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 18:47 - 18:48

The verbal phrase gave me vengeance (here plural, “acts of vengeance”) means 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 Jerusalem Bible has here “vindicated me,” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “avenged me,” Bible en français courant “gives my revenge.” The thought here is that the defeat of the enemies in battle (as the next line makes clear) is the way in which the psalmist “got even” with them. So Good News Translation translates “He gives me victory over my enemies,” the same meaning expressed in the next line, subdued peoples under me. Gave me vengeance must sometimes be rendered “helps me defeat my enemies.”

Delivered is the same verb used in verse 43.

In verse 48 the word translated by Revised Standard Version yea is omitted by some manuscripts and also in the parallel in 2 Samuel 22.49 (and is omitted by Good News Translation). It is a way of emphasizing what follows; in current English “indeed” would be the proper way to represent it.

Adversaries in verse 48b is “those who rise up against,” as in verse 39b, “assailants.”

For deliver see 7.1.

Men of violence: the Hebrew is singular, “man of violence,” usually interpreted as a collective term; some, however, take it to be a reference to Saul (who is mentioned in the Hebrew title of the psalm). It is better to represent it as a plural. For violence see comments on 7.16. Men of violence may often be rendered as “men who kill others” or “men who injure others.”

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 .