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 Habakkuk 3:11

The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: as the Revised Standard Version footnote indicates, there are some uncertainties in the Hebrew text of this line. The sun and the moon are both mentioned, but the verb is in the singular. Some scholars have suggested that there should be a second verb to complete the line, and have tried to supply this verb by linking The sun with the last line of the previous verse. Such a course of action requires some changes in the last line of the previous verse but is followed by New American Bible (“The sun forgets to rise, the moon remains in its shelter”) and New English Bible (“The sun forgets to turn in his course, and the moon stands still at her zenith”). This has some support from certain manuscripts of the Septuagint. However, it is not necessary to accept this change in order to make sense of the Hebrew, and translators are recommended to follow the traditional Hebrew text as represented by Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation (compare Hebrew Old Testament Text Project).

Good News Translation translates “the sun and the moon stood still” and puts this main clause at the end of the verse, following the two prepositional phrases, and in many languages this will be the best translation option. In their habitation has no equivalent in Good News Translation, but New International Version makes it clear that this means “in the heavens.” In many languages which cannot talk about the sun and moon “standing still,” this clause may be expressed as “The sun and moon stopped moving through the sky.” Jerusalem Bible has “Sun and moon stay in their houses.”

The reference to the sun and moon standing still may be an allusion to the story of Joshua’s long day (Josh 10.12-13).

The second and third lines in Revised Standard Version are parallel to each other and say similar things in different words: at the light of thine arrows as they sped, at the flash of thy glittering spear. Good News Translation has “At the flash of your speeding arrows and the gleam of your shining spear.” The arrows and the spear are further symbolic references to the lightning of the thunderstorm. It is as though the sun and moon are hiding from God’s power demonstrated in the storm (compare Jerusalem Bible “avoiding the flash of your arrows, the gleam of your glittering spear”). In natural terms, they were hidden by the clouds (compare verse 8), and their normal brightness was surpassed by the dazzling brightness of the lightning. In some languages the expression at the flash of will be difficult to translate. In such cases one may render these lines as “When your speeding arrows flashed and your shining (or, glittering) spear gleamed….”

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on the Book of Habakkuk. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1989. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .