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 35:27 - 35:28

Verse 27 describes the reaction of the psalmist’s friends, who want to see him declared innocent (my vindication–see verse 24).

In verse 27e welfare translates the Hebrew shalom (see comment on “peace” in 29.11); New Jerusalem Bible, New International Version, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy have “well-being”; New American Bible “prosperity.” His servant is the psalmist himself.

Who delights in the welfare of his servant is an expression which poses two major translation problems. The first refers to the translation of the Hebrew word translated welfare by Revised Standard Version and “success” by Good News Translation. In many languages this broad concept of well-being and material prosperity can only be summed up in metaphorical terminology; for example, “God delights when people’s hearts sit in cool shade” or “God is happy when people’s hearts are singing.” In the absence of such idiomatic usage, one may in some languages say “God is happy when people are at peace and have all they need.”

The second problem in this line is the expression his servant, which represents a change to third person reference. In some languages such a switch of pronominal reference will create misunderstandings for the reader. If that is the case, it will be preferable to say, for example, “he is pleased with my success. I am his servant” or “he is pleased with the way I succeed, and I am his servant” or “… the way I, his servant, succeed.”

In verse 28 the word translated righteousness may be taken here in a concrete fashion, such as New Jerusalem Bible “beneficent acts,” and New Jerusalem Bible “saving justice,” or else as a moral quality, “goodness” (Bible de Jérusalem), “faithfulness” (Bible en français courant). My tongue shall tell of thy righteousness may often be translated “I shall tell people how good you are” or “I shall say to the people ‘God is good.’ ”

The expression My tongue shall tell … of thy praise does not mean that the psalmist will talk about the subject of praising Yahweh, but that he will, in fact, praise Yahweh all the day long.

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 .