Japanese · 日本語
Father's Heart Bible™ key-term glossary — anchored to the historic Japanese Scriptures · Script: Japanese (漢字 kanji + ひらがな + カタカナ mixed)
For the reviewer
These are the proposed renderings of FHB's key terms. The heart of the review: wherever English says our Father, the rendering must feel like a beloved child addressing their own father — warm, reverent, natural to your language's Bible — and never the distant generic word for "God." Mark anything that reads wrong, stiff, or irreverent. Tip: your browser's translate feature can back-translate this page as a second witness. Approvals or corrections go to Kevin White.
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Reverent contemporary Japanese matching the 新共同訳 (New Interconfessional Translation, 1987) — the Bible read across both Protestant and Catholic churches — carried into the warm second-person intimacy of the beloved 主の祈り (Lord's Prayer, 「天におられるわたしたちの父よ」). Divine persons take the honorific 御 (御父 / 御子); わたし is written in hiragana per that tradition.
Quotation marks
Primary speech in 「 」 (kagi-kakko); a quotation nested inside a quotation in 『 』. Match the English source in count and placement.
Poetry lines
Preserve the English poetry line breaks exactly — one Japanese line per English line, same count, order, and copied numeric indent; only the line text is translated. Verse lines carry no terminal 。; internal 、 only where sense requires. Do not merge or split lines unless a native reviewer rebreaks them.
| # | English term | Proposed rendering | Literal back-translation | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | our Heavenly Father | 天におられるわたしたちの父 | our Father who is in heaven | Anchored to 新共同訳 (Mt 6:9) — the established rendering this language's church already prays; FHB shifts only the person (our), never the construction. Was: "わたしたちの天の父". Sweep 2026-07-22 (Kevin: mine the existing translations, don't invent) |
| 2 | our Father | わたしたちの父 | our Father | Primary filial divine name. NEVER revert to 神 (God) or 主 (LORD). |
| 3 | the Father | 御父 | the (honorable) Father | Filial divine name (definite). Honorific 御 marks the divine Father over a generic 父; reviewer to confirm 御父 vs plain 父 (bare 新共同訳 usage). |
| 4 | Heavenly Father | 天の父 | the Father of/in heaven | Filial divine name; vocative form 天の父よ. Standard Bible phrase (Matt 6), never 父なる神 (would reintroduce 神). |
| 5 | Abba, Father | アッバ、父よ | Abba, O Father | Anchored to 新共同訳 (Rom 8:15 / Mk 14:36) — the established rendering this language's church already prays; FHB shifts only the person (our), never the construction. Was: "アバ、父よ". Sweep 2026-07-22 (Kevin: mine the existing translations, don't invent) |
| 6 | God | 神 | God / deity | REVERSION TOKEN. Non-filial contrast term. Use ONLY where the English retains 'God' as God-as-God; never as a substitute for 'our Father'. |
| 7 | the LORD | 主 | the LORD (covenant name YHWH) | REVERSION TOKEN. Non-filial contrast term. Japanese renders the covenant name YHWH as 主. Use ONLY where the English keeps 'the LORD'; never as a substitute for 'our Father'. (The generic title 'Lord' for Jesus is also 主 but distinct in reference.) |
| 8 | the Holy Spirit | 聖霊 | the Holy Spirit | Confirmed in preview (John 3). Standard across all Japanese Bibles. |
| 9 | the Spirit of our Father | わたしたちの父の霊 | the Spirit of our Father | Relational, not by-identity — 父 stem, not 聖霊. Confirmed in preview (Genesis 1:2). |
| 10 | the Son of Man | 人の子 | the son of man | Confirmed in preview (John 3). Standard Japanese title. |
| 11 | the Son | 御子 | the (honorable) Son | The Son (Jesus). Honorific 御子 is the settled 新共同訳 form for the divine Son. |
| 12 | the Son of God | 神の子 | the Son of God / child of God | Christological title retaining 'God'. Proposed — native reviewer to confirm 神の子 vs a filial 父の御子 (the Father's Son). |
| 13 | one and only Son | 独り子 | only Son / only-begotten | Confirmed in preview (John 3:16). The beloved 新共同訳 word 独り子. |
| 14 | the kingdom of our Father | わたしたちの父の国 | our Father's kingdom | FHB renders 'kingdom of God' filially: standard 神の国 → 父の国. Confirmed in preview (John 3:3,5). |
| 15 | Jesus | イエス | Jesus | Confirmed in preview. Standard katakana. |
| 16 | Christ | キリスト | Christ | Confirmed in preview (John 3:28). |
| 17 | Messiah | メシア | Messiah | Proposed. 新共同訳 transliteration (John 1:41; 4:25), distinct from キリスト. |
| 18 | covenant | 契約 | covenant | Proposed. Standard Japanese Bible term for both old and new covenant. |
| 19 | steadfast love | 慈しみ | loving devotion / tender kindness | Renders Hebrew hesed. 慈しみ is the traditional 新共同訳 hesed word; reviewer to confirm vs 変わらぬ愛 (unchanging love). |
| 20 | compassion | 憐れみ | compassion / mercy | Renders racham / splanchnizomai (gut-level tender mercy); the Gospel verb 憐れむ. Proposed. |
| 21 | righteousness | 義 | righteousness / justice | Proposed. Standard Japanese Bible term. |
| 22 | eternal life | 永遠の命 | eternal life | Confirmed in preview (John 3:16). 新共同訳 phrasing. |
| 23 | born again | 新しく生まれる | to be born anew | Confirmed in preview (John 3:3,7). Preserve the John 3 double sense of 上から (from above) in a footnote. |
Terms we deliberately avoid
These common words carry another religion's meaning, so Scripture in Japanese has always chosen different vocabulary — and so do we. Please don't recommend them; the established Bible alternative is listed beside each.
- 輪廻 (samsara / cycle of rebirth) → 新たに生まれる (born anew, Jn 3:3)
- 輪廻転生 (reincarnation) → 新たに生まれる
- 悟り (Buddhist enlightenment (satori)) → 目が開かれる / 知る (per context)
- 涅槃 (Buddhist nirvana) → 永遠の命 (eternal life)
Machine conformance stems (every filial rendering must contain one): 父 · 御父
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Your review goes directly to Kevin White. Corrections can be written in Japanese or English.