self-referencing pronoun for king or queen

In Malay, the pronoun beta for the royal “I” (or “my” or “me”) that is used by royals when speaking to people of lower rank, subordinates or commoners to refer to themselves in these verses. This reflects the “language of the court because the monarchy and sultanate in Malaysia are still alive and well. All oral and printed literature (including newspapers and magazines) preserve and glorify the language of the court. Considering that the language of the court is part of the Malaysian language, court language is used sparingly where appropriate, specifically with texts relating to palace life.” (Source: Daud Soesilo in The Bible Translator 2025, p. 263ff.)

complete verse (1 Chronicles 22:8)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of 1 Chronicles 22:8:

  • Kupsabiny: “But God said to me, ‘You have fought very much with other people and you have shed much blood. So, it is not you who shall build a house where my name can be exalted.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “But the LORD spoke to me like this, ‘You have fought many battles, and have killed many people. You will not get to build this temple for my name. For in my eyes you have caused much blood to flow in your land.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “But this is what he said to me: ‘You (sing.) have-killed many people in furious battles which you (sing.) have-experienced. So I will- not -allow you (sing.) to build a temple for my honor.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “But Yahweh told a prophet to tell me, ‘You have killed many men in the battles that you have fought. I have seen the blood of all the people whom you killed, so you will not be the one who will arrange for a temple to be built to honor me.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

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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 Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / 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.

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

See also pronoun for “God”.

Translation commentary on 1 Chronicles 22:8

But the word of the LORD came to me, saying …: In this verse Good News Translation turns the direct quotation of God’s words to David into indirect speech (see the comments on the previous verse). But translates the common Hebrew conjunction. This verse expresses the fact that God did not agree with David’s wish, so a conjunction such as “But” or “However” (Bible en français courant) is an appropriate translation. In certain languages the contradictory nature of the message may be conveyed or augmented by the choice of the verb here. Revised English Bible, for example, uses “forbade.” The word of the LORD came is a common expression in the Old Testament (see 1 Chr 17.3), but in some languages it will be more natural to say “the LORD spoke” or “the LORD told” (Good News Translation). Others may prefer to render the word of the LORD came to me as “I received a message from the LORD.”

You have shed much blood and have waged great wars: In the Masoretic Text the word order here is different from the English translations of Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation. The focus of the Hebrew is better shown in the following rendering: “Much blood you have shed and great wars you have waged” (Knoppers). It should be clear that the pronoun You (singular) refers to David and not to Solomon. You have shed much blood (literally “Blood in abundance you have poured out”) means simply that he “had killed too many people” (Good News Translation, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente). David was ritually unclean because of this (see Num 35.33). No one who was unclean could approach the Temple (2 Chr 23.19). The use of the conjunction and may give the mistaken impression that have shed much blood and have waged great wars are two totally different events. But the sense is rather that a great deal of blood was shed during the numerous wars over which David presided. For this reason a better model for these two clauses is “You have caused much blood to be spilled during the great wars that you led” (Bible en français courant).

You shall not build a house to my name: Compare the previous verse. In Hebrew thought a person’s name revealed the person’s true identity and character (see, for example, Gen 27.36; 1 Sam 25.25). A person’s name was very closely related to what that person was. For this reason translations such as “where people will come to worship me” (Bible en français courant) and “in my honor” (La Bible du Semeur) correctly express the meaning of the Hebrew phrase for to my name.

Because you have shed so much blood before me upon the earth: Good News Translation does not translate the words upon the earth, leaving this information implied in English.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Chronicles, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2014. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on 1 Chronicles 22:8

22:8a but this word of the LORD came to me:

But he/Yahweh told me,
-or-
Yahweh however, told him,

22:8b ‘You have shed much blood and waged great wars.

‘You have killed many people in the battles that you have fought.
-or-
“David, you have fought many wars and you have killed many people. (English Easy-to-Read Version)

22:8c You are not to build a house for My Name

So you cannot build a temple for my name. (English Easy-to-Read Version)
-or-
Therefore, you yourself will not build a house to worship me.

22:8d because you have shed so much blood on the ground before Me.

I have seen all the blood of the people that you have killed. (EEB)
-or-
That is because I have seen you spill the blood of many people on the earth. (NRiV)

22:8:a-d (combined)

But Yahweh told me that I had killed too many people and fought too many wars. And so, because of all the bloodshed I have caused, he would not let me build a temple for him.
-or-
Yahweh, however, did not want me build him a temple. He said that he had seen me cause a lot of bloodshed, fight many battles, and kill lots of people.

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