addressing God

Translators of different languages have found different ways with what kind of formality God is addressed.

Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or modern 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 the most recent Manchu translation of 1835 (a revision of an earlier edition from 1822), God is never addressed with a pronoun but with “father” (ama /ᠠᠮᠠ) instead. Chengcheng Liu (in this post on the Cambridge Centre for Chinese Theology blog ) explains: “In Manchu tradition, as in Chinese etiquette, second-person pronouns could be considered disrespectful when speaking to superiors or spiritual beings. Manchu Shamanist prayers avoided si [‘you’] and sini [‘your’] for this very reason. To use them for God would be, in Lipovzoff’s [one of the two translators] words, ‘the most uncouth and indecent way to speak to the Almighty — as if He were a servant or slave.’ There was also a grammatical problem. In Manchu, si and sini could refer to both singular and plural subjects. For a faith that insisted on the singularity of God, this was potentially confusing. By contrast, repeating ama removed any ambiguity.”

In Dutch, Afrikaans, Gronings, and Western Frisian translations, God is always addressed with the formal pronoun.

See also formal pronoun: disciples addressing Jesus, female second person singular pronoun in Psalms.

complete verse (Revelation 14:8)

Following are a number of back-translations of Revelation 14:8:

  • Uma: “From there, there was a second angel following the first angel, he said: ‘Destroyed! Destroyed is the very big village of Babel! The Babel people encouraged people all over the world to drink intoxicating drinks. Its meaning, the Babel people encouraged others to follow their inappropriate deeds.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then there was another/a different angel following the first one, saying, ‘Destroyed, really destroyed is the famous city of Babilon. She is like a bad woman (prostitute). She gave all people strong juice of grapes to drink so that she could influence them to sin.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “There was also a second angel who followed the first one, and he said, ‘Now it is destroyed! The city of Babylon is very much destroyed! She made all mankind drunk with her wine, which is to say, very ugly behavior is what she taught to all mankind for she taught them to worship idols!'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “There was a second angel who followed saying, ‘Destroyed! The famous (lit. newsed) city Babilonia has been destroyed, because the residents there, they have made-drunk the people of all nations with their strong alcoholic-beverage, meaning to say, they have persuaded them to follow their filthy behavior which leads to their punishment.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “And then there followed a second angel. That one also spoke calling out, saying, ‘Destroyed all right! Babilonia is now really destroyed, that famous city. For that city is like a woman who caused all nations to drink really strong drink(alcoholic) so that they would behave immorally with her unrestrainedly.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Another angel came after that one. He said: ‘It is finished off. It is finished, the city of Babylon. Because the people of Babylon showed the road of evil for the people who live over the earth to do. They follow the evil done by the people of Babylon.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
  • Gbaya: “… It is she who caused all peoples to drink beer over the huge little thing [this is a word play in Gbaya] of her adultery.” (Source: Philip Noss)

complete verse (Psalm 68:13)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 68:13:

  • Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
    “Even though you are sleeping between kraals of animals,
    the wings of pigeons are covered with silver,
    their feathers with glittering gold.’” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “Even those caring for sheep in the sheepfolds got to take silver doves.
    The wings of these parrots were silver and the feathers were gold.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “Even-though those (who) remained in the pen of the sheep were-allotted images of a dove
    whose wings were-overlayed with silver and the tip of the wings were-overlayed by pure gold.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “they found things like pigeons which had wings
    that were silver,
    and their feathers were gold.’
    Why did some of you hide in a flock of sheep from the fighting?” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • Gbaya: “… they decorated themselves with silver sitting along kɛɗu-kɛɗu [ideophone referring to something shiny like precious stones] beautifully like a grey go-away-bird , they fixed themselves up ŋgol-ŋgol [another ideophone referring to something shiny] shining with beads” (ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages) (Source: Philip Noss)
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Ninyi msibaki katika mazizi ya kondoo,
    kwa sababu sanamu za njiwa ambazo zinaonyesha ushindi,
    mabawa yao yamepakwa fedha,
    manyoya yake dhahabu.’” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “Even those women who were in the pens taking care of the sheep received some of those things;
    they got statues of doves whose wings were covered with silver
    and whose feathers were covered with pure yellow gold.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

complete verse (Psalm 69:10)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 69:10:

  • Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
    “When I am crying and fasting,
    I have to endure being insulted;” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “When I fast and weep
    the people ridicule me.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “When I cry and fast, they put- me -to-shame.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “When I cry, and punish my body of food,
    I must endure people who insulted me,” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • Gbaya: “When I said I would do suffering to myself by fasting,
    they worked the field, raked the soil to cover the ground, they raked me over kpút-kpút [ideophone that communicates the sound and act of stubbing or thudding oneʼs foot against something solid] perching right on top of the tree [idiom].” (Source: Philip Noss)
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Wakati nanyenyekea na nafunga kutokula chakula,
    kumbe watu wananitukana.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “When I have humbled myself and fasted/ abstained from eating food
    to show my sadness about the disgraceful things that they have done to your temple, they just insult me.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

complete verse (Proverbs 30:20)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 30:20:

  • Kupsabiny: “Another amazing thing is this:
    An adulterous woman may sleep around with people
    and (then) say, ‘What wrong have I done?’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The attitude of an adulterous woman is like that:
    She wipes her mouth and says —
    "I haven’t done anything wrong."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “This is what a woman who commits-adultery-with-a-man does: She is-having-sex with another man, afterwards she says that she has- not -done evil.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “This is the illustration/comparison of an immoral (lit. doing-immorality-with) woman: she eats then she wipes her mouth and says that she has-no sin.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Gbaya: “This is the way of the adulteress after doing adultery, she bathes, gathers herself together sheʼs sɛ́ɛ́m [ideophone referring to being quiet] and says, I didnʼt do anything wrong.” (ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages) (Source: Philip Noss)