Core Glossary
Core Glossary: Deuteronomy
English → Spanish Language Package | Consolidated Term Table (Whole Book)
Instructions: This glossary extends, and must never contradict, the baseline Romans translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json. Entries marked (reuse) carry forward the baseline’s exact recorded Spanish rendering and risk tier — do not re-derive or alter them. Entries marked (new) are Deuteronomy-specific additions using the identical Critical/High/Medium/Low framework. All risk routing follows the baseline convention: Critical/High → human theologian review; Medium → native speaker review; Low → automated review.
A. Reused Terms from the Baseline Romans Package
| Term (English) | Spanish (baseline, reused exactly) | Risk (baseline) | Deuteronomy chapters | Consistency note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| God | Dios | Critical | all | No change; Deuteronomy’s Elohim maps directly. |
| Covenant | pacto | High | 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 17, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31 | Deuteronomy is a covenant-renewal document; “pacto” (not “alianza”) throughout, per baseline standardization. |
| Law | ley | High | all | Deuteronomy’s torah. |
| Sin | pecado | Medium | 1, 9, 19, 20, 21, 24 | General moral-transgression sense; Deuteronomy also uses “iniquity” (avon) and “transgression” (pesha) as near-synonyms — render contextually but do not soften to “falta.” |
| Holy / Saints | santo / santos | High/Critical | 7, 14, 23, 26, 28 | Corporate covenant holiness (“a people holy to the LORD,” 26:19); pair with baseline’s clarifying note that holiness is relational/corporate, not achieved ascetic status. |
| Election | elección | High | 4, 7, 10, 14 | God’s sovereign “choosing” (bachar) of Israel; avoid “destino/suerte” per baseline. |
| Prophet / Prophecy | profeta / profecía | Low | 13, 18, 34 | Base term unchanged; risk escalates sharply only for the specific phrase “prophet like Moses” (see Section B). |
| Glory | gloria | Medium | 5 | God’s glory at Horeb (5:24). |
| Israel | Israel | Low | all | Proper name, unchanged. |
| David | David | Low | (background only; not named directly in Deuteronomy but presupposed by later covenant fulfillment teaching) | No change. |
| Gentiles / Nations | gentiles / naciones | Low/Medium | 4, 7, 26, 28, 29 | Deuteronomy’s “goyim” — use “naciones” in narrative/legal contexts describing surrounding peoples; reserve “gentiles” for explicit NT-facing typological cross-references. |
| Fear (of the LORD) | temer / temor | — (new sense; see Section B) | 4, 5, 6, 10, 13, 14, 17, 28, 31 | Not in baseline Romans TM; added fresh below given its centrality to Deuteronomy. |
B. New Terms Introduced by Deuteronomy
| # | Term (English) | Hebrew (translit.) | LXX Greek (translit.) | Spanish rendering | Doctrine | Risk | Chapters | Notes / rejected alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LORD (divine covenant name, YHWH) | יְהוָה (YHWH) | κύριος (kyrios) | Jehová | Shema and Exclusive Love for God | Critical | all | Standardized on RV1960’s “Jehová” per this package’s Reina-Valera anchor. MANDATORY teaching note every occurrence distinguishing this from the Jehovah’s Witnesses organization’s use of the same name and its anti-Trinitarian theology. Alternative “el SEÑOR” acceptable in explanatory/paraphrastic prose but keep “Jehová” in direct verse quotations for consistency with RV1960. |
| 2 | one (echad) | אֶחָד | εἷς | uno | Shema and Exclusive Love for God | Critical | 6, 32 | Deuteronomy 6:4’s central confession. Rejected: any softening to “único” alone that loses numerical force. Requires teaching note affirming compatibility with Trinitarian doctrine; do not let the note overwhelm the devotional force of the verse. |
| 3 | hear / obey (Shema) | שָׁמַע | ἀκούω | oír / escuchar (“Oye, Israel” — retain RV1960 form) | Shema and Exclusive Love for God | High | 6, 9, 27, 28, 30 | Same Hebrew root covers “hear” and “obey”; teaching notes must state this explicitly every occurrence to prevent a passive-hearing-only reading. |
| 4 | love (God) | אָהַב | ἀγαπάω | amar | Shema and Exclusive Love for God; Obedience Motivated by Love not Merit | High | 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 30 | Covenant loyalty-love, commanded as response to prior redemption, not merit-generating devotion. Cross-reference baseline “grace” entry’s grace-not-merit argument. |
| 5 | heart | לֵב / לֵבָב | καρδία | corazón | Shema and Exclusive Love for God | Medium | 6, 10, 11, 30 | Hebrew: seat of will/mind, not only emotion. |
| 6 | soul | נֶפֶשׁ | ψυχή | alma | Shema and Exclusive Love for God | Medium | 6, 10, 26 | Whole embodied self; guard against Platonic body/soul dualism reading. |
| 7 | might / strength | מְאֹד | ἰσχύς / δύναμις | fuerzas | Shema and Exclusive Love for God | Low | 6 | Standard. |
| 8 | fear (of the LORD) | יָרֵא | φοβέομαι | temer / temor | Shema and Exclusive Love for God; Obedience Motivated by Love not Merit | High | 4, 5, 6, 10, 13, 14, 17, 28, 31 | Reverential awe, not servile terror nor folk-magical dread of curses; distinguish from “maldición” fear (#25). |
| 9 | commandment | מִצְוָה | ἐντολή | mandamiento | Covenant Renewal; Obedience Motivated by Love not Merit | Medium | 1, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 19, 26, 27, 28, 30 | Follows, does not generate, covenant status. |
