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 Samuel 22:48 - 22:49

The verb phrase gave me vengeance (here literally plural, “vengeances”) refers to retribution. The related verb is often used of God as one who punishes the enemies of Israel because of their evil actions. The idea of “getting even” is not entirely absent from the word but need not necessarily be stressed in translation. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has here “vindicated me”; Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, “avenged me”; Bible en français courant, “gives me my revenge.” The thought here is that the defeat of his enemies in battle (as the next line makes clear) is the way in which David “got even” with them. Gave me vengeance must sometimes be rendered “helps me defeat my enemies.” So Good News Translation translates “He gives me victory over my enemies,” which has essentially the same meaning as the next line, brought down peoples under me. The image in this second line of verse 48 is that of foreign nations becoming subject to David’s rule. Compare Revised English Bible, which retains the Hebrew image of people “under” David: “laying nations prostrate at my feet.” Similarly New Century Version says “He brings people under my rule.”

The verb brought me out in verse 49 seems to have the same meaning as “delivered,” which is used at this point in the parallel psalm and also appears in verse 44.

The psalmist again shifts rather abruptly back to second person references in the middle of verse 49. This is marked graphically in Good News Translation by leaving a space between this section and the previous verses.

Exalt: this reflects the same verb as in verse 47, but the context is different. In this case it is something that God does for the writer instead of something that happens to God. Here God causes David to receive greater honor than his opponents. Or possibly it refers to his victory over those enemies.

Adversaries in verse 49b is “those who rise up against” or “those who attack me” (New Jerusalem Bible). The meaning is the same as in verse 40b, “assailants.”

Men of violence: the Hebrew is singular, “man of violence,” usually interpreted as a collective term. Some commentators, however, take it to be a reference to Saul (who is mentioned in the introduction to this psalm at verse 1). New Jerusalem Bible, and similarly New American Bible, says “you deliver me from the man of violence,” but it is not clear whether the translators intend this as a reference to one man, or intend the singular to be understood as a collective term. It is probably better to represent it as a plural, having a more general meaning. On the word for violence, see the comments on verse 3. The expression men of violence may often be rendered as “men who kill others” or “people who injure others.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .