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 44:3

It was God who gave the people of Israel the victory; it was not their own sword or their own arm that made them victorious; it was God’s mighty power and strength (literally right hand … arm), his favor, his goodness, the light of thy countenance; (see 4.6). This may be translated “by your constant presence with them” or “because you were always with them.”

The expression not by their own sword implies that there is some other power that should have the honor for winning battles, even though they did use their swords in warfare to win the land. In some languages where there is no term for sword, one may translate “your people did not win the land with their weapons.” Where it is possible to use the term sword the expression by their own sword requires in some languages that the instrumental use be made explicit; for example, “by fighting with their swords.” Good News Translation “by their own power” must in some languages be said “because they were strong” or “because they did powerful things.”

The expression the light of thy countenance and “your presence” must sometimes be translated “because they were assured that you were with them.”

Thou didst delight in them: “you were pleased with them,” “you loved them” (so Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Bible en français courant, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy). Most translations are like Revised Standard Version, for, which gives the reason for the Israelites’ victories; Bible en français courant has this line as an additional item, joined to the two preceding lines, “and you loved them.”

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 .