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 2 Esdras 14:22

If then I have found favor before thee: See the comments on 2 Esd 4.44-45. Good News Bible and Contemporary English Version say simply “Please.”

Send the Holy Spirit into me: The Jewish author is not speaking of the Holy Spirit in the Christian sense, as a member of the Trinity, but simply in the Old Testament sense of God’s presence and in this case, inspiration (compare Psa 51.11; Wis 9.17). New Revised Standard Version makes this clear by not capitalizing Holy Spirit. Contemporary English Version has “your Spirit.”

And I will write everything that has happened in the world from the beginning, the things which were written in thy law: Ezra is asking God to inspire his words, so that he can reproduce the words of Scripture for future generations. From the beginning refers to the creation story in Genesis (compare 2 Esd 9.8; 10.14).

That men may be able to find the path is figurative expression that refers to people being able to discover God’s will. This clause may be rendered “so that people may be able to walk on your true path.”

And that those who wish to live in the last days may live: This clause does not mean that people choose when to be born and live at the end of time. It means that people may find eternal life at the end of time if they wish to do so.

We suggest the following model for this verse:

• If you think that I am worthy, send your spirit into me. I will write down everything that has happened in the world from the time of creation [or, since you created the world]. I will write down what was in your Law, so that people can find the right way to live, and so that those who are alive in the last days may, if they wish, have eternal life.

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.