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 4:2

O men translates the Hebrew phrase “sons of man.” Some scholars (see Kirkpatrick, Cohen, Weiser) believe that this means men of rank, wealth, importance (see 49.2; 62.9). So New American Bible translates “Men of rank”; Knox “Great men of the world”; Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “You rich men have power”; Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “You who think you are great men.” Moffatt, somewhat differently, “Proud men.” Other scholars see here an emphasis upon their mortality: New English Bible “Mortal men.” There is no way of knowing who these men were except that they were the psalmist’s enemies.

The questions are not requests for information; they are protests and denunciations aimed at the psalmist’s enemies.

Shall my honor suffer shame: “insult me” (Good News Translation) represents what is literally “my glory into shame.” Here the word “glory” seems to mean reputation, fame, honor. The idea appears to be that the psalmist’s enemies, by means of slanders and lies, are deliberately defaming him. Dahood takes “my glory” here to refer to God, “my Glorious One.” The Septuagint has a different text: “How long will you men be stupid?” (literally “heavy of heart”); this text is preferred by New Jerusalem Bible “be heavy of heart”; Bible de Jérusalem (Bible de Jérusalem) has “shut your hearts”; New American Bible “be dull of heart”; Moffatt “how long will you be so misguided.” It is recommended that the Hebrew text be followed, as represented by Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation.

In translation it is important to make clear the shift of person addressed in 4.2; for example, “And now you people….” The question beginning with how long may in some languages require shifting to a negative question; for example, “Will you people never stop insulting me?” Or an emphatic statement may be better, such as “You people will never stop insulting me!”

It is impossible to be sure what vain words and lies refer to. The two expressions in Hebrew are synonymous, and the word for vain words means what is of no value, useless, worthless (see the same word in 2.1). It may be, as some scholars suggest, that this language reflects a trial in court in which the accused man denies the charges brought against him and affirms his innocence, at the same time accusing his adversaries of being liars (verses 1-5). With less probability, a few see here a reference to idols, so that the accusation is that of idolatry. Good News Translation has used two general expressions, “what is worthless” and “what is false.” New Jerusalem Bible “illusions” and “frauds” suggests dishonest conduct, and this may be the best way to translate these two expressions.

Love … seek after: the two verbs represent the attitude and the activity of the psalmist’s enemies. It may be more effective to represent these two phrases by more specific actions, as Bible en français courant has done: “you who love to accuse without cause and who try to dishonor me.”

Selah: see 3.2.

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 .