Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between. One important aspect of addressing someone else in one’s or someone else’s family is by selecting the correct word when referring to them.

One way to do this is through the usage of an appropriate title within a conversation. In the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017, the father is addressed with o-tō-san (お父さん), a form that expresses the intimate father-son relationship in the verses referenced here. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )