addressing God

Translators of different languages have found different ways with what kind of formality God is addressed. The first example is from a language where God is always addressed distinctly formal whereas the second is one where the opposite choice was made.

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Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.

As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator 2002, p. 210ff.), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.

In these verses, in which humans address God, the informal, familiar pronoun is used that communicates closeness.

Voinov notes that “in the Tuvan Bible, God is only addressed with the informal pronoun. No exceptions. An interesting thing about this is that I’ve heard new Tuvan believers praying with the formal form to God until they are corrected by other Christians who tell them that God is close to us so we should address him with the informal pronoun. As a result, the informal pronoun is the only one that is used in praying to God among the Tuvan church.”

In Gbaya, “a superior, whether father, uncle, or older brother, mother, aunt, or older sister, president, governor, or chief, is never addressed in the singular unless the speaker intends a deliberate insult. When addressing the superior face to face, the second person plural pronoun ɛ́nɛ́ or ‘you (pl.)’ is used, similar to the French usage of vous.

Accordingly, the translators of the current version of the Gbaya Bible chose to use the plural ɛ́nɛ́ to address God. There are a few exceptions. In Psalms 86:8, 97:9, and 138:1, God is addressed alongside other “gods,” and here the third person pronoun o is used to avoid confusion about who is being addressed. In several New Testament passages (Matthew 21:23, 26:68, 27:40, Mark 11:28, Luke 20:2, 23:37, as well as in Jesus’ interaction with Pilate and Jesus’ interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well) the less courteous form for Jesus is used to indicate ignorance of his position or mocking (source Philip Noss).

In Dutch and Western Frisian translations, however, God is always addressed with the formal pronoun.

See also female second person singular pronoun in Psalms.

Translation commentary on 1 Esdras 8:85

And do not seek ever to have peace with them means the Jews should never make seek peaceful relations with Gentiles (compare Exo 34.12, 15). This clause says something rather different from the parallel passage of Ezra 9.12, which only says that the Jews should not seek the well-being (shalom in Hebrew) of the Gentiles. The idea here is that there should be no compromising with them. This clause may be rendered “The prophets also told us never to compromise with these people [or, these foreigners].”

In order that you may be strong and eat the good things of the land and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever: The result of obeying the prohibitions in verses 84-85b is to be a threefold blessing: to be strong (Deut 11.8); to eat the good things of the land (Deut 8.11-12; compare Isa 1.19; Jer 2.7); and to leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever (Deut 11.9; compare Ezek 37.25). The first blessing is the well-being of the nation, the second is the well-being of the people, and the third is the well-being of the people’s descendants. Be strong may be translated “find strength” or “become strong as a nation.” Eat the good things of the land is more than a literal reference to eating crops grown in the land, although that is certainly involved. It is better to say “enjoy the good things of the land.” And leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever may be translated “and some day pass it on [or, leave it] to your descendants forever.”

Here is an alternative model that uses indirect speech for this verse:

• They [or, The prophets] also told us never to compromise with these people, so that we could remain strong, enjoy the good things of this land, and then pass it on to our descendants forever.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Esdras. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.