| 10 | statute | חֻקִּים | δικαιώματα | estatuto | Covenant Renewal | Low | 4, 6, 7, 26, 27 | Stable RV1960 legal term. |
| 11 | judgment / ordinance | מִשְׁפָּטִים | κρίσεις | decreto | Covenant Renewal | Low | 4, 6, 7, 26 | RV1960 triad: mandamientos / estatutos / decretos — render identically every occurrence. |
| 12 | teach diligently | שָׁנַן | — | inculcar | Shema and Exclusive Love for God | Medium | 6, 11 | Vivid root meaning “to sharpen/whet”; note the metaphor explicitly. |
| 13 | sign | אוֹת | σημεῖον | señal | Shema and Exclusive Love for God | Low | 6, 11, 28 | Standard. |
| 14 | frontlets | טוֹטָפֹת | ἀσάλευτα (LXX paraphrase) | frontales | Shema and Exclusive Love for God | Medium | 6, 11 | Literal (tefillin) vs. figurative (mindfulness) reading; present both respectfully. |
| 15 | doorposts | מְזוּזוֹת | φλιαί | postes de las puertas | Shema and Exclusive Love for God | Low | 6, 11 | Modern mezuzah practice background note useful. |
| 16 | treasured possession | סְגֻלָּה | περιούσιος (λαός) | posesión preciada | Covenant Renewal | Medium | 7, 14, 26 | Cross-reference baseline “santos”; God’s own valuing choice, not individual merit. |
| 17 | choose (God’s election of Israel) | בָּחַר | ἐκλέγομαι | escoger / elegir | Covenant Renewal | High | 7, 12, 14, 16, 17, 18, 26 | Direct doctrinal overlap with baseline “election/elección” — reuse baseline’s fatalism warning. |
| 18 | abomination | תּוֹעֵבָה | βδέλυγμα | abominación | Warnings against Idolatry | High | 7, 12, 13, 17, 18, 22-25, 27 | Broad category (idolatry, deceit, injustice); do not narrow to a single modern category. |
| 19 | idol / carved image / other gods | פֶּסֶל / אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים | εἴδωλον / γλυπτόν / θεοὶ ἕτεροι | ídolo / imagen tallada / dioses ajenos | Warnings against Idolatry | Critical | 4, 5, 7-9, 12, 13, 16-18, 27-29, 31-32 | Highest-stakes term for Catholic-majority Spanish contexts; keep focus on rival allegiance, not a general polemic against Christian sacred art. |
| 20 | jealous (God) | קַנָּא | ζηλωτής | celoso | Shema and Exclusive Love for God; Warnings against Idolatry | High | 4, 5, 6, 32 | Righteous covenant zeal, not petty possessiveness. |
| 21 | devoted to destruction / holy war | חֵרֶם | ἀνάθεμα (LXX; AVOID in Spanish) | destrucción total | Warnings against Idolatry | High | 2, 3, 7, 13, 20, 25 | REJECTED: “anatema” (false-cognate collision with Catholic canon-law excommunication). |
| 22 | divination / sorcery / mediums | קֶסֶם / כָּשַׁף / אוֹב | μαντεία / φαρμακεία / ἐγγαστρίμυθος | adivinación / hechicería / nigromancia | Warnings against Idolatry | Critical | 18 | Direct collision with curanderismo, Santería, Espiritismo, brujería active across parts of Latin America/Caribbean. |
| 23 | prophet like Moses | נָבִיא כָּמֹנִי | προφήτης ὥσπερ ἐμέ | profeta como Moisés | The Coming Prophet like Moses | Critical | 18, 34 | Fulfilled in Christ (Acts 3:22); anticipate and address Jewish “ongoing succession” and Islamic (Muhammad) alternative readings. |
| 24 | remember / forget | זָכַר / שָׁכַח | μιμνήσκομαι / ἐπιλανθάνομαι | acordarse (recordar) / olvidar | Remembering God’s Redemption | Medium | 5, 7-9, 15, 16, 24, 25, 32 | To “remember” is to re-enact covenant claims, not merely recall facts. |
| 25 | redemption / redeem | גָּאַל / פָּדָה | λυτρόω | redención / redimir | Remembering God’s Redemption | Critical | 7, 9, 13, 15, 21, 24 | Historical, national deliverance from Egypt as covenant type. Guard against folk-Catholic conflation with “redeeming souls from purgatory” through indulgences/merit — a live, specific risk in Latin American popular piety. |
| 26 | mighty hand / outstretched arm | יָד חֲזָקָה / זְרוֹעַ נְטוּיָה | χεὶρ κραταιά / βραχίων ὕψηλός | mano poderosa y brazo extendido | Remembering God’s Redemption | Medium | 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 26 | Retain the literal, vivid idiom per RV tradition. |
| 27 | blessing | בְּרָכָה | εὐλογία | bendición | Blessings and Curses of the Covenant | High | 11, 15, 16, 23, 28, 30, 33 | Covenantal/national, not an individual prosperity-gospel formula; requires explicit teaching note in Latin American Pentecostal/Evangelical contexts. |
| 28 | curse | קְלָלָה | κατάρα | maldición | Blessings and Curses of the Covenant | CRITICAL | 11, 21, 23, 27-30 | Judicial covenant sanction from God, NOT a folk-magical hex/spell (brujería, mal de ojo, Santería “trabajos”). One of the two highest-risk terms in this glossary (with “ídolo” and “Jehová”); mandatory teaching note every occurrence. |
| 29 | cursed… hanged on a tree | קְלָלַת אֱלֹהִים… תָּלוּי | κατάρα… κρεμάμενος ἐπὶ ξύλου | maldito por Dios… colgado en un árbol | Blessings and Curses of the Covenant (typological link to the Cross) | Critical | 21 | Directly quoted in Galatians 3:13; keep rendering consistent with however that verse is rendered elsewhere in this project. |
| 30 | choose life / choose death | חַיִּים / מָוֶת | ζωή / θάνατος | vida / muerte | Choosing Life over Death | High | 30 (cf. 4, 5, 8, 11, 32) | Covenantal flourishing vs. exile-under-curse, not mere biological survival; OT background for John 3:16, Romans 6:23. |
| 31 | circumcise the heart | מוּל לֵב | περιτέμνω τὴν καρδίαν | circuncidar el corazón | Obedience Motivated by Love not Merit | High | 10, 30 | Metaphorical internal transformation; distinguish from literal ritual circumcision (Galatians/Acts 15 background); at 30:6 it is God’s own gracious act, not human self-achievement — key text for the “not merit” half of this doctrine. |
| 32 | sojourner / foreigner | גֵּר | πάροικος / προσήλυτος | extranjero / forastero | Remembering God’s Redemption | Medium | 10, 14, 16, 23, 24, 26, 27 | Ethical obligation grounded in Israel’s own remembered sojourner-status in Egypt. |
| 33 | tithe | מַעֲשֵׂר | ἐπιδέκατον | diezmo | Blessings and Curses of the Covenant (background) | Medium | 12, 14, 26 | Brief note on contemporary prosperity-teaching misuse is helpful; term itself standard. |
| 34 | sabbatical release | שְׁמִטָּה | ἄφεσις | año de remisión | Remembering God’s Redemption | Medium | 15, 31 | Typologically resonant with, but distinct from, NT forgiveness of sin. |
| 35 | clean / unclean | טָהוֹר / טָמֵא | καθαρός / ἀκάθαρτος | limpio / impuro | Warnings against Idolatry (dietary holiness) | Low | 12, 14, 15, 23, 26 | Note NT fulfillment/setting-aside (Acts 10; Mark 7:19) to prevent confusion about present applicability. |
| 36 | witnesses (two or three) | עֵדִים | μάρτυρες | testigos | Covenant Renewal | Medium | 17, 19, 31 | NT legal-principle continuity (Matthew 18:16; 1 Timothy 5:19). |
| 37 | divorce certificate | סֵפֶר כְּרִיתֻת | βιβλίον ἀποστασίου | carta de divorcio | (background for NT teaching) | Medium | 24 | Cross-reference Matthew 19:7-8/Mark 10:4 rendering consistency. |
| 38 | firstfruits | בִּכּוּרִים | ἀπαρχή | primicias | Remembering God’s Redemption | Low | 26 | Standard. |
| 39 | Rock (divine title) | צוּר | πέτρα | Roca | Choosing Life over Death (God’s covenant faithfulness) | Medium/High | 32 | Typological link to 1 Corinthians 10:4; note without overstating within Deuteronomy’s own sense. |
| 40 | Jeshurun (Israel, poetic name) | יְשֻׁרוּן | — | Jesurún | (proper name) | Low | 32 | Transliterate. |
| 41 | king | מֶלֶךְ | βασιλεύς | rey | Covenant Renewal (background for messianic kingship) | Low | 17 | Standard; note royal-power restraint (17:16-20). |
| 42 | consuming fire | אֵש אֹכְלָה | πῦρ καταναλίσκον | fuego consumidor | Warnings against Idolatry | Medium | 4, 9 | Theophanic imagery, not impersonal force. |
| 43 | inheritance | נַחֲלָה | κληρονομία | heredad / herencia | Covenant Renewal | Medium | 1-3, 12, 15, 18-21, 25-26 | Gift-inheritance, not conquest-achievement. |
| 44 | rebellion | מָרָה | παραπικραίνω | rebelarse | Universal Human Accountability (background; cf. baseline) | Low | 1, 9 | Standard. |
| 45 | laying on of hands | סָמַךְ יָדַיִם | ἐπιτίθημι τὰς χεῖρας | imposición de manos | The Coming Prophet like Moses (commissioning background) | Medium | 34 | Background for NT ordination practice; do not over-formalize retroactively. |
| 46 | prophet like Moses did not arise (contrast) | וְלֹא־קָם נָבִיא עוֹד … כְּמֹשֶׁה | καὶ οὐκ ἀνέστη προφήτης ἔτι… ὡς Μωυσῆς | y nunca más se levantó profeta en Israel como Moisés | The Coming Prophet like Moses | Critical | 34 | Sets up, does not close, the fulfillment promised at 18:15; cross-reference mandatory. |
C. High-Priority Flags Summary (for Phase 2 routing)
| Priority | Term(s) | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jehová (YHWH) | Critical — Jehovah’s Witnesses organizational/theological name collision; affects nearly every chapter. |
| 2 | uno (echad, 6:4) | Critical — anti-Trinitarian proof-texting risk (JW and other unitarian readings). |
| 3 | ídolo / imagen tallada / dioses ajenos | Critical — Catholic image-veneration apologetic collision. |
| 4 | maldición (qelalah) | Critical — folk-magical curse/brujería/Santería collision, especially Caribbean and Latin American contexts. |
| 5 | redención/redimir | Critical — folk-Catholic purgatory/indulgence “redemption of souls” collision. |
| 6 | profeta como Moisés (18:15; 34:10) | Critical — Christological fulfillment vs. Jewish and Islamic alternative readings. |
| 7 | adivinación/hechicería/nigromancia | Critical — active curanderismo/Santería/Espiritismo/brujería practice. |
| 8 | circuncidar el corazón | High — literal-circumcision confusion; also the key “not merit” textual anchor. |
| 9 | bendición | High — prosperity-gospel individual-formula misreading risk. |
| 10 | maldito… colgado en un árbol (21:23) | Critical — cross-document consistency requirement with Galatians 3:13. |
| 11 | Deuteronomy 30:11-14 | Critical — must match Romans 10:6-8 rendering already fixed in the baseline package. |
End of core glossary. This document extends translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json; all Section B entries should be added to those registries at the start of Phase 2 for Deuteronomy, incrementing the translation memory version per the existing enforcement protocol in 12_ai_translation_requirements.md.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: Dios
Transliteration: theos / Elohim / YHWH
Doctrine: Deity of Christ / The Divine Name and Exclusive Monotheism
Original: אֱלֹהִים / יהוה
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Universally standard; no rival deity-name confusion in mainstream Hispanic Christian usage. In Deuteronomy, ‘Dios’ translates Elohim; see ‘yhwh_divine_name’ below for the distinct covenant-name term.
Saints
Approved rendering: santos
Transliteration: hagioi (LXX) / am qadosh (Hebrew)
Doctrine: Holiness of God’s People
Rejected alternatives: los santos (canonizados, objeto de veneración e intercesión)
Inherited from Romans package. Deuteronomy 26:19 and 28:9 apply this corporately to Israel as ‘a people holy to the LORD’; must carry the baseline’s mandatory clarifying note that this is a corporate/relational status, not the popular-piety category of canonized, individually venerated saints.
Lord
Approved rendering: Señor
Transliteration: kyrios (LXX)
Doctrine: The Divine Name and Exclusive Monotheism (LXX background)
Rejected alternatives: Señor mío (devotional-only, without lordship claim over the whole of life)
Inherited from Romans package. Relevant to Deuteronomy as the LXX’s standard substitution for the unpronounced tetragrammaton; explanatory prose may gloss YHWH as ‘el Señor,’ but direct verse quotations use ‘Jehová’ (see ‘yhwh_divine_name’ below) per this package’s RV anchor.
Yhwh Divine Name
Approved rendering: Jehová
Transliteration: YHWH (Hebrew) / kyrios (LXX)
Doctrine: The Divine Name and Exclusive Monotheism
Rejected alternatives: el SEÑOR (acceptable only in explanatory prose, never in direct verse quotation), Yavé / Yahvé (Catholic-tradition alternative, not used in this package)
Original: יְהוָה
Category: God
The highest-frequency Critical term in the book. Standardized as ‘Jehová’ per this package’s RV1960/RVA2015 anchor. Testigos de Jehová, a large and active movement across Spain and Latin America, has adopted this exact Spanish name as its organizational identity and cites Deuteronomy 6:4 for anti-Trinitarian theology. MANDATORY teaching note at every occurrence: ‘Jehová’ here is the traditional Reina-Valera transliteration of the covenant name YHWH and does NOT refer to that organization or its doctrine.
Echad One
Approved rendering: uno
Transliteration: echad (Hebrew) / heis (LXX)
Doctrine: The Shema and Exclusive Love for God
Rejected alternatives: único (loses the numerical force the Hebrew and the historic doctrinal debate both require)
Original: אֶחָד
Category: God
Deuteronomy 6:4’s ‘Jehová uno es’ is a live proof-text for Testigos de Jehová and other unitarian apologetics. Every occurrence requires a teaching note affirming compatibility with, and fulfillment in, Trinitarian revelation, without letting the note overwhelm the verse’s devotional force.
Idol Carved Image
Approved rendering: ídolo / imagen tallada / dioses ajenos
Transliteration: pesel / elohim acherim (Hebrew) / eidōlon / glypton / theoi heteroi (LXX)
Doctrine: Warnings against Idolatry
Original: פֶּסֶל / אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים
Category: Idolatry
CRITICAL for the Spanish-speaking, majority-Catholic context: frequently invoked in Protestant-Catholic apologetic exchange over statues of saints and the Virgin. Keep the doctrinal focus on rival allegiance and reducing the invisible God to a controllable object, not an unflagged entry point into contemporary image-veneration debate.
Divination Sorcery
Approved rendering: adivinación / hechicería / nigromancia
Transliteration: qesem / kashaph / ov (Hebrew) / manteia / pharmakeia / engastrimythos (LXX)
Doctrine: Divination and Occult Prohibition
Original: קֶסֶם / כָּשַׁף / אוֹב
Category: Idolatry
CRITICAL, live pastoral collision: curanderismo, Santería, Espiritismo, and brujería remain active practices across parts of Latin America and the Caribbean. Deuteronomy 18:9-14 must be taught with direct pastoral application, not as remote ancient history.
Prophet Like Moses
Approved rendering: profeta como Moisés
Transliteration: navi kamoni (Hebrew) / prophētēs hōsper eme (LXX)
Doctrine: The Coming Prophet like Moses
Rejected alternatives: un profeta más entre muchos (implies open succession, undercuts the unique Christological fulfillment)
Original: נָבִיא כָּמֹנִי
Category: Christology
Directly quoted and applied to Jesus in Acts 3:22. Two collision risks: Jewish reading of an ongoing succession of prophets; Islamic apologetics (especially in Spain’s interfaith context) reading this as fulfilled in Muhammad. Teach the Christological fulfillment with conviction while equipping learners for both alternative readings.
No Prophet Arose Like Moses
Approved rendering: y nunca más se levantó profeta en Israel como Moisés
Transliteration: ve-lo qam navi od… ke-Mosheh (Hebrew)
Doctrine: The Coming Prophet like Moses
Original: וְלֹא־קָם נָבִיא עוֹד … כְּמֹשֶׁה
Category: Christology
Deuteronomy 34:10’s closing statement, deliberately creating literary tension with 18:15’s promise; must be taught as the setup for a still-awaited fulfillment, not a closing of the promise. Mandatory cross-reference with ‘prophet_like_moses.‘
Redemption Redeem
Approved rendering: redención / redimir
Transliteration: ga’al / padah (Hebrew) / lytroō (LXX)
Doctrine: Remembering God’s Redemption
Rejected alternatives: redimir almas del purgatorio (folk-Catholic indulgence/merit framework)
Original: גָּאַל / פָּדָה
Category: Salvation
God’s historical, national, decisive, completed deliverance of Israel from Egypt. Guard against folk-Catholic conflation with redeeming souls from purgatory through indulgences and accumulated merit, a live pattern in Latin American popular piety.
Curse
Approved rendering: maldición
Transliteration: qelalah (Hebrew) / katara (LXX)
Doctrine: Blessings and Curses of the Covenant
Rejected alternatives: hechizo / mal de ojo / trabajo de brujería (folk-magical hex, categorically distinct from divine judicial sanction)
Original: קְלָלָה
Category: Covenant
CRITICAL: one of the two highest-stakes terms in the whole book (with ‘ídolo’). ‘Maldición’ is the everyday Spanish word for a folk-magical hex across much of the Caribbean and Latin America. Deuteronomy 28’s curses are judicial covenant sanctions pronounced by God, not third-party magical attacks. Mandatory teaching note every occurrence, with pastoral sensitivity.
Cursed Hanged On Tree
Approved rendering: maldito por Dios el que es colgado en un árbol
Transliteration: qilelat Elohim… taluy al-‘etz (Hebrew)
Doctrine: Blessings and Curses of the Covenant (Curse of the Cross typology)
Original: קִלְלַת אֱלֹהִים … תָּלוּי עַל־עֵץ
Category: Christology
Deuteronomy 21:22-23, directly quoted in Galatians 3:13. CRITICAL cross-document consistency requirement: this rendering must remain verbally consistent with however Galatians 3:13 is rendered elsewhere in this project’s New Testament materials.
High Risk Terms
Covenant
Approved rendering: pacto
Transliteration: diathēkē (LXX) / berit (Hebrew)
Doctrine: Covenant Renewal
Rejected alternatives: contrato legal, alianza (valid Catholic-tradition synonym, not used in this package’s direct quotations)
Original: בְּרִית
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Deuteronomy is structurally a covenant-renewal treaty document; ‘pacto’ (never ‘alianza’ in direct quotation) must be used consistently across chapters 4-5, 7-9, 17, 26-29, 31.
Law
Approved rendering: ley
Transliteration: nomos (LXX) / torah (Hebrew)
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy / Covenant Renewal
Inherited from Romans package. Deuteronomy’s torah; standard and unambiguous across Spanish Bible traditions.
Election
Approved rendering: elección
Transliteration: eklogē (LXX) / bachar (Hebrew)
Doctrine: Divine Election of Israel
Rejected alternatives: destino, suerte
Inherited from Romans package. Carries forward as the doctrinal frame for the new term ‘election_choose’ below; avoid fatalistic vernacular framing.
Grace
Approved rendering: gracia
Transliteration: charis (LXX/NT)
Doctrine: Obedience Motivated by Love not Merit (cross-reference)
Rejected alternatives: favor merecido, recompensa por buenas obras
Inherited from Romans package. Cross-referenced when teaching Deuteronomy 30:6’s God-performed heart-circumcision and 7:7-8’s unmerited election, both of which parallel Romans’ grace-not-works argument; do not let ‘gracia’ drift toward a merit-cooperation reading in this cross-reference use.
Shema Hear Obey
Approved rendering: oír / escuchar
Transliteration: shama’ (Hebrew) / akouō (LXX)
Doctrine: The Shema and Exclusive Love for God
Rejected alternatives: obedecer (as a standalone substitute, loses the built-in hearing sense)
Original: שָׁמַע
Category: Faith
Hebrew shama’ fuses ‘hear’ and ‘obey’ into one verb; Spanish ‘oír/escuchar’ reads as passive auditory reception. Retain RV1960’s ‘Oye, Israel’ (6:4) verbatim, but every teaching treatment must state explicitly that oír here means hearing-that-obeys.
Love God
Approved rendering: amar
Transliteration: ahav (Hebrew) / agapaō (LXX/NT, quoted Matthew 22:37)
Doctrine: The Shema and Exclusive Love for God; Obedience Motivated by Love not Merit
Rejected alternatives: devoción religiosa general
Original: אָהַב
Category: Faith
Covenant loyalty-love commanded as response to prior redemption (6:12, 21-23; 7:7-8), not merit-generating devotion. Teaching notes must state this love follows, and does not earn, God’s prior redeeming act, paralleling the baseline Romans grace-then-obedience order.
Fear Of The Lord
Approved rendering: temer / temor
Transliteration: yare’ (Hebrew) / phobeomai (LXX)
Doctrine: Reverential Fear of God
Rejected alternatives: miedo servil, temor supersticioso a una maldición o mal de ojo
Original: יָרֵא
Category: Faith
Reverential awe, not servile terror and not the folk-magical dread of a curse active in parts of Spanish-speaking popular religion. Also guard against Evangelical preaching that flattens it into pure filial affection, losing the awe.
Election Choose
Approved rendering: escoger / elegir
Transliteration: bachar (Hebrew) / eklegomai (LXX)
Doctrine: Divine Election of Israel
Rejected alternatives: destino, suerte
Original: בָּחַר
Category: Salvation
God’s sovereign, personal choice of Israel, explicitly not because of size or merit (7:7-8); reuse the baseline ‘election/elección’ entry’s warning against fatalistic framing.
Abomination
Approved rendering: abominación
Transliteration: to’evah (Hebrew) / bdelygma (LXX)
Doctrine: Warnings against Idolatry
Original: תּוֹעֵבָה
Category: Idolatry
Broad category (idolatry, deceit, injustice, forbidden ritual practices) recurring in chapters 7, 12, 13, 17, 18, 22-25, 27; must not be narrowed to a single modern sexual-ethics category.
Jealous God
Approved rendering: celoso
Transliteration: qanna (Hebrew) / zēlōtēs (LXX)
Doctrine: Warnings against Idolatry; The Shema and Exclusive Love for God
Rejected alternatives: posesivo (human pettiness connotation)
Original: קַנָּא
Category: God
Righteous covenant zeal for exclusive devotion, the positive counterpart of 6:4-5’s ‘uno’/‘amar’ (4:24; 5:9; 6:15; 32:16, 21), not petty human jealousy.
Cherem Devoted Destruction
Approved rendering: destrucción total
Transliteration: cherem (Hebrew) / anathema (LXX, rejected as Spanish rendering)
Doctrine: Warnings against Idolatry
Rejected alternatives: anatema (false cognate with Catholic canon-law formal excommunication)
Original: חֵרֶם
Category: Holy War
Complete devotion of persons/things to destruction under divine command as covenant judgment on Canaanite idolatry (2, 3, 7, 13, 20, 25); scope strictly to that ancient covenantal-military category, not a template for contemporary conflict.
Blessing
Approved rendering: bendición
Transliteration: berakah (Hebrew) / eulogia (LXX)
Doctrine: Blessings and Curses of the Covenant
Rejected alternatives: garantía de prosperidad individual
Original: בְּרָכָה
Category: Covenant
Covenantal and national in scope (28:1-14), not a universal individual prosperity formula. Live risk in Latin American Pentecostal/Evangelical ‘teología de la prosperidad’ contexts; must be taught in covenant-historical context.
Life Death
Approved rendering: vida / muerte
Transliteration: chayim / mavet (Hebrew) / zōē / thanatos (LXX)
Doctrine: Choosing Life over Death
Rejected alternatives: actitud positiva / elige la felicidad (self-help flattening)
Original: חַיִּים / מָוֶת
Category: Covenant
Covenantal categories of flourishing in the Land under God versus exile under curse (30:15-20), not biological survival or private motivational language. Deuteronomy 30:11-14 is directly quoted in Romans 10:6-8; this rendering must be cross-checked against however that passage is rendered in the baseline Romans materials.
Circumcise Heart
Approved rendering: circuncidar el corazón
Transliteration: mal lev (Hebrew) / peritemnō tēn kardian (LXX)
Doctrine: Obedience Motivated by Love not Merit
Original: מוּל לֵב
Category: Sanctification
Metaphorical inner transformation (10:16; 30:6). Two collision risks: (1) confusion with literal ritual circumcision/Judaizing controversy (Galatians; Acts 15); (2) reading as human self-achievement when 30:6 makes clear it is God’s own future gracious act — the clearest single textual anchor for this doctrine’s ‘not merit’ half.
Medium Risk Terms
Sin
Approved rendering: pecado
Transliteration: hamartia (LXX) / chatta’ah, avon, pesha’ (Hebrew near-synonyms)
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: falta (minimizing euphemism)
Original: חַטָּאָה / עָוֹן / פֶּשַׁע
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package. Render Deuteronomy’s Hebrew near-synonyms (sin, iniquity, transgression) contextually but never soften any of them to ‘falta.‘
Holy
Approved rendering: santo
Transliteration: hagios (LXX) / qadosh (Hebrew)
Doctrine: Holiness of God’s People
Rejected alternatives: puro en sentido ritual
Inherited from Romans package. Applied to Israel corporately (7:6; 14:2, 21; 26:19); set apart for God and morally pure, not filtered through popular piety’s canonized-only sense.
Glory
Approved rendering: gloria
Transliteration: doxa (LXX) / kabod (Hebrew)
Doctrine: God as Rock: Covenant Faithfulness (background)
Original: כָּבוֹד
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. God’s glory manifested to Israel at Horeb (5:24).
Heart Lev
Approved rendering: corazón
Transliteration: lev / levav (Hebrew) / kardia (LXX)
Doctrine: The Shema and Exclusive Love for God
Original: לֵב / לֵבָב
Category: Faith
Hebrew seat of thought, will, and moral decision, not primarily emotion; teach with this sense rather than the modern Spanish sentimental sense.
Soul Nephesh
Approved rendering: alma
Transliteration: nephesh (Hebrew) / psychē (LXX)
Doctrine: The Shema and Exclusive Love for God
Rejected alternatives: alma en sentido platónico separable del cuerpo
Original: נֶפֶשׁ
Category: Faith
The whole living, embodied self, not a disembodied component separable from the body as centuries of Catholic and folk-Catholic catechesis on ‘el alma’ can suggest.
Commandment
Approved rendering: mandamiento
Transliteration: mitzvah (Hebrew) / entolē (LXX)
Doctrine: Covenant Renewal; Obedience Motivated by Love not Merit
Original: מִצְוָה
Category: Covenant
The command follows redemption already accomplished (6:12, 21-23); must not be taught as merit-generating in a way that competes with the baseline Romans package’s grace-not-works argument.
Teach Diligently
Approved rendering: inculcar
Transliteration: shanan (Hebrew)
Doctrine: The Shema and Exclusive Love for God
Rejected alternatives: repetir (flat, loses the underlying blade-sharpening metaphor)
Original: שָׁנַן
Category: Faith
Vivid root meaning ‘to sharpen/whet’; teaching material should note the underlying image explicitly.
Frontlets
Approved rendering: frontales
Transliteration: totafot (Hebrew)
Doctrine: The Shema and Exclusive Love for God
Rejected alternatives: tefilín (as the primary rendering, assumes unfamiliar Jewish liturgical literacy in the primary audience)
Original: טוֹטָפֹת
Category: Worship
Present both the figurative Christian teaching application (constant mindfulness) and the literal historic/modern Jewish practice (tefillin) respectfully.
Treasured Possession
Approved rendering: posesión preciada
Transliteration: segullah (Hebrew) / periousios (laos) (LXX)
Doctrine: Covenant Renewal
Rejected alternatives: pueblo escogido (alone, blurs into the distinct ‘election_choose’ term)
Original: סְגֻלָּה
Category: Salvation
God’s own valuing choice of the corporate people (7:6; 14:2; 26:18), not individual believers’ personal holiness achievement; cross-reference the ‘saints’ entry above.
Remember Forget
Approved rendering: acordarse (recordar) / olvidar
Transliteration: zakar / shakach (Hebrew) / mimnēskomai / epilanthanomai (LXX)
Doctrine: Remembering God’s Redemption
Original: זָכַר / שָׁכַח
Category: Salvation
To ‘remember’ covenant history is to actively re-enact its claims on present loyalty, not merely to recall facts; ‘olvidar’ is a covenant failure, not simple forgetfulness.
Mighty Hand Outstretched Arm
Approved rendering: mano poderosa y brazo extendido
Transliteration: yad chazakah / zeroa netuyah (Hebrew) / cheir krataia / brachiōn hypsēlos (LXX)
Doctrine: Remembering God’s Redemption
Rejected alternatives: con gran poder (flattened paraphrase that loses the vivid idiom)
Original: יָד חֲזָקָה / זְרוֹעַ נְטוּיָה
Category: Salvation
Retain the literal, vivid RV-tradition idiom for God’s decisive deliverance from Egypt (4:34; 5:15; 7:19; 9:26; 11:2; 26:8).
Sojourner Foreigner
Approved rendering: extranjero / forastero
Transliteration: ger (Hebrew) / paroikos / prosēlytos (LXX)
Doctrine: Remembering God’s Redemption
Original: גֵּר
Category: Ethics
Ethical obligation toward the sojourner flows explicitly from Israel’s own remembered sojourner-status in Egypt (10:18-19), not abstract humanitarianism.
Tithe
Approved rendering: diezmo
Transliteration: ma’aser (Hebrew) / epidekaton (LXX)
Doctrine: Blessings and Curses of the Covenant (background)
Original: מַעֲשֵׂר
Category: Worship
Standard term; brief clarifying note useful given contemporary prosperity-teaching contexts that read Old Testament tithe law as a direct financial formula for New Testament believers.
Sabbatical Release
Approved rendering: año de remisión
Transliteration: shemittah (Hebrew) / aphesis (LXX)
Doctrine: Remembering God’s Redemption
Original: שְׁמִטָּה
Category: Ethics
The seventh-year release of debts and bonded servants (ch. 15); typologically resonant with, but distinct from, New Testament forgiveness of sin — must not be over-typologized into direct equivalence.
Witnesses
Approved rendering: testigos
Transliteration: edim (Hebrew) / martyres (LXX)
Doctrine: Judicial Justice and the Requirement of Witnesses
Original: עֵדִים
Category: Law
The two-or-three-witness requirement (19:15) carried into New Testament church discipline (Matthew 18:16; 2 Corinthians 13:1; 1 Timothy 5:19).
Divorce Certificate
Approved rendering: carta de divorcio
Transliteration: sefer keritut (Hebrew) / biblion apostasiou (LXX)
Doctrine: (background for New Testament teaching)
Original: סֵפֶר כְּרִיתֻת
Category: Law
Background text for Jesus’ divorce teaching (Matthew 19:7-8; Mark 10:4); render consistently with however those passages are rendered elsewhere in this curriculum.
Rock Divine Title
Approved rendering: Roca
Transliteration: tsur (Hebrew) / petra (LXX)
Doctrine: God as Rock: Covenant Faithfulness
Original: צוּר
Category: God
Poetic divine title (32:4, 15, 18, 30-31); later applied typologically to Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4) — note the connection without overstating a one-to-one identification within Deuteronomy’s own poetic sense.
Consuming Fire
Approved rendering: fuego consumidor
Transliteration: esh okhelah (Hebrew) / pyr katanaliskon (LXX)
Doctrine: Warnings against Idolatry
Original: אֵשׁ אֹכְלָה
Category: God
Theophanic self-description of God’s holy, judging presence (4:24; 9:3), not a claim that God is impersonal energy.
Inheritance Nachalah
Approved rendering: heredad / herencia
Transliteration: nachalah (Hebrew) / klēronomia (LXX)
Doctrine: Inheritance of the Land as Covenant Gift
Original: נַחֲלָה
Category: Covenant
The land as granted covenant inheritance, not a conquest earned by Israel’s own strength or righteousness (cf. 9:4-6); must not be taught as merit-earned possession.
Laying On Of Hands
Approved rendering: imposición de manos
Transliteration: samakh yadayim (Hebrew) / epitithēmi tas cheiras (LXX)
Doctrine: The Coming Prophet like Moses (commissioning background)
Original: סָמַךְ יָדַיִם
Category: Church
Moses’ commissioning gesture over Joshua (34:9); background for later New Testament ordination/commissioning practice (Acts 6:6; 1 Timothy 4:14), not a fully developed ecclesial-office rite here.
Nations Goyim
Approved rendering: naciones
Transliteration: goyim (Hebrew)
Doctrine: (background; Unity of Jews and Gentiles)
Rejected alternatives: gentiles (reserved for explicit New Testament-facing typological cross-reference per baseline usage)
Original: גּוֹיִם
Category: Church
Use ‘naciones’ in Deuteronomy’s own narrative/legal contexts describing surrounding peoples Israel encounters and is warned not to imitate.
False Prophet
Approved rendering: falso profeta
Transliteration: navi shaqer (Hebrew)
Doctrine: Prophetic Authority: True and False Prophets
Original: נָבִיא שֶׁקֶר
Category: Prophecy
Contrasts with the true ‘prophet like Moses’ of chapter 18; the qualifier ‘falso’ is the load-bearing addition and must not be dropped.
Festivals Pilgrimage
Approved rendering: Pascua, Fiesta de las Semanas, Fiesta de los Tabernáculos
Transliteration: Pesach / Chag ha-Shavuot / Chag ha-Sukkot (Hebrew)
Doctrine: Centralized Worship at the Place God Chooses
Original: פֶּסַח / חַג הַשָּׁבֻעוֹת / חַג הַסֻּכּוֹת
Category: Worship
Israel’s three annual pilgrimage festivals (ch. 16); requires Old Testament-literacy background notes; typological links to Christ’s death/resurrection and Pentecost worth a brief cross-reference but not forced onto the text.
Place God Will Choose
Approved rendering: el lugar que Jehová escogiera
Transliteration: ha-maqom asher yivchar (Hebrew)
Doctrine: Centralized Worship at the Place God Chooses
Original: הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יִבְחַר
Category: Worship
The single place of centralized worship God will designate (ch. 12), later the Jerusalem temple, anticipating but not forcing the John 4:21-24 cross-reference.
Decalogue Prohibitions
Approved rendering: adulterio / homicidio / hurto / falso testimonio / codiciar
Transliteration: na’aph / ratsach / ganav / ed shaqer / chamad (Hebrew)
Doctrine: Covenant Renewal (Decalogue restated)
Original: נָאַף / רָצַח / גָּנַב / עֵד שָׁקֶר / חָמַד
Category: Law
Individually stable, standard legal-ethical vocabulary; collectively Medium risk because the Decalogue’s covenant framing (5:2-6, ‘I am the LORD your God who brought you out…’) must be taught before the commands, mirroring 6:1-9’s grace-then-command structure.
Low Risk Terms
Prophet
Approved rendering: profeta
Transliteration: prophētēs (LXX) / navi (Hebrew)
Doctrine: Prophetic Authority: True and False Prophets
Rejected alternatives: vidente, adivino
Original: נָבִיא
Category: Prophecy
Inherited from Romans package. Base term unchanged for Deuteronomy; risk escalates sharply only for the specific ‘prophet like Moses’ entries below.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: profecía
Transliteration: prophēteia (LXX) / nevu’ah (Hebrew)
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: horóscopo, predicción esotérica
Original: נְבוּאָה
Category: Prophecy
Inherited from Romans package. God-inspired declaration, not astrology or esoteric prediction.
Israel
Approved rendering: Israel
Transliteration: Yisra’el
Doctrine: Proper Names and Historical Narrative
Inherited from Romans package. Standard proper name; the covenant people addressed throughout the book.
David
Approved rendering: David
Transliteration: Dawid
Doctrine: Kingship and Royal Restraint (background)
Inherited from Romans package. Not named directly in Deuteronomy but presupposed as the future fulfillment of the king-law of chapter 17.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: gentiles
Transliteration: ethnē (LXX)
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles (background)
Rejected alternatives: paganos (pejorative in modern Spanish)
Inherited from Romans package. Reserved for explicit New Testament-facing typological cross-reference; use ‘naciones’ (see ‘nations_goyim’ below) for Deuteronomy’s own narrative/legal descriptions of surrounding peoples.
Might Strength
Approved rendering: fuerzas
Transliteration: me’od (Hebrew) / ischys / dynamis (LXX)
Doctrine: The Shema and Exclusive Love for God
Original: מְאֹד
Category: Faith
Standard, stable rendering completing the Shema’s threefold totality (heart, soul, might).
Statute
Approved rendering: estatuto
Transliteration: chuqqim (Hebrew) / dikaiōmata (LXX)
Doctrine: Covenant Renewal
Original: חֻקִּים
Category: Covenant
Stable RV1960 legal vocabulary; render identically every occurrence alongside ‘mandamiento’ and ‘decreto.‘
Judgment Ordinance
Approved rendering: decreto
Transliteration: mishpatim (Hebrew) / kriseis (LXX)
Doctrine: Covenant Renewal
Original: מִשְׁפָּטִים
Category: Covenant
Part of the mandamientos/estatutos/decretos triad recurring throughout the book (4:1; 5:1; 26:16; 30:16); render identically every occurrence.
Sign Ot
Approved rendering: señal
Transliteration: ot (Hebrew) / sēmeion (LXX)
Doctrine: The Shema and Exclusive Love for God
Original: אוֹת
Category: Worship
Standard rendering; a visible sign of covenant faithfulness (6:8; 11:18; 28:46).
Doorposts Mezuzot
Approved rendering: postes de las puertas
Transliteration: mezuzot (Hebrew) / phliai (LXX)
Doctrine: The Shema and Exclusive Love for God
Original: מְזוּזוֹת
Category: Worship
Modern mezuzah practice background note useful for learners encountering contemporary Jewish observance.
Clean Unclean
Approved rendering: limpio / impuro
Transliteration: tahor / tame’ (Hebrew) / katharos / akathartos (LXX)
Doctrine: Ritual Purity: Clean and Unclean
Original: טָהוֹר / טָמֵא
Category: Law
Ritual-dietary categories (ch. 14); note explicitly that the New Testament (Acts 10; Mark 7:19) declares this ceremonial distinction fulfilled/set aside for the church.
Firstfruits
Approved rendering: primicias
Transliteration: bikkurim (Hebrew) / aparchē (LXX)
Doctrine: Firstfruits and Thanksgiving Worship
Original: בִּכּוּרִים
Category: Worship
The firstfruits confession of 26:5-10 has high pastoral value; retain its first-person confessional voice rather than flattening it into third-person narration.
Jeshurun Proper Name
Approved rendering: Jesurún
Transliteration: Yeshurun (Hebrew)
Doctrine: Proper Names and Historical Narrative
Original: יְשֻׁרוּן
Category: Proper Name
Poetic honorific name for Israel (32:15; 33:5, 26); transliterate as an established proper name.
King Melek
Approved rendering: rey
Transliteration: melek (Hebrew) / basileus (LXX)
Doctrine: Kingship and Royal Restraint
Original: מֶלֶךְ
Category: Covenant
The king’s law restrains royal power (17:14-20); background for later messianic kingship expectation.
Rebellion Marah
Approved rendering: rebelarse
Transliteration: marah (Hebrew) / parapikrainō (LXX)
Doctrine: (background; Universal Human Accountability)
Original: מָרָה
Category: Sin
Israel’s rebellion at Kadesh-Barnea and the golden calf (chs. 1, 9); standard term.
Levirate Marriage
Approved rendering: matrimonio por levirato
Transliteration: yibbum (Hebrew)
Doctrine: (background for messianic genealogy)
Original: יִבּוּם
Category: Law
The duty of a brother-in-law to marry a childless widow (25:5-10); background for Ruth and the Davidic/messianic genealogy (Matthew 1).
Interest Usury
Approved rendering: usura / interés
Transliteration: neshek (Hebrew)
Doctrine: Economic Justice and Sabbatical Release
Original: נֶשֶׁךְ
Category: Law
Interest restrictions on loans to fellow Israelites (23:19-20), a matter of covenant social ethics.
Song Shirah
Approved rendering: cántico
Transliteration: shirah (Hebrew)
Doctrine: (background worship; introduces the Song of Moses)
Original: שִׁירָה
Category: Worship
Introduces chapter 32’s Song of Moses, a covenant lawsuit and hymn of praise placed as a witness against Israel.
Referenced passages