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 Psalm 18:43

In verses 43-45 the psalmist describes how God made him ruler and kept him secure from rebellious subjects, both national and foreign.

For didst deliver see the same verb in 17.13. The Hebrew phrase “the strivings of a people” in line a is taken by Good News Translation to mean rebellious subjects, that is, a civil uprising (so Weiser, Briggs); thus also possible is “people who rebel against me.” It may be advisable to make the meaning clear by translating “my people,” as New Jerusalem Bible does. Revised Standard Version has chosen to follow the Septuagint peoples, thus making line a parallel with lines b and c; it seems better, however, to stay with the singular form of the Hebrew text and take it to mean the people of Israel. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project (“B” decision) prefers the singular form of the Masoretic text. “A rebellious people” must sometimes be expressed as “people who refuse to obey their rulers” or “people who say ‘No’ to their chief.” Head of the nations means ruler of Gentile nations, as the following lines show. The king of Israel rules over a great empire (see the account of David’s conquests in 2 Sam 8.1-14).

Nations must often be rendered “tribe” when this is the largest political unit known.

People whom I had not known is a way of referring to foreigners; and the Hebrew verb “to serve” here means to come under his rule, to become his subjects.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on the Book of Psalms. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1991. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .