Following are a number of back-translations of Ephesians 4:8:
Uma: “That’s why there is a word of the Holy Book that foretells Kristus it sounds like this: "After he defeated his enemies, he ascended up to the dwelling place that is in the high place, and he distributed blessings to his people."” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “The scripture says hep, ‘When he was lifted up to heaven he took many prisoners with him and he gave his people good (things).'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “For there is a written word of God which said, ‘When He was raised up to Heaven, He took many prisoners with Him. And there were also skills which He gave to His subjects.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “That just the same is what God caused-to-be-written concerning Cristo which says, ‘When he returned to heaven, he escorted many whom he had defeated, and at-the-same-time there were what-he-gave-as-gifts to his people.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “For like that which is contained in the writing which says, ‘When he returned-home to the very highest-place (implies heaven), he took along all his enemies whom he like openly-displayed, as proof that he had defeated them. And there is that which he graced to people as his gift.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “That is like what the Holy Book says when it says: ‘Christ went to heaven but first he conquered all his enemies. And very great favor he gave the people left on earth.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
God transcends gender, but most languages are limited to grammatical gender expressed in pronouns. In the case of English, this is traditionally confined to “he” (or in the forms “his,” “him,” and “himself”), “she” (and “her,” “hers,” and “herself”), and “it” (and “its” and “itself”).
Modern Mandarin Chinese, however, offers another possibility. Here, the third-person singular pronoun is always pronounced the same (tā), but it is written differently according to its gender (他 is “he,” 她 is “she,” and 它/牠 is “it” and their respective derivative forms). In each of these characters, the first (or upper) part defines the gender (man, woman, or thing/animal), while the second element gives the clue to its pronunciation.
In 1930, after a full century with dozens of Chinese translations, Bible translator Wang Yuande (王元德) coined a new “godly” pronoun: 祂. Chinese readers immediately knew how to pronounce it: tā. But they also recognized that the first part of that character, signifying something spiritual, clarified that each person of the Trinity has no gender aside from being God.
While the most important Protestant and Catholic Chinese versions respectively have opted not to use 祂, some Bible translations do and it is widely used in hymnals and other Christian materials. Among the translations that use 祂 to refer to “God” were early versions of Lü Zhenzhong’s (呂振中) version (New Testament: 1946, complete Bible: 1970). R.P. Kramers (in The Bible Translator 1956, p. 152ff.) explains why later versions of Lü’s translation did not continue with this practice: “This new way of writing ‘He,’ however, has created a minor problem of its own: must this polite form be used whenever Jesus is referred to? Lü follows the rule that, wherever Jesus is referred to as a human being, the normal ta (他) is written; where he is referred to as divine, especially after the ascension, the reverential ta (祂) is used.”
In that system one kind of pronoun is used for humans (male and female alike) and one for natural elements, non-liquid masses, and some spiritual entities (one other is used for large animals and another one for miscellaneous items). While in these languages the pronoun for spiritual entities used to be employed when referring to God, this has changed into the use of the human pronoun.
Lynell Zogbo (in The Bible Translator 1989, p. 401ff) explains in the following way: “From informal discussions with young Christians especially, it would appear that, at least for some people, the experience and/or concepts of Christianity are affecting the choice of pronoun for God. Some people explain that God is no longer ‘far away,’ but is somehow tangible and personal. For these speakers God has shifted over into the human category.”
In Kouya, God (the Father) and Jesus are referred to with the human pronoun ɔ, whereas the Holy Spirit is referred to with a non-human pronoun. (Northern Grebo and Western Krahn make a similar distinction.)
Eddie Arthur, a former Kouya Bible translation consultant, says the following: “We tried to insist that this shouldn’t happen, but the Kouya team members were insistent that the human pronoun for the Spirit would not work.”
In Burmese, the pronoun ko taw (ကိုယ်တော်) is used either as 2nd person (you) or 3rd person (he, him, his) reference. “This term clearly has its root in the religious language in Burmese. No ordinary persons are addressed or known by this pronoun because it is reserved for Buddhist monks, famous religious teachers, and in the case of Christianity, the Trinity.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae in The Bible Translator 2002, p. 202ff.)
In Thai, the pronoun phra`ong (พระองค์) is used, a gender-neutral pronoun which must refer to a previously introduced royal or divine being. Similarly, in Northern Khmer, which is spoken in Thailand, “an honorific divine pronoun” is used for the pronoun referring to the persons of the Trinity (source: David Thomas in The Bible Translator 1993, p. 445). In Urak Lawoi’, another language spoken in Thailand, the translation often uses tuhat (ตูฮัด) — “God” — ”as a divine pronoun where Thai has phra’ong even though it’s actually a noun.” (Source for Thai and Urak Lawoi’: Stephen Pattemore)
The English “Contemporary Torah” addresses the question of God and gendered pronouns by mostly avoiding pronouns in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (unless God is referred to as “lord,” “father,” “king,” or “warrior”). It does that by either using passive constructs (“He gave us” vs. “we were given”), by using the adjective “divine” or by using “God” rather than a pronoun.
Some Protestant English Bibles use a referential capitalized spelling when referring to the persons of the Trinity with “He,” “His,” “Him,” or “Himself.” This includes for instance the New American Standard Bible, but most translations, especially those published in the 21st century, do not. Two other languages where this is also done (in most Bible translations) are the closely related Indonesian and Malay. In both languages this follows the language usage according to the Qur’an, which in turn predicts that usage (see Soesilo in The Bible Translator 1991, p. 442ff. and The Bible Translator 1997, p. 433ff. ).
See also this chapter in the World Atlas of Language Structures on different approaches to personal pronouns.
The quotation of Psalm 68.18 is prefaced by a verbal phrase which may be taken to mean “And so he (that is, God) says,” or “And so it (that is, the scripture) says.”
In many languages it is impossible to speak of the Scriptures “saying” something. Scriptures can be “read” but they do not “speak.” Therefore, as the scripture says must often be translated as “as anyone can read in the Holy Writings” or “… in a part of the Holy Writings.”
Psalm 68.18 reads in the Hebrew text: “You went up on the heights, you captured captives, you received gifts among men,” which is a description of the procession of the victorious king up Mount Zion, where he is paid tribute by his defeated enemies. Good News Bible translates Psalm 68.18: He goes up to the heights, taking many captives with him; he receives gifts from rebellious men. The Septuagint follows the Hebrew text closely and does not change the meaning of the text.
The clause when he went up to the very heights may be rendered as “when he went up to the very high place.”
The quotation here changes the second person of the Hebrew (and of the Septuagint) to the third person. But the greatest change is from the verb “to receive” of the Hebrew and Septuagint to “to give,” which is the very opposite of the meaning of the Old Testament text.
It is very important that translators remember to translate this quotation the way it appears here, and not try to harmonize it with Psalm 68.18. Some translators have translated heights as “heaven.” This is primarily because of the discussion about the meaning of this in verses 9 and 10. However, that discussion would be meaningless if the translation specified “heaven” in verse 8, and it is therefore important that something such as “heights” or “high space” or “highest place” be said here in verse 8.
He took many captives: this is the meaning of the idiomatic Greek phrase “he captured captivity,” which slavishly represents the Hebrew idiom. There is no way of determining who the New Testament writer considered these captives to be, whether human or angelic opponents (as in Col 2.15). The text is quoted for the purpose of using he gave gifts to mankind as the scriptural proof of Christ’s bestowing gifts on his people. It is quite certain that the “captives” are not the same as the following “men” to whom gifts are given.
In translating he took many captives with him, it is important to use terms which would suggest that he was a conquering hero leading captives. And it should be clear in translation that he took the captives with him to the heights, not that he captured them there. For captives one can use a phrase “those whom he had captured.”
He gave gifts to mankind can be translated as “he gave gifts to people.”
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert C. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1982. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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