3Then Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Astartes from among you. Direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.”
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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 benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. Here, sukuidashite (救い出して) or “save/rescue” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).”
God transcends gender, but most languages are limited to grammatical gender expressed in pronouns. In the case of English, this is traditionally confined to “he” (or in the forms “his,” “him,” and “himself”), “she” (and “her,” “hers,” and “herself”), and “it” (and “its” and “itself”).
Modern Mandarin Chinese, however, offers another possibility. Here, the third-person singular pronoun is always pronounced the same (tā), but it is written differently according to its gender (他 is “he,” 她 is “she,” and 它/牠 is “it” and their respective derivative forms). In each of these characters, the first (or upper) part defines the gender (man, woman, or thing/animal), while the second element gives the clue to its pronunciation.
In 1930, after a full century with dozens of Chinese translations, Bible translator Wang Yuande (王元德) coined a new “godly” pronoun: 祂. Chinese readers immediately knew how to pronounce it: tā. But they also recognized that the first part of that character, signifying something spiritual, clarified that each person of the Trinity has no gender aside from being God.
While the most important Protestant and Catholic Chinese versions respectively have opted not to use 祂, some Bible translations do and it is widely used in hymnals and other Christian materials. Among the translations that use 祂 to refer to “God” were early versions of Lü Zhenzhong’s (呂振中) version (New Testament: 1946, complete Bible: 1970). R.P. Kramers (in The Bible Translator 1956, p. 152ff. ) explains why later versions of Lü’s translation did not continue with this practice: “This new way of writing ‘He,’ however, has created a minor problem of its own: must this polite form be used whenever Jesus is referred to? Lü follows the rule that, wherever Jesus is referred to as a human being, the normal tā (他) is written; where he is referred to as divine, especially after the ascension, the reverential tā (祂) is used.”
In that system, one kind of pronoun is used for humans (male and female alike) and others for natural elements, non-liquid masses, and some spiritual entities (one other is used for large animals and another one for miscellaneous items). While in these languages the pronoun for spiritual entities used to be employed when referring to God, this has changed into the use of the human pronoun.
Lynell Zogbo (in The Bible Translator 1989, p. 401ff. ) explains: “From informal discussions with young Christians especially, it would appear that, at least for some people, the experience and/or concepts of Christianity are affecting the choice of pronoun for God. Some people explain that God is no longer ‘far away,’ but is somehow tangible and personal. For these speakers God has shifted over into the human category.”
In Kouya, God (the Father) and Jesus are referred to with the human pronoun ɔ, whereas the Holy Spirit is referred to with a non-human pronoun. (Northern Grebo and Western Krahn make a similar distinction.)
Eddie Arthur, a former Kouya Bible translation consultant, says the following: “We tried to insist that this shouldn’t happen, but the Kouya team members were insistent that the human pronoun for the Spirit would not work.”
In Burmese, the pronoun ko taw (ကိုယ်တော်) is used either as 2nd person (you) or 3rd person (he, him, his) reference. “This term clearly has its root in the religious language in Burmese. No ordinary persons are addressed or known by this pronoun because it is reserved for Buddhist monks, famous religious teachers, and in the case of Christianity, the Trinity.” (Source: Gam Seng Shae in The Bible Translator 2002, p. 202ff. )
In Thai, the pronoun phra`ong (พระองค์) is used, a gender-neutral pronoun which must refer to a previously introduced royal or divine being. Similarly, in Northern Khmer, which is spoken in Thailand, “an honorific divine pronoun” is used for the pronoun referring to the persons of the Trinity (source: David Thomas in The Bible Translator 1993, p. 445 ). In Urak Lawoi’, another language spoken in Thailand, the translation often uses tuhat (ตูฮัด) — “God” — ”as a divine pronoun where Thai has phra’ong even though it’s actually a noun.” (Source for Thai and Urak Lawoi’: Stephen Pattemore)
The English “Contemporary Torah” addresses the question of God and gendered pronouns by mostly avoiding pronouns in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (unless God is referred to as “lord,” “father,” “king,” or “warrior”). It does that by either using passive constructs (“He gave us” vs. “we were given”), by using the adjective “divine” or by using “God” rather than a pronoun.
Some Protestant and Orthodox English Bibles use a referential capitalized spelling when referring to the persons of the Trinity with “He,” “His,” “Him,” or “Himself.” This includes for instance the New American Standard Bible or The Orthodox New Testament, but most translations do not. Two other languages where this is also done (in most Bible translations) are Twents as well as Indonesian and Malay. In the latter two languages this follows the language usage according to the Qur’an, which in turn predicts that usage (see Soesilo in The Bible Translator 1991, p. 442ff. and The Bible Translator 1997, p. 433ff. ).
This verse begins in Hebrew with the common conjunction. Many translations leave it untranslated (so, for example, Good News Translation). Fox says “So,” suggesting that Samuel’s words to the people follow logically from the fact that “there was a movement throughout Israel to follow the LORD” (verse 2, Revised English Bible).
Samuel reappears here for the first time since the beginning of chapter 4.
All the house of Israel: that is, “the whole people of Israel,” as in verse 2. Good News Translation leaves the word all implicit, but it may be translated explicitly for the sake of emphasis in the receptor language, unless it is unnatural to do so.
If you are returning … with all your heart: the word order in Hebrew, “If with all your heart, you are returning,” emphasizes the words with all your heart. The heart was considered to be the innermost part of a person. It was regarded as the center of one’s will, rational activity, and moral choice. While many languages use expressions containing the word “heart” to indicate sincerity, some may have other ways of expressing this idea. Some may say, for example, “If you are truly sincere in returning [to the LORD]” or “If you really want to turn back…” (Contemporary English Version).
Worship of foreign gods was forbidden to the people of Israel (see Exo 20.3-5). Foreign gods may be translated “the gods that other people worship” or “the gods whom people of other nations serve.” In the following verse this indefinite expression is replaced by a specific reference to “Baals” (New Revised Standard Version) or “baalim” (Revised English Bible). But here it is better to retain the more general expression.
Ashtaroth (see also 12.10 and 31.10) is the plural form of the name ʿashtoreth, a partner of the Canaanite fertility god Baal. Good News Translation uses “Astarte,” the Greek form of the name, which is more commonly known. Astarte was also a goddess of love and of war. The name ʿashtoreth (plural Ashtaroth) comes from writing the name with the consonants from Astarte and the vowels from bosheth, the Hebrew word meaning “shame.” While the name will probably have to be transliterated, the form of the transliteration should follow the receptor language rules of pluralization rather than using the Hebrew suffix -oth. New Revised Standard Version, for example, uses common English pluralization, “Astartes.” The Greek word “Astarte” does not occur as such in the Hebrew Old Testament. Ashtaroth is also sometimes spelled “Ashtoreth” (singular) (1 Kgs 11.5, 33; 2 Kgs 23.13).
Astarte (that is, Ashtaroth) is not to be confused with ʾasherah (1 Kgs 15.13) and ʾasherim (1 Kgs 14.15), which are the singular and plural forms of the name for a different Canaanite goddess (or her wooden representations). Both Asherah and Ashtaroth (Astarte) are represented in the Old Testament as partners of Baal.
The figurative expression direct your heart to the LORD occurs also in 1 Chr 29.18 and 2 Chr 20.33. The form of the verb direct used here is causative, “to make or cause to stand firm.” It may be translated “commit yourselves to the LORD” (New International Version) or “give yourselves fully to the LORD” (New Century Version).
He will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines: or “he will rescue you from the power of the Philistines,” as in Good News Translation. But in many languages it will be more natural to say simply “he will save you from the Philistines.” On the metaphorical use of the hand of, see the comments on 4.8.
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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