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 6:8 - 6:9

In this last strophe (verses 8-10) the psalmist assures himself of God’s help and denounces his enemies, predicting their punishment.

Depart from me: either “Go away” or “Stay away.”

Workers of evil, like “evildoers” in 5.5, is a very general term for people who are sinful, wicked, bad.

My weeping must often be rendered by a clause such as “the LORD hears me when I cry” or “… when I cry to him for help.”

Line a of verse 9 states the fact, and line b, which parallels it with each word, gives the consequence. Good News Translation expresses the consequence in line b through the use of “and will” in the second line.

Supplication (or “cry for help”) translates a word meaning “request for favor or help” and must often be rendered “ask for help” or “beg for help,” since crying is often restricted to “weeping” and “shouting.”

Accepts translates a verb meaning “receive,” used here in the sense of a favorable response to the psalmist’s pleas. So Good News Translation translates “will answer.”

It is to be noticed that in these two verses Revised Standard Version has translated the verbs in 8b and 9a with the past tense, and in 9b with the present tense; Good News Translation, however, has the present tense in 8b and 9a, and the future tense in 9b. Some use the past tense for all three (Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Bible en français courant), and New Jerusalem Bible uses the present tense for all three. A translator should feel free to use the tense appropriate for an expression of complete confidence; the psalmist knows that Yahweh listens to his prayer and will answer it.

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 .