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 way to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. Here, the Greek that is translated as “commandment” in English is translated in the Shinkaiyaku Bible as o-meiji (お命じ), combining “command” (meiji) with the respectful prefix o-.

Other uses of honorifics in this verse include:

• The usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix. When the referent is God or a person or persons to be honored, the honorific prefix go- (御 or ご) can be used, as in go-jishin (ご自身), a combination of “onseself” (jishin) and the honorific prefix go-. This can also be used for other reflexive pronouns (myself, himself, yourself etc.)
• The choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms). The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
• The usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) is affixed on the verb. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, tsukawas-are-ru (遣わされる) or “send” is used.

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )