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 22:15

In line a Good News Translation (as well as New English Bible, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, Bible de Jérusalem, Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Zürcher Bibel) follows a conjecture, “My throat,” for the Masoretic text my strength, which Revised Standard Version prefers. Hebrew Old Testament Text Project says that it is possible that “My throat” was the original text, but stays with the Masoretic text, since there is no ancient witness in support of “My throat.”

A potsherd is a piece of broken clay jar, completely dry and brittle. Good News Translation substitutes “dust” for potsherd. While potsherds are found in many parts of the world, they are not always associated with expressions for “dryness.” If translators follow the wording of “throat,” they should find an idiomatic expression which will render the idea of dryness in the throat. Simply saying “my throat is dry like a broken pot” will in most cases communicate nothing of the extreme degree of a parched throat.

The word which Revised Standard Version translates jaws occurs only here in the Old Testament. It is more natural in English to speak of the tongue sticking to the roof of the mouth (Good News Translation) than of it sticking to the jaws. What has been said about potsherd also applies to jaws in 15b.

In the last line the psalmist attributes his desperate condition to Yahweh himself. Dahood, however, takes the verb form as being third feminine (not second masculine), in a collective sense, “they put me” (so An American Translation), and New English Bible changes to passive, “I am laid low.” The majority, however, take the Masoretic text to mean that the psalmist is saying that it is Yahweh who has brought him to the brink of death. The dust of death is a poetic phrase for the grave, recalling also Sheol as a place of dust (see Job 7.21; Psa 7.5; 90.3).

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 .