Core Glossary
Core Glossary: Psalms (Spanish Language Package)
Curriculum: Psalms
Core passage: Psalm 23:1-6
Companion document: analysis/07_semantic_analysis.md (full exegetical basis for every entry below)
This glossary extends, and never contradicts, the baseline Romans translation_memory.json / bible_term_registry.json. Terms already fixed in the baseline are marked [BASELINE REUSE] and reproduced with their exact recorded Spanish rendering; no alternative is offered for these. New Psalms-specific terms are marked [NEW] and are proposed for addition to the Language Package’s translation memory upon Phase 1 sign-off. Risk tiers (Critical/High/Medium/Low) follow the baseline’s exact definitions.
1. Terms Reused Exactly from the Baseline [BASELINE REUSE — no deviation permitted]
| Term (EN) | Spanish Rendering | Risk | Primary Psalms Passages | Reuse Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| God | Dios | Critical | throughout | No change; standard usage across the Psalter. |
| Lord (Adonai/Kyrios-equivalent, not the Tetragrammaton) | Señor | Critical | Ps 8:1, 110:1, 8:9 | Distinguish typographically from the new yhwh entry below (regular case vs. small caps). |
| Holy Spirit | Espíritu Santo | Critical | Ps 51:11 | One of the OT’s few explicit occurrences; teach as genuine anticipation of full NT Trinitarian revelation. |
| Father | Padre | Critical | Ps 68:5, 103:13 | Paternal-compassion simile in Ps 103:13 reinforces this baseline doctrine. |
| Messiah | Mesías | Critical | Ps 2:2, cf. Ps 2:6-12, 110 (typology) | Apply baseline rule exactly: the unique OT-promised Anointed One fulfilled exclusively in Jesus. |
| Son of God | Hijo de Dios | Critical | (typological background: Ps 2:7) | Do not equate directly with Ps 2:7’s original royal-enthronement “son” language without the distinguishing note in glossary entry royal_sonship below. |
| Salvation | salvación | Critical | Ps 3:8, 27:1, 62:1-2, 68:19-20, 118:14 | Standard; reinforced throughout the Psalter’s refuge and deliverance vocabulary. |
| Righteousness | justicia | Critical | Ps 4:1, 5:8, 23:3, 72:1-2, 85:10 | Psalms carries at least three distinct registers of this one Spanish word (forensic/Romans, ethical-pathway/Ps 23 & 1, royal-governance/Ps 72) — see semantic analysis for full teaching-note guidance distinguishing them. |
| Grace | gracia | High | (background to Ps 51’s mercy-appeal; not a frequent lexical match in the Psalter, which mostly expresses this concept via chesed) | Note the Psalter’s dominant vehicle for the grace concept is chesed (see new entry below), not a direct Hebrew equivalent of Greek charis; teach the two terms as complementary, not identical. |
| Faith | fe | High | Ps 78:22, 106:12 (trust-vocabulary, related root אמן/aman) | Trust-in-God vocabulary throughout the Psalter (בָּטַח, batach, “trust,” and related roots) should be rendered with “confiar/confianza” contextually and “fe” where the abstract concept is in view; both reinforce, do not compete with, the baseline term. |
| Peace | paz | Medium | Ps 4:8, 29:11, 34:14, 85:10, 122:6-8, 147:14 | Reinforce the baseline’s relational/covenantal sense (shalom = wholeness/well-being), not mere emotional calm — an especially live risk given how frequently shalom appears across the Psalter in everyday-sounding contexts. |
| Sin | pecado | Medium | Ps 32:1, 5; 51:2-5, 9; 103:10 | Never soften to “falta”; reinforced at the Confession-and-Forgiveness anchor texts. |
| Holy | santo | Medium | Ps 99:3, 5, 9; 145:17 | Applied to God’s own character throughout the enthronement psalms (96-99). |
| Covenant | pacto | High | Ps 25:10, 89:3, 28, 34; 105:8; 106:45; 111:5, 9 | Standardize on “pacto” per baseline; “alianza” remains an acceptable Catholic-tradition ecumenical synonym per baseline note. |
| Election / chosen | elección / elegido | High | Ps 89:3 (“mi elegido”), 105:6, 43; 106:5 | Avoid fatalistic “destino/suerte” framing, per baseline. |
| Glory | gloria | Medium | Ps 8:1, 5; 19:1; 24:7-10; 29:1-3; 96:3, 7-8; 145:11 | Standard; no new risk. |
| Kingdom of God | reino de Dios | Medium | Ps 103:19, 145:11-13 | In Psalms, frequently used in a worship-doxology register (God’s ongoing cosmic sovereignty) distinct from, but complementary to, the baseline’s gospel-advance register; see semantic analysis note at Psalm 93/96-99/145. |
| Thanksgiving | acción de gracias | Low | Ps 50:14, 23; 100:4; 107:22; 116:17 | Standard; no new risk. |
| Fellowship | compañerismo | Low | Ps 133:1 (community-unity sense) | Standard; do not conflate with the specific Catholic creedal phrase “comunión de los santos,” per baseline. |
| Law | ley | High | Ps 1:2; 19:7; 78:5; 119 (throughout) | Psalms-specific caution (new note, same term): Psalms treats torah predominantly as an object of delight and life (Ps 1, 19, 119), in contrast to the polemical law-versus-grace register foregrounded in Romans. Translators/teachers must not import Romans’ law-condemns framing into Psalms’ law-delights framing; a standing teaching note is required wherever torah/ley appears in this curriculum. |
| Amen / Hallelujah | Amén / Aleluya | Low | Ps 41:13; 72:19; 89:52; 106:48; 111-113, 115-117, 135, 146-150 (throughout) | Standard transliteration convention, reused exactly. |
| Resurrection | resurrección | Critical | (typological background: Ps 16:10, cited Acts 2:27-31) | Apply baseline rule exactly: bodily, historical, once-for-all; explicitly distinguish from Sheol as a general realm of the dead (see new sheol entry) rather than a resurrection-cycle concept. |
| Gentiles | gentiles (used only for the specific Jew-Gentile ecclesiological contrast) | Low | (not the primary rendering for Psalms’ goyim — see new naciones entry) | Reserve baseline “gentiles” for contexts matching the Romans Jew-Gentile frame; use new entry naciones for the Psalter’s more general “nations” usage (see below). |
2. New Terms Introduced by the Psalms Curriculum [NEW — proposed additions to translation memory]
| Term (EN gloss) | Original (Hebrew) | Transliteration | Category / Doctrine | Risk | Spanish Rendering | Alternatives Rejected | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The divine name (Tetragrammaton) | יְהוָה | YHWH | Character of God | Critical | SEÑOR (small caps/versalitas) in expository/teaching text; “Jehová” retained only in direct RV1960 quotations | ”Jehová” as the default running-text rendering | ”Jehová” (RV tradition) now carries a strong, live collision risk with the Testigos de Jehová (Jehovah’s Witnesses) in contemporary Spanish-speaking culture — a group holding a non-Trinitarian Christology. Small-caps “SEÑOR” (the convention of NVI, DHH, and most modern ecumenical Spanish versions) avoids this collision while still typographically distinguishing the covenant name from regular-case “Señor” (Adonai/Kyrios, baseline). This is the single highest-priority new terminology decision in this Language Package extension and should be confirmed with the client/theological review board before Phase 2 begins. |
| Shepherd | רָעָה / רֹעֶה | ro’eh / ro’i | Character of God as Shepherd | High | pastor | (none rejected — lexically unambiguous) | Register risk only: “pastor” also denotes a Protestant clergy title in everyday Spanish. Must be taught explicitly as a care-and-provision metaphor for God (and, in the NT, for Christ, cf. Juan 10), building on the strong shared Catholic/Protestant devotional image of “el Buen Pastor.” |
| Covenant loyal love / lovingkindness | חֶסֶד | chesed | Covenant Faithfulness (Hesed) | Critical | misericordia, always paired with the standing clarifying gloss “amor fiel de pacto” on first use per lesson/unit | ”lástima” (pity — too weak and can carry a condescending connotation), bare “bondad” (goodness — too generic, drops the covenant-loyalty dimension), “suerte favorable” (rejected as a fatalistic-luck framing) | The single most theologically load-bearing new term in this curriculum, anchoring the doctrine “Covenant Faithfulness (Hesed)” (Ps 23:6, 89, 103, 106, 107, 118, 136, 145). RV-tradition “misericordia” alone leans toward pity/compassion in ordinary Spanish and can lose the covenant-loyalty, promise-keeping dimension central to the Hebrew term. Must never be rendered so as to collapse into either (a) mere emotional pity or (b) a merit-earned reward — both distortions the baseline’s grace entry already warns against for the related NT concept. All 26 refrain occurrences in Psalm 136 must use identical wording. |
| Righteous person | צַדִּיק | tsaddiq | The Righteous and the Wicked | High | el justo | (none — standard) | Shares its root with baseline’s Critical justicia; must be explicitly distinguished in teaching notes from the Romans forensic-justification sense — Psalm 1’s tsaddiq denotes an observable, torah-delighting life pattern, not the imputed legal verdict of Romans 3-5. |
| Wicked person | רָשָׁע | rasha | The Righteous and the Wicked | Medium | el impío | ”malo/malvado” (too colloquial/generic for consistent doctrinal use across the Psalter) | Standardize on “impío” for consistency across Psalm 1, 37, 73, 112, and elsewhere; denotes active hostility to God’s order, not mere moral imperfection. |
| Blessed (wisdom-pronouncement) | אַשְׁרֵי | ashrei | The Righteous and the Wicked / wisdom vocabulary | Medium | bienaventurado | ”feliz” (too subjective/emotional; loses the objective covenant-flourishing sense) | Opens Psalm 1 and the whole Psalter; useful cross-link to the Beatitudes (same underlying category in Matthew 5) already relevant to this curriculum family. |
| Refuge / stronghold / fortress / rock | מַחְסֶה / מָעו�ז / מְצוּדָה / צוּר | machaseh / ma’oz / metsudah / tsur | Character of God as…Refuge | High | refugio (machaseh) / fortaleza (ma’oz, metsudah) / roca (tsur) — consistent across all occurrences | ”amparo” as a stand-alone default (too easily read through the lens of Marian devotional titles, see note) | Live syncretism risk: in Latin American and Iberian folk-Catholic piety, “refugio” and “amparo” are commonly and specifically applied to the Virgin Mary (“refugio de los pecadores”) and to patron saints. This curriculum must keep the referent unambiguously God throughout (Ps 9, 14, 18, 46, 61-62, 71, 91, 94, 144), the same category of risk the baseline documents for intercession and saints. |
| Soul / whole living self | נֶפֶשׁ | nephesh | Lament and Honest Prayer / General anthropology | High | alma | (no viable alternative exists in standard Spanish Bible register) | Hebrew nephesh denotes the whole living self (including breath, desire, vitality), not a detachable immortal substance in the Greek-dualist sense that “alma” can suggest to readers steeped in a body/soul dualism. Teaching note required wherever nephesh is theologically load-bearing (Ps 23:3, 42:1-2, 62:1, 103:1, 139). |
| Realm of the dead | שְׁאוֹל | Sheol | Messianic Prophecy (Ps 16:10) / general OT anthropology | High | Seol (transliterated, not translated) | “infierno” (hell) | Must not be translated as “infierno,” which would wrongly import the fully developed NT/final-judgment sense (Gehenna) into an OT term for the shadowy realm of the dead generally. Especially critical at Psalm 16:10, quoted messianically in Acts 2:27-31 regarding Christ’s resurrection. |
| Nations (general, non-ecclesiological) | גּוֹיִם | goyim | Kingship and the Messianic King / Universal praise texts | Medium | naciones | baseline’s “gentiles” (reserved for the specific Romans Jew-Gentile ecclesiological contrast) | Using baseline “gentiles” here would wrongly import a NT church-unity frame into Psalms’ OT royal-enthronement/cosmic-praise frame (Ps 2, 46-47, 67, 72, 96-99). |
| Royal/Davidic sonship formula | בֵּן / יְלִדְתִּיךָ | ben / yelidtikha | Kingship and the Messianic King / Messianic Prophecy | High | ”Hijo mío eres tú; yo te he engendrado hoy” (Ps 2:7, RV-consistent) | Direct equation with baseline’s son_of_god (Hijo de Dios) without qualification | Psalm 2:7 is an ancient royal-enthronement/adoption formula for the Davidic king, quoted in the NT (Acts 13:33, Hebrews 1:5) as pointing to Christ’s unique eternal Sonship. Must be taught with a clarifying note distinguishing the OT coronation-language background from its NT fulfillment, so learners do not either flatten Ps 2:7 into full ontological deity-claim in its original setting, or strip it of its genuine messianic-typological weight. |
| Confession of sin (direct to God) | יָדַע / הוֹדָה (chattaah/pesha/avon confessed) | yada / hodah | Confession and Forgiveness | Critical | confesar (el pecado/las transgresiones directamente a Dios) | An unqualified default to the Catholic sacramental system of Confession/Reconciliation as the necessary mediating structure | Psalm 32 and 51 model direct, unmediated confession to God. This curriculum affirms (without polemicizing against) the value of confessing to fellow believers taught elsewhere in Scripture (e.g. James 5:16), but must not let “confesión” default silently to the specific sacrament of Confession as the primary or required channel — directly parallel to the baseline’s existing cautions on intercession and saints. |
| Transgression / iniquity (confession synonym cluster) | פֶּשַׁע / עָוֹן | pesha / avon | Confession and Forgiveness | Medium | transgresión / rebelión (pesha); iniquidad / culpa (avon) | Collapsing all three confession synonyms (pesha/chattaah/avon) into a single repeated “pecado” | Keep distinct from baseline sin (pecado, used for chattaah) so Psalm 32 and 51’s deliberate three-term synonym-stacking rhetorical effect is preserved in Spanish. |
| Enthronement declaration “the LORD reigns/is king” | יְהוָה מָלָךְ | YHWH malakh | Character of God as King | High | ”el SEÑOR reina” | Conflating this liturgical-acclamation register with the baseline’s gospel-advance register for kingdom_of_god | Ps 47, 93, 96-99 celebratory divine-kingship refrain; complementary to, but registrally distinct from, the baseline’s gospel-advance “reino de Dios” doctrine — requires its own teaching note rather than a lexical change. |
| Two-Lord messianic oracle | נְאֻם יְהוָה לַאדֹנִי | ne’um YHWH ladoni | Kingship and the Messianic King / Messianic Prophecy | Critical | ”Jehová/el SEÑOR dijo a mi Señor” — preserving both distinct Hebrew terms (YHWH → SEÑOR; adoni → Señor) | Rendering both words identically in Spanish, erasing the two-Lord distinction | Psalm 110:1 is the most NT-quoted OT verse (Matthew 22:44, Acts 2:34-35, Hebrews 1:13, etc.); the NT argument for Christ’s deity depends on preserving the distinction between the two Hebrew terms for “Lord” in this verse. Losing this distinction in Spanish blunts the very argument Jesus makes from the text. Flag for mandatory theologian review in every occurrence. |
| Cornerstone | אֶבֶן פִּנָּה | even pinnah | Messianic Prophecy | Critical | piedra angular | (none — standard across Catholic and Protestant Spanish tradition) | Ps 118:22, quoted messianically in Matthew 21:42, Acts 4:11, Ephesians 2:20, 1 Peter 2:6-7; flag for mandatory theologian review given repeated direct NT christological application. |
| ”Save now” / Hosanna root | הוֹשִׁיעָה נָּא | hoshi’ah na | Messianic Prophecy | High | ”Salva ahora” / “¡Hosanna!” (transliterated liturgical form in NT-fulfillment contexts) | Translating the NT “Hosanna” acclamation itself as a full sentence rather than retaining the established transliteration | Ps 118:25, root of the crowd’s “Hosanna” at the triumphal entry (Matthew 21:9). Retain “Hosanna” transliterated per the existing baseline convention for liturgical transliterations (Amén, Aleluya). |
| Melchizedek | מַלְכִּי־צֶדֶק | Malki-Tsedeq | Kingship and the Messianic King | Medium | Melquisedec | (none — standard proper name) | Ps 110:4; grounds Christ’s unique combined kingship-and-priesthood doctrine (developed fully in Hebrews); low lexical risk, but the underlying doctrine (a king who is also a priest) has no ready cultural analogue and needs explicit teaching support. |
| Fear of the LORD | יִרְאַת יְהוָה | yir’at YHWH | Wisdom vocabulary (undergirds Righteous/Wicked and Praise doctrines) | Medium | temor del SEÑOR | ”miedo de Dios” (risks a purely fright-based reading) | Reverent awe combined with obedient trust, not terror; consistent rendering needed given frequency across the wisdom psalms (1, 111-112, 128, 147). |
| God’s compassionate self-revelation formula | חַנּוּן וְרַחוּם…אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם וּגְדָל־חֶסֶד | channun verachum…erekh appayim ugdol-chesed | Covenant Faithfulness (Hesed) / Praise and Worship | Critical | ”clemente y misericordioso es el SEÑOR, tardo para la ira y grande en misericordia/amor fiel de pacto” | Any rendering that drops the explicit hesed component of the formula | Echoes Exodus 34:6-7 throughout the Psalter (86:15, 103:8, 145:8); anchors both the Hesed doctrine and the Praise doctrine simultaneously; consistency across all echo-occurrences matters for future curricula in this Language Package family. |
| Unresolved lament (no closing turn to praise) | (genre feature, Psalm 88) | — | Lament and Honest Prayer | Medium | (no single lexical rendering — a structural/doctrinal feature) | “Fixing” the psalm’s ending by adding resolution not present in the Hebrew | Psalm 88 ends in unrelieved darkness; this canonically preserved model of unresolved honest prayer must not be softened in translation, paraphrase, or accompanying devotional material. |
| Imprecatory (curse) language | (genre feature, Psalms 109, 137:8-9, etc.) | — | Lament and Honest Prayer | High | Translate curse-language completely and faithfully; do not soften | Omitting or softening the imprecatory verses | Per the baseline’s rule against minimizing doctrinal/textual statements, imprecatory content must be rendered in full, paired with teaching notes on its canonical function (appeal to God’s justice, not personal vengeance) rather than lexical substitution. |
| Fearfully and wonderfully made | נוֹרָאוֹת נִפְלֵיתִי | nora’ot nifleiti | General anthropology (supports Character-of-God doctrines) | Low | ”formidable y maravillosamente he sido hecho” | (none — standard, well-established devotional phrase) | Ps 139:14; frequently cited pastoral-doctrinal text on the value of human life. |
3. Risk Summary
| Risk Tier | Count (new + reused-with-Psalms-specific-note) | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 12 | Human theologian (mandatory, every occurrence) |
| High | 12 | Human theologian |
| Medium | 12 | Native speaker review |
| Low | 4 | Automated review sufficient |
Highest-priority open decision for theological/client sign-off before Phase 2: the Tetragrammaton rendering (yhwh entry — SEÑOR small caps vs. Jehová), given both its Critical doctrinal weight (every psalm) and its live cultural-collision risk (Jehovah’s Witnesses association). All other Critical entries follow directly from the baseline’s existing conventions or from doctrine anchors explicitly named in the curriculum parameters.
See analysis/07_semantic_analysis.md for the full exegetical and cross-passage basis underlying every entry in this glossary.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: Dios
Transliteration: Elohim
Doctrine: Deity of God
Original: אֱלֹהִים
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. In the Psalter this generic divine-name form (Elohim) coexists with the covenant name YHWH; see the new ‘yhwh’ entry below for the Tetragrammaton-specific rendering, which is the actual dominant divine name in the Psalms (600+ occurrences).
Lord
Approved rendering: Señor
Transliteration: Adonai / Kyrios
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Señor mío (devotional-only, without lordship claim over the whole of life)
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Regular-case ‘Señor’ renders Adonai/Kyrios. Must be typographically distinguished from the new ‘yhwh’ entry’s small-caps SEÑOR. The two converge doctrinally at Psalm 110:1 — see ‘two_lord_oracle’.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Espíritu Santo
Transliteration: pneuma hagion (NT) / ruach qodshekha (Ps 51:11)
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: una fuerza impersonal, un espíritu guía o ancestral
Original: רוּחַ קָדְשְׁךָ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Psalm 51:11 is one of the Old Testament’s few explicit ‘Holy Spirit’ phrases; teach as genuine but not-yet-fully-Trinitarian-explicit anticipation of the personal, divine third Person of the Trinity, distinguished from ancestral/guide spirits per baseline caution.
Father
Approved rendering: Padre
Transliteration: patēr (NT) / av (Ps 68:5, 103:13)
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: אָב
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Psalm 103:13’s paternal-compassion simile reinforces the baseline doctrine without complicating it.
Messiah
Approved rendering: Mesías
Transliteration: mashiach
Doctrine: Messianic Prophecy in the Psalms
Rejected alternatives: un ungido más, entre otros santos o profetas venerados
Original: מָשִׁיחַ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Applies directly to Psalm 2:2 and typologically to Psalm 110; never one exalted figure among many venerated intercessors.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: Hijo de Dios
Transliteration: huios theou
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: hijo de Dios en el sentido genérico aplicado a todo creyente, equivalencia directa y sin matices con la fórmula de entronización real de Salmo 2:7
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Must NOT be equated flatly with the new ‘royal_sonship_formula’ entry (Psalm 2:7) without the required teaching note distinguishing eternal co-equal Sonship from the OT royal-enthronement adoption formula.
Salvation
Approved rendering: salvación
Transliteration: sōtēria (NT) / yeshu’ah / yasha (Ps)
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: salvarse por buenas obras, merecer el cielo mediante sacramentos y penitencia
Original: יְשׁוּעָה / ישע
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Reinforced throughout the Psalter’s refuge and deliverance vocabulary (Ps 3:8, 27:1, 62:1-2, 68:19-20, 118:14); must not be conflated with a lifelong, uncertain outcome secured through sacraments or saintly/Marian intercession.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: justicia
Transliteration: dikaiosynē (NT) / tsedeq, tsedaqah (Ps)
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: rectitud moral autónoma, mérito acumulado
Original: צֶדֶק / צְדָקָה
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Psalms carries at least three distinct registers of this one Spanish word: the baseline’s forensic sense (shared with Romans 3-5), Psalm 1/23’s ethical life-pathway sense, and Psalm 72’s royal-governance-justice-for-the-vulnerable sense. A standing teaching note distinguishing all three registers is required at every occurrence in this curriculum.
Saints
Approved rendering: santos
Transliteration: hagioi (NT) / chasidim, qedoshim (Ps 30:4, 31:23, 34:9, 37:28, 97:10, 116:15, 145:10)
Doctrine: Sainthood
Rejected alternatives: los santos (canonizados, objeto de veneración e intercesión)
Original: חֲסִידִים / קְדוֹשִׁים
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. As in Romans 1:7, ‘santos’ overwhelmingly denotes canonized figures venerated for intercession in mainstream Hispanic Catholic popular piety; Psalms’ chasidim/qedoshim (etymologically tied to chesed) likewise designates every covenant-faithful believer. Psalms multiplies this exposure well beyond Romans’ single anchor verse — requires the explanatory teaching note at every occurrence.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: resurrección
Transliteration: anastasis (NT) / typological background: Ps 16:10
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: reencarnación
Original: (typological background: לֹא־תַעֲזֹב נַפְשִׁי לִשְׁאוֹל, Psalm 16:10)
Category: Eschatology
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Psalm 16:10 (‘you will not abandon my soul to Sheol’) is quoted of Christ’s resurrection in Acts 2:27-31; must be explicitly distinguished from Sheol as a general realm of the dead (see new ‘sheol’ entry), not a resurrection-cycle or reincarnation concept, per the baseline’s documented Caribbean Espiritismo/Santería risk.
Jesus
Approved rendering: Jesús
Transliteration: Iēsous / Yeshua
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged.
Yhwh
Approved rendering: SEÑOR (versalitas); Jehová solo en citas directas de RV1960
Transliteration: YHWH / Yahweh
Doctrine: The Covenant Name of God (YHWH)
Rejected alternatives: Jehová (como renderización estándar en texto expositivo)
Original: יְהוָה
Category: God
NEW. Occurs 600+ times in the Psalter, the highest-frequency Critical decision in this Language Package extension. ‘Jehová’ (RV tradition) now carries a live cultural-collision risk with the Testigos de Jehová (Jehovah’s Witnesses), a non-Trinitarian group with wide visibility in the Spanish-speaking world. Small-caps ‘SEÑOR’ (NVI/DHH convention) is mandated for expository/teaching text; typographically distinguish from regular-case ‘Señor’ (see ‘lord’ entry). Converges with ‘lord’ at Psalm 110:1 — see ‘two_lord_oracle.’ Highest-priority open decision for theological/client sign-off before Phase 2.
Chesed
Approved rendering: misericordia (amor fiel de pacto)
Transliteration: chesed
Doctrine: Covenant Faithfulness (Hesed)
Rejected alternatives: lástima, bondad (sin glosa), suerte favorable
Original: חֶסֶד
Category: Covenant
NEW. The single most theologically load-bearing new term in this curriculum, occurring in the core passage (Ps 23:6) and anchoring Ps 89, 103, 106, 107, 118, 136, 145. Bare RV-tradition ‘misericordia’ leans toward pity/compassion and can lose the covenant-loyalty dimension; also risks collision with the popular Catholic ‘Divina Misericordia’ devotional movement. Must always pair with the standing gloss ‘amor fiel de pacto’ on first use per lesson/unit. All 26 refrain occurrences in Psalm 136 must use IDENTICAL wording.
Compassionate Self Revelation Formula
Approved rendering: clemente y misericordioso es el SEÑOR, tardo para la ira y grande en misericordia (amor fiel de pacto)
Transliteration: channun verachum…erekh appayim ugdol-chesed
Doctrine: Covenant Faithfulness (Hesed)
Rejected alternatives: cualquier renderización que omita el componente explícito de hesed
Original: חַנּוּן וְרַחוּם…אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם וּגְדָל־חֶסֶד
Category: God
NEW. Echoes Exodus 34:6-7 at Psalm 86:15, 103:8, 145:8 (also Joel 2:13, Jonah 4:2, Nehemiah 9:17). Must be rendered identically at every occurrence within this curriculum; reuses the chesed-gloss convention above.
Confession Of Sin
Approved rendering: confesar (el pecado directamente a Dios)
Transliteration: yada / hodah
Doctrine: Confession and Forgiveness
Rejected alternatives: un default no calificado al sistema sacramental católico de Confesión/Reconciliación como estructura mediadora necesaria
Original: יָדַע / הוֹדָה
Category: Confession and Forgiveness
NEW. Psalm 32 and 51 model direct, unmediated confession to God. Affirms without polemicizing the value of confessing to fellow believers (James 5:16), but must not let ‘confesión’ default silently to the sacrament of Confession as the necessary or primary channel — same risk class as baseline’s ‘intercession’/‘saints.‘
Two Lord Oracle
Approved rendering: Jehová/el SEÑOR dijo a mi Señor
Transliteration: ne’um YHWH ladoni
Doctrine: The Two-Lord Oracle of Psalm 110
Rejected alternatives: renderizar ambos términos hebreos de forma idéntica en español, borrando la distinción
Original: נְאֻם יְהוָה לַאדֹנִי
Category: Christology
NEW. Psalm 110:1, the most NT-quoted OT verse (Matthew 22:44, Acts 2:34-35, Hebrews 1:13). The NT argument for Christ’s deity depends on Spanish preserving the two-Lord distinction: YHWH → SEÑOR (small caps); adoni → Señor (regular case). Mandatory theologian review at every occurrence.
Cornerstone
Approved rendering: piedra angular
Transliteration: even pinnah
Doctrine: The Rejected Stone Become Cornerstone
Original: אֶבֶן פִּנָּה
Category: Christology
NEW. Psalm 118:22, quoted messianically in Matthew 21:42, Acts 4:11, Ephesians 2:20, 1 Peter 2:6-7. Standard across Catholic and Protestant Spanish tradition; flag for mandatory theologian review given repeated direct NT christological application.
Pierced Hands Feet
Approved rendering: horadaron mis manos y mis pies
Transliteration: karu yadai veraglai (LXX ὥρυξαν)
Doctrine: Messianic Prophecy in the Psalms
Rejected alternatives: introducir una renderización nueva y no familiar en lugar de la tradición bíblica española ya establecida
NEW. Psalm 22:16, read since the apostolic era as prophetic anticipation of Christ’s crucifixion. Underlying Hebrew textual variant (Masoretic ‘like a lion’ vs. LXX/versional ‘pierced’); render per standard Spanish Bible tradition (RV1960), with a translator’s note on the textual question for reviewer transparency. Mandatory theologian review.
Forsaken Cry
Approved rendering: Dios mío, Dios mío, ¿por qué me has desamparado?
Transliteration: Eli Eli lamah azavtani
Doctrine: Messianic Prophecy in the Psalms
Rejected alternatives: cualquier suavización de ‘desamparado’ hacia un ‘abandonado’ más leve si el material de los Evangelios de este currículo usa ‘desamparado’
NEW. Psalm 22:1, quoted verbatim by Christ from the cross (Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34). Must match this curriculum family’s existing Gospel-quotation rendering verbatim per the Theological Consistency Rules.
Throne O God
Approved rendering: tu trono, oh Dios, es eterno y para siempre
Transliteration: kis’akha Elohim olam va’ed
Doctrine: Deity of Christ (Psalms Evidence Texts)
Rejected alternatives: cualquier suavización hacia ‘un hombre divino’ o ‘el mayor de los santos’
NEW. Psalm 45:6, quoted in Hebrews 1:8 as addressed to the Son — direct scriptural evidence for Christ’s co-equal deity. Must reuse baseline ‘Dios’/‘Hijo de Dios’ exactly. Mandatory theologian review.
You Remain Forever
Approved rendering: mas tú permaneces, y tus años no tendrán fin
Transliteration: ve’attah hu veshanekha lo yitomu
Doctrine: Deity of Christ (Psalms Evidence Texts)
NEW. Psalm 102:25-27, quoted in Hebrews 1:10-12 of Christ’s eternal, unchanging deity. Mandatory theologian review.
High Risk Terms
Grace
Approved rendering: gracia
Transliteration: charis (NT) / chen (Ps, background only)
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: favor merecido, recompensa por buenas obras
Original: חֵן
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Note that chesed (see new entry below), not chen, is the Psalter’s dominant lexical vehicle for the grace concept; teach the two as complementary, not identical.
Faith
Approved rendering: fe
Transliteration: pistis (NT) / aman/batach roots (Ps, e.g. 78:22, 106:12)
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: devoción religiosa general, creencia cultural heredada
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Psalms’ trust-vocabulary (batach, ‘confiar’) reinforces but is contextually distinct from the abstract ‘fe’; render trust-verbs with ‘confiar/confianza’ where the Hebrew verb form is in view.
Covenant
Approved rendering: pacto
Transliteration: diathēkē (NT) / berit (Ps)
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: contrato legal
Original: בְּרִית
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Psalm 25:10, 89:3,28,34; 105:8; 106:45; 111:5,9. ‘Alianza’ remains an acceptable Catholic-tradition ecumenical synonym per baseline note.
Election
Approved rendering: elección / elegido
Transliteration: eklogē (NT) / bachar (Ps)
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: destino, suerte
Original: בָּחַר
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Psalm 89:3 (‘mi elegido’), 105:6, 43; 106:5. Avoid fatalistic ‘destino/suerte’ framing.
Law
Approved rendering: ley
Transliteration: nomos (NT) / torah (Ps)
Doctrine: Torah as Delight and Life
Inherited from Romans package, EXTENDED with a Psalms-specific standing caution: Psalms treats torah predominantly as an object of delight and life-giving meditation (Ps 1, 19, 119), in stark contrast to Romans’ polemical law-versus-grace register. Translators/teachers must never import the Romans register into a Psalms passage; standing teaching note required wherever ‘ley’ occurs in this curriculum: ‘aquí la ley se presenta como fuente de gozo y vida, no principalmente como aquello que condena.‘
Shepherd
Approved rendering: pastor
Transliteration: ro’eh / ro’i
Doctrine: Character of God as Shepherd
Original: רָעָה / רֹעֶה
Category: Character of God
NEW. Lexically unambiguous, no false-cognate risk, but ‘pastor’ also denotes the everyday Spanish title for a Protestant clergyman. Core-passage term (Psalm 23:1); must be taught explicitly as intimate covenant care, anchored to the shared Catholic/Protestant devotional image of Christ as ‘el Buen Pastor’ (Juan 10).
Refuge Stronghold Rock
Approved rendering: refugio / fortaleza / roca
Transliteration: machaseh / ma’oz / metsudah / tsur
Doctrine: Character of God as Refuge
Rejected alternatives: amparo (como renderización por defecto)
Original: מַחְסֶה / מָעוֹז / מְצוּדָה / צוּר
Category: Character of God
NEW. Standardize: refugio (machaseh), fortaleza (ma’oz/metsudah), roca (tsur), consistent across Ps 9, 14, 18, 46, 61-62, 71, 91, 94, 144. Live syncretism risk: ‘refugio’/‘amparo’ are widely applied in folk-Catholic piety to the Virgin Mary (‘refugio de los pecadores’) and patron saints — same risk class as baseline’s ‘intercession’/‘saints.’ Referent must remain unambiguously God.
Righteous Person
Approved rendering: el justo
Transliteration: tsaddiq
Doctrine: The Righteous and the Wicked
Original: צַדִּיק
Category: The Righteous and the Wicked
NEW. Shares its root with the Critical baseline term ‘justicia’; must be explicitly distinguished from the Romans forensic-justification sense — Psalm 1’s tsaddiq denotes an observable, torah-delighting life pattern, not an imputed legal verdict. Core-passage-adjacent (Ps 23:3’s ‘paths of righteousness’).
Royal Sonship Formula
Approved rendering: Hijo mío eres tú; yo te he engendrado hoy
Transliteration: beni attah, ani hayom yelidtikha
Doctrine: Royal/Davidic Sonship Typology
Rejected alternatives: equiparación directa y sin matices con ‘Hijo de Dios’ (filiación eterna y coigual)
Original: בְּנִי אַתָּה אֲנִי הַיּוֹם יְלִדְתִּיךָ
Category: Christology
NEW, distinct from baseline ‘son_of_god.’ Psalm 2:7’s ancient royal-enthronement adoption formula, quoted in Acts 13:33 and Hebrews 1:5 of Christ. Must be taught with a clarifying note distinguishing the OT coronation-language background from its NT christological fulfillment.
Hosanna Root
Approved rendering: Salva ahora / ¡Hosanna!
Transliteration: hoshi’ah na
Doctrine: Hosanna and Royal Acclamation
Rejected alternatives: traducir la aclamación neotestamentaria ‘Hosanna’ como una oración completa en vez de retener la transliteración litúrgica
Original: הוֹשִׁיעָה נָּא
Category: Christology
NEW. Render the Hebrew text itself (Ps 118:25) as ‘Salva ahora’/‘sálvanos, oh SEÑOR’; retain the transliterated liturgical form ‘¡Hosanna!’ wherever this curriculum discusses NT fulfillment (Matthew 21:9), per the existing Amén/Aleluya precedent.
Sheol
Approved rendering: Seol
Transliteration: Sheol
Doctrine: Sheol and the Realm of the Dead
Rejected alternatives: infierno
Original: שְׁאוֹל
Category: Eschatology
NEW. Transliterate as ‘Seol,’ never translate as ‘infierno,’ which would wrongly import the developed NT/final-judgment sense (Gehenna) into the OT’s general realm-of-the-dead concept. Critical for Messianic Prophecy given Acts 2’s use of Psalm 16:10.
Imprecatory Language
Approved rendering: (traducir íntegramente; sin suavizar)
Transliteration: n/a
Doctrine: Imprecatory Prayer and Divine Justice
Rejected alternatives: omitir o suavizar los versículos imprecatorios
Original: (genre feature; Psalm 109, 137:8-9, and elsewhere)
Category: Lament and Honest Prayer
NEW. Psalm 109:6-19, 137:8-9, 69:22-28. Per the baseline’s rule against minimizing doctrinal/textual statements, curse-language must be rendered completely and faithfully, paired with teaching notes on its canonical function (appeal to God’s justice, not personal vengeance).
Yhwh Malakh Enthronement
Approved rendering: el SEÑOR reina
Transliteration: YHWH malakh
Doctrine: Character of God as King
Original: יְהוָה מָלָךְ
Category: Character of God
NEW. Liturgical enthronement acclamation (Ps 47, 93, 96-99). Reuses the yhwh small-caps convention. Must be distinguished from the baseline’s gospel-advance ‘reino de Dios’ register — complementary, not contradictory, but a different liturgical register.
Soul Nephesh
Approved rendering: alma
Transliteration: nephesh
Doctrine: Lament and Honest Prayer
Original: נֶפֶשׁ
Category: Anthropology
NEW. Core-passage term (Psalm 23:3, ‘restaura mi alma’), also 42:1-2, 62:1, 103:1, 139. ‘Alma’ is the only viable standard Spanish Bible rendering, but risks importing a Greek/Platonic body-soul dualism where nephesh denotes the whole living, breathing, desiring self. Mandatory teaching note wherever theologically load-bearing.
Cast Lots For Garments
Approved rendering: dividieron mis vestidos entre sí, y sobre mi ropa echaron suertes
Transliteration: chalaq begadai / al-levushi yapilu goral
Doctrine: Messianic Prophecy in the Psalms
NEW. Psalm 22:18, quoted as fulfilled at the crucifixion (John 19:24). Flag for consistency with the Gospel of John’s fulfillment-citation wording.
Into Your Hands I Commit My Spirit
Approved rendering: en tus manos encomiendo mi espíritu
Transliteration: beyadkha afqid ruchi
Doctrine: Messianic Prophecy in the Psalms
NEW. Psalm 31:5, quoted by Christ from the cross (Luke 23:46). Must be rendered consistently with this curriculum family’s Gospel of Luke rendering — a cross-document consistency requirement, not merely stylistic.
Sacrifice And Offering Not Desired
Approved rendering: sacrificio y ofrenda no te agradaron…he venido para hacer tu voluntad
Transliteration: zevach uminchah lo chafatsta
Doctrine: Messianic Prophecy in the Psalms
NEW. Psalm 40:6-8, quoted messianically in Hebrews 10:5-7 of Christ’s incarnate obedience. Flag for theologian review and future consistency with Hebrews curriculum materials.
Redeemed Geulim
Approved rendering: los redimidos
Transliteration: ge’ulim (from ga’al, ‘to redeem, act as kinsman-redeemer’)
Doctrine: Messianic Prophecy in the Psalms
Rejected alternatives: colapsar sin nota alguna en el vocabulario neotestamentario pleno de la expiación
NEW. Psalm 107; standard kinsman-redeemer legal-family background term underlying NT redemption vocabulary. Enriches, but should not be collapsed into, the fuller developed NT atonement vocabulary without a bridging teaching note.
Secret Place Of The Most High
Approved rendering: el lugar secreto del Altísimo…la sombra del Omnipotente
Transliteration: beseter Elyon / betsel Shaddai
Doctrine: Character of God as Refuge
NEW. Psalm 91:1, the Psalter’s central refuge psalm, directly quoted by Satan in the temptation of Christ (Matthew 4:6/Luke 4:10-11); teach the refuge doctrine alongside the doctrine that God’s promises are not to be presumptuously tested.
Hardening Of Heart Today
Approved rendering: si oyereis hoy su voz, no endurezcáis vuestro corazón
Transliteration: qashah (root)
Doctrine: Character of God as Shepherd
NEW. Psalm 95:7-8, quoted extensively in Hebrews 3-4. Flag for consistency with future Hebrews curriculum materials; reinforces the corporate complement to the core passage’s individual Shepherd doctrine.
Exclusivity Particle Akh
Approved rendering: solo en Dios…él solo
Transliteration: akh (particle, repeated 5x in Psalm 62)
Doctrine: Character of God as Refuge
Rejected alternatives: traducir el pasaje sin preservar la repetición de la partícula de exclusividad
NEW. Psalm 62; the repeated exclusivity particle is the theological center of the psalm — refuge is found in God ALONE. Must be preserved consistently across all occurrences, directly relevant to the implicit polemic against rival (Marian/saintly) refuges flagged elsewhere in this package.
Medium Risk Terms
Abba
Approved rendering: Abba
Transliteration: Abba
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Not directly used within the Psalter’s own text, but retained here for cross-curriculum consistency since this Language Package family may reference it alongside Psalm 103:13’s Father imagery.
Glory
Approved rendering: gloria
Transliteration: doxa (NT) / kavod (Ps)
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: כָּבוֹד
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Standard throughout the Psalter’s creation- and enthronement-praise texts (Ps 8, 19, 24, 29, 96, 145); no new risk.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: reino de Dios
Transliteration: basileia tou theou (NT) / malkhut (Ps)
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Original: מַלְכוּת
Category: Kingdom
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. In Psalms, chiefly used in a worship-doxology register celebrating God’s ongoing cosmic sovereignty (Ps 103:19, 145:11-13), distinct from but complementary to the baseline’s gospel-advance register. Requires its own teaching note, not a lexical change.
Sin
Approved rendering: pecado
Transliteration: hamartia (NT) / chattaah (Ps 32:1,5; 51:2-5,9; 103:10)
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: falta (minimizing euphemism common in pastoral speech)
Original: חַטָּאָה
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Never soften to ‘falta.’ Reinforced at the Confession-and-Forgiveness anchor texts (Ps 32, 51).
Holy
Approved rendering: santo
Transliteration: hagios (NT) / qadosh (Ps 99:3,5,9; 145:17)
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: puro en sentido ritual
Original: קָדוֹשׁ
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. In Psalms this term is applied overwhelmingly to God’s own character (the enthronement psalms, 96-99, 145:17) rather than to believers as in Romans 1:7; note the complementary but distinct emphasis for teaching.
Peace
Approved rendering: paz
Transliteration: eirēnē (NT) / shalom (Ps 4:8, 29:11, 34:14, 85:10, 122:6-8, 147:14)
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: tranquilidad emocional
Original: שָׁלוֹם
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Especially live risk in Psalms given how frequently shalom appears in everyday-sounding contexts (city, family, harvest); must reinforce the relational/covenantal wholeness sense, not mere emotional calm.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: descendencia de David
Transliteration: sperma Dauid (NT) / zera David (Ps)
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Psalm 89 and 132 are the fullest Psalter treatments of the Davidic covenant background this term serves; requires explicit OT background teaching, no analogous concept assumed in general Hispanic culture.
Providence
Approved rendering: providencia
Transliteration: pronoia (theological name, cf. Ps 33:13-15, 139)
Doctrine: Divine Providence and Omniscience
Rejected alternatives: destino, la suerte
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Reinforced by Psalm 139’s sustained meditation on divine omniscience and Psalm 33:13-15; God’s knowledge and governance must be grounded as personal and relational, not impersonal fate.
Fear Of The Lord
Approved rendering: temor del SEÑOR
Transliteration: yir’at YHWH
Doctrine: Wisdom and the Fear of the LORD
Rejected alternatives: miedo de Dios (riesgo de una lectura basada únicamente en el susto)
Original: יִרְאַת יְהוָה
Category: Wisdom
NEW. Reverent awe combined with obedient trust, not terror. Frequent across the wisdom psalms (1, 111-112, 128, 147); consistent rendering needed given frequency.
Wicked Person
Approved rendering: el impío
Transliteration: rasha
Doctrine: The Righteous and the Wicked
Rejected alternatives: malo / malvado (demasiado coloquial/genérico para uso doctrinal constante)
Original: רָשָׁע
Category: The Righteous and the Wicked
NEW. Standardize on ‘impío’ for consistency across Ps 1, 37, 73, 112; denotes active hostility to God’s order, not mere moral imperfection.
Blessed Ashrei
Approved rendering: bienaventurado
Transliteration: ashrei
Doctrine: The Righteous and the Wicked
Rejected alternatives: feliz (demasiado subjetivo/emocional; pierde el sentido objetivo de florecimiento pactual)
Original: אַשְׁרֵי
Category: The Righteous and the Wicked
NEW. Opens Psalm 1 and the whole Psalter; useful cross-link to the Beatitudes (Matthew 5), the same underlying wisdom category.
Torah Synonym Cluster
Approved rendering: testimonio / juicio / estatuto / mandamiento / precepto / palabra / camino
Transliteration: edut / mishpat / chuqqim / mitzvah / piqqudim / imrah / derekh
Doctrine: Torah as Delight and Life
Rejected alternatives: colapsar los ocho sinónimos en una sola palabra repetida
Original: עֵדוּת / מִשְׁפָּט / חֻקִּים / מִצְוָה / פִּקּוּדִים / אִמְרָה / דֶּרֶךְ
Category: Wisdom
NEW. Psalm 119’s eight-fold synonym cluster for God’s revealed instruction. Standard individual Spanish equivalents carry low individual risk; the pedagogical point is that this is a deliberate poetic device of completeness through synonym-accumulation, not eight sharply distinct theological categories.
Transgression Iniquity Cluster
Approved rendering: transgresión / rebelión (pesha); iniquidad / culpa (avon)
Transliteration: pesha / avon
Doctrine: Confession and Forgiveness
Rejected alternatives: colapsar los tres sinónimos de confesión (pesha/chattaah/avon) en un solo ‘pecado’ repetido
Original: פֶּשַׁע / עָוֹן
Category: Confession and Forgiveness
NEW. Keep distinct from baseline ‘pecado’ (chattaah) so Psalm 32 and 51’s deliberate three-term synonym-stacking rhetorical effect is preserved.
Melchizedek
Approved rendering: Melquisedec
Transliteration: Malki-Tsedeq
Doctrine: Kingship and the Messianic King
Original: מַלְכִּי־צֶדֶק
Category: Christology
NEW. Psalm 110:4; grounds Christ’s unique combined kingship-and-priesthood doctrine, developed fully in Hebrews 5-7. Standard proper-name form; underlying doctrine has no ready cultural analogue and needs explicit teaching support.
Naciones Goyim
Approved rendering: naciones
Transliteration: goyim / le’ummim
Doctrine: Universal Praise and Mission to the Nations
Rejected alternatives: gentiles (reservado para el contraste eclesiológico judío-gentil específico de Romanos)
Original: גּוֹיִם / לְאֻמִּים
Category: Kingdom
NEW, distinct from baseline ‘gentiles.’ Use ‘naciones’ for the Psalter’s general royal/cosmic-praise usage (Ps 2, 46-47, 67, 72, 96-99) to avoid wrongly importing the NT church-unity frame into the OT royal-enthronement frame.
House Of The Lord
Approved rendering: la casa del SEÑOR
Transliteration: beit YHWH
Doctrine: Character of God as Refuge
Original: בֵּית־יְהוָה
Category: Character of God
NEW. Core-passage term (Psalm 23:6), also 15, 27, 84. Reuses the yhwh small-caps convention. Must not be narrowed to a literal building in a way that forecloses its NT/eschatological extension (God dwelling with his people).
Rod And Staff
Approved rendering: vara / cayado
Transliteration: shevet / mish’enet
Doctrine: Character of God as Shepherd
Original: שֵׁבֶט / מִשְׁעֵנֶת
Category: Character of God
NEW. Core-passage term (Psalm 23:4). Shevet shares its lexical root with the royal ‘scepter’ imagery of Genesis 49:10, Psalm 2:9, and Psalm 110:2 — cross-reference note for the Kingship doctrine, not a translation change.
Unresolved Lament
Approved rendering: (sin renderización léxica única — rasgo estructural del género)
Transliteration: n/a
Doctrine: Unresolved Lament
Rejected alternatives: ‘arreglar’ el final del salmo mediante paráfrasis o comentario devocional adjunto
Original: (genre feature; Psalm 88)
Category: Lament and Honest Prayer
NEW. Psalm 88 is the Psalter’s only lament with no closing turn to praise. Devotional material must not soften or supplement the ending with resolution absent from the Hebrew.
Praise Halal
Approved rendering: alabar / alabanza
Transliteration: halal
Doctrine: Praise and Worship
Original: הָלַל
Category: Praise and Worship
NEW. Root of ‘Hallelujah.’ Teach that biblical praise is grounded in theological knowledge of who God is (Ps 100:3), not generated by emotional technique alone.
Worship Adoration
Approved rendering: adoración
Transliteration: cf. halal, shachah
Doctrine: Praise and Worship
NEW. In Catholic usage ‘adoración’ carries a strong specific association with Eucharistic Adoration (‘Adoración Nocturna,’ adoration of the Blessed Sacrament) distinct from the Psalter’s general congregational praise sense. Prefer ‘alabanza’ as the primary term; use ‘adoración’ only with a clarifying note distinguishing the two registers.
Lament Lamento
Approved rendering: lamento
Transliteration: n/a (genre term)
Doctrine: Lament and Honest Prayer
Rejected alternatives: queja / quejarse (connotación coloquial y trivializante de queja)
NEW. Primary technical genre term for this doctrine across Ps 3-7, 13, 22, 42-43, 137, etc. ‘Queja’ is rejected as the default because of its petty, whining connotation in everyday Spanish.
Betrayal Heel
Approved rendering: el que come de mi pan levantó contra mí su calcañar
Transliteration: okhel lachmi higdil alai aqev
Doctrine: Messianic Prophecy in the Psalms
NEW. Psalm 41:9, quoted of Judas’ betrayal (John 13:18). Standard idiom for betrayal by an intimate.
Zeal For Your House
Approved rendering: el celo de tu casa me consumió
Transliteration: qin’at beitkha akhalatni
Doctrine: Messianic Prophecy in the Psalms
NEW. Psalm 69:9, quoted of Christ in John 2:17 (temple-cleansing). Flag for consistency with Gospel of John materials.
King Of Glory
Approved rendering: el Rey de gloria
Transliteration: melekh hakavod
Doctrine: Character of God as King
NEW. Psalm 24:7-10; combines kingship with glory (kavod, baseline reuse). Liturgical entrance-procession acclamation reinforcing the Character-of-God-as-King doctrine.
Clean Hands Pure Heart
Approved rendering: manos limpias y corazón puro
Transliteration: neqi khapayim uvar-levav
Doctrine: The Righteous and the Wicked
NEW. Psalm 24:4, echoed at 15. Must be paired with the confession-and-forgiveness doctrine (Ps 32/51) in teaching so it is not read as self-achieved sinless merit divorced from grace.
Everything That Has Breath
Approved rendering: todo lo que respira alabe a Jehová/al SEÑOR
Transliteration: kol hanneshamah tehallel Yah
Doctrine: Universal Praise and Mission to the Nations
Rejected alternatives: restringir a ‘todos los creyentes’ u otra formulación limitada
NEW. Psalm 150:6, the Psalter’s final verse; retain the unqualified universality per the baseline’s rule against softening universal doctrinal language.
Be Still And Know
Approved rendering: estad quietos, y conoced que yo soy Dios
Transliteration: harpu ude’u
Doctrine: Assurance and Trust in God
Rejected alternatives: un mantra terapéutico genérico de ‘calma’
NEW. Psalm 46:10; frequently reduced devotionally to a therapeutic ‘be calm’ message. Must be taught in its actual context — ceasing to trust military/political self-defense and trusting God’s cosmic kingship.
How Shall We Sing
Approved rendering: ¿cómo cantaremos cántico de Jehová/del SEÑOR en tierra de extraños?
Transliteration: eikh nashir et-shir-YHWH al admat nekhar
Doctrine: Exile and the Hope of Restoration
NEW. Psalm 137:4; directly relevant to migrant and displaced Spanish-speaking congregations. Must be paired with the same imprecatory-psalm teaching note flagged for 137:8-9 and Psalm 109.
Davidic Covenant Witness
Approved rendering: he hecho pacto con mi escogido
Transliteration: karati berit livchiri
Doctrine: The Davidic Covenant (Psalms Witness)
NEW. Psalm 89:3-4, 28-37; Psalm 132:11-12. Reuses baseline ‘pacto’/‘elección’ exactly; requires explicit OT background (2 Samuel 7), as no analogous concept is assumed in general Hispanic culture.
Low Risk Terms
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: acción de gracias
Transliteration: eucharistia (NT) / todah (Ps)
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Original: תּוֹדָה
Category: Praise and Worship
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Ps 50:14,23; 100:4; 107:22; 116:17.
Fellowship
Approved rendering: compañerismo
Transliteration: koinōnia (NT) / yachad (Ps 133:1)
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: comunión de los santos (specific Catholic liturgical formula)
Original: יַחַד
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Do not conflate with the specific Catholic creedal phrase ‘la comunión de los santos.‘
Gentiles
Approved rendering: gentiles
Transliteration: ethnē
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: paganos (pejorative in modern Spanish)
Original: N/A — reserved for the Romans-parallel NT Jew-Gentile ecclesiological contrast; not the Psalter’s own vocabulary
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged, but its use in this curriculum is RESERVED for contexts matching the specific Jew-Gentile ecclesiological contrast established in Romans. For the Psalter’s own, more frequent general ‘nations’ usage (goyim), use the new entry ‘naciones_goyim’ instead.
David
Approved rendering: David
Transliteration: Dawid
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Establishes Davidic (and canonically messianic-royal) authorship/voice for roughly half the Psalter.
Israel
Approved rendering: Israel
Transliteration: Yisra’el
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged.
Prophet
Approved rendering: profeta
Transliteration: prophētēs
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: vidente, adivino
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Relevant background for the Messianic Prophecy doctrine’s OT-fulfillment framework.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: profecía
Transliteration: prophēteia
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: horóscopo, predicción esotérica
Inherited from Romans package, unchanged. Load-bearing background term for the curriculum doctrine ‘Messianic Prophecy in the Psalms.‘
Zion
Approved rendering: Sion
Transliteration: Tsiyon
Doctrine: Character of God as King
Original: צִיּוֹן
Category: Covenant
NEW. Standard transliteration. Psalm 48, 84, 122, 137. The shift from literal Jerusalem/Zion to its NT/eschatological extension is a doctrine-level teaching matter, not a translation risk.
Fearfully Wonderfully Made
Approved rendering: formidable y maravillosamente he sido hecho
Transliteration: nora’ot nifleiti
Doctrine: Human Dignity in Creation
Original: נוֹרָאוֹת נִפְלֵיתִי
Category: Anthropology
NEW. Psalm 139:14; well-established devotional phrase across Spanish Christian tradition.
Hallelujah
Approved rendering: Aleluya
Transliteration: Hallelujah
Doctrine: Praise and Worship
NEW entry formalizing the baseline’s existing transliteration convention for the Psalms curriculum. Concentrated at Ps 111-117, 135, 146-150. Reuse exactly; never translate as a full sentence.
Amen
Approved rendering: Amén
Transliteration: Amen
Doctrine: Praise and Worship
NEW entry formalizing the baseline’s existing transliteration convention. Marks the close of each of the Psalter’s five Books (41:13, 72:19, 89:52, 106:48) plus 150’s closing Hallelujah.
Selah
Approved rendering: Selah
Transliteration: selah
Doctrine: Praise and Worship
Rejected alternatives: cualquier traducción o paráfrasis del término
NEW. A worship/musical rubric of disputed precise meaning, not a theological claim. Retain untranslated per near-universal Spanish Bible convention (including RV1960); never translate or paraphrase.
Psalm Superscriptions
Approved rendering: Masquil / Mictam / Sigaión / Gitit / Seminit / Alamot
Transliteration: maskil / miktam / shiggayon / gittit / sheminith / alamoth
Doctrine: Praise and Worship
Rejected alternatives: inventar una glosa española para cada término
NEW. Musical/liturgical performance-direction labels of disputed precise sense, present in numerous psalm superscriptions; transliterate per RV/modern-version convention with a one-time footnote explaining the category rather than inventing a Spanish gloss.
Father Of The Fatherless
Approved rendering: padre de los huérfanos
Transliteration: avi yetomim
Doctrine: God as Compassionate Father
NEW. Psalm 68:5; important pastoral-care text reinforcing baseline ‘Padre.‘
Taste And See
Approved rendering: gustad, y ved que es bueno el SEÑOR
Transliteration: ta’amu ur’u
Doctrine: Praise and Worship
NEW. Psalm 34:8; standard experiential-invitation idiom. Note this is not a sacramental/Eucharistic ‘tasting’ reference — an experiential-relational idiom, not a ritual one.
Searched And Known
Approved rendering: me has examinado y conocido
Transliteration: chaqartani vateda
Doctrine: Divine Providence and Omniscience
NEW. Psalm 139:1; grounds a doctrine of intimate, personal divine omniscience distinct from an impersonal, abstract all-knowingness.
Referenced passages