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.

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight

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 Isaiah 38:17

In this verse Hezekiah continues to praise God for sparing his life.

Lo highlights the words that follow. New Revised Standard Version and New International Version say “Surely,” while New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “Truly.”

It was for my welfare that I had great bitterness is literally “for peace bitterness to me bitterness.” The Hebrew word for “peace” (shalom) is better rendered welfare in this context. Hezekiah recognizes that his past suffering has been beneficial for him. Some commentators suggest removing the second occurrence of “bitterness.” However, it is repeated for emphasis, so translators should express this in some way. Revised Standard Version does it by saying great bitterness. For bitterness see verse 15. There is no verb in this clause in Hebrew. RSV/NRSV and New International Version supply “was,” and Revised English Bible inserts “had … been.” These translations correctly regard Hezekiah’s suffering as belonging to the past. Good News Translation uses future tense, but this does not fit the context.

But thou hast held back my life from the pit of destruction: The common Hebrew conjunction rendered but (also New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible) may be left implied since the relationship between these two lines and the previous two is unclear. Revised Standard Version slightly emends the Hebrew text of Masoretic Text here. Instead of held back, Masoretic Text has a verb that means “to love” or “to be attached to.” Many translations follow the same reading as Revised Standard Version; for example, Good News Translation and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh say “save[d],” while Revised English Bible and New American Bible use “preserved.” However, Hebrew Old Testament Text Project recommends that Masoretic Text be retained. New International Version does this by rendering these two lines as “In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction.” Revised English Bible is similar with “but your love saved me from….” Translators may follow Masoretic Text or the emended text here. The Hebrew word rendered pit occurs rarely and only in poetry (see Psa 103.4; Jonah 2.6). The pit of destruction (literally “the pit of wearing out”) may be rendered “the grave” (Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch) or “death” (Bible en français courant). Good News Translation has “all danger,” but we do not recommend this.

For thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back: The connector for introduces these two lines as the reason for God’s preservation of Hezekiah’s life. He did it because he forgave the king’s sins. Thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back is a metaphor for forgiveness, as clarified in Good News Translation. We may also say “you have put my sins behind you,” or even “you have turned your back on my sins.” Bible en français courant has “you have thrown all my sins far behind you.”

We suggest the following translation examples for this verse:

• Truly, to endure great suffering was for my well-being.
You have preserved my life from death’s destruction,
because you have turned your back on all my sins.

• Truly, it was for my welfare that I underwent great anguish;
but your love has saved me from death’s pit of destruction,
because you have thrown away all my sins [or, guilt] far behind you.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .