — distinguish sharply from Chinese folk funerary purification rites (超度, 做法事) performed for the deceased’s soul.
Meribah Strife
Approved rendering: 米利巴 / 争闹
Transliteration: Mǐlìbā / zhēngnào
Doctrine: God’s Patience and Judgment
Original: λοιδορία
Category: Judgment
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 20:2-13. Judgment reaches even Moses; complicates any simplistic reading that judgment falls only on ‘the people.‘
Angel Of The Lord
Approved rendering: 耶和华的使者
Transliteration: Yēhéhuá de shǐzhě
Doctrine: Balaam and God’s Sovereign Blessing
Original: ἄγγελος κυρίου
Category: God
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 22:22-35. Standard OT theophanic-messenger language; do not conflate with a generic folk-religious guardian spirit.
Curse
Approved rendering: 咒诅
Transliteration: zhòuzǔ
Doctrine: Balaam and God’s Sovereign Blessing
Rejected alternatives: 咒语
Original: κατάρα
Category: Judgment
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapters 22-24. A solemn formal pronouncement, not sorcery-craft (avoid 咒语, folk magic-spell register); the narrative’s point is God’s unilateral sovereignty overriding any hired curse, not a contest of rival practitioners’ power.
Sexual Immorality
Approved rendering: 淫乱
Transliteration: yínluàn
Doctrine: Idolatry and Covenant Unfaithfulness at Baal of Peor
Original: πορνεύω
Category: Sin
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 25:1-3. Sexual sin intertwined with idolatrous cultic practice; models how idolatry and moral compromise reinforce one another.
Plague
Approved rendering: 灾殃 / 瘟疫
Transliteration: zāiyāng / wēnyì
Doctrine: God’s Patience and Judgment
Rejected alternatives: 报应
Original: πληγή
Category: Judgment
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 16:46-50; 25:8-9, 18. A specific, personal act of the LORD responding to a specific covenant violation, not an impersonal cosmic-balancing mechanism (报应).
Casting Lots
Approved rendering: 拈签 / 抽签
Transliteration: niānqiān / chōuqiān
Doctrine: Census and the People of God
Rejected alternatives: 求签
Original: κλῆρος
Category: Census
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapters 26, 33-34. A one-time, God-directed land allocation method, not a repeatable divinatory technique for personal guidance — distinguish from folk/temple 求签 (fortune-stick drawing).
Inheritance Land
Approved rendering: 产业
Transliteration: chǎnyè
Doctrine: Faithfulness of God’s Promises despite Human Failure
Original: κληρονομία
Category: Census
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapters 27, 32, 34, 36. Literal, physical land inheritance; consonant with but distinct in register from the baseline adoption entry’s spiritual inheritance-rights concept.
Sin Will Find You Out
Approved rendering: 你们的罪必追上你们
Transliteration: nǐmen de zuì bì zhuī shàng nǐmen
Doctrine: Vow and Oath Integrity Before God
Original: γνωστὸν ὑμῖν ἔσται ἡ ἁμαρτία ὑμῶν
Category: Judgment
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 32:23. Built on baseline 罪 exactly; reinforces that faithfulness to commitments made to God is inescapably consequential.
Avenger Of Blood
Approved rendering: 报血仇的人
Transliteration: bào xuèchóu de rén
Doctrine: Divine Justice and Mercy (Cities of Refuge)
Original: ὁ ἀγχιστεύων τὸ αἷμα
Category: Justice
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 35:19-27. The law subordinates personal vengeance to divinely instituted legal process.
Manslayer
Approved rendering: 误杀人的
Transliteration: wùshā rén de
Doctrine: Divine Justice and Mercy (Cities of Refuge)
Original: ὁ φονεύσας
Category: Justice
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 35:22-25. Applies the presumptuous/unintentional distinction (ch. 15) to homicide; even here, God’s law distinguishes intent, not merely outcome.
Congregation
Approved rendering: 会众
Transliteration: huìzhòng
Doctrine: Census and the People of God
Rejected alternatives: 教会（用于旧约会众时）
[NEW — NUMBERS] Used throughout for the assembled covenant community of Israel (the OT-specific conceptual parallel to the NT ἐκκλησία). Do NOT substitute baseline 教会 for this OT term; keep the terms lexically distinct while teaching the doctrinal continuity.
Low Risk Terms
Prophet
Approved rendering: 先知
Transliteration: xiānzhī
Doctrine: Unbelief and the Wilderness Generation
Rejected alternatives: 算命先生
Original: προφήτης
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Numbers-specific context: Moses’ wish that all the LORD’s people would prophesy (11:29).
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: 感恩
Transliteration: gǎn’ēn
Doctrine: Faithfulness of God’s Promises despite Human Failure
Original: εὐχαριστία
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package; reused exactly. Numbers-specific context: modeled in the song of the well (21:17-18), a deliberate narrative contrast to the complaint episodes.
Tribe
Approved rendering: 支派
Transliteration: zhīpài
Doctrine: Census and the People of God
Rejected alternatives: 部落
Original: φυλή
Category: Census
[NEW — NUMBERS] Established CUV term, pervasive throughout the book.
Host Army
Approved rendering: 军队
Transliteration: jūnduì
Doctrine: Census and the People of God
Original: δύναμις
Category: Census
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapters 1-2, 10, 31. Distinct sense of the underlying Greek δύναμις from baseline power_of_god (神的大能) — here an organized military body, not divine might; disambiguate in teaching notes.
Camp
Approved rendering: 营
Transliteration: yíng
Doctrine: Census and the People of God
Original: παρεμβολή
Category: Census
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapters 2, 5, 9-10. The tabernacle at the camp’s center is a spatial sermon on God’s people organized around his presence.
Firstborn
Approved rendering: 长子
Transliteration: zhǎngzǐ
Doctrine: Levitical Service and Substitutionary Redemption
Original: πρωτότοκος
Category: Census
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapter 3. The Levites are formally substituted for Israel’s firstborn. Same root reappears in NT Christology (Christ as “firstborn,” cf. Romans 8:29) — flag for cross-curriculum consistency, though not itself a Romans baseline term.
Service Ministry
Approved rendering: 事奉
Transliteration: shìfèng
Doctrine: Levitical Service and Substitutionary Redemption
Rejected alternatives: 服务
Original: λειτουργία
Category: Sanctification
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapters 4, 8, 18. Established Chinese Christian vocabulary for service rendered to God; do not confuse with generic secular 服务.
Offering General
Approved rendering: 供物
Transliteration: gòngwù
Doctrine: Ceremonial Purity and Provision for Atonement
Rejected alternatives: 供品
Original: προσφορά / δῶρον
Category: Worship
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapters 7, 28-29. Keep distinct from folk-temple 供品 offered to idols/ancestors; the recipient is the one true God (神).
Passover
Approved rendering: 逾越节
Transliteration: Yúyuè jié
Doctrine: God’s Personal, Visible Guiding Presence
Original: πάσχα
Category: Worship
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapter 9:1-14. Established CUV term.
Trumpet
Approved rendering: 号 / 号筒
Transliteration: hào / hàotǒng
Doctrine: Census and the People of God
Original: σάλπιγξ
Category: Worship
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapter 10:1-10. Communal life ordered by God-given signals, not improvisation.
Quail
Approved rendering: 鹌鹑
Transliteration: ānchún
Doctrine: Rejection of Grace (Manna Despised)
Original: ὀρτυγομήτρα
Category: Salvation
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapter 11:31-34. God’s response is simultaneously gracious provision and impending judgment.
Leprosy
Approved rendering: 大痲风
Transliteration: dà máfēng
Doctrine: God’s Patience and Judgment
Original: λέπρα
Category: Judgment
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 12:10. Established CUV term; direct divine judgment for challenging Moses’ God-given authority.
Meek Humble
Approved rendering: 谦和 / 谦卑
Transliteration: qiānhé / qiānbēi
Doctrine: Intercession (Moses, Aaron, Phinehas)
Original: πραΰς
Category: Faith
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 12:3. Qualifies Moses as intercessor; biblical meekness flows from trust in God’s vindication, not merely social propriety (minor overlap with Confucian 谦虚 is acceptable).
Spies
Approved rendering: 探子
Transliteration: tànzi
Doctrine: Unbelief and the Wilderness Generation
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapter 13. Established CUV term.
Land Flowing Milk Honey
Approved rendering: 流奶与蜜之地
Transliteration: liú nǎi yǔ mì zhī dì
Doctrine: Faithfulness of God’s Promises despite Human Failure
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapter 13:23-27. Established CUV idiom for the promised, richly fertile inheritance.
Giants Anakim
Approved rendering: 巨人 / 亚衲族人
Transliteration: jùrén / Yànà zú rén
Doctrine: Unbelief and the Wilderness Generation
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapter 13. Fear of the land’s inhabitants, rather than trust in God, becomes the occasion for the nation’s unbelief.
Censer
Approved rendering: 香炉
Transliteration: xiānglú
Doctrine: Priesthood Confirmed by God’s Sovereign Sign
Original: θυμιατήριον
Category: Worship
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapter 16. A vessel for burning incense, restricted to authorized priests; Korah’s company usurps this prerogative.
Earth Swallowed
Approved rendering: 地开了口
Transliteration: dì kāi le kǒu
Doctrine: God’s Patience and Judgment
Original: ἀνοίγω ἡ γῆ τὸ στόμα
Category: Judgment
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 16:31-33. Established vivid CUV phrase for Korah’s judgment; unmistakably divine, not ordinary human conflict.
Tithe
Approved rendering: 十分之一
Transliteration: shí fēn zhī yī
Doctrine: Levitical Service and Substitutionary Redemption
Original: δεκάτη
Category: Worship
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 18:21-32. The tenth portion supporting Levitical ministry.
Song Of The Well
Approved rendering: 井的歌
Transliteration: jǐng de gē
Doctrine: Faithfulness of God’s Promises despite Human Failure
Original: ᾆσμα τοῦ φρέατος
Category: Worship
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 21:17-18. Deliberate narrative contrast to complaint: grace, rightly received, produces thanksgiving.
Laying On Of Hands
Approved rendering: 按手
Transliteration: ànshǒu
Doctrine: Leadership Succession by Divine Appointment
Original: ἐπιθεσις τῶν χειρῶν
Category: Census
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 27:18-23. Established Chinese Christian term; public, God-directed transfer of leadership, distinct from dynastic succession by birth.
Burnt Offering
Approved rendering: 燔祭
Transliteration: fánjì
Doctrine: Ceremonial Purity and Provision for Atonement
Original: ὁλοκαύτωμα
Category: Worship
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapters 28-29. Established CUV term; an offering wholly consumed, symbolizing total consecration.
Feast Of Tabernacles
Approved rendering: 住棚节
Transliteration: Zhùpéng jié
Doctrine: Faithfulness of God’s Promises despite Human Failure
Original: ἑορτὴ σκηνῶν
Category: Worship
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 29:12-38. Established CUV term; institutionalized remembrance of wilderness dependence and provision.
New Moon
Approved rendering: 月朔
Transliteration: yuèshuò
Doctrine: Ceremonial Purity and Provision for Atonement
Original: νεομηνία
Category: Worship
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 28:11-15. Monthly festival marking the lunar new month.
Boundary
Approved rendering: 境界
Transliteration: jìngjiè
Doctrine: Faithfulness of God’s Promises despite Human Failure
Original: ὅριον
Category: Census
[NEW — NUMBERS] Chapter 34. God’s promise is geographically concrete and specific, not vague.
City Of Refuge
Approved rendering: 逃城
Transliteration: táochéng
Doctrine: Divine Justice and Mercy (Cities of Refuge)
Original: πόλις φυγαδευτήριον
Category: Justice
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 35:9-34. Established CUV term. God’s own legal provision balancing justice with mercy, distinct from Chinese customary blood-feud/clan-vendetta frameworks.
Vow And Oath Integrity
Approved rendering: 所出的话
Transliteration: suǒ chū de huà
Doctrine: Vow and Oath Integrity Before God
Original: ῥῆμα δεσμευτικόν
Category: Covenant
[NEW — NUMBERS] Numbers 30:2. Descriptive phrase rather than a single technical term; words spoken to God carry real, binding consequence.
Referenced passages