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 5:5 - 5:6

Yahweh’s judgment on sinners is described in four different ways: (1) they may not stand, or “cannot remain,” in his presence (literally “cannot stand before your eyes”). Care should be taken in translating this expression, so as not to give the impression that the psalmist is talking about not going to heaven. The expression fits well with the idea of God as king (verse 2), who does not allow criminals and lawbreakers to come into his presence (see 101.7). So the translation can be “You do not allow proud people to come into your presence.” The main idea here is that God will not listen to their prayers as they come into the Temple to worship him; see the next verse and 15.1-5. The expression stand before thy eyes refers to entering God’s holy presence and is rendered in some languages as “enter where you are” or “come near to you.”

(2) The LORD “hates” them, (3) “destroys” them, and (4) abhors them. This is not simply descriptive; it is the psalmist’s way of calling down God’s anger and punishment on his enemies. All these verbs denote strong dislike, revulsion, and hatred, and are part of the very human vocabulary that the Old Testament writers use of God’s attitude toward sin.

In line b of verse 6, the LORD is referred to in the third person; Good News Translation keeps the second person, which is used in verses 4-6a.

The sinners are described as boastful, evildoers, those who speak lies, bloodthirsty, and deceitful. Bloodthirsty translates what is literally “man of bloods,” which may be translated as “the violent” (New Jerusalem Bible) or “murderous” (New Jerusalem Bible). In translation bloodthirsty or “murderous” must sometimes be rendered, for example, “people who want in their hearts to kill others” or “people who go about killing others.” The word translated deceitful may mean “traitors” (New English Bible); Biblia Dios Habla Hoy translates “traitors and assassins,” and another possible version is “murderous and treacherous men.”

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 .