Cantonese · 廣東話
Father's Heart Bible™ key-term glossary — anchored to the historic Cantonese Scriptures · Script: Han (Traditional)
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 colloquial Cantonese (廣東話 book-language) as in the Hong Kong Bible Society's 新廣東話聖經 (New Cantonese Bible), using genuine Cantonese grammar (嘅、哋、係、佢) while carrying the dignified worship cadence of the 和合本 (Chinese Union Version) that Cantonese congregations read aloud. Warm and personal, not stiff or academic.
Quotation marks
「…」 for primary speech, nested 『…』 (full-width corner brackets); horizontal setting.
Poetry lines
Hebrew parallelism preserved as unrhymed couplets — each colon on its own line, second and following cola indented from the prose margin; no metre or end-rhyme.
| # | English term | Proposed rendering | Literal back-translation | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | our Heavenly Father | 我哋在天嘅父 | our Heaven-Father (our Heavenly Father) | Anchored to 和合本 / 新廣東話聖經 (Mt 6:9) — the established rendering this language's church already prays; FHB shifts only the person (our), never the construction. Was: "我哋嘅天父". Sweep 2026-07-22 (Kevin: mine the existing translations, don't invent) |
| 2 | our Father | 我哋嘅父 | our Papa-Father (Abba-Father) | Anchored to 和合本 / 新廣東話聖經 (Mt 6:9 / Rom 1:7) — the established rendering this language's church already prays; FHB shifts only the person (our), never the construction. Was: "我哋嘅阿爸父". Sweep 2026-07-22 (Kevin: mine the existing translations, don't invent) |
| 3 | the Father | 天父 | the Papa-Father (Abba-Father) | Anchored to 和合本 / 新廣東話聖經 (Jn 14:9ff) — the established rendering this language's church already prays; FHB shifts only the person (our), never the construction. Was: "阿爸父". Sweep 2026-07-22 (Kevin: mine the existing translations, don't invent) |
| 4 | Heavenly Father | 天父 | Heaven-Father (Heavenly Father) | The treasured prayer word every Cantonese believer knows; filial (contains 父), never the generic 神. |
| 5 | Abba, Father | 阿爸！父！ | Abba, Father | Anchored to 和合本 / 新廣東話聖經 (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: "阿爸,父". Sweep 2026-07-22 (Kevin: mine the existing translations, don't invent) |
| 6 | God | 神 | God (deity) | NON-filial contrast term. HK Protestant standard (神版 CUV); 上帝 in the 上帝版 edition. Reversion token — use ONLY where English keeps 'God' as God-as-God. |
| 7 | the LORD | 耶和華 | Jehovah (YHWH) | NON-filial covenant name (CUV standard); Catholic 上主/雅威. Reversion token only. Generic 'Lord' for Jesus = 主, distinct. |
| 8 | the Holy Spirit | 聖靈 | the Holy Spirit | Standard Protestant term. |
| 9 | the Spirit of our Father | 我哋父嘅靈 | our Abba-Father's Spirit | Anchored to 和合本 / 新廣東話聖經 (Mt 10:20) — the established rendering this language's church already prays; FHB shifts only the person (our), never the construction. Was: "我哋阿爸父嘅靈". Sweep 2026-07-22 (Kevin: mine the existing translations, don't invent) |
| 10 | the Son of Man | 人子 | Son of Man (man's-son) | Universal Chinese-Bible christological title. |
| 11 | the Son | 聖子 | the Son (Holy-Son) | The divine Son relative to 阿爸父; reviewer may prefer the warmer 愛子 (beloved Son) to match the family register. |
| 12 | the Son of God | 神嘅兒子 | God's son (Son of God) | Traditional title (神的兒子). Reviewer to confirm vs the filial 天父嘅兒子 (the Heavenly Father's Son). |
| 13 | one and only Son | 獨一無二嘅兒子 | one-and-only son | John 3:16. Classic CUV 獨生子 (only-begotten Son) available if the reviewer prefers the treasured wording. |
| 14 | the kingdom of our Father | 我哋父嘅國 | our Abba-Father's kingdom | Anchored to 和合本 / 新廣東話聖經 (Mt 26:29) — the established rendering this language's church already prays; FHB shifts only the person (our), never the construction. Was: "我哋阿爸父嘅國". Sweep 2026-07-22 (Kevin: mine the existing translations, don't invent) |
| 15 | Jesus | 耶穌 | Jesus | Standard. |
| 16 | Christ | 基督 | Christ | Standard. |
| 17 | Messiah | 彌賽亞 | Messiah | Protestant transliteration; Catholic 默西亞. |
| 18 | covenant | 約 | covenant (bond/pact) | Standard Bible term (新約 New Covenant); 盟約 when a fuller standalone noun is needed. |
| 19 | steadfast love | 慈愛 | loving-kindness (steadfast love) | CUV's treasured rendering of Hebrew hesed; reviewer to confirm vs 堅定嘅愛. |
| 20 | compassion | 憐憫 | compassion / tender mercy | Renders racham / splanchnizomai; CUV uses 動了慈心 for the verb, 憐憫 for the gut-level tender mercy. |
| 21 | righteousness | 義 | righteousness | The treasured single-character term; 公義 when the sense is 'justice'. |
| 22 | eternal life | 永生 | eternal life | John 3:16 standard. |
| 23 | born again | 重生 | born-again (regenerated) | John 3:3,7 standard; 重新出生 for the plain 'born a second time' sense. |
Terms we deliberately avoid
These common words carry another religion's meaning, so Scripture in Cantonese has always chosen different vocabulary — and so do we. Please don't recommend them; the established Bible alternative is listed beside each.
- 輪迴 (samsara / reincarnation) → 重生
- 涅槃 (Buddhist nirvana) → 永生
Machine conformance stems (every filial rendering must contain one): 父 · 阿爸 · 天父
Submit your review
Your review goes directly to Kevin White. Corrections can be written in Cantonese or English.