Core Glossary
08 Core Glossary
English → Vietnamese | James 1–5 | Term-by-Term Translation Risk Table
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, drawn from every chapter of James. Terms marked [BASELINE] already have a fixed rendering in the Romans translation_memory.json/bible_term_registry.json and MUST be reused exactly, without deviation — no alternative rendering is permitted regardless of context. Terms marked [NEW] are proposed for this curriculum and are recommended for formal addition to the shared translation memory before Phase 2 translation begins, using the same Critical/High/Medium/Low risk framework as the baseline.
Risk tiers follow the baseline’s definitions exactly:
- Critical — mistranslation destroys essential doctrine; theologian review of every occurrence required.
- High — mistranslation creates significant theological confusion or syncretism risk; theologian review required.
- Medium — mistranslation reduces clarity but preserves essential meaning; native speaker review recommended.
- Low — minor imprecision risk; automated review sufficient.
1. Faith and Works
| English Term | Original (Greek) | Vietnamese Rendering | Risk | Status | Key Passages | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Faith | πίστις (pistis) | đức tin | Medium | [BASELINE] | 1:3,6; 2:1,5,14-26; 5:15 | Reuse baseline exactly; contextual note needed at 2:19 (mere intellectual assent vs. saving trust). |
| Works | ἔργα (erga) | việc làm | Critical | [NEW] | 1:25; 2:14-26 | Never render as công đức (Buddhist merit). Fruit/evidence of genuine faith, not a means of earning salvation. Central to harmonization with Romans 3:28/4:1-5. |
| Justification/Justified | δικαιόω/δικαιοῦμαι (dikaioō) | (được) xưng công bình | Critical | [BASELINE] | 2:21,24,25 | Reuse baseline exactly. James’s evidential/vindicating sense must be harmonized, not contradicted, with Paul’s forensic-declarative sense in Romans; same Vietnamese term for both, with an explicit harmonization note in teaching material. |
| Imputed Righteousness | ἐλογίσθη εἰς δικαιοσύνην | sự công bình được kể cho | Critical | [BASELINE] | 2:23 (quoting Genesis 15:6) | Identical Greek phrase to the Romans 4:3 baseline entry; must be rendered identically to make the cross-reference recoverable to the learner. |
| Hearer / Doer | ἀκροατής / ποιητής (akroatēs/poiētēs) | kẻ nghe / kẻ làm theo | High | [NEW] | 1:22-25 | Shares the doctrinal weight of “works”; doing is the evidencing response to grace received, not merit-earning. |
| Dead (of faith) | νεκρός/νεκρά (nekros/nekra) | chết | High | [NEW] | 2:17,20,26 | Metaphorical death of false/workless profession; must not be confused with baseline resurrection vocabulary (sự sống lại) or read as a literal claim about the afterlife. |
| Save/Salvation (rhetorical, 2:14) | σῴζω (sōzō) | cứu / sự cứu rỗi | Critical | [BASELINE] | 2:14 | Reuse baseline exactly (sự cứu rỗi); the rhetorical question implies mere profession without works cannot save, but works are never the saving instrument. |
| Friend of God | φίλος θεοῦ (philos theou) | bạn của Đức Chúa Trời | Medium | [NEW] | 2:23 | Intimacy as the fruit of grace-based relationship, not a status earned by accumulated deeds. |
| Cooperated / Worked together | συνεργέω (synergeō) | cùng làm việc với | High | [NEW] | 2:22 | Describes faith’s operation, not a 50/50 faith-plus-works salvation formula. |
| Made complete/perfected | τελειόω (teleioō) | được làm cho trọn vẹn | High | [NEW] | 2:22 | Faith reaching its mature, intended expression through action — not repair of a prior deficiency in saving validity. |
2. Trials and the Testing of Faith
| English Term | Original (Greek) | Vietnamese Rendering | Risk | Status | Key Passages | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trial | πειρασμός (peirasmos) | sự thử thách | High | [NEW] | 1:2,12 | External hardship testing faith, permitted by God’s providence. Do not conflate with “temptation” sense below. |
| Temptation | πειρασμός (peirasmos) | sự cám dỗ | High | [NEW] | 1:13-14 | Enticement toward sin; explicitly never from God (1:13). Same Greek root as “trial” — every occurrence needs sense-checking. |
| Testing/proven genuineness | δοκίμιον/δόκιμος (dokimion/dokimos) | sự thử nghiệm / sự rèn luyện | Medium | [NEW] | 1:3,12 | The process proving faith’s genuineness, as metal tested by fire. |
| Endurance/Patience (under pressure) | ὑπομονή (hypomonē) | sự nhịn nhục / sự kiên trì | Medium | [NEW] | 1:3-4; 5:11 | Active endurance under trial; distinguish from makrothymia (patient waiting, ch.5). |
| Desire/Lust | ἐπιθυμία (epithymia) | tư dục / lòng ham muốn xấu | High | [NEW] | 1:14-15; 4:1-2 | Personal, moral genealogy of sin (desire→conception→sin→death); never nghiệp xấu (impersonal karma). |
| Perfect/Complete/Mature | τέλειος (teleios) | trọn vẹn | Medium | [NEW] | 1:4,17,25; 3:2 | Maturity/wholeness, not flawless moral achievement earned by effort. |
3. Wisdom from Above
| English Term | Original (Greek) | Vietnamese Rendering | Risk | Status | Key Passages | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wisdom | σοφία (sophia) | sự khôn ngoan | High | [NEW] | 1:5; 3:13-17 | Must be distinguished from Buddhist trí tuệ/tuệ giác (insight attained by self-cultivation/meditation); James’s wisdom is a gift requested from and granted by God, evidenced by relational/ethical fruit. |
| From above | ἄνωθεν (anōthen) | từ trên [Đức Chúa Trời] mà xuống | High | [NEW] | 3:17 | Marks divine origin explicitly, not mere superiority. |
| Earthly/Natural(unspiritual)/Demonic | ἐπίγειος / ψυχικός / δαιμονιώδης | thuộc về đất / thuộc về xác thịt / thuộc về ma quỉ | High | [NEW] | 3:15 | ψυχικός especially risks confusion with the positive linh hồn (“soul”) sense used elsewhere (5:20); here it means merely natural/unregenerate. |
| Double-minded | δίψυχος (dipsychos) | kẻ hai lòng | Medium | [NEW] | 1:8; 4:8 | Inward instability opposed to single-hearted faith seeking wisdom. |
| Image of God | εἰκών θεοῦ (eikōn theou) | hình ảnh của Đức Chúa Trời | High | [NEW] | 3:9 | Grounds human dignity theologically (imago Dei); must not be diluted to generic respect-for-persons language. |
4. Favoritism and the Poor
| English Term | Original (Greek) | Vietnamese Rendering | Risk | Status | Key Passages | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Favoritism/Partiality | προσωπολημψία (prosōpolēmpsia) | sự tây vị | High | [NEW] | 2:1,9 | Sinful discrimination based on outward status, forbidden by God’s own character and the royal law. |
| Rich | πλούσιος (plousios) | người giàu | Medium | [NEW] | 1:10-11; 2:6; 5:1-6 | Standard term; doctrinal weight carried by surrounding warning content, not the term itself. |
| Poor | πτωχός (ptōchos) | người nghèo | High | [NEW] | 2:2-6 | Avoid any connotation of moral/karmic inferiority for poverty; God’s deliberate choice of the poor as heirs. |
| Heir | κληρονόμος (klēronomos) | kẻ kế tự | Medium | [NEW] | 2:5 | Inheritance by God’s promise, not social/economic standing. |
| Kingdom [of God] | βασιλεία [τοῦ θεοῦ] | Nước [Đức Chúa Trời] | Medium | [BASELINE] | 2:5 | Reuse baseline pattern exactly. |
| Royal law | νόμος βασιλικός (nomos basilikos) | luật pháp cao trọng nhất | Medium | [NEW] | 2:8 | ”Royal” = supreme/sovereign in authority (the love command), not a law about earthly kingship. |
| Mercy | ἔλεος (eleos) | sự thương xót | High | [NEW] | 2:13; 3:17; 5:11 | Distinguish from Buddhist từ bi (general compassion virtue); biblical mercy is relational/forensic — a personal God withholding deserved judgment. |
5. Taming the Tongue
| English Term | Original (Greek) | Vietnamese Rendering | Risk | Status | Key Passages | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tongue | γλῶσσα (glōssa) | cái lưỡi / lưỡi | Low (term)/High (doctrine) | [NEW] | 1:26; 3:1-12 | Bare term is low risk; surrounding teaching (blessing/cursing from the same mouth) must retain full bluntness despite Vietnamese indirect-speech norms. |
| Bridle/Control | χαλιναγωγέω (chalinagōgeō) | cầm giữ (lưỡi mình) | Medium | [NEW] | 1:26; 3:2-3 | Restraint/control imagery from horse-bridling. |
| Fire (of the tongue) | πῦρ (pyr) | lửa | Medium | [NEW] | 3:5-6 | ”Set on fire by hell” (Gehenna) should retain full force as naming a source of corruption, not a generic anger metaphor. |
| Fruit | καρπός (karpos) | bông trái / trái | Low | [NEW] | 3:18 | Standard agricultural metaphor for outcome/result. |
6. Worldliness versus Friendship with God
| English Term | Original (Greek) | Vietnamese Rendering | Risk | Status | Key Passages | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World/Worldliness | κόσμος (kosmos, negative sense) | thế gian | High | [NEW] | 1:27; 4:4 | Negative, culture-system sense must stay distinct from neutral “created world” uses elsewhere in Scripture. |
| Friendship with the world | φιλία τοῦ κόσμου (philia tou kosmou) | làm bạn với thế gian | Critical | [NEW] | 4:4 | Exclusive, binary allegiance choice (paired with “adulteress” language); must never be softened into a matter-of-degree “attachment.” |
| Enmity with God | ἔχθρα τοῦ θεοῦ (echthra tou theou) | sự nghịch cùng Đức Chúa Trời | High | [NEW] | 4:4 | The necessary corollary of worldly friendship; no neutral third position. |
| Grace | χάρις (charis) | ân điển | High | [BASELINE] | 4:6 | Reuse baseline exactly; reinforces existing guardrail against phước đức/công đức/ơn nghĩa. |
| Humble/Proud | ταπεινός / ὑπερήφανος | khiêm nhường / kiêu ngạo | Medium | [NEW] | 4:6,10 | Standard contrast terms. |
| Devil | διάβολος (diabolos) | ma quỉ | High | [NEW] | 4:7 | Personal, singular adversary; must not be flattened into an impersonal folk-spirit force. |
| Lawgiver | νομοθέτης (nomothetēs) | Đấng lập luật pháp | Medium | [NEW] | 4:12 | Grounds the prohibition against judging one’s neighbor. |
| Law | νόμος (nomos) | luật pháp | Medium | [BASELINE] | 1:25; 2:8-12; 4:11 | Reuse baseline exactly; here moral/royal law of love, not merely Mosaic ceremonial law. |
| Perfect law of liberty | νόμος τέλειος τῆς ἐλευθερίας | luật pháp trọn vẹn, là luật pháp về sự tự do | High | [NEW] | 1:25; 2:12 | Liberty here does not license disregard of the law’s ethical content. |
7. Prayer and Healing
| English Term | Original (Greek) | Vietnamese Rendering | Risk | Status | Key Passages | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prayer | προσεύχομαι / εὔχομαι / δέησις | cầu nguyện / lời cầu nguyện | High | [NEW] | 5:13-18 | General prayer term (broader than baseline’s sự cầu thay, “intercession”); never modeled on cầu xin tổ tiên (ancestor petition). |
| Elder | πρεσβύτερος (presbyteros) | các trưởng lão (của Hội Thánh) | Medium | [NEW] | 5:14 | Recognized congregational office, distinct from general Confucian age-based respect (kính lão). |
| Anoint with oil | ἀλείφω ἐλαίῳ (aleiphō elaiō) | xức dầu | High | [NEW] | 5:14 | Collides with the Catholic sacrament of Anointing of the Sick (Bí Tích Xức Dầu Bệnh Nhân), a priestly last-rites sacrament; James describes elders praying in faith, not a sacramental rite — requires an explicit distinguishing note. |
| Prayer of faith | εὐχὴ τῆς πίστεως | lời cầu nguyện bởi đức tin | High | [NEW] | 5:15 | Compounds risks of both “prayer” and “faith.” |
| Save/Heal | σῴζω / ἰάομαι (sōzō/iaomai) | được lành (bệnh) [healing] / được cứu (salvation, distinct sense) | Critical | [NEW]/[BASELINE] | 5:15-16 | Genuine double-sense passage (physical healing + forgiveness); must avoid both a prosperity-gospel guarantee reading and a purely spiritualized reading. Theologian review required for every occurrence. |
| Heal | ἰάομαι (iaomai) | được lành bệnh | Medium | [NEW] | 5:16 | Specifically medical/physical sense. |
8. Patience and the Lord’s Return
| English Term | Original (Greek) | Vietnamese Rendering | Risk | Status | Key Passages | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patience (waiting) | μακροθυμία/μακροθυμέω (makrothymia) | sự nhịn nhục / sự kiên nhẫn (trông đợi) | Medium | [NEW] | 5:7-10 | Active, hopeful waiting for the Lord’s return; distinguish in teaching from ch.1’s endurance-under-pressure (hypomonē), even where Vietnamese vocabulary overlaps. |
| Coming [of the Lord] / Parousia | παρουσία (parousia) | sự đến của Chúa | High | [NEW] | 5:7-8 | Christ’s own personal, future, bodily return; low direct syncretism risk but high catechetical importance — must not be reduced to a vague “spiritual coming.” |
| Judge | κριτής (kritēs) | Đấng xét đoán / quan xét | Medium | [NEW] | 5:9 | Reinforces imminence/certainty of final judgment tied to the parousia. |
| Prophet | προφήτης (prophētēs) | tiên tri | Low | [BASELINE] | 5:10 | Reuse baseline exactly. |
| Oath/Swear | ὅρκος / ὀμνύω | lời thề / thề | Low | [NEW] | 5:12 | Call to simple truthfulness needing no oath. |
| Endurance/Patience (under pressure) | ὑπομονή (hypomonē) | sự nhịn nhục | Medium | [NEW] | 5:11 (cf. 1:3-4) | Job’s endurance as the example; cross-reference to ch.1 entry. |
9. Confession and Restoration
| English Term | Original (Greek) | Vietnamese Rendering | Risk | Status | Key Passages | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Confess | ἐξομολογέω (exomologeō) | xưng ra (tội lỗi mình) cho nhau | Critical | [NEW] | 5:16 | Collides directly with the Catholic sacrament of Confession (Bí Tích Xưng Tội/Giải Tội, private, priestly, sacramental absolution). James describes mutual, reciprocal, non-sacramental confession among believers tied to mutual prayer. Explicit distinguishing note required in all teaching material; theologian review required. |
| Turn back/Restore | ἐπιστρέφω (epistrephō) | trở lại / đem trở lại | High | [NEW] | 5:19-20 | Restorative turning-back of an erring believer, distinct from initial conversion and from any notion of returning to family/ancestral religious tradition. |
| Wander/Err | πλανάω (planaō) | lầm lạc / lạc đường | Medium | [NEW] | 5:19 | The erring believer’s condition prior to restoration. |
| Soul | ψυχή (psychē) | linh hồn | Medium | [NEW] | 5:20 | Positive sense (“save his soul from death”); distinguish from the negative ψυχικός sense in 3:15 sharing the same root. |
| Sin(s) | ἁμαρτία (hamartia) | tội lỗi | High | [BASELINE] | 1:15; 2:9; 4:17; 5:15,16,20 | Reuse baseline exactly; personal moral transgression before God, never nghiệp xấu (karma). |
10. Cross-Cutting God-Language and Christology
| English Term | Original (Greek) | Vietnamese Rendering | Risk | Status | Key Passages | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| God | θεός (theos) | Đức Chúa Trời | Critical | [BASELINE] | throughout | Reuse baseline exactly; every occurrence should carry enough context to convey a personal, covenant-making God, not impersonal Ông Trời. |
| Lord | κύριος (kyrios) | Chúa | High | [BASELINE] | 1:1,7; 5:4,7-11,14,15 | Reuse baseline exactly. |
| Jesus Christ | Ἰησοῦς Χριστός | Đức Chúa Giê-xu / Đấng Christ | Critical | [BASELINE] | 1:1; 2:1 | Reuse baseline exactly. |
| Servant/Slave | δοῦλος (doulos) | đầy tớ | Low-Medium | [NEW] | 1:1 | Established Vietnamese Protestant convention for self-designation before God/Christ. |
| Called/Calling | κλητός/κλῆσις-family (καλέω kaleō) | được kêu gọi / sự kêu gọi | Medium-High | [BASELINE] | 2:7,23 | Reuse baseline exactly; context-sensitive — 2:23 uses the weaker “named/designated” sense, not the effectual-calling sense of Romans 8. |
| Devil / Demons | διάβολος / δαιμόνια | ma quỉ / các quỉ | High/Medium | [NEW] | 2:19; 4:7 | Personal singular adversary (devil) distinct from the broader plural category (demons); both distinct from generic folk thần linh. |
| Peace | εἰρήνη (eirēnē) | sự bình an | Medium | [BASELINE] | 2:16 (ironic/social use); 3:18 (doctrinal use) | Reuse baseline exactly; flag 2:16 as a hollow social farewell, not the doctrinal “peace with God.” |
| Righteousness | δικαιοσύνη (dikaiosynē) | sự công bình | Critical | [BASELINE] | 1:20; 2:23; 3:18; 5:16 | Reuse baseline exactly. |
Proper Names
| English | Original (Greek) | Vietnamese Rendering | Risk | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abraham | Ἀβραάμ | Áp-ra-ham | Low | [BASELINE-consistent] | Established Vietnamese Bible transliteration convention, per baseline document’s proper-name standards. |
| Rahab | Ῥαάβ | Ra-háp | Low | [NEW] | Established Vietnamese Bible transliteration convention. |
| Elijah | Ἠλίας | Ê-li | Low | [NEW] | Established Vietnamese Bible transliteration convention. |
| Isaac | Ἰσαάκ | Y-sác | Low | [NEW] | Established Vietnamese Bible transliteration convention. |
| James | Ἰάκωβος | Gia-cơ | Low | [NEW] | Established Vietnamese Bible name for the epistle’s author/book title (Thư Gia-cơ). |
Chapter Coverage Confirmation
All five chapters of James have been reviewed for load-bearing theological vocabulary: Chapter 1 (trial/temptation, wisdom, rich/poor, desire, implanted word, hearer/doer, law of liberty, religion, world, orphan/widow); Chapter 2 (favoritism, poor/heir/kingdom/royal law, mercy, and the full faith-and-works complex of the core passage 2:14-26); Chapter 3 (tongue, wisdom from above vs. earthly/demonic wisdom, image of God, fruit); Chapter 4 (friendship with the world, enmity with God, grace, humility/pride, devil, lawgiver); Chapter 5 (patience, parousia, judge, prayer, elders, anointing, confession, restoration, soul). No chapter of James was found to contribute zero new theological vocabulary; every chapter is represented above with its own term set, and full-book coverage per the PRD Phase 1 mandate is confirmed complete.
Critical Risk Terms
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: sự công bình được kể cho
Transliteration: su cong binh duoc ke cho
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: công đức tích lũy
Original: ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην
Category: Faith and Works
Inherited from Romans package. Identical Greek phrase to Romans 4:3, quoted in James 2:23 (citing Genesis 15:6). Must be rendered identically in both curricula so the cross-reference is recoverable to the learner; this is the strongest textual bridge showing James affirms, not contradicts, Paul’s crediting-by-faith doctrine.
Salvation
Approved rendering: sự cứu rỗi
Transliteration: su cuu roi
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: sự giải thoát
Inherited from Romans package. NEVER sự giải thoát (Buddhist liberation from rebirth). Underlies the eternal-salvation sense of σῴζω wherever it occurs in James (e.g., 1:21; 4:12), distinct from the physical-healing sense at 5:15 (see save_heal).
Save Rhetorical
Approved rendering: cứu / sự cứu rỗi
Transliteration: cuu / su cuu roi
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: sự giải thoát
Original: σῴζω
Category: Faith and Works
James 2:14: ‘Can that faith save him?’ — a rhetorical question implying that a bare, workless profession cannot save, not because works earn salvation, but because such ‘faith’ was never saving faith. Reuse sự cứu rỗi exactly; works must never be implied as the saving instrument.
Intercession
Approved rendering: sự cầu thay
Transliteration: su cau thay
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Rejected alternatives: cầu xin tổ tiên
Inherited from Romans package. Narrower than James’s general ‘prayer’ term (see ‘prayer’ below); relevant as background for Elijah’s prayer for others (James 5:17-18). Never modeled on cầu xin tổ tiên (petitioning deceased ancestors).
Jesus Christ
Approved rendering: Đức Chúa Giê-xu / Đấng Christ
Transliteration: Duc Chua Gie-xu / Dang Christ
Doctrine: Christology
Original: Ἰησοῦς Χριστός
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package (jesus entry) extended to the compound title used at James 1:1; 2:1. Reuse exactly, consistent with the 1926 Bản Dịch Truyền Thống forms.
Works
Approved rendering: việc làm
Transliteration: viec lam
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: công đức, đức hạnh
Original: ἔργα
Category: Faith and Works
James 1:22-25; 2:14-26. Never công đức (Buddhist accumulated merit improving karmic standing) or đức hạnh (Confucian cultivated virtue). Việc làm is deeds evidencing genuine, already-granted faith, never merit that earns or contributes to salvation. Requires mandatory harmonization note distinguishing this from Romans’ rejected ‘works of the law’ as a basis for justification.
Friendship With World
Approved rendering: làm bạn với thế gian
Transliteration: lam ban voi the gian
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Rejected alternatives: sự gắn bó quá mức với thế gian
Original: φιλία τοῦ κόσμου
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
James 4:4 (φιλία τοῦ κόσμου). This is the sharpest either/or statement in the letter, framed as spiritual adultery. No rendering may soften it into ‘excessive attachment to worldly things’ (a matter of degree, rejected). The exclusive, binary allegiance framing must be preserved through surrounding sentence structure even though the base collocation itself (‘làm bạn với’) is socially mild in everyday Vietnamese.
Save Heal
Approved rendering: được lành (bệnh) [healing] / được cứu / sự cứu rỗi [salvation, distinct sense]
Transliteration: duoc lanh (benh) / duoc cuu / su cuu roi
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Original: σῴζω / ἰάομαι
Category: Prayer and Healing
James 5:15-16 (σῴζω / ἰάομαι). A genuine double-sense passage layering physical restoration and forgiveness of sins in one sentence. Deliberately split into two Vietnamese terms with a translator’s note explaining one Greek verb underlies both halves. Must avoid both a prosperity-gospel guarantee of healing and an over-spiritualized reading erasing the physical-healing sense entirely. Theologian review required for every occurrence.
Confess
Approved rendering: xưng ra (tội lỗi mình) cho nhau
Transliteration: xung ra (toi loi minh) cho nhau
Doctrine: Confession and Restoration
Rejected alternatives: xưng tội
Original: ἐξομολογέω
Category: Confession and Restoration
James 5:16 (ἐξομολογέω). NEVER use the bare short form xưng tội, which is the identical, well-established Vietnamese Catholic sacramental term for private Confession to a priest with sacramental absolution (Bí Tích Giải Tội). James describes mutual, reciprocal confession among ordinary believers with no priestly office or sacramental absolution in view. Every occurrence requires an explicit distinguishing note; theologian review required.
High Risk Terms
Grace
Approved rendering: ân điển
Transliteration: an dien
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Rejected alternatives: phước đức, công đức, ơn nghĩa
Original: χάρις
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Inherited from Romans package. James 4:6 (quoting Proverbs 3:34, ‘God gives grace to the humble’) directly opposes grace to pride; reinforces the existing baseline guardrail against phước đức/công đức (merit) and ơn nghĩa (reciprocal-debt favor).
Righteousness
Approved rendering: sự công bình
Transliteration: su cong binh
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: đức hạnh
Original: δικαιοσύνη
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Used in James 1:20; 2:23; 3:18; 5:16. Never đức hạnh (Confucian cultivated virtue) — right standing/conduct before God, not a quality built up by moral effort.
Justification
Approved rendering: sự xưng công bình
Transliteration: su xung cong binh
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Original: δικαιόω / δικαιοῦμαι
Category: Faith and Works
Inherited from Romans package. James 2:21,24,25 use the identical term for δικαιόω. MANDATORY harmonization note required at every occurrence: James addresses what kind of faith is genuine (vindicated/evidenced by works before others), Paul addresses how a sinner is declared righteous before God (by faith apart from works of the law, Romans 3:28). Same Vietnamese term for both; distinction carried by surrounding commentary, never by a different rendering.
Lord
Approved rendering: Chúa
Transliteration: Chua
Doctrine: Christology
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Used of both God the Father and Jesus Christ in James (1:1,7; 5:4,7-11,14-15); must convey exclusive, supreme lordship, not generic respectful address.
God
Approved rendering: Đức Chúa Trời
Transliteration: Duc Chua Troi
Doctrine: Cross-Cutting God-Language
Rejected alternatives: Ông Trời
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Addressed throughout James as Father, Lawgiver (4:12), and Judge (5:9). Every occurrence should carry enough context to convey a personal, covenant-making God, not the impersonal, fate-dispensing Ông Trời of folk speech.
Father
Approved rendering: Cha
Transliteration: Cha
Doctrine: Cross-Cutting God-Language
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. James 1:17,27; 3:9 (‘the Father of lights’; ‘God and Father’). Emphasize grace and intimacy, not primarily Confucian filial-duty (đạo hiếu) hierarchy, per the baseline’s existing note.
Hearer Doer
Approved rendering: kẻ nghe / kẻ làm theo
Transliteration: ke nghe / ke lam theo
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Original: ἀκροατής / ποιητής
Category: Faith and Works
James 1:22-25. Shares the collision risk of ‘works’: doing is the necessary, evidencing response to a word already received by grace (the implanted word, 1:21), never merit-earning action added to grace.
Dead Faith
Approved rendering: chết
Transliteration: chet
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: yếu, chưa hoàn hảo
Original: νεκρός / νεκρά
Category: Faith and Works
James 2:17,20,26. The verdict on a professed faith producing no works — lifeless, never actually saving faith at all. Must be sharply distinguished from the baseline’s fixed resurrection vocabulary (sự sống lại); this is a metaphorical death of a false profession, not a claim about the afterlife or reincarnation. Never softened to ‘weak’ or ‘imperfect.‘
Believe Mere Assent
Approved rendering: tin
Transliteration: tin
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Original: πιστεύω
Category: Faith and Works
James 2:19: bare intellectual assent (‘God is one’), shared even by demons — the sharpest NT passage distinguishing mere doctrinal assent from saving trust. Needs a translator’s note so ‘tin’ here is not mistaken for the full saving sense of đức tin used elsewhere in the same passage.
Cooperated With Works
Approved rendering: cùng làm việc với
Transliteration: cung lam viec voi
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Original: συνεργέω
Category: Faith and Works
James 2:22 (συνήργει). Must not be read as a 50/50 synergistic-merit formula for salvation, dangerously close to công đức; describes faith working itself out, not two independent contributions to a salvation ledger.
Made Complete
Approved rendering: được làm cho trọn vẹn
Transliteration: duoc lam cho tron ven
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Original: τελειόω
Category: Faith and Works
James 2:22 (ἐτελειώθη). Faith reaching its mature, intended expression through works — not repair of a prior deficiency in saving validity. Avoid wording implying faith was deficient before the works occurred.
Trial
Approved rendering: sự thử thách
Transliteration: su thu thach
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Original: πειρασμός
Category: Trials and the Testing of Faith
James 1:2,12 (πειρασμός, external-hardship sense). Same Greek root as ‘temptation’ below — every occurrence needs sense-checking so the neutral testing sense (God-permitted) is not confused with the always-evil enticement-to-sin sense.
Temptation
Approved rendering: sự cám dỗ
Transliteration: su cam do
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Original: πειρασμός
Category: Trials and the Testing of Faith
James 1:13-14 (πειρασμός, enticement-to-sin sense), explicitly never from God (1:13). A single undifferentiated rendering across both senses of πειρασμός would wrongly imply God is the source of sin’s enticement.
Desire Lust
Approved rendering: tư dục / lòng ham muốn xấu
Transliteration: tu duc / long ham muon xau
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Rejected alternatives: nghiệp xấu
Original: ἐπιθυμία
Category: Trials and the Testing of Faith
James 1:14-15; 4:1-2 (ἐπιθυμία). Never nghiệp xấu (impersonal bad karma). James’s account of sin’s genealogy (desire → conception → sin → death) requires personal moral agency before a personal God at every step.
Wisdom
Approved rendering: sự khôn ngoan
Transliteration: su khon ngoan
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
Rejected alternatives: trí tuệ, tuệ giác
Original: σοφία
Category: Wisdom from Above
James 1:5; 3:13-17 (σοφία). Never trí tuệ/tuệ giác (Buddhist insight attained through meditative self-cultivation) or trí (the Confucian cultivated virtue). James’s wisdom is a gift requested from and granted by a personal God (1:5), evidenced by relational/ethical fruit, not an interior attainment.
Wisdom From Above
Approved rendering: từ trên [Đức Chúa Trời] mà xuống
Transliteration: tu tren [Duc Chua Troi] ma xuong
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
Original: ἄνωθεν
Category: Wisdom from Above
James 3:17 (ἄνωθεν). Must tie explicitly to divine origin, not merely convey ‘elevated’ or ‘superior’ in a general sense.
Earthly Natural Demonic Wisdom
Approved rendering: thuộc về đất / thuộc về xác thịt (chưa được biến đổi) / thuộc về ma quỉ
Transliteration: thuoc ve dat / thuoc ve xac thit / thuoc ve ma qui
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
Original: ἐπίγειος / ψυχικός / δαιμονιώδης
Category: Wisdom from Above
James 3:15 (ἐπίγειος / ψυχικός / δαιμονιώδης). ψυχικός especially risks confusion with the positive linh hồn (‘soul’) sense used elsewhere in the letter (5:20); the negative sense here (merely natural, unregenerate) must be clearly marked as distinct.
Favoritism
Approved rendering: sự tây vị
Transliteration: su tay vi
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Original: προσωπολημψία
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
James 2:1,9 (προσωπολημψία). Sinful discrimination judging by outward status/wealth, forbidden and rooted in God’s own character (2:5) and the royal law (2:8). A semi-literary term — supply a plain-language gloss on first use in each lesson.
Poor
Approved rendering: người nghèo
Transliteration: nguoi ngheo
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Original: πτωχός
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
James 2:2-6 (πτωχός). Avoid any connotation of moral/karmic inferiority for poverty — a live risk given folk-Buddhist framings of poverty as the fruit of bad karma from a past life; James 2:5 insists God has deliberately chosen the poor as heirs.
Mercy
Approved rendering: sự thương xót
Transliteration: su thuong xot
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Rejected alternatives: từ bi
Original: ἔλεος
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
James 2:13; 3:17; 5:11 (ἔλεος). Never từ bi (Buddhist compassion, a broad ethical-emotional virtue cultivated as an end in itself). Biblical mercy here is relational and forensic — a personal God’s choice to withhold deserved judgment.
Tongue
Approved rendering: cái lưỡi / lưỡi
Transliteration: cai luoi / luoi
Doctrine: Taming the Tongue
Original: γλῶσσα
Category: Taming the Tongue
James 1:26; 3:1-12 (γλῶσσα). The bare term is low risk, but the surrounding teaching (blessing and cursing from the same mouth, 3:9-10) must be rendered with full bluntness. Vietnamese norms of indirect speech and face-preservation (giữ thể diện) could tempt a softened rendering — flag for native speaker register review.
Image Of God
Approved rendering: hình ảnh của Đức Chúa Trời
Transliteration: hinh anh cua Duc Chua Troi
Doctrine: Taming the Tongue
Original: εἰκών θεοῦ
Category: Taming the Tongue
James 3:9 (εἰκών θεοῦ, echoing Genesis 1:26-27). Grounds human dignity theologically; must not be diluted into generic ‘everyone deserves respect’ language without the explicit imago Dei grounding.
World Worldliness
Approved rendering: thế gian
Transliteration: the gian
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Original: κόσμος
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
James 1:27; 4:4 (κόσμος, negative sense). Keep the negative, culture-system sense distinct from a neutral ‘created world’ sense used elsewhere in Scripture.
Enmity With God
Approved rendering: sự nghịch cùng Đức Chúa Trời
Transliteration: su nghich cung Duc Chua Troi
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Original: ἔχθρα τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
James 4:4 (ἔχθρα τοῦ θεοῦ). The necessary corollary of worldly friendship — there is no neutral third position; must retain this binary framing.
Devil
Approved rendering: ma quỉ
Transliteration: ma qui
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Rejected alternatives: thần linh
Original: διάβολος
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
James 4:7 (διάβολος). Must be rendered as a personal, singular adversarial being, never flattened into the impersonal folk category of thần linh (spirits in general) — the same guardrail the baseline applies to thần linh for the Holy Spirit, applied here in reverse (against impersonalizing a personal being).
Law Of Liberty
Approved rendering: luật pháp trọn vẹn, là luật pháp về sự tự do
Transliteration: luat phap tron ven, la luat phap ve su tu do
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Original: νόμος τέλειος τῆς ἐλευθερίας
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
James 1:25; 2:12 (νόμος τέλειος τῆς ἐλευθερίας). Ensure ‘liberty’ is not read as license to disregard the law’s ethical content, since James immediately ties it to concrete ethical demands.
Prayer
Approved rendering: cầu nguyện / lời cầu nguyện
Transliteration: cau nguyen / loi cau nguyen
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Rejected alternatives: cầu xin tổ tiên
Original: προσεύχομαι / εὔχομαι / δέησις
Category: Prayer and Healing
James 5:13-18 (προσεύχομαι / εὔχομαι / δέησις). Broader than the baseline’s fixed sự cầu thay (‘intercession’). Never modeled on cầu xin tổ tiên (petitioning deceased ancestors at the family altar) — elders praying over the sick could otherwise be visually and functionally assimilated to ancestor-veneration ritual.
Anoint With Oil
Approved rendering: xức dầu
Transliteration: xuc dau
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Original: ἀλείφω ἐλαίῳ
Category: Prayer and Healing
James 5:14 (ἀλείφω ἐλαίῳ). No viable alternative rendering exists (dầu = oil is the only accurate lexical choice), so this is a mandatory-note case, not a substitution case. Xức dầu is identical to the established Vietnamese Catholic sacramental term for Anointing of the Sick (Bí Tích Xức Dầu Bệnh Nhân), a priestly last-rites sacrament. Every occurrence requires an explicit distinguishing note: elders (not priests) praying in faith (not administering a sacrament), with no claim of automatic sacramental efficacy. Never use sacramental vocabulary (nghi thức, bí tích, làm phép) in the surrounding description.
Prayer Of Faith
Approved rendering: lời cầu nguyện bởi đức tin
Transliteration: loi cau nguyen boi duc tin
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Original: εὐχὴ τῆς πίστεως
Category: Prayer and Healing
James 5:15 (εὐχὴ τῆς πίστεως). Compounds the risks of both ‘prayer’ and ‘faith’ as component terms.
Parousia
Approved rendering: sự đến của Chúa
Transliteration: su den cua Chua
Doctrine: Patience and the Lord’s Return
Original: παρουσία
Category: Patience and the Lord’s Return
James 5:7-8 (παρουσία). Christ’s personal, future, bodily return. Low direct syncretism risk but high catechetical importance — must not be reduced to a vague ‘spiritual coming’; teaching should acknowledge, then clearly differentiate, this from Mahayana Buddhist popular expectation of Maitreya’s (Phật Di Lặc) future coming, which operates within a cyclical cosmology.
Turn Back Restore
Approved rendering: trở lại / đem trở lại
Transliteration: tro lai / dem tro lai
Doctrine: Confession and Restoration
Original: ἐπιστρέφω
Category: Confession and Restoration
James 5:19-20 (ἐπιστρέφω). Always supply an explicit object/complement (‘trở lại với lẽ thật,’ ‘đem người ấy trở lại’) so the phrase cannot be read as a bare return to a person’s family’s original (often ancestor-venerating or Buddhist) religion — a real false-friend risk given the colloquial use of ‘trở lại.’ Distinguish from initial conversion.
Medium Risk Terms
Faith
Approved rendering: đức tin
Transliteration: duc tin
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith and Works
Inherited from Romans package. Object of faith remains Christ. James 2:19 requires a contextual note distinguishing bare intellectual assent (see believe_mere_assent, ‘tin’) from the full saving đức tin used throughout James 2:14-26.
Called Calling
Approved rendering: được kêu gọi / sự kêu gọi
Transliteration: duoc keu goi / su keu goi
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: số phận
Original: κλητός / κλῆσις (καλέω family)
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. James 2:23 uses the weaker sense ‘was named/designated’ (Abraham was called God’s friend); James 2:7 uses it of the ‘good name’ invoked over believers. Context-sensitive — do not teach as identical to the effectual-calling sense of Romans 8:28-30.
Law
Approved rendering: luật pháp
Transliteration: luat phap
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Original: νόμος
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Inherited from Romans package. James 1:25; 2:8-12; 4:11 apply this term to the moral/royal law of love (the love command), not primarily the Mosaic ceremonial code; teach the distinction, do not encode it in a different Vietnamese term.
Sin
Approved rendering: tội lỗi
Transliteration: toi loi
Doctrine: Confession and Restoration
Rejected alternatives: nghiệp xấu
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Confession and Restoration
Inherited from Romans package. James 1:15; 2:9; 4:17; 5:15,16,20 trace a personal moral genealogy (desire → choice → sin → death, 1:14-15) before a personal God. Never nghiệp xấu (impersonal karma); preserve personal moral agency at every step.
Peace
Approved rendering: sự bình an
Transliteration: su binh an
Doctrine: Taming the Tongue
Original: εἰρήνη
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. James 2:16 is an ironic, hollow social farewell (‘go in peace’) offered instead of concrete aid — flag as a conventional farewell, NOT the doctrinal ‘peace with God’ of Romans 5:1. James 3:18 uses the doctrinal sense (‘the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace’).
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: Nước Đức Chúa Trời
Transliteration: Nuoc Duc Chua Troi
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Original: βασιλεία [τοῦ θεοῦ]
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
Inherited from Romans package. James 2:5: the poor are heirs of the kingdom God promised to those who love him. Reuse the baseline rendering pattern exactly.
Church
Approved rendering: Hội Thánh
Transliteration: Hoi Thanh
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Rejected alternatives: đền, chùa
Inherited from Romans package. James 5:14: ‘call for the elders of the church.’ Never đền (folk-hero temple) or chùa (Buddhist temple).
Glory
Approved rendering: sự vinh hiển
Transliteration: su vinh hien
Doctrine: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. James 2:1: ‘our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.‘
Christ
Approved rendering: Đấng Christ
Transliteration: Dang Christ
Doctrine: Christology
NEW entry formalizing the established transliteration standard (already named in the baseline requirements doc’s transliteration table but not previously a standalone TM entry). Used in James 2:1 and 5:15 (‘the Lord’). Keep consistent with jesus_christ entry.
Friend Of God
Approved rendering: bạn của Đức Chúa Trời
Transliteration: ban cua Duc Chua Troi
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Original: φίλος θεοῦ
Category: Faith and Works
James 2:23. Abraham’s designation as God’s intimate, trusted companion — the relational fruit of a life of active faith, not a status earned by accumulated deeds. Consistent with the baseline’s note on adoption/fatherhood being grace-grounded.
Implanted Word
Approved rendering: lời đã được trồng trong lòng
Transliteration: loi da duoc trong trong long
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Original: λόγος ἔμφυτος
Category: Faith and Works
James 1:21 (λόγος ἔμφυτος). The gospel message received and internalized, able to save souls when received with meekness; sets up the hearer/doer contrast in 1:22-25.
Servant Slave
Approved rendering: đầy tớ
Transliteration: day to
Doctrine: Christology
Original: δοῦλος
Category: Christology
James 1:1 (δοῦλος). James’s self-designation as one wholly belonging to God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Established Vietnamese Protestant convention; keep distinct from neutral ‘worker/hireling’ senses.
Testing Genuineness
Approved rendering: sự thử nghiệm / sự rèn luyện đức tin
Transliteration: su thu nghiem / su ren luyen duc tin
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Original: δοκίμιον / δόκιμος
Category: Trials and the Testing of Faith
James 1:3,12 (δοκίμιον/δόκιμος). The process proving faith’s genuineness, as metal is proven by fire.
Endurance
Approved rendering: sự nhịn nhục / sự kiên trì
Transliteration: su nhin nhuc / su kien tri
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Original: ὑπομονή
Category: Trials and the Testing of Faith
James 1:3-4; 5:11 (ὑπομονή). Active endurance under pressure, producing maturity; Job is the model (5:11). Distinguish from patience_waiting (μακροθυμία, ch. 5) — endurance is under pressure, patience_waiting is toward an awaited outcome.
Perfect Mature
Approved rendering: trọn vẹn
Transliteration: tron ven
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Original: τέλειος
Category: Trials and the Testing of Faith
James 1:4,17,25; 3:2 (τέλειος). Maturity/wholeness, not flawless moral perfection achievable by human effort in a merit-accumulation sense.
Double Minded
Approved rendering: kẻ hai lòng
Transliteration: ke hai long
Doctrine: Wisdom from Above
Original: δίψυχος
Category: Wisdom from Above
James 1:8; 4:8 (δίψυχος). Inward instability opposed to the single-minded faith required to receive wisdom from God.
Rich
Approved rendering: người giàu
Transliteration: nguoi giau
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Original: πλούσιος
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
James 1:10-11; 2:6; 5:1-6 (πλούσιος). Standard term; doctrinal weight carried by surrounding warning content.
Heir
Approved rendering: kẻ kế tự
Transliteration: ke ke tu
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Original: κληρονόμος
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
James 2:5 (κληρονόμος). Inheritance status by God’s promise, not by social/economic standing.
Royal Law
Approved rendering: luật pháp cao trọng nhất
Transliteration: luat phap cao trong nhat
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Rejected alternatives: luật hoàng gia
Original: νόμος βασιλικός
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
James 2:8 (νόμος βασιλικός, the love command, Leviticus 19:18). ‘Royal’ = supreme/sovereign in authority, not a law about earthly kingship — never ‘luật hoàng gia,’ which would misdirect toward a monarchy’s legal code.
Religion
Approved rendering: sự thờ phượng thật / đạo thật
Transliteration: su tho phuong that / dao that
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Original: θρησκεία
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
James 1:26-27 (θρησκεία). Avoid a term implying institutional ritual only, which would blunt James’s redefinition of pure religion as caring for orphans/widows and moral purity.
Bridle Control
Approved rendering: cầm giữ (lưỡi mình)
Transliteration: cam giu (luoi minh)
Doctrine: Taming the Tongue
Original: χαλιναγωγέω
Category: Taming the Tongue
James 1:26; 3:2-3 (χαλιναγωγέω). Restraint/control imagery from horse-bridling, applied to controlling speech.
Fire Of Tongue
Approved rendering: lửa
Transliteration: lua
Doctrine: Taming the Tongue
Original: πῦρ
Category: Taming the Tongue
James 3:5-6 (πῦρ). The phrase ‘set on fire by hell/Gehenna’ should retain its full force as naming a source of moral corruption, not be reduced to a generic anger metaphor.
Humble Proud
Approved rendering: khiêm nhường / kiêu ngạo
Transliteration: khiem nhuong / kieu ngao
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Original: ταπεινός / ὑπερήφανος
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
James 4:6,10 (ταπεινός / ὑπερήφανος). Standard contrast: the posture God opposes (pride) versus the posture God exalts (humility).
Demons
Approved rendering: các quỉ / ma quỉ
Transliteration: cac qui / ma qui
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Rejected alternatives: thần linh
Original: δαιμόνια
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
James 2:19 (δαιμόνια). Evil spirits who believe and shudder, used to show bare doctrinal assent cannot alone be saving faith. Keep distinct from the generic Vietnamese folk category of thần linh.
Lawgiver
Approved rendering: Đấng lập luật pháp
Transliteration: Dang lap luat phap
Doctrine: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
Original: νομοθέτης
Category: Worldliness versus Friendship with God
James 4:12 (νομοθέτης). God as the one lawgiver and judge, grounding the prohibition against judging one’s neighbor.
Elder
Approved rendering: các trưởng lão (của Hội Thánh)
Transliteration: cac truong lao (cua Hoi Thanh)
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Original: πρεσβύτερος
Category: Prayer and Healing
James 5:14 (πρεσβύτερος). A recognized congregational office with a specific prayer ministry — distinguish from the general Confucian-influenced social respect owed to elders by age (kính lão).
Heal
Approved rendering: được lành bệnh
Transliteration: duoc lanh benh
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Original: ἰάομαι
Category: Prayer and Healing
James 5:16 (ἰάομαι). Specifically medical/physical sense, paired with mutual confession and prayer.
Patience Waiting
Approved rendering: sự nhịn nhục / sự kiên nhẫn (trông đợi)
Transliteration: su nhin nhuc / su kien nhan (trong doi)
Doctrine: Patience and the Lord’s Return
Original: μακροθυμία / μακροθυμέω
Category: Patience and the Lord’s Return
James 5:7-10 (μακροθυμία/μακροθυμέω). Active, hopeful waiting for the Lord’s return. Distinguish in teaching from ch. 1’s endurance-under-pressure (see endurance/ὑπομονή), even where Vietnamese vocabulary overlaps — accept the overlap and compensate with a mandatory cross-reference note rather than forcing an artificial lexical distinction.
Judge
Approved rendering: Đấng xét đoán / quan xét
Transliteration: Dang xet doan / quan xet
Doctrine: Patience and the Lord’s Return
Original: κριτής
Category: Patience and the Lord’s Return
James 5:9 (κριτής). ‘The Judge is standing at the door’ — reinforces the imminence and certainty of final judgment tied to the parousia.
Wander Err
Approved rendering: lầm lạc / lạc đường
Transliteration: lam lac / lac duong
Doctrine: Confession and Restoration
Original: πλανάω
Category: Confession and Restoration
James 5:19 (πλανάω). The state of having strayed from the truth, prior to restoration.
Soul
Approved rendering: linh hồn
Transliteration: linh hon
Doctrine: Confession and Restoration
Original: ψυχή
Category: Confession and Restoration
James 5:20 (ψυχή, positive sense: ‘save his soul from death’). Distinguish from the negative ψυχικός sense sharing the same root in James 3:15 (see earthly_natural_demonic_wisdom); both use the same root but with different values.
Low Risk Terms
Prophet
Approved rendering: tiên tri
Transliteration: tien tri
Doctrine: Patience and the Lord’s Return
Rejected alternatives: thầy bói
Original: προφήτης
Category: Patience and the Lord’s Return
Inherited from Romans package. James 5:10: the prophets cited as examples of patient suffering.
Orphan Widow
Approved rendering: kẻ mồ côi / người đàn bà góa
Transliteration: ke mo coi / nguoi dan ba goa
Doctrine: Favoritism and the Poor
Original: ὀρφανός / χήρα
Category: Favoritism and the Poor
James 1:27 (ὀρφανός / χήρα). Standard, low-risk designation for social vulnerability.
Fruit
Approved rendering: bông trái / trái
Transliteration: bong trai / trai
Doctrine: Taming the Tongue
Original: καρπός
Category: Taming the Tongue
James 3:18 (καρπός). Standard agricultural metaphor for outcome/result.
Oath Swear
Approved rendering: lời thề / thề
Transliteration: loi the / the
Doctrine: Patience and the Lord’s Return
Original: ὅρκος / ὀμνύω
Category: Patience and the Lord’s Return
James 5:12 (ὅρκος / ὀμνύω). A call to simple truthfulness needing no oath.
Abraham
Approved rendering: Áp-ra-ham
Transliteration: Ap-ra-ham
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Original: Ἀβραάμ
Category: Proper Names
James 2:21-23. Established Vietnamese Bible transliteration convention, consistent with baseline proper-name standards.
Isaac
Approved rendering: Y-sác
Transliteration: Y-sac
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Original: Ἰσαάκ
Category: Proper Names
James 2:21. Established Vietnamese Bible transliteration convention.
Rahab
Approved rendering: Ra-háp
Transliteration: Ra-hap
Doctrine: Faith and Works
Original: Ῥαάβ
Category: Proper Names
James 2:25. Established Vietnamese Bible transliteration convention, consistent with Joshua 2 and Hebrews 11:31.
Elijah
Approved rendering: Ê-li
Transliteration: E-li
Doctrine: Prayer and Healing
Original: Ἠλίας
Category: Proper Names
James 5:17-18. Established Vietnamese Bible transliteration convention; the model of effective, fervent prayer.
Job
Approved rendering: Gióp
Transliteration: Giop
Doctrine: Trials and the Testing of Faith
Original: Ἰώβ
Category: Proper Names
James 5:11. Established Vietnamese Bible transliteration convention; the exemplar of endurance under suffering.
James Author
Approved rendering: Gia-cơ
Transliteration: Gia-co
Doctrine: Cross-Cutting God-Language
Original: Ἰάκωβος
Category: Proper Names
James 1:1. Established Vietnamese Bible name for the epistle’s author and book title (Thư Gia-cơ).
Referenced passages