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 88:6 - 88:7

These two verses are even more explicit: it is God who has placed the psalmist in the depths of the Pit, that is, Sheol, a dark and deep abyss (see similar language in 69.2, 15). Bible en français courant translates verse 6b “in the deep darkness of death.” In many languages Revised Standard Version Pit will not signify death or near death. Good News Translation‘s “tomb” suggests in English a structure for burial of the dead, either in the ground or particularly above the ground. In languages in which burial is not in the ground, some adaptation is required; for example, “You have thrown me into the place of dead bodies, into the darkest and deepest hole.”

The psalmist feels on himself the full weight of God’s wrath, which crushes him as though it were giant waves (see 42.7; Jonah 2.2-3 for similar language). Good News Translation has related “waves” to “Your anger” and made the two halves of verse 7 parallel. Bible en français courant, in a similar way, says “your anger has crushed me in waves that overwhelm me.” In some languages the idea of verse 7 may be expressed as a simile; for example, “Your anger has been like sea waves crushing me” or “You have been angry at me like sea waves knocking me down.” In languages in which “waves” are meaningless, the translator may be able to accomplish the same poetic effect with wind or some other natural force.

For 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 .