Core Glossary
08 Core Glossary — Colossians
Legend
- Status: REUSE — term and Vietnamese rendering already fixed in baseline
translation_memory.json; reused exactly, no deviation permitted. - Status: NEW — term new to this curriculum; rendering proposed here for registry addition.
- Risk tiers follow the baseline
doctrine_risk_registry.jsondefinitions (Critical / High / Medium / Low).
Reused Baseline Terms (Appear in Colossians)
| Term (EN) | Greek | Vietnamese Rendering | Risk | Doctrine | Chapters | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| God | θεός | Đức Chúa Trời | Critical | Deity of Christ (context) | 1,2,3,4 | REUSE |
| Jesus | Ἰησοῦς | Đức Chúa Giê-xu | Critical | Lordship of Christ | 1,3,4 | REUSE |
| Lord (divine) | κύριος | Chúa | Critical | Lordship of Christ | 1,3,4 | REUSE |
| Holy Spirit | πνεῦμα | Đức Thánh Linh | Critical | Sanctification | 1 | REUSE |
| Son of God | υἱός (τοῦ θεοῦ) | Con Đức Chúa Trời | Critical | Sonship/Deity of Christ | 1 | REUSE |
| Father | πατήρ (of God) | Cha | High | Adoption/Household | 1,3 | REUSE |
| Resurrection | ἀνάστασις-family (πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, συνηγέρθητε) | sự sống lại | Critical | Resurrection of Christ / Union with Christ | 1,2,3 | REUSE |
| Church | ἐκκλησία | Hội Thánh | Medium | Christ as Head of the Church | 1,4 | REUSE |
| Saints | ἅγιοι | các thánh đồ | High | Sainthood | 1,3 | REUSE |
| Holy | ἅγιος | thánh | Medium | Sanctification | 1,3 | REUSE |
| Sanctification (concept) | — (contextual) | sự nên thánh | Medium | Putting Off Old/On New | 3 | REUSE |
| Grace | χάρις | ân điển | High | Grace | 1 | REUSE |
| Faith | πίστις | đức tin | Medium | Faith | 1,2 | REUSE |
| Gospel | εὐαγγέλιον | Tin Lành | Medium | Gospel | 1 | REUSE |
| Peace | εἰρήνη | sự bình an | Medium | Peace with God / Reconciliation | 1,3 | REUSE |
| Thanksgiving | εὐχαριστία | sự cảm tạ | Low | Thanksgiving | 1,3,4 | REUSE |
| Apostle | ἀπόστολος | sứ đồ | Medium | Apostleship | 1 | REUSE |
| Kingdom of God (Christ) | βασιλεία (τοῦ υἱοῦ) | Nước (của Con yêu dấu) Đức Chúa Trời | Medium | Kingdom Mission | 1 | REUSE |
| Sin | ἁμαρτία (implied via ἄφεσις, ὀργή) | tội lỗi | High | Universal Human Accountability | 1,3 | REUSE |
| Power of God | δύναμις θεοῦ | quyền năng của Đức Chúa Trời | Medium | Power of God | 1 | REUSE |
| Christ | Χριστός | Đấng Christ | Critical | Messianic Promise / Deity of Christ | 1,2,3,4 | REUSE |
| Exhort/encourage | παρακαλέω | khích lệ | Low | Mutual Edification | 4 | REUSE |
New Terms Introduced by Colossians
| Term (EN) | Greek | Transliteration | Vietnamese Rendering | Risk | Doctrine | Chapters | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image (of God) | εἰκών | eikōn | hình ảnh (của Đức Chúa Trời) | Critical | Supremacy of Christ | 1 | NEW | Exact representation, not mere resemblance or one manifestation among many; guard against hóa thân-style readings. |
| Firstborn (of creation) | πρωτότοκος | prōtotokos | Con đầu lòng | Critical | Supremacy of Christ | 1 | NEW | Rank/inheritance title, NOT first-created being; mandatory theologian note at every occurrence. |
| Creation / to create | κτίσις / κτίζω | ktisis / ktizō | muôn vật được dựng nên / dựng nên | Medium/Critical | Supremacy of Christ | 1 | NEW | Christ as Creator-agent, categorically distinct from κτίσις as created object. |
| Thrones/dominions/rulers/authorities | θρόνοι/κυριότητες/ἀρχαί/ἐξουσίαι | thronoi/kyriotētes/archai/exousiai | các ngôi, các quyền thống trị, các kẻ cầm quyền, các thế lực | High | Supremacy of Christ | 1,2 | NEW | Guard against merging with Vietnamese folk spirit hierarchy (thần linh, thổ địa, thành hoàng) as independently venerable powers. |
| Christ sustains all things | συνίστημι | synistēmi | mọi vật đứng vững trong Ngài | High | Supremacy of Christ / Providence | 1 | NEW | Personal, purposive sustaining, not impersonal cosmic order (đạo). |
| Head (of the body/church) | κεφαλή | kephalē | đầu | High | Christ as Head of the Church | 1 | NEW | Authority + life-source; distinguish from household-code headship sense in ch.3. |
| Beginning/origin | ἀρχή | archē | Đấng khởi nguyên | Medium | Christ as Head of the Church | 1 | NEW | Personal originator, not an impersonal metaphysical first-principle. |
| Fullness (of deity) | πλήρωμα | plērōma | sự đầy dẫy trọn vẹn | Critical | Fullness of Deity in Christ Bodily | 1,2 | NEW | Undivided totality of God’s nature in Christ alone; not a graded hierarchy or scale of attainment. |
| Dwell (permanently) | κατοικέω | katoikeō | ở trong / ngự trong | Critical | Fullness of Deity in Christ Bodily | 1,2 | NEW | Permanent, essential indwelling — NOT modeled on temporary spirit-mediumship (hầu đồng/lên đồng). Mandatory note. |
| Reconcile (fully) | ἀποκαταλλάσσω | apokatallassō | sự hòa giải (trọn vẹn) | Critical | Reconciliation through the Cross | 1 | NEW | God-initiated, unilateral, cross-accomplished; opposite direction from ritual “hóa giải” appeasement of ancestors/spirits. Mandatory note. |
| Blood of the cross | αἷμα τοῦ σταυροῦ | haima tou staurou | huyết của thập tự giá | Critical | Reconciliation through the Cross | 1 | NEW | Concrete historical execution + literal atoning blood; never abstracted into symbol only. |
| Love | ἀγάπη | agapē | sự yêu thương | Medium | (supports several doctrines) | 1,3 | NEW | Self-giving Spirit-given love, not Confucian reciprocal obligation. |
| Hope | ἐλπίς | elpis | sự trông cậy | Medium | (supports Gospel) | 1 | NEW | Confident expectation grounded in promise, not fatalism (số phận). |
| Full knowledge | ἐπίγνωσις | epignōsis | sự hiểu biết đầy đủ | High | Warning against False Teaching | 1 | NEW | NOT secret/esoteric knowledge for a spiritual elite; contrast with giác ngộ/huyền bí traditions. |
| Wisdom | σοφία | sophia | sự khôn ngoan | Medium | Warning against False Teaching | 1,2 | NEW | Spirit-given; contrasted with merely human philosophy in ch.2. |
| Inheritance/allotted portion | κλῆρος | klēros | phần cơ nghiệp | Medium | (supports Adoption) | 1 | NEW | |
| Dominion of darkness | ἐξουσία τοῦ σκότους | exousia tou skotous | quyền của sự tối tăm | High | Reconciliation / Union with Christ | 1 | NEW | Moral-spiritual estrangement, not folk cõi âm/âm phủ (ancestor underworld). |
| Redemption | ἀπολύτρωσις | apolytrōsis | sự cứu chuộc | High | Reconciliation through the Cross | 1 | NEW | Retains “price paid” sense; related to but distinct from sự cứu rỗi. |
| Forgiveness of sins | ἄφεσις τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν | aphesis tōn hamartiōn | sự tha thứ tội lỗi | Medium | Reconciliation through the Cross | 1 | NEW | Gracious, not merit-earned; guard against ancestral-appeasement framing. |
| Mystery | μυστήριον | mystērion | sự mầu nhiệm | High | Warning against False Teaching | 1,2,4 | NEW | Formerly hidden, now openly revealed to all — NOT occult/esoteric secret knowledge (huyền bí, initiate-only teaching). |
| Suffering/affliction (Paul’s) | πάθημα / θλῖψις | pathēma / thlipsis | sự khổ nạn / sự hoạn nạn | High | Supremacy and Sufficiency of Christ | 1 | NEW | Does NOT imply Christ’s atonement was insufficient; Paul’s own apostolic suffering only. Guard against merit-suffering (công đức) framing. |
| Philosophy | φιλοσοφία | philosophia | triết học | High | Warning against False Teaching | 2 | NEW | Warning targets systems competing with Christ’s sufficiency, not learning/reasoning generally. |
| Tradition (of men) | παράδοσις | paradosis | truyền thống | High | Warning against False Teaching | 2 | NEW | Distinguish from filial/ancestor-honoring family tradition (thờ cúng tổ tiên), which is not the target of the warning per se. |
| Elemental spirits/elements of the world | στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου | stoicheia tou kosmou | những thế lực sơ khai của thế gian | Critical | Warning against False Teaching | 2 | NEW | Sharp collision with ngũ hành (Five Elements) cosmology and territorial/nature spirits; Christ has decisively defeated this category. |
| Deity/Godhead | θεότης | theotēs | thần tính | Critical | Fullness of Deity in Christ Bodily | 2 | NEW | Full, essential divine nature — not merely divine qualities. |
| Bodily (in the body) | σωματικῶς | sōmatikōs | trong thân xác / cách thể xác | Critical | Fullness of Deity in Christ Bodily | 2 | NEW | Rules out docetic reading and any spirit-possession-style framing (hầu đồng/lên đồng). |
| Certificate of debt | χειρόγραφον | cheirographon | văn kiện ghi nợ (tội lỗi) | Critical | Reconciliation through the Cross | 2 | NEW | Unilaterally canceled by God at the cross — distinct from karmic debt (nghiệp) worked off over time, or filial debt (ơn nghĩa) to be repaid. |
| Worship of angels | θρησκεία τῶν ἀγγέλων | thrēskeia tōn angelōn | sự thờ phượng các thiên sứ | High | Warning against False Teaching | 2 | NEW | Direct relevance to Vietnamese spirit/deity veneration practices. |
| Self-made religion | ἐθελοθρησκία | ethelothrēskia | tôn giáo tự đặt ra | High | Warning against False Teaching | 2 | NEW | Self-devised religious effort rejected; ties to grace-vs-merit distinction already in baseline. |
| Shadow / substance | σκιά / σῶμα | skia / sōma | hình bóng / thực thể | Medium | Warning against False Teaching | 2 | NEW | OT ceremony as shadow, Christ as the reality. |
| Died with Christ | συναποθνήσκω | synapothnēskō | đã chết với Đấng Christ | Critical | Union with Christ | 2,3 | NEW | Participatory union, not self-effort mortification alone. |
| Raised with Christ / made alive together | συνηγέρθητε / συζωοποιέω | synēgerthēte / syzōopoieō | được sống lại với Đấng Christ | Critical | Union with Christ | 2,3 | NEW | Same forbidden-substitution guard as baseline “resurrection” (never luân hồi/đầu thai). |
| Old self/man | παλαιὸς ἄνθρωπος | palaios anthrōpos | người cũ | Critical | Putting Off the Old Self | 3 | NEW | Definitive, completed putting-off in union with Christ, not gradual self-cultivation (đức hạnh). |
| New self/man | νέος/καινὸς ἄνθρωπος | neos/kainos anthrōpos | người mới | Critical | Putting On the New Self | 3 | NEW | Given identity, being renewed after Christ’s image (ties back to εἰκών, 1:15). |
| Covetousness = idolatry | πλεονεξία / εἰδωλολατρία | pleonexia / eidōlolatria | sự tham lam / sự thờ hình tượng | High | Putting Off the Old Self | 3 | NEW | Broadens idolatry beyond literal images; relevant to household/temple image veneration practice. |
| Wrath of God | ὀργὴ τοῦ θεοῦ | orgē tou theou | cơn thịnh nộ của Đức Chúa Trời | High | Universal Human Accountability | 3 | NEW | Personal moral judgment, not impersonal karmic retribution (nghiệp báo). |
| Submit | ὑποτάσσω | hypotassō | vâng phục | High | Household Codes | 3 | NEW | Qualified “in the Lord,” paired with sacrificial love; not a blanket endorsement of Confucian hierarchy. |
| Obey (household) | ὑπακούω | hypakouō | vâng lời / vâng phục | Medium | Household Codes | 3 | NEW | Distinguish from baseline’s “obedience of faith” (different referent). |
| Master (human, non-divine) | κύριος (human referent) | kyrios | chủ | High | Household Codes | 3 | NEW | MUST use chủ, never Chúa, to preserve the baseline’s exclusive divine reservation of Chúa. |
| Favoritism | προσωπολημψία | prosōpolēmpsia | sự tây vị | Low/Medium | Household Codes | 3 | NEW | |
| Prayer (general) | προσευχή | proseuchē | sự cầu nguyện | Medium | (supports Intercession) | 4 | NEW | Where used for praying on behalf of others, apply the baseline’s Critical intercession guard (never modeled on cầu xin tổ tiên). |
| Watch/be alert | γρηγορέω | grēgoreō | tỉnh thức | Low | Mutual Edification | 4 | NEW |
Risk Summary for Colossians-Specific New Terms
| Risk Tier | Count | Review Routing (per baseline routing convention) |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 12 | Human theologian review, every occurrence |
| High | 13 | Human theologian review |
| Medium | 10 | Native speaker review |
| Low | 4 | Automated review sufficient |
Cross-Cutting Cultural Collision Points Introduced by Colossians (Not Present in Baseline Romans Package)
- Spirit-mediumship (hầu đồng/lên đồng) vs. κατοικέω/σωματικῶς — permanent, essential divine indwelling vs. temporary ritual possession. (Col 1:19, 2:9)
- Ritual reconciliation with offended spirits/ancestors (hóa giải) vs. ἀποκαταλλάσσω — God’s unilateral initiative vs. human-initiated appeasement. (Col 1:20)
- Five Elements cosmology and territorial/nature spirits (ngũ hành, thần đất) vs. στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου — a defeated, subordinate category vs. an independently potent cosmic framework. (Col 2:8, 2:20)
- Karmic debt (nghiệp) and filial debt (ơn nghĩa) vs. χειρόγραφον — debt unilaterally and completely canceled at the cross vs. debt worked off gradually. (Col 2:14)
- Confucian household hierarchy (tam cương) vs. ὑποτάσσω/ἀγαπᾶτε — mutual, Christ-qualified household order vs. unilateral hierarchical duty. (Col 3:18-4:1)
- Idol/image veneration (thờ hình tượng) vs. πλεονεξία = εἰδωλολατρία — broadened definition of idolatry as misplaced ultimate desire, not only physical images. (Col 3:5)
- Esoteric/occult hidden knowledge traditions (huyền bí) vs. μυστήριον/ἐπίγνωσις — openly revealed truth for all believers vs. secret knowledge for spiritual elites. (Col 1:26-27, 2:2-3, 4:3)
This glossary, together with 07_semantic_analysis.md, is intended for direct extension of the baseline translation_memory.json and bible_term_registry.json ahead of Phase 2 processing of the Colossians curriculum.
Critical Risk Terms
Resurrection
Approved rendering: sự sống lại
Transliteration: su song lai
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: sự đầu thai, luân hồi
Original: ἀνάστασις-family: πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν (1:18); συνηγέρθητε/συζωοποιέω (2:12-13, 3:1)
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package (exact rendering). CRITICAL forbidden-substitution guard applies identically. Colossians 1:18 (‘firstborn from the dead’), 2:12 extend this term into participatory union-with-Christ language — see died_with_christ / raised_with_christ below.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: Con Đức Chúa Trời
Transliteration: Con Duc Chua Troi
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Original: υἱός (τοῦ θεοῦ) / ὁ υἱὸς τῆς ἀγάπης αὐτοῦ
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package (exact rendering). Colossians 1:13 names Christ ‘the Son of his love’ (ὁ υἱὸς τῆς ἀγάπης αὐτοῦ).
Incarnation
Approved rendering: Ngôi Lời trở nên xác thịt
Transliteration: Ngoi Loi tro nen xac thit
Doctrine: Incarnation
Rejected alternatives: hóa thân
Inherited from Romans package (exact rendering). Reinforces Colossians 2:9’s σωματικῶς (‘bodily’) — full deity permanently in a real human body, once; guards against docetic and spirit-mediumship-style readings.
Intercession
Approved rendering: sự cầu thay
Transliteration: su cau thay
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Rejected alternatives: cầu xin tổ tiên
Inherited from Romans package (exact rendering). The same CRITICAL forbidden-substitution guard (never cầu xin tổ tiên, petitioning deceased ancestors) extends to Colossians’ general-prayer-on-behalf-of-others language — see prayer_general below, especially 4:12 (Epaphras).
Jesus
Approved rendering: Đức Chúa Giê-xu
Transliteration: Duc Chua Gie-xu
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package (exact rendering). Colossians 1:1, 3:17, 4:12.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Đức Thánh Linh
Transliteration: Duc Thanh Linh
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: thần linh
Original: πνεῦμα (ἅγιον implied, cf. Col 1:8 ‘love in the Spirit’)
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package (exact rendering). Colossians 1:8 (‘love in the Spirit’). Never bare thần linh (folk spirit category).
Christ
Approved rendering: Đấng Christ
Transliteration: Dang Christ
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: Χριστός
Category: Christology
NEW (Colossians). Distinct from ‘messiah’ above (Đấng Mê-si-a, OT-fulfillment title). In Colossians Χριστός functions overwhelmingly as Jesus’s ordinary proper name/title (1:2, 1:27-28, 3:1, 3:11). Follows the established Vietnamese Protestant transliteration convention already fixed in the baseline AI instruction set; never conflate with a generic honorific.
Image Of God
Approved rendering: hình ảnh (của Đức Chúa Trời)
Transliteration: hinh anh (cua Duc Chua Troi)
Doctrine: Supremacy and Sufficiency of Christ over Creation
Rejected alternatives: hóa thân
Original: εἰκών τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου
Category: Christology
NEW (Colossians 1:15, εἰκών). Christ as the exact, visible representation of the invisible God — not mere resemblance, symbolism, or one manifestation among many (guard against hóa thân, the Buddhist bodhisattva/deity manifestation concept forbidden for baseline ‘incarnation’). Mandatory theologian note required at every occurrence.
Firstborn Of Creation
Approved rendering: Con đầu lòng
Transliteration: Con dau long
Doctrine: Supremacy and Sufficiency of Christ over Creation
Original: πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως
Category: Christology
NEW (Colossians 1:15, πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως). Rank/inheritance title over creation, NOT membership within creation as its first created instance (the Arian/Jehovah’s Witness misreading). Mandatory theologian note tying this to 1:16-17 at every occurrence. Highest single-term risk in the core passage.
Create Christ As Creator
Approved rendering: dựng nên
Transliteration: dung nen
Doctrine: Supremacy and Sufficiency of Christ over Creation
Original: κτίζω (ἐκτίσθη, ἔκτισται)
Category: Creation
NEW (Colossians 1:16, κτίζω). The threefold prepositional structure (‘in him / through him / for him’) must be preserved in Vietnamese syntax; collapsing it loses the exhaustive scope of Christ’s creative agency and, by extension, his deity.
Fullness Of Deity
Approved rendering: sự đầy dẫy trọn vẹn (của Đức Chúa Trời)
Transliteration: su day day tron ven (cua Duc Chua Troi)
Doctrine: Fullness of Deity in Christ Bodily
Original: πλήρωμα (τῆς θεότητος, cf. 2:9)
Category: Christology
NEW (Colossians 1:19, 2:9, πλήρωμα/θεότητος). The entire, undivided fullness of God’s nature in Christ alone; never a graded scale of spiritual attainment or a node in a hierarchy of semi-divine beings.
Dwell Permanently
Approved rendering: ở trong / ngự trong
Transliteration: o trong / ngu trong
Doctrine: Fullness of Deity in Christ Bodily
Original: κατοικέω
Category: Christology
NEW (Colossians 1:19, 2:9, κατοικέω). CRITICAL cultural collision: must be taught as God’s essential, permanent, unique indwelling of Christ’s own nature — categorically different from temporary ritual spirit-mediumship possession (hầu đồng/lên đồng). Mandatory theologian note at every occurrence.
Reconcile Fully
Approved rendering: sự hòa giải (trọn vẹn)
Transliteration: su hoa giai (tron ven)
Doctrine: Reconciliation through the Cross
Original: ἀποκαταλλάσσω
Category: Salvation
NEW (Colossians 1:20-22, ἀποκαταλλάσσω). God-initiated, unilateral, cross-accomplished reconciliation — the reverse direction from the Vietnamese ritual practice of ‘hóa giải’ (a living party appeasing an offended ancestor/spirit). Mandatory note at every occurrence.
Blood Of The Cross
Approved rendering: huyết của thập tự giá
Transliteration: huyet cua thap tu gia
Doctrine: Reconciliation through the Cross
Original: αἷμα τοῦ σταυροῦ
Category: Salvation
NEW (Colossians 1:20, αἷμα τοῦ σταυροῦ). σταυρός must remain a concrete historical execution device and αἷμα must retain sacrificial, atoning force — never abstracted into a purely symbolic sacrifice divorced from the literal crucifixion.
Elemental Spirits
Approved rendering: những thế lực sơ khai của thế gian
Transliteration: nhung the luc so khai cua the gian
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Original: στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου
Category: FalseTeaching
NEW (Colossians 2:8, 2:20, στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου). Sharp collision with Vietnamese Five-Elements (ngũ hành) cosmology and territorial/nature spirits (thần đất, thần sông, thần núi); must be taught as a category Christ has decisively defeated, not one requiring appeasement.
Deity Godhead
Approved rendering: thần tính
Transliteration: than tinh
Doctrine: Fullness of Deity in Christ Bodily
Original: θεότης
Category: Christology
NEW (Colossians 2:9, θεότης). Christ’s full, essential, undiminished divine nature — not merely divine qualities or empowerment.
Bodily
Approved rendering: trong thân xác / cách thể xác
Transliteration: trong than xac / cach the xac
Doctrine: Fullness of Deity in Christ Bodily
Original: σωματικῶς
Category: Christology
NEW (Colossians 2:9, σωματικῶς). Rules out any docetic reading and any framing resembling temporary spirit-possession of a human medium (hầu đồng/lên đồng). Mandatory teaching note reinforcing the baseline Incarnation doctrine.
Certificate Of Debt
Approved rendering: văn kiện ghi nợ (tội lỗi)
Transliteration: van kien ghi no (toi loi)
Doctrine: Reconciliation through the Cross
Original: χειρόγραφον
Category: Salvation
NEW (Colossians 2:14, χειρόγραφον). Canceled entirely and unilaterally by God at the cross — categorically different from karmic debt (nghiệp) worked off across lifetimes, or filial debt (ơn nghĩa, nợ công ơn sinh thành) repaid through devotion.
Died With Christ
Approved rendering: đã chết với Đấng Christ
Transliteration: da chet voi Dang Christ
Doctrine: Union with Christ (Died and Raised With Him)
Original: συναποθνήσκω / ἀποθνήσκω
Category: UnionWithChrist
NEW (Colossians 2:20, 3:3, συναποθνήσκω). Must be clearly relational/participatory in Christ’s own death; never framed as a personal cycle of death-and-rebirth (luân hồi/đầu thai) — same forbidden substitution already fixed for baseline ‘resurrection.‘
Raised With Christ
Approved rendering: được sống lại với Đấng Christ
Transliteration: duoc song lai voi Dang Christ
Doctrine: Union with Christ (Died and Raised With Him)
Original: συνηγέρθητε / συζωοποιέω
Category: UnionWithChrist
NEW (Colossians 2:12-13, 3:1, συνηγέρθητε/συζωοποιέω). Draws on baseline resurrection rendering; must never resonate with luân hồi/đầu thai — participatory, once-for-all, not cyclical.
Old Self
Approved rendering: người cũ
Transliteration: nguoi cu
Doctrine: Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New
Original: παλαιὸς ἄνθρωπος
Category: UnionWithChrist
NEW (Colossians 3:9, παλαιὸς ἄνθρωπος). A definitive, completed putting-off in union with Christ, not a gradual moral self-improvement project (which would collapse into the Confucian self-cultivation model, đức hạnh, already flagged in the baseline’s ‘righteousness’ entry).
New Self
Approved rendering: người mới
Transliteration: nguoi moi
Doctrine: Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New
Original: νέος / καινὸς ἄνθρωπος
Category: UnionWithChrist
NEW (Colossians 3:10, νέος/καινὸς ἄνθρωπος). Must be tied back explicitly to εἰκών (1:15, see image_of_god) — believers remade after that same divine image by the Spirit, not by self-generated effort.
High Risk Terms
Grace
Approved rendering: ân điển
Transliteration: an dien
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: phước đức, công đức, ơn nghĩa
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (exact rendering). Never phước đức/công đức (Buddhist accumulated merit) or ơn nghĩa (Confucian reciprocal-debt favor). Colossians 1:2, 1:6 grounds the letter’s opening and stands in direct opposition to ch.2’s ἐθελοθρησκία (self-made religion, see self_made_religion below).
Saints
Approved rendering: các thánh đồ
Transliteration: cac thanh do
Doctrine: Sainthood
Rejected alternatives: các thánh
Original: ἅγιοι
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package (exact rendering). Never shortened to bare các thánh (deified folk heroes worshipped at temples such as Thánh Trần). Colossians 1:2, 1:4, 1:12, 1:26, 3:12.
