Core Glossary
08 Core Glossary — Revelation (English → Vietnamese)
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing theological term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, drawn from all 22 chapters of Revelation. Terms already present in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json / bible_term_registry.json are marked [Baseline reuse] and their recorded Vietnamese rendering is repeated here unchanged, with any new Revelation-specific contextual note added. New terms introduced by this curriculum are marked [New — Revelation] and must be added to translation_memory.json at the appropriate Phase 1 Step (Core Glossary / Language Package build) with the risk tier shown here.
Risk tiers follow the baseline definitions exactly:
- Critical — mistranslation destroys essential doctrine; human theologian review required for every occurrence.
- High — significant theological confusion/syncretism risk; human theologian review required.
- Medium — reduces clarity but preserves essential meaning; native speaker review recommended.
- Low — minor imprecision; automated review sufficient.
A. Baseline Terms Reused Without Change
| English Term | Vietnamese Rendering | Risk (baseline) | Revelation-Specific Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| God | Đức Chúa Trời | High/Critical | Frequent as “God Almighty” (παντοκράτωρ); reuse exactly. |
| Lord | Chúa | High/Critical | Central to “King of kings and Lord of lords” (19:16) and “Come, Lord Jesus” (22:20). |
| Jesus | Đức Chúa Giê-xu | Critical | Used throughout; “testimony of Jesus” (μαρτυρία Ἰησοῦ) is a key recurring phrase (1:2, 12:17, 19:10, 20:4). |
| Messiah / Christ | Đấng Mê-si-a (doctrinal) / Đấng Christ (proper-name form, per AI Requirements transliteration standard) | High | Reuse Đấng Christ as part of Jesus’ proper title; use Đấng Mê-si-a when the messianic concept itself is in view. |
| Holy Spirit | Đức Thánh Linh | Critical | See “seven Spirits” (ch.1) below for the new contextual risk this raises. |
| Holy | thánh | High | ”Holy city” (21:2), “holy, holy, holy” (4:8). |
| Saints | các thánh đồ | High | Never shortened to bare “các thánh”; frequent through chs. 8, 11, 13-14, 16-18, 19. |
| Church | Hội Thánh | Medium | ”The seven churches” (chs. 1-3) = “bảy Hội Thánh.” |
| Resurrection | sự sống lại | Critical | Extended by new qualifiers “firstborn of the dead” (1:5) and “the first resurrection” (20:5-6); never đầu thai/luân hồi. |
| Salvation | sự cứu rỗi | Critical | ”Salvation belongs to our God” (7:10, 19:1); never sự giải thoát. |
| Glory | sự vinh hiển | Medium | ”Glory of God” illuminating the New Jerusalem (21:11, 23). |
| Grace | ân điển | High/Critical | Closing benediction (22:21); never phước đức/công đức/ơn nghĩa. |
| Faith | đức tin | Medium | Root of “faithless” (ἄπιστος, 21:8) and “faithful and true” (πιστοὶ καὶ ἀληθινοί, 21:5). |
| Covenant | giao ước | Medium | Underlies “key of David” (3:7) and the 21:7 sonship formula (echoes 2 Sam 7:14). |
| Gentiles / Nations | dân ngoại | Medium | ”Great multitude” from every nation (7:9); “the nations” healed by the tree of life (22:2). |
| Kingdom of God | Nước Đức Chúa Trời | Medium | ”The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord” (11:15). |
| David | Đa-vít | Medium | ”Key of David” (3:7), “Root of David” (5:5, 22:16). |
| Seed of David | dòng dõi Đa-vít | Medium | ”The Root and Offspring of David” (22:16). |
| Sin | tội lỗi | Medium | Underlies the vice-list of the excluded (21:8, 22:15). |
| Power of God | quyền năng của Đức Chúa Trời | Medium | Underlies παντοκράτωρ contexts. |
| Church as God’s People | (doctrine) | Medium | Applies to the 24 elders, living creatures, and multinational multitude scenes. |
| Adoption | sự làm con nuôi | High | Underlies 21:7’s “he will be my son.” |
| Father | Cha | High | Implicit throughout the sonship/covenant-formula language of 21:3, 7. |
| Prophet / Prophecy | tiên tri / lời tiên tri | Low | Underlies “false prophet” (ψευδοπροφήτης) — see new term below. |
| Amen | A-men | Low | Frequent liturgical response (1:6-7, 5:14, 7:12, 19:4, 22:20-21). |
| Hallelujah | Ha-lê-lu-gia | Low | Rev 19:1, 3, 4, 6 — its only NT occurrence as a transliterated exclamation. |
B. New Terms Introduced by Revelation
Christology & the Lamb
| English Term | Vietnamese | Risk | Original (Greek) | Transliteration | Definition | Notes / Rejected Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Lamb | Chiên Con | Critical | ἀρνίον | arnion | Christ’s dominant Christological title in Revelation, uniting sacrificial gentleness and conquering kingship | Established Vietnamese Bible term; must always be capitalized as a divine title; never conflated with “con chiên” as a generic term for an ordinary believer. |
| Slain (of the Lamb) | đã bị giết | High | ἐσφαγμένον | esphagmenon | The Lamb’s visible marks of sacrificial death, even in exaltation | Atonement and enthronement inseparable; do not soften into mere “wounded.” |
| Word of God (title) | Ngôi Lời của Đức Chúa Trời | Critical | Λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ | Logos tou Theou | Christ’s self-revealing, personal identity as God’s Word (19:13) | Must be rendered consistently with baseline “incarnation” entry (Ngôi Lời trở nên xác thịt). |
| King of kings and Lord of lords | Vua của các vua, Chúa của các chúa | Critical | βασιλεὺς βασιλέων καὶ κύριος κυρίων | basileus basileōn kai kyrios kyriōn | Christ’s supreme, exclusive, universal sovereignty (17:14, 19:16) | Cross-document consistency priority equal to Rom 10:9. |
| Son of Man | Con Người | High | υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου | huios anthrōpou | Danielic messianic self-designation, denoting exalted authority (1:13) | Anchor to Daniel 7 background; not “merely human.” |
| Morning Star | sao mai / sao mai sáng chói | Medium | ἀστὴρ ὁ πρωϊνός | astēr ho prōinos | Reward-image (2:28) later revealed as Christ’s own title (22:16) | Distinguish from folk astrological/fortune-telling associations. |
| I am coming quickly | Ta đến mau chóng | Critical | ἔρχομαι ταχύ | erchomai tachy | Christ’s repeated, imminent-return announcement (22:7,12,20) | Consistency priority equal to Rom 8:28/10:9. |
| Come, Lord Jesus! | Lạy Đức Chúa Giê-xu, xin hãy đến! | Critical | Ἔρχου, Κύριε Ἰησοῦ | Erchou, Kyrie Iēsou | The Church’s climactic prayer of longing for Christ’s return (22:20) | Preserve Κύριε as Chúa; verbatim consistency across all documents. |
God, the Holy Spirit, and Sovereignty
| English Term | Vietnamese | Risk | Original (Greek) | Transliteration | Definition | Notes / Rejected Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Almighty | Đấng Toàn Năng | Medium | παντοκράτωρ | pantokratōr | Absolute, unopposed divine sovereignty | Ties Sovereignty of God over History doctrine. |
| Throne | ngai | Medium | θρόνος | thronos | Seat of divine/royal authority; the book’s central recurring symbol | Distinguish from a merely generic royal-court image. |
| The Seven Spirits | bảy Thánh Linh | Critical | τὰ ἑπτὰ πνεύματα | ta hepta pneumata | Symbolic (sevenfold-complete) depiction of the one Holy Spirit before God’s throne | NEVER bare “thần”/“thần linh” (forbidden per baseline Holy Spirit entry); must be tied explicitly to Đức Thánh Linh, not a folk-pantheon of spirits. |
| One seated on the throne | Đấng ngồi trên ngai | High | ὁ καθήμενος ἐπὶ τῷ θρόνῳ | ho kathēmenos epi tō thronō | Recurring divine title for God the sovereign ruler | Maintain consistently across 4:2-10:5:1-13; 6:16; 7:10-15; 19:4; 20:11; 21:5. |
| Mystery of God | sự mầu nhiệm của Đức Chúa Trời | Medium | μυστήριον τοῦ θεοῦ | mystērion tou theou | God’s previously hidden, now-disclosed redemptive plan | Distinguish from esoteric/occult “mystery” categories. |
| I make all things new | Ta làm mới lại hết thảy mọi sự | Critical | καινὰ ποιῶ πάντα | kaina poiō panta | God’s first-person declaration of total re-creation (21:5) | Must retain first-person, present-tense divine speech. |
Salvation, Judgment & Eschatology
| English Term | Vietnamese | Risk | Original (Greek) | Transliteration | Definition | Notes / Rejected Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New heaven and new earth | trời mới và đất mới | Critical | οὐρανὸν καινὸν καὶ γῆν καινήν | ouranon kainon kai gēn kainēn | Total, qualitative re-creation of the cosmos, descending from God | NEVER framed as ascent to a Pure-Land-style paradise attained by merit; God’s action comes down to a renewed earth. |
| New Jerusalem | Giê-ru-sa-lem mới | Critical | Ἰερουσαλὴμ καινή | Ierousalēm kainē | The eschatological, heavenly capital, God’s people gathered and fulfilled | Not a generic “heavenly paradise” interchangeable with the Pure Land. |
| The sea (symbolic) | biển | High | θάλασσα | thalassa | Symbol of chaos, threat, evil’s origin, separation, eliminated in 21:1 | Collision risk with Vietnamese coastal sea-spirit veneration (cá Ông, Bà Thủy); teach as symbolic, not literal geography or a contest with folk sea-deities. |
| Second death | sự chết thứ hai | Critical | ὁ θάνατος ὁ δεύτερος | ho thanatos ho deuteros | Final, irreversible spiritual death of the unrepentant (20:6,14; 21:8) | Never framed as one stage of an ongoing death-rebirth cycle. |
| Lake of fire | hồ lửa | Critical | λίμνη τοῦ πυρός (καὶ θείου) | limnē tou pyros (kai theiou) | Final, unending judgment (19:20; 20:10,14-15; 21:8) | Distinguish from temporary, cyclical Buddhist/Taoist hells (địa ngục); this is non-cyclical and final. |
| Book of life | sách sự sống | Critical | βιβλίον/βίβλος τῆς ζωῆς | biblion/biblos tēs zōēs | God’s gracious registry of the redeemed (3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 20:12,15; 21:27) | Distinguish sharply from the Taoist/folk-Buddhist “sổ sinh tử” (karmic register of life/death kept by the underworld bureaucracy). |
| Great white throne | ngai lớn và trắng | High | θρόνος λευκὸς μέγας | thronos leukos megas | Final, universal judgment scene (20:11) | Ties Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints. |
| Hades | Âm phủ | Critical | Ἅιδης | Hadēs | Temporary abode of the dead, itself destroyed at final judgment (20:14) | Direct collision with the folk/Taoist underworld bureaucracy (Diêm Vương, karmic ledgers); must be taught as temporary and non-ultimate. |
| The thousand years / millennium | một ngàn năm | High | χίλια ἔτη | chilia etē | A bounded period of Satan’s restraint and the saints’ reign with Christ (ch.20) | Render neutrally (no forced millennial position); distinguish from cyclical Buddhist kalpas. |
| First resurrection | sự sống lại thứ nhất | Critical | ἀνάστασις ἡ πρώτη | anastasis hē prōtē | The blessed resurrection-status of those who reign with Christ (20:5-6) | Not a cycle of rebirths — a stage within the one, non-repeating resurrection event. |
| Curse (reversal of) | sự rủa sả | Medium | κατάρα | katara | The Genesis 3 curse, finally and totally reversed (22:3) | Bookends the whole biblical storyline. |
| Blessed | phước cho | Medium | μακάριος | makarios | Divine favor/well-being pronounced on those ready for Christ’s return | Distinguish from mere circumstantial luck. |
The Church, Worship, and the Bride
| English Term | Vietnamese | Risk | Original (Greek) | Transliteration | Definition | Notes / Rejected Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| To worship (bow down) | thờ phượng | High | προσκυνέω | proskyneō | Physical/spiritual submission and adoration, reserved exclusively for God/the Lamb | ”Thờ” shares its root with ancestor worship (thờ cúng tổ tiên) and folk-temple worship; must be taught as exclusive, contrasted with idolatry and worship of the beast. |
| To serve/worship (cultic service) | hầu việc / thờ phượng | Medium | λατρεύω | latreuō | Ongoing cultic/priestly service (22:3) | Technical nuance vs. προσκυνέω; footnote-level distinction only. |
| Bride | cô dâu | Critical | νύμφη | nymphē | The Church/New Jerusalem prepared for consummated union with Christ (19:7; 21:2,9) | Must not be assimilated to the Confucian bridal pattern of absorption into a husband’s ancestor-worship duties; the Bride’s status is grace-given. |
| Marriage/wedding of the Lamb | tiệc cưới Chiên Con | Critical | γάμος τοῦ ἀρνίου | gamos tou arniou | The climactic covenant-consummation image (19:7,9) | Central to Church as Bride of Christ doctrine. |
| Elders (24) | các trưởng lão | High | πρεσβύτεροι | presbyteroi | Representative heavenly worship-leaders | Distinguish from Confucian ancestor/elder veneration; these elders direct all praise to God. |
| Living creatures | các sinh vật | Medium | ζῷα | zōa | Four symbolic creatures representing all creation’s worship | Echoes Ezekiel 1/Isaiah 6. |
| Priests (believers as) | thầy tế lễ / chức tế lễ | High | ἱερεῖς | hiereis | Every believer’s direct, mediated-through-Christ access to God | Distinguish from Buddhist monastic clergy and folk ritual specialists (thầy cúng). |
| New song | bài ca mới | Low | ᾆσμα καινόν | asma kainon | Fresh hymn responding to a decisive divine act | — |
Testimony, Perseverance, and the Overcomer
| English Term | Vietnamese | Risk | Original (Greek) | Transliteration | Definition | Notes / Rejected Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Testimony | lời chứng | High | μαρτυρία | martyria | Faithful proclamation of the truth about Jesus, maintained under threat | Central to Perseverance and Faithful Witness under Persecution. |
| Witness(es) | chứng nhân | High | μάρτυς / μάρτυρες | martys / martyres | Those who testify to Christ, sometimes unto death (11:3; ch.1) | Distinguish from “người tử đạo” (martyr) and secular hero-veneration categories (e.g., liệt sĩ). |
| The one who overcomes | kẻ đắc thắng | High | ὁ νικῶν | ho nikōn | The persevering believer who prevails through faith to the end | Victory achieved through Christ’s blood and testimony (12:11), not self-achieved attainment akin to Buddhist self-liberation. |
| Great tribulation | hoạn nạn (cơn hoạn nạn lớn) | High | θλῖψις (ἡ μεγάλη) | thlipsis (hē megalē) | Severe suffering/persecution endured by the faithful before vindication | — |
| Patient endurance of the saints | sự nhịn nhục của các thánh đồ | High | ὑπομονή τῶν ἁγίων | hypomonē tōn hagiōn | Steadfast perseverance under trial (13:10, 14:12) | Direct statement of the Perseverance doctrine. |
| They overcame by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony | họ đã thắng nó bởi huyết Chiên Con và bởi lời chứng của mình | Critical | ἐνίκησαν αὐτὸν διὰ τὸ αἷμα τοῦ ἀρνίου καὶ διὰ τὸν λόγον τῆς μαρτυρίας αὐτῶν | enikēsan auton dia to haima tou arniou kai dia ton logon tēs martyrias autōn | The doctrinal hinge uniting atonement, testimony, and victory (12:11) | Cross-document consistency priority. |
Satan, the Beast, and Evil (High Cultural-Collision Cluster)
| English Term | Vietnamese | Risk | Original (Greek) | Transliteration | Definition | Notes / Rejected Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The dragon | con rồng | Critical | δράκων | drakōn | Satan’s identity as cosmic monster-adversary (12:9) | Highest-severity cultural collision in the book. Collides directly with the Vietnamese national-origin symbol “con Rồng cháu Tiên” and the dragon’s status as a sacred, auspicious, imperial emblem. Established Bible tradition retains “con rồng”; every occurrence requires a mandatory explicit teaching note distinguishing this specific monstrous, satanic figure from the benevolent cultural dragon. |
| Satan / the devil | Sa-tan / ma quỷ | High | Σατανᾶς / διάβολος | Satanas / diabolos | The personal, cosmic adversary of God, defeated by Christ | Not a metaphor for misfortune (colloquial “quỷ”) nor one spirit among a folk-pantheon. |
| Accuser | kẻ kiện cáo | Medium | κατήγορος | katēgoros | Satan’s now-ended legal/forensic role | — |
| The beast | con thú | Critical | θηρίον | thērion | Satanically-empowered worldly power/empire opposing God (chs. 11,13,17,19,20) | Symbolic apocalyptic figure; caution against speculative single-identity modern application. |
| Mark of the beast | dấu (dấu của con thú) | Critical | χάραγμα | charagma | A mark of allegiance to the beast, inverse of God’s seal on his people | Keep symbolic; distinguish from folk protective talismans (bùa). |
| Image of the beast | hình tượng của con thú | High | εἰκὼν τοῦ θηρίου | eikōn tou thēriou | An idol-image compelling worship of the beast | Collision risk with image/statue veneration in folk-temple and ancestor-altar practice. |
| 666 | (con số) sáu trăm sáu mươi sáu (666) | High | ἑξακόσιοι ἑξήκοντα ἕξ | hexakosioi hexēkonta hex | Symbolic numeral marking incomplete, rebellious humanity opposing the divine “7” | Requires interpretive caution against speculative modern identification. |
| Babylon the great | Ba-by-lôn lớn | High | Βαβυλὼν ἡ μεγάλη | Babylōn hē megalē | Symbolic name for the entire corrupt, God-opposing world-system | Not narrowly identified with any single ancient or modern nation without qualification. |
| The great harlot | đại dâm phụ / kẻ đại gian dâm | High | πόρνη ἡ μεγάλη | pornē hē megalē | Personified corporate idolatry/spiritual unfaithfulness seducing the nations | Not reducible to individual sexual sin alone. |
| False prophet | tiên tri giả | Medium | ψευδοπροφήτης | pseudoprophētēs | The beast’s religious enforcer, empowering idolatry | Reuse baseline “prophet” + negating qualifier. |
| Sorcerer | thuật sĩ / kẻ dùng tà thuật | High | φαρμακός | pharmakos | One practicing occult/magical manipulation apart from God | Collides with lingering practice of consulting thầy pháp/phù thủy and using bùa chú. |
| Idolater | kẻ thờ hình tượng | High | εἰδωλολάτρης | eidōlolatrēs | One who worships images/idols instead of God | Requires pastoral sensitivity given prevalence of image veneration on Vietnamese ancestor altars and in folk temples. |
| Abyss | vực sâu không đáy | High | ἄβυσσος | abyssos | Temporary prison for demonic forces, bounded by God’s sovereignty | Distinguish from cyclical, karmic Buddhist hell-realms (địa ngục). |
| Apollyon | A-bô-ly-ôn | Low | Ἀπολλύων | Apollyōn | Proper name of the abyss’s angel/king | Transliterated proper name. |
| Wormwood | Ngải cứu | Low | ἄψινθος | apsinthos | Proper/symbolic name of a bitter judgment-star | — |
| Armageddon | Ha-ma-ghê-đôn | Medium | Ἁρμαγεδών | Harmagedōn | Symbolic place of final gathering of hostile powers | Avoid literalistic modern military identification. |
| Blaspheme | nói phạm đến | Medium | βλασφημέω | blasphēmeō | Contemptuous disrespect against God’s name/character | — |
Vice-List Terms (Revelation 21:8; 22:15)
| English Term | Vietnamese | Risk | Original (Greek) | Transliteration | Definition | Notes / Rejected Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cowardly | kẻ nhút nhát | Medium | δειλός | deilos | Fearful failure to persevere/confess faith | Opposite of “the one who overcomes.” |
| Faithless / unbelieving | kẻ chẳng tin / vô tín | High | ἄπιστος | apistos | Lacking saving trust in Christ | Direct antonym of baseline “faith” (đức tin). |
| Detestable / abominable | kẻ đáng gớm ghiếc | Medium | ἐβδελυγμένος | ebdelygmenos | Morally repulsive conduct, often idolatry-associated in OT usage | — |
| Murderer | kẻ giết người | Low | φονεύς | phoneus | One who unlawfully kills | — |
| Sexually immoral | kẻ gian dâm | Medium | πόρνος | pornos | Sexual immorality, also symbolic of spiritual unfaithfulness | Connects to “the great harlot” imagery. |
| Liar | kẻ nói dối | Low | ψεύστης | pseustēs | One who speaks falsehood | Contrasted with “words faithful and true” (21:5). |
| Inherit | được hưởng làm cơ nghiệp | High | κληρονομέω | klēronomeō | To receive as an heir, a legal/familial right | Ties baseline “adoption” doctrine. |
Symbolic/Apocalyptic Numbers, Places, and Objects
| English Term | Vietnamese | Risk | Original (Greek) | Transliteration | Definition | Notes / Rejected Alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revelation / apocalypse | sự mặc thị | Medium | ἀποκάλυψις | apokalypsis | Divine disclosure of hidden truth (book’s title/genre) | Anchor as divine disclosure, not esoteric personal enlightenment. |
| Seal | ấn | Medium | σφραγίς | sphragis | A securing mark; a stage of God’s unfolding plan (chs. 5-8) | — |
| Trumpet | kèn | Low | σάλπιγξ | salpinx | Battle/announcement horn signaling judgment-stages (chs. 8-11) | — |
| Bowl | chén | Low | φιάλη | phialē | Vessel for pouring out final judgments (chs. 15-16) | — |
| 144,000 (sealed) | 144.000 (những người được đóng ấn) | Medium | οἱ ἑκατὸν τεσσεράκοντα τέσσαρες χιλιάδες, ἐσφραγισμένοι | hoi hekaton tesserakonta tessares chiliades, esphragismenoi | Symbolic, complete number of God’s protected covenant people | Symbolic completeness, not a strict headcount. |
| Great multitude | đoàn lũ rất lớn | Medium | ὄχλος πολύς | ochlos polys | Uncountable multitude from every nation, redeemed | Universal scope of salvation. |
| Wine of the wrath of God | rượu của sự thịnh nộ của Đức Chúa Trời | High | οἶνος τοῦ θυμοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ | oinos tou thymou tou theou | Full measure of God’s righteous judgment poured out | Ties Judgment of the Wicked doctrine. |
| Wrath of the Lamb | cơn thịnh nộ của Chiên Con | High | ὀργὴ τοῦ ἀρνίου | orgē tou arniou | The gentle, slain Lamb’s righteous judicial wrath | Must not resolve the gentleness/wrath pairing away. |
| Harvest | mùa gặt | Medium | θερισμός | therismos | Final ingathering/separation of righteous and wicked | — |
| Tree of life | cây sự sống | Medium | ξύλον τῆς ζωῆς | xylon tēs zōēs | Edenic tree; restored, universally healing access to eternal life (2:7; 22:2,14,19) | Reversal of Genesis 3 exclusion. |
| River/water of life | sông nước sự sống / nước sự sống | High | ποταμὸς/ὕδωρ τῆς ζωῆς | potamos/hydōr tēs zōēs | Life flowing directly from God/the Lamb’s throne (21:6; 22:1) | Distinguish from Pure Land jeweled-pond imagery attained by merit; here it is freely given (δωρεάν) from a personal, sovereign source. |
| Freely (without cost) | nhưng không | High | δωρεάν | dōrean | Grace-language: given without payment or merit | Preserves baseline Grace’s merit-contrast. |
| Foundations / gates | các nền / các cửa | Medium | θεμέλιοι / πύλαι | themelioi / pylai | Twelve foundations (apostles) and gates (tribes) of the New Jerusalem | Unites OT Israel and NT apostolic foundation. |
| Eternal gospel | Tin Lành đời đời | Medium | εὐαγγέλιον αἰώνιον | euangelion aiōnion | The unchanging gospel proclaimed even amid final judgment | Reuses baseline “gospel” + qualifier. |
| Words faithful and true | những lời này là trung tín và chân thật | High | λόγοι πιστοὶ καὶ ἀληθινοί | logoi pistoi kai alēthinoi | The certainty of God’s restoration-promise (21:5) | Root-connected to but distinct from đức tin (personal trust). |
| It is done | Xong rồi! / Đã hoàn thành! | High | γέγοναν | gegonan | Completed, settled consummation of God’s redemptive plan (21:6) | Echoes Christ’s cross-word “It is finished.” |
| Alpha and Omega | An-pha và Ô-mê-ga | Low | Ἄλφα καὶ τὸ Ὦ | Alpha kai to Ō | Merism for Christ’s/God’s total eternality and sovereignty (1:8; 21:6; 22:13) | Transliterated; keep consistent across all three occurrences. |
| Beginning and end | là đầu tiên và cuối cùng | Low | ἡ ἀρχὴ καὶ τὸ τέλος | hē archē kai to telos | Plain-Greek restatement of Alpha/Omega | — |
| Lament | lời than vãn | Low | θρῆνος | thrēnos | Funeral dirge over Babylon’s fall (ch.18) | Contrasted with heaven’s rejoicing. |
| Song of Moses and the Lamb | bài ca của Môi-se và bài ca của Chiên Con | Medium | ᾆσμα Μωϋσέως καὶ τὸ ᾆσμα τοῦ ἀρνίου | asma Mōuseōs kai to asma tou arniou | United hymn of Exodus deliverance and the Lamb’s redemption | Continuity of OT/NT redemptive history. |
Cross-Reference Note
This glossary must be merged into an updated translation_memory.json (version increment) before Phase 2 segment translation of any Revelation material begins, per the AI Requirements document’s Translation Memory Load and Enforcement Instructions. All Critical and High risk terms above require human theologian review per the Doctrine Risk Registry conventions; the highest-priority items for that review are:
- δράκων / con rồng (dragon) — unparalleled cultural-collision severity given Vietnamese national dragon symbolism.
- βιβλίον τῆς ζωῆς / sách sự sống (book of life) and Ἅιδης / Âm phủ (Hades) — collision with the folk/Taoist underworld ledger-and-bureaucracy cosmology.
- λίμνη τοῦ πυρός / hồ lửa (lake of fire) and ὁ θάνατος ὁ δεύτερος / sự chết thứ hai (second death) — collision with cyclical, karmic Buddhist hell cosmology.
- ἀρνίον / Chiên Con (the Lamb), γάμος τοῦ ἀρνίου / tiệc cưới Chiên Con (marriage of the Lamb), and νύμφη / cô dâu (bride) — central to the Church as Bride of Christ doctrine.
- βασιλεὺς βασιλέων καὶ κύριος κυρίων and ἔρχομαι ταχύ / Ta đến mau chóng and Ἔρχου, Κύριε Ἰησοῦ — central to the Return and Reign of Christ doctrine, requiring the same cross-document consistency priority the baseline assigns to Romans 8:28 and 10:9.
Critical Risk Terms
Salvation
Approved rendering: sự cứu rỗi
Transliteration: su cuu roi
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: sự giải thoát
Original: σωτηρία
Category: Salvation
[Inherited from Romans package.] CRITICAL: NEVER use sự giải thoát (Buddhist liberation from rebirth). Sự cứu rỗi = deliverance BY God THROUGH Christ. Revelation context: declared corporately in heaven’s praise, ‘Salvation belongs to our God’ (7:10; 19:1).
Resurrection
Approved rendering: sự sống lại
Transliteration: su song lai
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: sự đầu thai, luân hồi
Original: ἀνάστασις
Category: Eschatology
[Inherited from Romans package.] CRITICAL: NEVER use sự đầu thai or luân hồi. Revelation context: extended by ‘firstborn of the dead’ (1:5) and ‘the first resurrection’ (20:5-6, see first_resurrection entry) — the qualifier ‘first’ marks sequence within one non-repeating event, never a cycle of rebirths.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: Con Đức Chúa Trời
Transliteration: Con Duc Chua Troi
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
[Inherited from Romans package.] Full phrase required. Revelation context: underlies the sonship-formula echo of 2 Samuel 7:14 in Revelation 21:7, ‘he will be my son’ — every overcoming believer’s adoption, not a title claimed by a deified ancestor/folk-hero spirit.
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.] CRITICAL: NEVER use hóa thân alone. Revelation context: must be rendered consistently with the title ‘Word of God’ (Ngôi Lời của Đức Chúa Trời, 19:13) applied to the conquering rider, so learners connect Christ’s first coming (John 1:14) to his return in judgment.
Jesus
Approved rendering: Đức Chúa Giê-xu
Transliteration: Duc Chua Gie-xu
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
[Inherited from Romans package.] CRITICAL: Standard Vietnamese Protestant Bible form. Revelation context: recurs in ‘the testimony of Jesus’ (μαρτυρία Ἰησοῦ, 1:2; 12:17; 19:10; 20:4) and within the direct address ‘Come, Lord Jesus’ (22:20) — keep consistent across every occurrence.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Đức Thánh Linh
Transliteration: Duc Thanh Linh
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: thần linh
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον
Category: God
[Inherited from Romans package.] CRITICAL: Never use bare thần linh. Revelation context: depicted as ‘the seven Spirits before the throne’ (see seven_spirits entry) — every occurrence of that symbolic form must still be tied explicitly back to this one entry’s Đức Thánh Linh.
Lamb
Approved rendering: Chiên Con
Transliteration: Chien Con
Doctrine: Worship of the Lamb
Rejected alternatives: con chiên (generic Vietnamese Christian self-designation for an ordinary believer)
Original: ἀρνίον
Category: Christology
Christ’s dominant Christological title in Revelation (~28 occurrences), uniting sacrificial gentleness with conquering kingship. Established Vietnamese Bible term; must always be capitalized as a divine title and never conflated with ‘con chiên.‘
Word Of God Title
Approved rendering: Ngôi Lời của Đức Chúa Trời
Transliteration: Ngoi Loi cua Duc Chua Troi
Doctrine: Deity and Sonship of Christ in Revelation
Original: ὁ Λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ
Category: Christology
A title for Christ as God’s self-revealing, personal Word, applied to the conquering rider (19:13). Must be rendered consistently with the baseline incarnation entry’s ‘Ngôi Lời trở nên xác thịt’ so learners connect Christ’s first coming (John 1:14) to his return in judgment.
King Of Kings Lord Of Lords
Approved rendering: Vua của các vua, Chúa của các chúa
Transliteration: Vua cua cac vua, Chua cua cac chua
Doctrine: The Return and Reign of Christ
Original: βασιλεὺς βασιλέων καὶ κύριος κυρίων
Category: Christology
Christ’s supreme, exclusive, universal sovereignty (17:14; 19:16). Requires the same verbatim cross-document consistency priority the baseline assigns to Romans 10:9. Guard against a feudal reading through the historical Vietnamese chúa Trịnh/chúa Nguyễn political vocabulary — this is a unique, cosmic, exclusive claim, not first-among-equals feudal lordship.
Coming Quickly
Approved rendering: Ta đến mau chóng
Transliteration: Ta den mau chong
Doctrine: The Return and Reign of Christ
Original: ἔρχομαι ταχύ
Category: Eschatology
Christ’s repeated, climactic self-announcement of his imminent return (22:7, 12, 20). Must not be softened into a vague, indefinite hope; carries the same cross-document consistency priority the baseline assigns to Romans 8:28 and 10:9.
Come Lord Jesus
Approved rendering: Lạy Đức Chúa Giê-xu, xin hãy đến!
Transliteration: Lay Duc Chua Gie-xu, xin hay den!
Doctrine: The Return and Reign of Christ
Original: Ἔρχου, Κύριε Ἰησοῦ
Category: Eschatology
The Church’s climactic responsive prayer for Christ’s return (22:20), echoing the Aramaic ‘Marana tha’ (1 Cor 16:22). Must preserve Κύριε as Chúa within the direct address; treat with the same verbatim, cross-document consistency priority as Romans 10:9-10.
Seven Spirits
Approved rendering: bảy Thánh Linh
Transliteration: bay Thanh Linh
Doctrine: The Holy Spirit and the Seven Spirits before the Throne
Rejected alternatives: thần, thần linh
Original: τὰ ἑπτὰ πνεύματα
Category: God
A symbolic (sevenfold-complete), not numerically literal, depiction of the one Holy Spirit before God’s throne (1:4; 3:1; 4:5; 5:6). NEVER bare ‘thần’/‘thần linh’ (the forbidden folk-spirit category). Every occurrence requires a teaching note that this is Đức Thánh Linh in complete, sevenfold-symbolized fullness, not a folk-pantheon of multiple spirits.
Making All Things New
Approved rendering: Ta làm mới lại hết thảy mọi sự
Transliteration: Ta lam moi lai het thay moi su
Doctrine: The New Heaven and New Earth
Original: καινὰ ποιῶ πάντα
Category: Eschatology
God’s own first-person, present-tense declaration of total re-creation (21:5). Must retain first-person divine speech and present-tense immediacy; must not be rendered as a future hope only loosely connected to God’s own agency.
New Heaven New Earth
Approved rendering: trời mới và đất mới
Transliteration: troi moi va dat moi
Doctrine: The New Heaven and New Earth
Rejected alternatives: framing as ascent to a Pure-Land-style paradise (Tây Phương Cực Lạc) attained by merit — rejected as underlying interpretive model, not a lexical alternative
Original: οὐρανὸν καινὸν καὶ γῆν καινήν
Category: Eschatology
CORE PASSAGE TERM. Total, qualitative re-creation of the cosmos (21:1), replacing the first heaven and earth. Must never be framed as an ascent to or rebirth into a merit-attained paradise; God’s action comes down to a renewed earth. Highest cross-document consistency priority in the curriculum.
New Jerusalem
Approved rendering: Giê-ru-sa-lem mới
Transliteration: Gie-ru-sa-lem moi
Doctrine: The New Heaven and New Earth
Original: Ἰερουσαλὴμ καινή
Category: Eschatology
CORE PASSAGE TERM. The eschatological, heavenly capital descending from God, God’s people gathered and fulfilled (21:2, 9-27). Must not be flattened into a generic ‘heavenly paradise’ interchangeable with the Pure Land.
Second Death
Approved rendering: sự chết thứ hai
Transliteration: su chet thu hai
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Rejected alternatives: framing as a stage preceding rebirth (đầu thai) — rejected
Original: ὁ θάνατος ὁ δεύτερος
Category: Eschatology
The final, irreversible spiritual death of the unrepentant (2:11; 20:6, 14; 21:8). Must never be framed as one stage of an ongoing death-and-rebirth cycle; it is the terminal, unrepeatable judgment outcome.
Lake Of Fire
Approved rendering: hồ lửa
Transliteration: ho lua
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Rejected alternatives: địa ngục (cyclical, multi-tiered Buddhist/Taoist hell realms)
Original: λίμνη τοῦ πυρός (καὶ θείου)
Category: Judgment
Apocalyptic image of final, everlasting judgment (19:20; 20:10, 14-15; 21:8). Must be distinguished from the cyclical, karmic hell realms (địa ngục) of Vietnamese folk cosmology; this is final and non-cyclical.
Book Of Life
Approved rendering: sách sự sống
Transliteration: sach su song
Doctrine: Final Judgment, Hades, and the Book of Life
Rejected alternatives: sổ sinh tử (karmic life-death register kept by the underworld bureaucracy)
Original: βιβλίον/βίβλος τῆς ζωῆς
Category: Judgment
God’s gracious registry of those granted eternal life through the Lamb (3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 20:12, 15; 21:27). Direct collision risk with ‘sổ sinh tử’; requires explicit teaching that this book records grace-given inclusion, not karmic merit-accounting toward reincarnation. Never use any rendering containing ‘sổ’ (ledger/register).
Hades
Approved rendering: Âm phủ
Transliteration: Am phu
Doctrine: Final Judgment, Hades, and the Book of Life
Original: Ἅιδης
Category: Judgment
The temporary abode of the dead prior to final judgment, itself finally cast into the lake of fire (1:18; 6:8; 20:13-14). Direct collision with the Taoist/folk-Buddhist underworld bureaucracy (Diêm Vương’s courts, karmic ledgers, possibility of rebirth). Requires explicit teaching that biblical Âm phủ is temporary and non-ultimate, destroyed at final judgment, not an eternal self-operating bureaucracy.
First Resurrection
Approved rendering: sự sống lại thứ nhất
Transliteration: su song lai thu nhat
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Original: ἀνάστασις ἡ πρώτη
Category: Eschatology
The blessed resurrection-status of those who reign with Christ, ahead of the final resurrection/judgment (20:5-6). Must not be read as implying a cycle of multiple future rebirths; ‘first’ marks sequence within the single, non-repeating resurrection event.
Bride
Approved rendering: cô dâu
Transliteration: co dau
Doctrine: The Church as Bride of Christ
Original: νύμφη
Category: Church
The Church/New Jerusalem prepared for consummated union with Christ (19:7; 21:2, 9). Must not be assimilated to the traditional Vietnamese bridal pattern of absorption into a husband’s family’s ancestor-worship duties (thờ cúng tổ tiên); the Bride’s identity and glory come from her Bridegroom’s grace and are given, not owed in return.
Marriage Of The Lamb
Approved rendering: tiệc cưới Chiên Con
Transliteration: tiec cuoi Chien Con
Doctrine: Marriage Supper of the Lamb and Consummation
Original: γάμος τοῦ ἀρνίου
Category: Church
The climactic covenant-consummation image of Christ’s union with his redeemed people (19:7, 9). Must be kept distinct from ordinary Vietnamese wedding-feast customs oriented toward family-lineage continuation and ancestor-honoring obligations.
Overcame By Blood And Testimony
Approved rendering: họ đã thắng nó bởi huyết Chiên Con và bởi lời chứng của mình
Transliteration: ho da thang no boi huyet Chien Con va boi loi chung cua minh
Doctrine: Assurance of God’s Final Victory over Evil
Original: ἐνίκησαν αὐτὸν διὰ τὸ αἷμα τοῦ ἀρνίου καὶ διὰ τὸν λόγον τῆς μαρτυρίας αὐτῶν
Category: Perseverance
The doctrinal hinge uniting Christ’s atonement, believers’ testimony, and final victory over Satan (12:11). Cross-document consistency priority equal to the baseline’s treatment of Romans 8:28/10:9.
Dragon
Approved rendering: con rồng
Transliteration: con rong
Doctrine: Identity and Defeat of Satan
Rejected alternatives: quái vật (generic ‘monster’ — rejected because it would erase the text’s deliberate irony of reversing a normally positive symbol)
Original: δράκων (ὁ δράκων ὁ μέγας)
Category: Evil/Satanology
HIGHEST-SEVERITY CULTURAL COLLISION IN THE ENTIRE CURRICULUM. Satan’s identity as cosmic serpent-monster adversary, explicitly identified in 12:9 as ‘that ancient serpent… the Devil, and Satan.’ Collides directly with Vietnam’s sacred national-origin legend (‘con Rồng cháu Tiên,’ children of the Dragon and the Fairy) and imperial/auspicious dragon iconography. Established Vietnamese Bible tradition retains ‘con rồng’; every occurrence (12:3-17; 13:2,4,11; 16:13; 20:2) requires a mandatory, explicit teaching note distinguishing this specific monstrous, satanic figure from the benevolent cultural dragon symbol, which the text does not address.
Beast
Approved rendering: con thú
Transliteration: con thu
Doctrine: The Beast and Idolatrous Worship of the Beast
Original: θηρίον
Category: Evil/Satanology
A satanically-empowered political/religious system given derived (not ultimate) authority by the dragon, opposing God’s people (chs.11,13,17,19,20). Must be taught as a symbolic apocalyptic figure representing satanically-aligned worldly power/empire, not merely ‘an animal’; must not be trivialized nor collapsed into a single modern political identification.
Mark Of The Beast
Approved rendering: dấu (dấu của con thú)
Transliteration: dau (dau cua con thu)
Doctrine: The Beast and Idolatrous Worship of the Beast
Rejected alternatives: bùa (a neutral folk protective talisman)
Original: χάραγμα
Category: Evil/Satanology
A mark of allegiance to the beast, inversely parallel to God’s seal on his own people (13:16-17; 14:9-11; 16:2; 19:20; 20:4). Keep symbolic, not forced onto any specific real-world technology/document; distinguish from folk protective talismans (bùa) — this mark signifies allegiance to evil, not a neutral protective charm.
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.] Never use phước đức or công đức (accumulated merit in Buddhist practice) or ơn nghĩa (a reciprocal-debt favor). Ân điển must be taught as a gift creating no debt to repay. Revelation context: grounds the book’s closing benediction (22:21) and the ‘freely given’ water of life (21:6; 22:17) — see freely_dorean entry.
Saints
Approved rendering: các thánh đồ
Transliteration: cac thanh do
Doctrine: Sainthood
Rejected alternatives: các thánh
Original: ἅγιοι
Category: Church
[Inherited from Romans package.] Never shorten to bare các thánh (deified folk heroes worshipped at temples). Revelation context: extremely frequent corporate designation (8:3-4; 11:18; 13:7,10; 14:12; 16:6; 17:6; 18:24; 19:8; 20:9).
Lord
Approved rendering: Chúa
Transliteration: Chua
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
[Inherited from Romans package.] Must convey exclusive, supreme Lordship. Revelation context: central to ‘King of kings and Lord of lords’ (19:16) and ‘Come, Lord Jesus’ (22:20); carries the same cross-document consistency priority as Romans 10:9.
Messiah
Approved rendering: Đấng Mê-si-a
Transliteration: Dang Me-si-a
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
[Inherited from Romans package.] Use for the doctrinal messianic concept itself. Revelation context: when functioning as part of Jesus’ proper title, use the distinct transliterated form ‘Đấng Christ’ instead (see christ_proper_name entry); keep the two forms distinct but doctrinally connected.
God
Approved rendering: Đức Chúa Trời
Transliteration: Duc Chua Troi
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Ông Trời
Original: θεός / ὁ καθήμενος ἐπὶ τῷ θρόνῳ / παντοκράτωρ
Category: God
[Inherited from Romans package.] Every occurrence should be taught as naming a personal, covenant-making God, not Ông Trời. Revelation context: recurs constantly as ‘God Almighty’ and ‘the one seated on the throne’; the book’s repeated throne-room courtroom staging superficially resembles the folk-Taoist cosmic bureaucracy (Ngọc Hoàng/Thiên Đình) and requires explicit teaching distinguishing personal, covenant-keeping sovereignty from that impersonal model.
Father
Approved rendering: Cha
Transliteration: Cha
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
[Inherited from Romans package.] Revelation context: implicit throughout the covenant-formula and sonship language of 21:3, 7 (‘he will be my son’); teaching should emphasize grace and intimacy over Confucian filial-duty (đạo hiếu) hierarchy.
Adoption
Approved rendering: sự làm con nuôi
Transliteration: su lam con nuoi
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Original: υἱοθεσία (implicit; cf. 21:7 ‘he will be my son’)
Category: Salvation
[Inherited from Romans package.] Revelation context: underlies the overcomer’s reward formula in 21:7, ‘he will be my son’; sonship grounded in grace and intimacy, not Confucian filial-duty hierarchy (hiếu).
Christ Proper Name
Approved rendering: Đấng Christ
Transliteration: Dang Christ
Doctrine: Deity and Sonship of Christ in Revelation
Use as the proper-name element of Jesus’ title throughout Revelation (per the AI Requirements transliteration standard), distinct from the doctrinal messianic concept ‘Đấng Mê-si-a’ (see messiah entry). Prevents the OT-promise concept from being buried inside a proper name readers may process as merely part of ‘Jesus Christ’ without separate theological weight.
Slain Lamb
Approved rendering: đã bị giết
Transliteration: da bi giet
Doctrine: Worship of the Lamb
Rejected alternatives: bị thương (merely wounded)
Original: ἐσφαγμένον
Category: Christology
The Lamb’s visible marks of sacrificial death, retained even in his exaltation (5:6, 12; 13:8). Do not soften into mere ‘wounded’; atonement and enthronement must remain inseparable.
Son Of Man
Approved rendering: Con Người
Transliteration: Con Nguoi
Doctrine: Deity and Sonship of Christ in Revelation
Original: υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου
Category: Christology
Danielic/messianic self-designation (Daniel 7:13) denoting the glorified, universally-authoritative Christ (1:13). Must be anchored explicitly to its Daniel 7 background at every occurrence; the Vietnamese phrase alone reads as merely ‘a human being’ and does not carry the exaltation on its own.
One Seated On Throne
Approved rendering: Đấng ngồi trên ngai
Transliteration: Dang ngoi tren ngai
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over History
Original: ὁ καθήμενος ἐπὶ τῷ θρόνῳ
Category: God
A recurring divine title for God the sovereign ruler (4:2, 9-10; 5:1, 7, 13; 6:16; 7:10, 15; 19:4; 20:11; 21:5). Maintain a consistent rendering across every occurrence.
The Sea Symbolic
Approved rendering: biển
Transliteration: bien
Doctrine: The New Heaven and New Earth
Original: θάλασσα
Category: Eschatology
Symbol of chaos, the abyss, evil’s origin (13:1), and relational separation, finally eliminated (21:1). Collision risk with Vietnamese coastal folk religion’s sea-spirit veneration (cá Ông, Bà Thủy); teach as apocalyptic symbol, not literal geography or contest with folk sea-deities.
Great White Throne
Approved rendering: ngai lớn và trắng
Transliteration: ngai lon va trang
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Original: θρόνος λευκὸς μέγας
Category: Judgment
The final judgment-seat scene, where the dead are judged ‘according to what they had done’ (20:11-15). Ensure the scene is not read through a karmic-ledger lens (see book_of_life note).
Millennium
Approved rendering: một ngàn năm
Transliteration: mot ngan nam
Doctrine: The Return and Reign of Christ
Original: χίλια ἔτη
Category: Eschatology
A defined, bounded period of Satan’s restraint and the saints’ reign with Christ (20:2-7). Render neutrally to avoid forcing a particular millennial interpretive position; distinguish from the vast, cyclical kalpas/eons of Buddhist cosmology.
Worship Proskyneo
Approved rendering: thờ phượng
Transliteration: tho phuong
Doctrine: Worship of the Lamb
Original: προσκυνέω
Category: Worship
Physical prostration signifying submission and adoration, reserved exclusively for God and the Lamb (chs.4-5), with its idolatrous counterfeit directed at the beast (ch.13). ‘Thờ’ shares its root with thờ cúng tổ tiên and thờ thần; every occurrence must be anchored as exclusive worship due to God/the Lamb alone, contrasted with ancestor veneration and worship of the beast.
Elders 24
Approved rendering: các trưởng lão
Transliteration: cac truong lao
Doctrine: Heavenly Worship and the New Song
Original: πρεσβύτεροι (οἱ εἴκοσι τέσσαρες)
Category: Worship
Representative heavenly worship-leaders, likely symbolizing the redeemed people of both covenants (chs.4-5). Distinguish from Confucian ancestor/elder veneration (kính lão, thờ cúng tổ tiên); these elders are themselves worshippers directing all praise to God, never objects of veneration.
Priests Believers
Approved rendering: thầy tế lễ / chức tế lễ
Transliteration: thay te le / chuc te le
Doctrine: Worship of the Lamb
Original: ἱερεῖς
Category: Church
Every believer’s priestly identity and direct access to God through Christ (1:6; 5:10; 20:6). Distinguish from Buddhist monastic clergy (thầy tu, sư) and folk ritual specialists (thầy cúng).
Testimony
Approved rendering: lời chứng
Transliteration: loi chung
Doctrine: Perseverance and Faithful Witness under Persecution
Original: μαρτυρία
Category: Perseverance
Faithful proclamation of the truth about Jesus, maintained under threat of death (1:2, 9; 12:11, 17; 19:10; 20:4). Must stay anchored to testimony about Christ specifically, not generic personal opinion-sharing.
Witnesses
Approved rendering: chứng nhân
Transliteration: chung nhan
Doctrine: Perseverance and Faithful Witness under Persecution
Rejected alternatives: người tử đạo (reserved for occurrences where witnesses are actually killed), liệt sĩ (secular, state-venerated war-martyr category)
Original: μάρτυς / μάρτυρες
Category: Perseverance
Those who testify to Christ, in key cases killed for that testimony (6:9; 11:3-7; 17:6). Distinguish carefully from liệt sĩ (fallen national heroes venerated at memorial shrines) — biblical witness is testimony to Christ specifically, not to nation or cause.
Overcomer
Approved rendering: kẻ đắc thắng
Transliteration: ke dac thang
Doctrine: Perseverance and Faithful Witness under Persecution
Original: ὁ νικῶν
Category: Perseverance
The believer who perseveres in faith and faithful witness through persecution to the end (chs.2-3; 12:11; 21:7). Must be taught as victory secured through union with Christ, empowered by his blood/testimony (12:11), not self-achieved spiritual attainment analogous to Buddhist self-liberation (‘đắc’ shares its morpheme with ‘đắc đạo,’ to attain the Way).
Great Tribulation
Approved rendering: hoạn nạn (cơn hoạn nạn lớn)
Transliteration: hoan nan (con hoan nan lon)
Doctrine: Perseverance and Faithful Witness under Persecution
Original: θλῖψις (ἡ θλῖψις ἡ μεγάλη)
Category: Perseverance
Severe pressure, suffering, and persecution endured by the faithful before final vindication (2:9-10; 7:14). Teach with pastoral sensitivity given the real social cost of leaving ancestor-veneration obligations in Vietnamese family structures.
Patient Endurance Of Saints
Approved rendering: sự nhịn nhục (bền lòng) của các thánh đồ
Transliteration: su nhin nhuc (ben long) cua cac thanh do
Doctrine: Perseverance and Faithful Witness under Persecution
Original: ὑπομονή τῶν ἁγίων
Category: Perseverance
Steadfast perseverance under trial (13:10; 14:12). Per the baseline saints entry, ‘các thánh đồ’ must never be shortened to bare ‘các thánh.‘
Satan Devil
Approved rendering: Sa-tan / ma quỷ
Transliteration: Sa-tan / ma quy
Doctrine: Identity and Defeat of Satan
Original: Σατανᾶς / διάβολος
Category: Evil/Satanology
The personal, cosmic adversary of God and his people, decisively defeated by Christ’s blood (12:9-11; 20:2, 7, 10). Must be taught as a real, personal, defeated evil being, not merely a metaphor for misfortune (colloquial ‘quỷ’ as a casual insult) nor one hostile spirit among many in the folk-spirit pantheon.
Image Of The Beast
Approved rendering: hình tượng của con thú
Transliteration: hinh tuong cua con thu
Doctrine: The Beast and Idolatrous Worship of the Beast
Original: εἰκὼν τοῦ θηρίου
Category: Evil/Satanology
An idol-image of the beast that people are compelled to worship (13:14-15; 14:9,11; 15:2; 16:2; 19:20; 20:4). Direct collision-relevance to the widespread use of images/statues in Vietnamese folk-temple and ancestor-altar practice.
Number 666
Approved rendering: con số của nó là sáu trăm sáu mươi sáu (666)
Transliteration: con so cua no la sau tram sau muoi sau (666)
Doctrine: Symbolic and Apocalyptic Interpretation
Original: ὁ ἀριθμὸς αὐτοῦ, ἑξακόσιοι ἑξήκοντα ἕξ
Category: Symbolic Interpretation
A symbolic numeral marking incomplete, rebellious humanity opposing the divine seven (13:18). Requires explicit interpretive caution against speculative modern identifications; risk of being processed through Vietnamese folk numerology (phong thủy, số mệnh) rather than as literary-apocalyptic convention.
Babylon The Great
Approved rendering: Ba-by-lôn lớn
Transliteration: Ba-by-lon lon
Doctrine: Symbolic and Apocalyptic Interpretation
Original: Βαβυλὼν ἡ μεγάλη
Category: Evil/Satanology
Symbolic name for the corrupt, God-opposing world-system, fully developed in chs.17-18 and announced fallen already in 14:8. Must be taught as symbolic for the entire God-opposing world-system throughout history, not narrowly identified with any single ancient or modern nation.
Great Harlot
Approved rendering: đại dâm phụ / kẻ đại gian dâm
Transliteration: dai dam phu / ke dai gian dam
Doctrine: The Beast and Idolatrous Worship of the Beast
Original: ἡ πόρνη ἡ μεγάλη
Category: Evil/Satanology
A personified symbol of Babylon’s corrupt religious/political-economic seduction of the nations (ch.17). Must be taught as a corporate, symbolic figure for idolatrous world-systems, not reduced to individual sexual morality alone.
Sorcerer
Approved rendering: thuật sĩ / kẻ dùng tà thuật
Transliteration: thuat si / ke dung ta thuat
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Original: φαρμακός
Category: Evil/Satanology
One practicing occult/magical manipulation apart from and against God (9:21; 18:23; 21:8; 22:15). Direct collision risk with lingering Vietnamese folk practices of consulting thầy pháp/phù thủy and using bùa chú; classes such practice with idolatry.
Idolater
Approved rendering: kẻ thờ hình tượng
Transliteration: ke tho hinh tuong
Doctrine: Worship of the Lamb
Original: εἰδωλολάτρης
Category: Evil/Satanology
One who worships images/idols instead of God (21:8; 22:15). Given the prevalence of image/statue veneration in Vietnamese Buddhist and folk-temple practice, including on ancestor altars, requires pastoral sensitivity alongside doctrinal clarity.
Abyss
Approved rendering: vực sâu không đáy
Transliteration: vuc sau khong day
Doctrine: Identity and Defeat of Satan
Original: ἄβυσσος
Category: Judgment
The pit of imprisonment for demonic forces, temporarily restrained and awaiting final judgment (9:1-2,11; 11:7; 17:8; 20:1,3). Distinguish from the cyclical, karmic Buddhist/folk hell realms (địa ngục); the abyss is a temporary holding place under God’s sovereign control.
Faithless Unbelieving
Approved rendering: kẻ chẳng tin / vô tín
Transliteration: ke chang tin / vo tin
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Original: ἄπιστος
Category: Sin
Lacking saving trust in Christ (21:8). Direct antonym of the baseline ‘faith’ (đức tin); must clearly signal absence of that very đức tin, not merely ‘unreliable people.‘
Inherit
Approved rendering: được hưởng làm cơ nghiệp
Transliteration: duoc huong lam co nghiep
Doctrine: The New Heaven and New Earth
Original: κληρονομέω
Category: Salvation
To receive as an heir, a legal/familial right of inheritance, the overcomer’s reward (21:7). Ties the baseline ‘adoption’ doctrine; the overcomer’s reward is inheritance within God’s family, not wages earned.
Wine Of Wrath Of God
Approved rendering: rượu của sự thịnh nộ của Đức Chúa Trời
Transliteration: ruou cua su thinh no cua Duc Chua Troi
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Original: ὁ οἶνος τοῦ θυμοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Judgment
Judgment imagery of a cup of God’s wrath poured out in full measure (14:10,19; 16:19; 19:15). Ensure the wrath is understood as righteous and judicial, not capricious.
Wrath Of The Lamb
Approved rendering: cơn thịnh nộ của Chiên Con
Transliteration: con thinh no cua Chien Con
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Original: ὀργὴ τοῦ ἀρνίου
Category: Judgment
The startling pairing of the gentle, sacrificial Lamb with righteous judicial wrath (6:16). Must not be softened into mere disappointment or resolved away as inconsistent with the Lamb’s gentleness.
River Water Of Life
Approved rendering: sông nước sự sống / nước sự sống
Transliteration: song nuoc su song / nuoc su song
Doctrine: Eternal Life and the Water of Life
Original: ποταμὸς/ὕδωρ τῆς ζωῆς
Category: Eschatology
Life-giving water flowing directly from the throne of God and of the Lamb (21:6; 22:1). Must be distinguished from the jeweled ponds and celestial rivers of the Buddhist Pure Land (Tây Phương Cực Lạc), reached through meritorious rebirth; here it is received freely from a personal, sovereign source.
Freely Dorean
Approved rendering: nhưng không
Transliteration: nhung khong
Doctrine: Grace and the Free Gift of Salvation in Revelation
Rejected alternatives: phước đức, công đức
Original: δωρεάν
Category: Salvation
Gratuitously, without cost or merit — grace-language describing the gift of the water of life (21:6; 22:17). Must preserve the explicit contrast with merit-purchase (phước đức, công đức) already flagged in the baseline Grace entry; never omitted or softened.
Words Faithful And True
Approved rendering: những lời này là trung tín và chân thật
Transliteration: nhung loi nay la trung tin va chan that
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over History
Original: λόγοι πιστοὶ καὶ ἀληθινοί
Category: Sovereignty
The certainty of God’s promise of final restoration (21:5), grounding Assurance of God’s Final Victory over Evil. Word-family-connected to but distinct from đức tin (personal trust).
It Is Done
Approved rendering: Xong rồi! / Đã hoàn thành!
Transliteration: Xong roi! / Da hoan thanh!
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over History
Original: γέγοναν
Category: Sovereignty
A completed, settled declaration of God’s redemptive plan brought to consummation (21:6). Echoes Christ’s cross-word ‘It is finished’ (John 19:30); the perfect-tense sense of settled completion should be preserved.
Medium Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: Tin Lành
Transliteration: tin lanh
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: tin tức tốt lành
[Inherited from Romans package.] Established Vietnamese Protestant Bible term (‘good news’); so established that ‘Tin Lành’ is itself the common Vietnamese name for Protestantism generally. Must still be anchored to the specific proclamation of salvation through Christ. Revelation context: extended by the qualifier ‘eternal’ in 14:6 (‘Tin Lành đời đời’) — see eternal_gospel entry.
Faith
Approved rendering: đức tin
Transliteration: duc tin
Doctrine: Faith
Original: πίστις
Category: Faith
[Inherited from Romans package.] Object of faith must always be specified as Christ. Revelation context: root of ‘faithless’ (ἄπιστος, 21:8) and ‘faithful and true’ (πιστοὶ καὶ ἀληθινοί, 21:5) — the latter is word-family-related but distinct; teach the connection explicitly.
Holy
Approved rendering: thánh
Transliteration: thanh
Doctrine: Sanctification
Original: ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
[Inherited from Romans package.] Set apart for God and morally pure. Revelation context: ‘holy city’ (21:2); the trisagion ‘Holy, holy, holy’ (4:8) must retain moral/relational set-apartness, not only ritual purity.
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.] Never use đền or chùa. Revelation context: ‘the seven churches’ (chs.1-3) = bảy Hội Thánh, referring to concrete, local, historical congregations.
Glory
Approved rendering: sự vinh hiển
Transliteration: su vinh hien
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Original: δόξα
Category: God
[Inherited from Romans package.] God’s radiant honor and majesty. Revelation context: illuminates the New Jerusalem without need of sun or moon (21:11, 23).
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: Nước Đức Chúa Trời
Transliteration: Nuoc Duc Chua Troi
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Kingdom
[Inherited from Romans package.] Distinguish from an earthly political nước. Revelation context: declared consummated in ‘the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord’ (11:15) — treat with the same cross-document consistency priority as the baseline’s key pastoral verses.
Sin
Approved rendering: tội lỗi
Transliteration: toi loi
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: nghiệp xấu
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
[Inherited from Romans package.] Never nghiệp xấu (impersonal bad karma). Revelation context: underlies the vice-list of the excluded (21:8; 22:15).
Gentiles
Approved rendering: dân ngoại
Transliteration: dan ngoai
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
[Inherited from Romans package.] Revelation context: reused for ‘the great multitude’ redeemed from every nation (7:9) and ‘the nations’ healed by the tree of life (22:2) — see great_multitude, unity_of_the_redeemed doctrine.
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 (cf. παντοκράτωρ)
Category: God
[Inherited from Romans package.] Revelation context: underlies God’s title ‘the Almighty’ (παντοκράτωρ), used repeatedly through the book — see almighty entry.
Covenant
Approved rendering: giao ước
Transliteration: giao uoc
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: διαθήκη (implicit; cf. 2 Sam 7:14 echoed in 21:7)
Category: Covenant
[Inherited from Romans package.] Revelation context: underlies the ‘key of David’ (3:7) and the covenant-formula sonship echo of 2 Samuel 7:14 in 21:7. Requires OT background teaching.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: dòng dõi Đa-vít
Transliteration: dong doi Da-vit
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: ῥίζα καὶ γένος Δαυίδ
Category: Covenant
[Inherited from Romans package.] Revelation context: ‘the Root and Offspring of David’ (22:16), rendered as ῥίζα καὶ γένος Δαυίδ.
Morning Star
Approved rendering: sao mai
Transliteration: sao mai
Doctrine: The Return and Reign of Christ
Original: ἀστὴρ ὁ πρωϊνός
Category: Christology
A reward-image promised to the overcomer (2:28), later revealed as Christ’s own self-designation (22:16, ‘sao mai sáng chói’). Distinguish from folk astrological/fortune-telling star-associations.
Almighty
Approved rendering: Đấng Toàn Năng
Transliteration: Dang Toan Nang
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over History
Original: παντοκράτωρ
Category: God
Absolute, unopposed divine sovereignty, a recurring divine title through the book (1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7,14; 19:6,15; 21:22). Ensure the title is not flattened into a generic ‘powerful’ adjective.
Throne
Approved rendering: ngai
Transliteration: ngai
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over History
Original: θρόνος
Category: God
Seat of divine/royal authority, the book’s central recurring symbol (over 40 occurrences). Distinguish consistently from a merely generic royal-court image.
Mystery Of God
Approved rendering: sự mầu nhiệm của Đức Chúa Trời
Transliteration: su mau nhiem cua Duc Chua Troi
Doctrine: Inspiration and Authority of Prophetic Scripture
Original: μυστήριον τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: God
God’s previously hidden redemptive plan, now nearing completion (10:7) and disclosed within the vision itself (17:5, 7). Distinguish from esoteric occult ‘mystery’ categories in folk practice or Caodaist spirit-séance revelation (cầu cơ).
Curse Reversed
Approved rendering: sự rủa sả
Transliteration: su rua sa
Doctrine: The New Heaven and New Earth
Original: κατάρα
Category: Eschatology
The Genesis 3 curse on creation, finally and totally reversed (22:3). Theological bookend to the whole Bible’s storyline; requires teaching the Genesis background.
Blessed
Approved rendering: phước cho
Transliteration: phuoc cho
Doctrine: The New Heaven and New Earth
Rejected alternatives: may (mere circumstantial luck/fortune)
Original: μακάριος
Category: Eschatology
A state of divine favor and well-being, pronounced on those ready for Christ’s words and return (1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7, 14). Distinguish from mere luck.
Serve Latreuo
Approved rendering: hầu việc / thờ phượng
Transliteration: hau viec / tho phuong
Doctrine: Worship of the Lamb
Original: λατρεύω
Category: Worship
Ongoing cultic/priestly service, the redeemed community’s final eternal vocation (7:15; 22:3). Technical nuance versus προσκυνέω; a footnote-level distinction from ‘worship’ proper is sufficient.
Living Creatures
Approved rendering: các sinh vật
Transliteration: cac sinh vat
Doctrine: Heavenly Worship and the New Song
Original: ζῷα
Category: Worship
Four symbolic creatures (echoing Ezekiel 1, Isaiah 6) representing the whole created order’s worship (chs.4-5; 6:1-8; 15:7; 19:4). Low direct cultural-collision risk beyond ensuring symbolic, not literal-zoological, reading.
Accuser
Approved rendering: kẻ kiện cáo
Transliteration: ke kien cao
Doctrine: Assurance of God’s Final Victory over Evil
Original: κατήγορος
Category: Evil/Satanology
A legal/forensic term for Satan’s now-ended role of bringing charges against believers (12:10).
False Prophet
Approved rendering: tiên tri giả
Transliteration: tien tri gia
Doctrine: The Beast and Idolatrous Worship of the Beast
Original: ψευδοπροφήτης
Category: Evil/Satanology
The beast’s religious enforcer, empowering idolatrous worship of the beast (16:13; 19:20; 20:10). Reuses baseline ‘prophet’ with a negating qualifier.
Armageddon
Approved rendering: Ha-ma-ghê-đôn
Transliteration: Ha-ma-ghe-don
Doctrine: Symbolic and Apocalyptic Interpretation
Original: Ἁρμαγεδών
Category: Symbolic Interpretation
A symbolic place-name for the final, futile gathering of hostile powers against God (16:16). Avoid literalistic identification with a specific modern military conflict without interpretive qualification.
