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 73:24

In line a the psalmist expresses his confidence in God’s guidance; God will always give him the instruction he needs in this life. With thy counsel or Good News Translation‘s “with your instruction” states the means by which God leads the psalmist, and may have to be recast in some languages to say, for example, “your teaching shows me the way to go” or “you teach me and I follow your way.”

It is disputed whether line b refers to eternal life after death as such. It should be noted that the Hebrew word kabod “glory” nowhere in the Old Testament has the explicit meaning of “heaven” as the place where God dwells (see comments, 3.3; 7.5). Further, there is no preposition in the Hebrew text that modifies the word “glory”; the Septuagint and other ancient versions have “with glory.” The verb receive is the one used in 49.15 (see comments there) and is the one which is used of Enoch in Genesis 5.24. The passage here, though not a clear statement of a belief in resurrection or of a bodily assumption into heaven, seems to express a confidence that the psalmist will enjoy unbroken communion with God (Briggs, Dahood, Oesterley, Anderson, Weiser, Toombs, McCullough). Kirkpatrick and Cohen take it to mean vindication in this life. Bible de Jérusalem translates “and behind the glory you will take me,” taking the word “glory” to mean the brightness hiding God’s being, reminiscent of the cloud at the exodus from Egypt. New Jerusalem Bible has “You … led me toward honor,” which is not very clear; Bible en français courant “afterward you will hold me in your glory”; and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible “you will hold me afterwards, with glory.” In some languages “receive me with honor” (as in Good News Translation) is to “receive me as a chief,” or “welcome me with praise,” or “accept me with good words.”

Good News Translation‘s “and at the end” suggests a more final state of things than Revised Standard Version‘s and afterward. In many languages, if the translator follows Good News Translation, it will be necessary to state the end of something. If death is not the primary meaning, this will most often be misleading. Therefore it may be best to say, for example, “and then,” leaving open the question of “end of life.”

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 .