1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

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 Kings 5:5

The Hebrew expresses first what Solomon intended to do and then states that this is in agreement with what the LORD had told David that Solomon would do.

And so I purpose to build a house is literally “and here I am to say to build a house.” The Hebrew expression “to say to build” means “I intend to build.” Most translations do not translate the Hebrew word meaning “here I am.” Chouraqui is an exception with Me voici (“Here I am”). The presence of this Hebrew word adds emphasis to the words that follow, and if the receptor language has some means of imitating this feature of the Hebrew, it should do so. Compare De Vries: “So look, I am proposing to build a temple.”

For the name of the LORD: See the comments on this phrase in verse 3.

As the LORD said to David my father is literally “as the LORD said to David my father saying.” As in verse 3, the order of the words David my father will depend on what is most natural in the receptor language.

A literal translation of the words whom I will set upon your throne in your place may mistakenly suggest that God intended for David’s son to overthrow him. It may be better to say something like “whom I will make king after you” (Good News Translation) or “whom I shall place on your throne to succeed you” (New Jerusalem Bible).

A rather radical restructuring of the elements in this verse may be appropriate in some languages. As noted above, the Hebrew speaks of Solomon’s intentions first and then gives the background for his desire to build the Temple. Good News Translation reorders this so that the background information is given first and then the statement of intention comes at the end of the verse.

It will also be necessary in some languages to transform the embedded quotation to an indirect one; for example:

• The LORD promised my father David that he would make me, his son, become king of Israel after him and that I would build a temple for the LORD.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on 1 Kings 5:5

5:5a So behold, I plan to build a house for the Name of the LORD my God,

So I am planning to build a house ⌊to honor⌋ the name of Yahweh my God.
-or-
So now I want to build a temple where ⌊people can worship⌋ Yahweh my/our (excl.) God.

5:5b according to what the LORD said to my father David:

This is what Yahweh said to my father David ⌊that I should/would do⌋. He said,
-or-
This is just what Yahweh told my father David ⌊was going to happen⌋. Yahweh said that

5:5c ‘I will put your son on your throne in your place,

‘I will make your (sing) son succeed you as king.
-or-
he was going to make ⌊me⌋ the new king after David had died. ⌊I,⌋ the son of David, would be the one

5:5d and he will build the house for My Name.’

It is he who will build the temple ⌊to honor⌋ my name.’
-or-
to construct a house for ⌊the worship/honor of⌋ Yahweh.”

© 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.