Blaspheme
Approved rendering: nói phạm đến
Transliteration: noi pham den
Doctrine: Symbolic and Apocalyptic Interpretation
Original: βλασφημέω
Category: Sin
To speak with contemptuous disrespect against God’s name/character, the unrepentant world’s persistent response even under judgment (13:6; 16:9,11,21).
Cowardly
Approved rendering: kẻ nhút nhát
Transliteration: ke nhut nhat
Doctrine: Perseverance and Faithful Witness under Persecution
Original: δειλός
Category: Sin
Fearful failure to persevere in or confess faith under pressure (21:8). The negative counterpart to ‘the one who overcomes.‘
Detestable
Approved rendering: kẻ đáng gớm ghiếc
Transliteration: ke dang gom ghiec
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Original: ἐβδελυγμένος
Category: Sin
Morally repulsive, ritually/morally defiling conduct, often idolatry-associated in OT usage (21:8).
Sexually Immoral
Approved rendering: kẻ gian dâm
Transliteration: ke gian dam
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Original: πόρνος
Category: Sin
Sexual immorality broadly, also a frequent symbol for spiritual unfaithfulness/idolatry in the book (17:1-5; 21:8; 22:15). Connects to ‘the great harlot’ imagery.
Apocalypse Revelation
Approved rendering: sự mặc thị
Transliteration: su mac thi
Doctrine: Inspiration and Authority of Prophetic Scripture
Original: ἀποκάλυψις
Category: Symbolic Interpretation
God’s disclosure of Christ’s person and the future course of history — the book’s title and genre-marker (1:1); the book’s Vietnamese title is Khải Huyền. Anchor as divine disclosure, not esoteric personal enlightenment attained through practice.
Seal
Approved rendering: ấn
Transliteration: an
Doctrine: The Sovereignty of God over History
Original: σφραγίς
Category: Symbolic Interpretation
A wax/clay seal securing a document, symbolically a stage of God’s unfolding sovereign plan for history (chs.5-8).
One Hundred Forty Four Thousand
Approved rendering: 144.000 (những người được đóng ấn)
Transliteration: mot tram bon muoi bon nghin (nhung nguoi duoc dong an)
Doctrine: Unity of the Redeemed from Every Nation
Original: οἱ ἑκατὸν τεσσεράκοντα τέσσαρες χιλιάδες
Category: Symbolic Interpretation
A symbolic, complete number (12x12x1000) of God’s protected covenant people (7:4-8; 14:1,3). Teach as symbolic completeness, not a strict headcount.
Great Multitude
Approved rendering: đoàn lũ rất lớn
Transliteration: doan lu rat lon
Doctrine: Unity of the Redeemed from Every Nation
Original: ὄχλος πολύς
Category: Church
An uncountable multitude redeemed from every nation, tribe, people, and language (7:9). Underscores the universal scope of salvation.
Harvest
Approved rendering: mùa gặt
Transliteration: mua gat
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Original: θερισμός
Category: Judgment
Agricultural image of the final ingathering/separation of the righteous and the wicked (14:15-19).
Tree Of Life
Approved rendering: cây sự sống
Transliteration: cay su song
Doctrine: The New Heaven and New Earth
Original: ξύλον τῆς ζωῆς
Category: Eschatology
The Edenic tree, restored to perpetual, healing, universal access (2:7; 22:2,14,19). Reversal of the Genesis exclusion; connects to Unity of the Redeemed doctrine.
Foundations And Gates
Approved rendering: các nền / các cửa
Transliteration: cac nen / cac cua
Doctrine: Unity of the Redeemed from Every Nation
Original: θεμέλιοι / πύλαι
Category: Church
The New Jerusalem’s twelve foundations (named for the apostles) and twelve gates (named for the tribes) (21:12-14). Structural symbolism uniting OT Israel and NT apostolic foundation into one people of God.
Eternal Gospel
Approved rendering: Tin Lành đời đời
Transliteration: Tin Lanh doi doi
Doctrine: Grace and the Free Gift of Salvation in Revelation
Original: εὐαγγέλιον αἰώνιον
Category: Salvation
The unchanging good news proclaimed to all peoples even as final judgment nears (14:6). Reuses baseline ‘gospel’ (Tin Lành) with the qualifier ‘eternal.‘
Song Of Moses And Lamb
Approved rendering: bài ca của Môi-se và bài ca của Chiên Con
Transliteration: bai ca cua Moi-se va bai ca cua Chien Con
Doctrine: Heavenly Worship and the New Song
Original: ᾆσμα Μωϋσέως καὶ τὸ ᾆσμα τοῦ ἀρνίου
Category: Worship
A united hymn joining Exodus deliverance and the Lamb’s redemption (15:3-4). Continuity between OT deliverance and NT redemption.
Low Risk Terms
Prophet
Approved rendering: tiên tri
Transliteration: tien tri
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: thầy bói
Original: προφήτης
Category: Covenant
[Inherited from Romans package.] Do not confuse with thầy bói (fortune-teller). Revelation context: underlies both the positive prophetic office (the two witnesses, ch.11) and its negation, ‘false prophet’ (tiên tri giả, see false_prophet entry).
Prophecy
Approved rendering: lời tiên tri
Transliteration: loi tien tri
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Original: προφητεία
Category: Covenant
[Inherited from Romans package.] Revelation context: the book repeatedly names itself ‘this book of prophecy’ (22:7, 10, 18-19); the closing warning against ‘adding or taking away’ guards a fixed, complete divine disclosure.
David
Approved rendering: Đa-vít
Transliteration: Da-vit
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: Δαυίδ
Category: Covenant
[Inherited from Romans package; note baseline TM’s Davidic-Covenant entries elsewhere use Medium — this Revelation package follows the bible_term_registry.json Low designation for the bare proper name.] Established Vietnamese Bible proper-name form. Revelation context: ‘key of David’ (3:7); ‘Root of David’ (5:5; 22:16).
Amen
Approved rendering: A-men
Transliteration: A-men
Doctrine: Heavenly Worship and the New Song
Original: ἀμήν
Category: Worship
Liturgical affirmation (‘truly, so be it’), used repeatedly in heavenly and closing doxologies (1:6-7; 5:14; 7:12; 19:4; 22:20-21). Keep the established transliterated form consistent across every occurrence, per the AI Requirements transliteration standard.
Hallelujah
Approved rendering: Ha-lê-lu-gia
Transliteration: Ha-le-lu-gia
Doctrine: Heavenly Worship and the New Song
Original: Ἁλληλουϊά
Category: Worship
Hebrew liturgical exclamation, occurring only in Revelation within the NT (19:1, 3, 4, 6). Keep the established transliterated form consistent.
New Song
Approved rendering: bài ca mới
Transliteration: bai ca moi
Doctrine: Heavenly Worship and the New Song
Original: ᾆσμα καινόν
Category: Worship
A fresh hymn of praise composed in response to the Lamb’s redemptive achievement (5:9; 14:3).
Apollyon
Approved rendering: A-bô-ly-ôn
Transliteration: A-bo-ly-on
Doctrine: Identity and Defeat of Satan
Original: Ἀπολλύων
Category: Evil/Satanology
The proper name of the angel/king of the abyss, a personification of destructive demonic power subordinate to God’s sovereign plan (9:11). Transliterated proper name.
Wormwood
Approved rendering: Ngải cứu
Transliteration: Ngai cuu
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Original: Ἄψινθος
Category: Judgment
Proper/symbolic name of a bitter judgment-star poisoning the earth’s waters (8:10-11).
Murderer
Approved rendering: kẻ giết người
Transliteration: ke giet nguoi
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Original: φονεύς
Category: Sin
One who unlawfully kills (21:8; 22:15).
Liar
Approved rendering: kẻ nói dối
Transliteration: ke noi doi
Doctrine: Judgment of the Wicked and Vindication of the Saints
Original: ψεύστης
Category: Sin
One who speaks falsehood, contrasted with ‘words faithful and true’ (21:8; 21:27; 22:15).
Trumpet
Approved rendering: kèn
Transliteration: ken
Doctrine: Symbolic and Apocalyptic Interpretation
Original: σάλπιγξ
Category: Symbolic Interpretation
A battle/announcement horn signaling successive stages of divine judgment (chs.8-11).
Bowl
Approved rendering: chén
Transliteration: chen
Doctrine: Symbolic and Apocalyptic Interpretation
Original: φιάλη
Category: Symbolic Interpretation
A shallow ceremonial vessel for pouring out the final series of judgments (chs.15-16).
Alpha And Omega
Approved rendering: An-pha và Ô-mê-ga
Transliteration: An-pha va O-me-ga
Doctrine: Deity and Sonship of Christ in Revelation
Original: Ἄλφα καὶ τὸ Ὦ
Category: God
A merism for total eternality and sovereignty, applied to God/Christ (1:8; 21:6; 22:13). Transliterated proper term; must remain consistent across all three occurrences.
Beginning And End
Approved rendering: là đầu tiên và cuối cùng
Transliteration: la dau tien va cuoi cung
Doctrine: Deity and Sonship of Christ in Revelation
Original: ἡ ἀρχὴ καὶ τὸ τέλος
Category: God
A plain-Greek restatement of the Alpha/Omega merism (21:6; 22:13).
Lament
Approved rendering: lời than vãn
Transliteration: loi than van
Doctrine: Symbolic and Apocalyptic Interpretation
Original: θρῆνος
Category: Judgment
A funeral dirge of mourning over Babylon’s fall (ch.18), contrasted with heaven’s rejoicing (19:1-2).
Referenced passages