Adoption
Approved rendering: sự làm con nuôi
Transliteration: su lam con nuoi
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Inherited from Romans package (exact rendering). Colossians 1:12 (‘inheritance of the saints in light’) and 3:24 extend this doctrine’s inheritance-rights emphasis without Colossians using the Greek υἱοθεσία directly.
Lord
Approved rendering: Chúa
Transliteration: Chua
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package (exact rendering). CAUTION: Colossians 3:22-4:1 also uses κύριος for a human master/employer; that referent MUST use chủ (see master_human below), never Chúa.
Obedience Of Faith
Approved rendering: sự vâng phục của đức tin
Transliteration: su vang phuc cua duc tin
Doctrine: Obedience of Faith
Rejected alternatives: đạo hiếu
Inherited from Romans package (exact rendering). Distinguish carefully from Colossians’ household-code obedience terms (see obey_household below), which concern hierarchical family/social duty, not obedience flowing from faith.
Messiah
Approved rendering: Đấng Mê-si-a
Transliteration: Dang Me-si-a
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Inherited from Romans package (exact rendering). Kept distinct from the new ‘christ’ entry below, which renders Χριστός as used throughout Colossians as Jesus’s ordinary proper name/title, not the OT-fulfillment title.
God
Approved rendering: Đức Chúa Trời
Transliteration: Duc Chua Troi
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Ông Trời
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package (exact rendering). Every Critical/High occurrence in Colossians (esp. 1:15, ‘the image of the invisible Đức Chúa Trời’) should carry enough context to signal a personal, covenant-making God, not the impersonal Ông Trời of folk speech.
Father
Approved rendering: Cha
Transliteration: Cha
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package (exact rendering). Colossians 1:2-3, 1:12, 3:17; Colossians 3:18-21’s household code discussion of human fathers requires explicit distinction from this divine-Father sense.
Spiritual Powers Hierarchy
Approved rendering: các ngôi, các quyền thống trị, các kẻ cầm quyền, các thế lực
Transliteration: cac ngoi, cac quyen thong tri, cac ke cam quyen, cac the luc
Doctrine: Supremacy and Sufficiency of Christ over Creation
Original: θρόνοι / κυριότητες / ἀρχαί / ἐξουσίαι
Category: Creation
NEW (Colossians 1:16, 2:15). Created, subordinate powers under Christ’s sovereignty; must never be rendered so generically that they merge with Vietnamese folk spirit hierarchy (thần linh, thổ địa, thành hoàng) treated as independently venerable powers.
Sustain All Things
Approved rendering: mọi vật đứng vững trong Ngài
Transliteration: moi vat dung vung trong Ngai
Doctrine: Providence and the Sustaining Power of Christ
Original: συνίστημι
Category: God
NEW (Colossians 1:17, συνίστημι). Personal, purposive sustaining activity of a divine Person; never an impersonal cosmic law, fate, or the Confucian/Taoist đạo.
Head Of Church
Approved rendering: đầu (của thân thể, là Hội Thánh)
Transliteration: dau (cua than the, la Hoi Thanh)
Doctrine: Christ as Head of the Church
Original: κεφαλή
Category: Church
NEW (Colossians 1:18, 2:19, κεφαλή). Conveys organic life-source together with authority, not merely administrative headship. Must be kept distinct from the household-code headship application in ch.3 (see submit, master_human below) — a related but not identical doctrine.
Full Knowledge
Approved rendering: sự hiểu biết đầy đủ
Transliteration: su hieu biet day du
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Original: ἐπίγνωσις
Category: FalseTeaching
NEW (Colossians 1:9-10, ἐπίγνωσις). Must never suggest secret, higher knowledge reserved for a spiritual elite; keep distinct from Buddhist giác ngộ (progressive enlightenment) or esoteric folk-occult knowledge (huyền bí, bùa chú).
Dominion Of Darkness
Approved rendering: quyền của sự tối tăm
Transliteration: quyen cua su toi tam
Doctrine: Reconciliation through the Cross
Original: ἐξουσία τοῦ σκότους
Category: Salvation
NEW (Colossians 1:13, ἐξουσία τοῦ σκότους). A moral-spiritual condition of separation from God; must not be conflated with Vietnamese folk cosmology’s cõi âm/âm phủ (ancestor underworld), which carries connotations of continuity of family relationship rather than moral estrangement.
Redemption
Approved rendering: sự cứu chuộc
Transliteration: su cuu chuoc
Doctrine: Reconciliation through the Cross
Original: ἀπολύτρωσις
Category: Salvation
NEW (Colossians 1:14, ἀπολύτρωσις). Must retain the ‘price paid’ sense; never collapsed into generic rescue without the ransom/purchase component. Related to, but distinct from, baseline sự cứu rỗi (salvation).
Mystery
Approved rendering: sự mầu nhiệm
Transliteration: su mau nhiem
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Original: μυστήριον
Category: FalseTeaching
NEW (Colossians 1:26-27, 2:2, 4:3, μυστήριον). The single most important anti-syncretism term in the letter: a formerly hidden truth now OPENLY revealed to all believers, never occult/esoteric secret knowledge (huyền bí, bùa chú, initiate-only teaching). Mandatory note at every occurrence.
Sufferings Pauls
Approved rendering: sự khổ nạn / sự hoạn nạn
Transliteration: su kho nan / su hoan nan
Doctrine: Supremacy and Sufficiency of Christ over Creation
Original: πάθημα / θλῖψις
Category: Salvation
NEW (Colossians 1:24, πάθημα/θλῖψις). Paul’s own apostolic sufferings, NOT an addition to Christ’s finished atoning work — must not imply the atonement was insufficient. Also guards against conflation with merit-accumulating ascetic suffering (công đức tích lũy).
Philosophy
Approved rendering: triết học
Transliteration: triet hoc
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Original: φιλοσοφία
Category: FalseTeaching
NEW (Colossians 2:8, φιλοσοφία). Targets human systems, religious or secular, that compete with or supplement Christ’s sufficiency — not learning or reasoning as such.
Tradition Of Men
Approved rendering: truyền thống
Transliteration: truyen thong
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Original: παράδοσις
Category: FalseTeaching
NEW (Colossians 2:8, παράδοσις). Must be distinguished from filial/ancestor-honoring family tradition (thờ cúng tổ tiên), which is not per se the target of this warning; theologian’s note required.
Worship Of Angels
Approved rendering: sự thờ phượng các thiên sứ
Transliteration: su tho phuong cac thien su
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Original: θρησκεία τῶν ἀγγέλων
Category: FalseTeaching
NEW (Colossians 2:18, θρησκεία τῶν ἀγγέλων). Warns against devotion to any created spiritual being, however exalted; direct relevance to Vietnamese veneration of guardian deities/tutelary spirits (thần hộ mệnh, thổ địa, thành hoàng).
Self Made Religion
Approved rendering: tôn giáo tự đặt ra
Transliteration: ton giao tu dat ra
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Original: ἐθελοθρησκία
Category: FalseTeaching
NEW (Colossians 2:23, ἐθελοθρησκία). Self-devised religious effort, rejected; ties directly to the baseline Grace doctrine’s contrast with phước đức/công đức (self-directed merit accumulation).
Covetousness Idolatry
Approved rendering: sự tham lam … sự thờ hình tượng
Transliteration: su tham lam … su tho hinh tuong
Doctrine: Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New
Original: πλεονεξία, ἥτις ἐστὶν εἰδωλολατρία
Category: Sin
NEW (Colossians 3:5, πλεονεξία … εἰδωλολατρία). Broadens idolatry beyond literal image-worship to any misplaced ultimate desire; must be explicitly connected to household/temple image veneration practice (thờ hình tượng) so the point is not lost.
Wrath Of God
Approved rendering: cơn thịnh nộ của Đức Chúa Trời
Transliteration: con thinh no cua Duc Chua Troi
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Original: ὀργὴ τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Sin
NEW (Colossians 3:6, ὀργὴ τοῦ θεοῦ). A personal, righteous, moral response of a personal God to sin; must not be flattened into impersonal karmic retribution (nghiệp báo).
Submit
Approved rendering: vâng phục
Transliteration: vang phuc
Doctrine: Household Codes
Original: ὑποτάσσω
Category: Household
NEW (Colossians 3:18, ὑποτάσσω). Must never appear without its ‘in the Lord’ qualifier and paired command to sacrificial, Christlike love (3:19); not a blanket cultural endorsement of Confucian household hierarchy (tam cương).
Master Human
Approved rendering: chủ
Transliteration: chu
Doctrine: Household Codes
Original: κύριος (human referent)
Category: Household
NEW (Colossians 3:22-4:1, κύριος human referent). MUST render chủ, never Chúa, to preserve the baseline’s exclusive reservation of Chúa for the divine Lord. Brief contextual note for contemporary application (workplace relationships) without collapsing the original historical slavery referent.
Prayer General
Approved rendering: sự cầu nguyện
Transliteration: su cau nguyen
Doctrine: Prayer for One Another (Intercession-Adjacent)
Original: προσευχή / προσεύχομαι
Category: Faith
NEW (Colossians 1:9, 4:2-4, 4:12, προσευχή). Where used for praying ‘on behalf of’ others (esp. 4:12, Epaphras ‘always struggling for you in his prayers’), apply the same Critical-risk guard already fixed in baseline for intercession: never modeled on cầu xin tổ tiên (petitioning deceased ancestors).
False Humility
Approved rendering: sự khiêm nhường (giả dối)
Transliteration: su khiem nhuong (gia doi)
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
NEW (Colossians 2:18, 2:23, ταπεινοφροσύνη ironic/negative sense). Same Vietnamese word as the positive virtue_list entry (3:12); requires contextual flag distinguishing self-devised false humility from genuine Spirit-given humility.
Medium Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: Tin Lành
Transliteration: tin lanh
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: tin tức tốt lành
Original: εὐαγγέλιον
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (exact rendering). Established Vietnamese Protestant Bible term (‘good news’). In Colossians anchors 1:5 (‘the gospel… which has come to you’) and 1:23; must be defended against the false teachers’ implied claim to a supplementary or fuller message alongside it.
Faith
Approved rendering: đức tin
Transliteration: duc tin
Doctrine: Faith
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package (exact rendering). Colossians 1:4, 1:23, 2:5, 2:7; object of faith (Christ) must remain explicit.
Apostle
Approved rendering: sứ đồ
Transliteration: su do
Doctrine: Apostleship
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package (exact rendering). Colossians 1:1, 1:23-25.
Holy
Approved rendering: thánh
Transliteration: thanh
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package (exact rendering). Colossians 1:22, 3:12.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: sự nên thánh
Transliteration: su nen thanh
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: (conceptual, expressed via ἁγιος/ἀνακαινούμενον) — cf. 3:10 renewal after the Creator’s image
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package (exact rendering). In Colossians tied explicitly to εἰκών (1:15) via 3:10’s ‘renewed after the image of the Creator’ — Spirit-driven, Christ-patterned renewal, not self-generated moral improvement.
Peace
Approved rendering: sự bình an
Transliteration: su binh an
Doctrine: Peace with God
Original: εἰρήνη / εἰρηνοποιήσας
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (exact rendering). Colossians 1:2, 1:20, 3:15; also underlies εἰρηνοποιήσας (‘having made peace,’ 1:20) within Reconciliation through the Cross.
Church
Approved rendering: Hội Thánh
Transliteration: Hoi Thanh
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: đền, chùa
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package (exact rendering). Colossians 1:18, 1:24, 4:15-16; Christ’s headship (κεφαλή, see head_of_church below) over this body is a new emphasis not present in Romans.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: Nước Đức Chúa Trời
Transliteration: Nuoc Duc Chua Troi
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ υἱοῦ τῆς ἀγάπης αὐτοῦ
Category: Kingdom
Inherited from Romans package EXACTLY as the base rendering. Colossians 1:13 extends this into an explicitly Christocentric phrase for that verse — see kingdom_of_the_son below for the extended form used only at 1:13.
Sin
Approved rendering: tội lỗi
Transliteration: toi loi
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: nghiệp xấu
Original: ἁμαρτία (implied via ἄφεσις, ὀργή, παράπτωμα)
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package (exact rendering). Colossians 1:14, 2:13, 3:6-7; never nghiệp xấu (impersonal bad karma).
Gentiles
Approved rendering: dân ngoại
Transliteration: dan ngoai
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Inherited from Romans package (exact rendering). Relevant background for Colossians 3:11’s broadened unity list (Greek/Jew, circumcised/uncircumcised) — see unity_list below.
Glory
Approved rendering: sự vinh hiển
Transliteration: su vinh hien
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Inherited from Romans package (exact rendering). Colossians 1:27, ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory’ — ties δόξα directly to the mystery doctrine (see mystery below) and to hope (see hope below).
Power Of God
Approved rendering: quyền năng của Đức Chúa Trời
Transliteration: quyen nang cua Duc Chua Troi
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Original: δύναμις τοῦ θεοῦ / δυναμούμενοι
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package (exact rendering). Colossians 1:11 (endurance) and 1:29 (Paul’s ministry) extend the sense to empowerment for endurance and service, not only salvation.
Election
Approved rendering: sự lựa chọn
Transliteration: su lua chon
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: số mệnh
Inherited from Romans package (exact rendering). Colossians 3:12, ‘as God’s chosen ones’ (ἐκλεκτοί) — God’s sovereign personal choice, not số mệnh (fixed fate/destiny).
Providence
Approved rendering: sự quan phòng của Đức Chúa Trời
Transliteration: su quan phong cua Duc Chua Troi
Doctrine: Providence
Rejected alternatives: số trời, nghiệp
Inherited from Romans package (exact rendering). Colossians 1:17 extends this doctrine’s personal, purposive-care sense to Christ himself as the sustaining agent — see sustain_all_things below.
Mission
Approved rendering: công cuộc truyền giáo
Transliteration: cong cuoc truyen giao
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
Inherited from Romans package (exact rendering). Relevant to Colossians 4:5-6’s conduct-toward-outsiders instruction and 4:3’s door-for-the-word metaphor (see door_for_word below).
Creation
Approved rendering: muôn vật được dựng nên
Transliteration: muon vat duoc dung nen
Doctrine: Supremacy and Sufficiency of Christ over Creation
Original: κτίσις
Category: Creation
NEW (Colossians 1:15, 1:23, κτίσις). Must clearly denote the created order as object, categorically distinct from Christ the uncreated Creator.
Beginning Origin
Approved rendering: Đấng khởi nguyên
Transliteration: Dang khoi nguyen
Doctrine: Christ as Head of the Church
Original: ἀρχή
Category: Christology
NEW (Colossians 1:18, ἀρχή). Christ as personal source/originator; guard against merging with Taoist/Buddhist notions of an impersonal cosmic first-principle (đạo, bản thể).
Love
Approved rendering: sự yêu thương
Transliteration: su yeu thuong
Doctrine: Christian Identity in Christ and Unity
Original: ἀγάπη
Category: Faith
NEW (Colossians 1:4, 1:8, 3:14, ἀγάπη). Self-giving, Spirit-given love; distinguish from Confucian relational obligation (ơn nghĩa) or generalized benevolence.
Hope
Approved rendering: sự trông cậy
Transliteration: su trong cay
Doctrine: Gospel
Original: ἐλπίς
Category: Faith
NEW (Colossians 1:5, 1:23, 1:27, ἐλπίς). Confident expectation grounded in God’s promise; distinguish from a vague wish or fatalistic acceptance (số phận).
Wisdom
Approved rendering: sự khôn ngoan
Transliteration: su khon ngoan
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Original: σοφία
Category: FalseTeaching
NEW (Colossians 1:9, 1:28; contrasted with merely human philosophy at 2:8, 2:23, σοφία). Same Vietnamese term in both senses; context supplies the distinction.
Inheritance
Approved rendering: phần cơ nghiệp
Transliteration: phan co nghiep
Doctrine: Inheritance and Adoption
Original: κλῆρος
Category: Salvation
NEW (Colossians 1:12, κλῆρος). A guaranteed grant of grace, not an earned entitlement accumulated over time.
Forgiveness Of Sins
Approved rendering: sự tha thứ tội lỗi
Transliteration: su tha thu toi loi
Doctrine: Reconciliation through the Cross
Original: ἄφεσις τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν
Category: Salvation
NEW (Colossians 1:14, ἄφεσις τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν). A gracious act of God; never earned through merit-cancelling ritual, ancestral appeasement, or accumulated good deeds.
Shadow And Substance
Approved rendering: hình bóng / thực thể
Transliteration: hinh bong / thuc the
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Original: σκιά / σῶμα (contrastive)
Category: FalseTeaching
NEW (Colossians 2:17, σκιά/σῶμα contrastive). OT ceremonial regulations as a shadow pointing to the reality now present in Christ.
Obey Household
Approved rendering: vâng lời / vâng phục
Transliteration: vang loi / vang phuc
Doctrine: Household Codes
Original: ὑπακούω
Category: Household
NEW (Colossians 3:20, 3:22, ὑπακούω). Distinct from, though conceptually adjacent to, the baseline’s obedience_of_faith doctrine (obedience flowing from faith, not household hierarchy); flag the distinction in teaching.
Favoritism
Approved rendering: sự tây vị
Transliteration: su tay vi
Doctrine: Household Codes
Original: προσωπολημψία
Category: Household
NEW (Colossians 3:25, 4:1, προσωπολημψία). Standard ethical term; low ambiguity.
Stewardship
Approved rendering: chức vụ quản trị
Transliteration: chuc vu quan tri
Doctrine: Apostleship
Original: οἰκονομία
Category: Church
NEW (Colossians 1:25, οἰκονομία). Paul’s God-given commission/administration of gospel ministry, distinguished from a merely secular administrative role.
Vice List
Approved rendering: các việc xấu xa của người cũ (tà dâm, ô uế, sự tham lam, sự giận dữ, v.v.)
Transliteration: cac viec xau xa cua nguoi cu
Doctrine: Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New
Original: πορνεία, ἀκαθαρσία, πάθος, ἐπιθυμία κακή, πλεονεξία, ὀργή, θυμός, κακία, βλασφημία, αἰσχρολογία, ψεῦδος
Category: Sin
NEW (Colossians 3:5, 3:8-9). Enumerated sinful practices belonging to the old self; individually low-ambiguity, doctrinal risk lies in the overall ‘put to death’ framing (see old_self, put_to_death_sin).
Unity List
Approved rendering: người Hy-lạp, người Do Thái, kẻ chịu cắt bì, kẻ không chịu cắt bì, người dã man, người Sy-the, người nô lệ, người tự do
Transliteration: nguoi Hy-lap, nguoi Do Thai, ke chiu cat bi, ke khong chiu cat bi, nguoi da man, nguoi Sy-the, nguoi no le, nguoi tu do
Doctrine: Christian Identity in Christ and Unity
Original: Ἕλλην, Ἰουδαῖος, περιτομή, ἀκροβυστία, βάρβαρος, Σκύθης, δοῦλος, ἐλεύθερος
Category: Church
NEW (Colossians 3:11). Every ethnic and social distinction dissolved ‘in Christ’; broadens baseline Unity of Jews and Gentiles doctrine. New vocabulary needed for slave/free: người nô lệ / người tự do.
Bond Of Perfection
Approved rendering: dây liên kết của sự trọn lành
Transliteration: day lien ket cua su tron lanh
Doctrine: Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New
Original: σύνδεσμος τῆς τελειότητος
Category: Sanctification
NEW (Colossians 3:14, σύνδεσμος τῆς τελειότητος). Love as the bond holding all other virtues together in completeness; ensure ‘perfection/completeness’ is not read as flawless moral achievement.
Decree Regulation
Approved rendering: quy tắc / luật lệ
Transliteration: quy tac / luat le
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
NEW (Colossians 2:14, 2:20, δόγμα/δογματίζω). Human-imposed regulations Paul says believers have died to in Christ.
Triumph Over Powers
Approved rendering: đắc thắng / khải hoàn
Transliteration: dac thang / khai hoan
Doctrine: Supremacy and Sufficiency of Christ over Creation
NEW (Colossians 2:15, θριαμβεύω). Christ’s public, decisive victory over the ἀρχαί and ἐξουσίαι at the cross.
Dwelling On Visions
Approved rendering: chú tâm vào (những sự hiện thấy)
Transliteration: chu tam vao (nhung su hien thay)
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
NEW (Colossians 2:18, ἐμβατεύω). Rare, technical term describing the false teachers’ preoccupation with visionary experience.
Asceticism Body
Approved rendering: sự khắc khổ thân thể
Transliteration: su khac kho than the
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
NEW (Colossians 2:23, ἀφειδία σώματος). A rejected human strategy for holiness; resonates with ascetic practice in Vietnamese Buddhist tradition and must be contrasted with Spirit-empowered sanctification (sự nên thánh).
Calendar Observances
Approved rendering: ngày Sa-bát / ngày trăng mới / ngày lễ
Transliteration: ngay Sa-bat / ngay trang moi / ngay le
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
NEW (Colossians 2:16, σάββατα/νεομηνία/ἑορτή). Christian liberty from ceremonial calendar regulation; note the cultural resonance without doctrinal equivalence to the Vietnamese lunar festival cycle (Tết and related observances).
Hidden With Christ
Approved rendering: được giấu kín
Transliteration: duoc giau kin
Doctrine: Union with Christ (Died and Raised With Him)
NEW (Colossians 3:3, κρύπτω). Security of believers’ identity in Christ, not concealment or shame.
Manifest Appear
Approved rendering: hiện ra
Transliteration: hien ra
Doctrine: Union with Christ (Died and Raised With Him)
NEW (Colossians 3:4, φανερόω). Christ’s future appearing and believers’ appearing with him in glory.
Put To Death Sin
Approved rendering: làm cho chết (đi)
Transliteration: lam cho chet (di)
Doctrine: Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New
NEW (Colossians 3:5, νεκρόω). The active, decisive mortification of sinful practices as the practical outworking of putting off the old self.
Kingdom Of The Son
Approved rendering: Nước của Con yêu dấu Đức Chúa Trời
Transliteration: Nuoc cua Con yeu dau Duc Chua Troi
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission (Christ-Centered)
NEW (Colossians 1:13, βασιλεία τοῦ υἱοῦ τῆς ἀγάπης αὐτοῦ). Extends the baseline kingdom_of_god rendering into an explicitly Christocentric phrase used specifically at this verse; distinguish from a political or nationalist ‘nước.‘
Low Risk Terms
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: sự cảm tạ
Transliteration: su cam ta
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Original: εὐχαριστία / εὐχαριστέω
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package (exact rendering). Colossians 1:3, 1:12, 3:15, 3:17, 4:2.
Exhort
Approved rendering: khích lệ
Transliteration: khich le
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Original: παρακαλέω
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package (exact rendering). Colossians 2:2, 4:8; context-sensitive between entreaty and encouragement.
Understanding
Approved rendering: sự thông sáng
Transliteration: su thong sang
Doctrine: Warning against False Teaching and Syncretism
Original: σύνεσις
Category: FalseTeaching
NEW (Colossians 1:9, 2:2, σύνεσις). Standard, low-ambiguity term.
Watch Alert
Approved rendering: tỉnh thức
Transliteration: tinh thuc
Doctrine: Prayer for One Another (Intercession-Adjacent)
Original: γρηγορέω
Category: Faith
NEW (Colossians 4:2, γρηγορέω). Standard term; low doctrinal risk.
Virtue List
Approved rendering: lòng thương xót, sự nhân từ, sự khiêm nhường, sự nhu mì, sự nhẫn nhục
Transliteration: long thuong xot, su nhan tu, su khiem nhuong, su nhu mi, su nhan nhuc
Doctrine: Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New
Original: σπλάγχνα οἰκτιρμοῦ, χρηστότης, ταπεινοφροσύνη, πραΰτης, μακροθυμία
Category: Sanctification
NEW (Colossians 3:12). Standard virtue vocabulary the elect are to ‘put on.’ Note ταπεινοφροσύνη (humility) here is positive, contrasted with its ironic negative use in 2:18/2:23 (see false_humility below) — same Vietnamese word, contextual flag required.
Word Of Christ
Approved rendering: lời của Đấng Christ
Transliteration: loi cua Dang Christ
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Original: ὁ λόγος τοῦ Χριστοῦ
Category: Faith
NEW (Colossians 3:16, ὁ λόγος τοῦ Χριστοῦ). Standard term; low doctrinal risk.
Minister Servant
Approved rendering: người phục vụ / chấp sự
Transliteration: nguoi phuc vu / chap su
Doctrine: Christ as Head of the Church
NEW (Colossians 1:7, 1:23, 1:25, διάκονος). Standard term for a commissioned servant of the gospel/church.
Fellow Servant Worker
Approved rendering: bạn cùng làm tôi mọi (cho Chúa) / bạn đồng công
Transliteration: ban cung lam toi moi (cho Chua) / ban dong cong
Doctrine: Christ as Head of the Church
NEW (Colossians 4:7, 4:11, σύνδουλος/συνεργός). Standard fellow-worker terminology in closing greetings.
Door For Word
Approved rendering: cửa ngõ cho lời Chúa
Transliteration: cua ngo cho loi Chua
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
NEW (Colossians 4:3, θύρα τοῦ λόγου). Evangelistic-opportunity metaphor; no doctrinal content at risk.
Gracious Speech Salt
Approved rendering: lời nói có ơn, đậm đà như có muối
Transliteration: loi noi co on, dam da nhu co muoi
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
NEW (Colossians 4:6, ἐν ἅλατι ἠρτυμένος). Idiom for gracious, attractive speech; handle as a natural Vietnamese idiom, not a literal salt reference.
Endurance Longsuffering
Approved rendering: sự nhịn nhục / sự nhẫn nhục
Transliteration: su nhin nhuc / su nhan nhuc
Doctrine: Putting Off the Old Self and Putting On the New
Original: ὑπομονή / μακροθυμία
Category: Faith
NEW (Colossians 1:11, 3:12, ὑπομονή/μακροθυμία). Standard virtue vocabulary; fruits of God’s empowering strength.
Referenced passages