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 Exod 20:1-2

And is the usual conjunction waw, but the context here suggests “Then.” God spoke all these words introduces all that follows through verse 17. Note that God is ʾelohim, who immediately identifies himself as the LORD, Yahweh. Saying serves only as the marker for opening the quotation.

I am the LORD is the self-introductory formula first used in 6.2. (See the comment there.) This is the first “word” of the Ten Commandments, although it is not a commandment itself. It is the necessary basis for the commandments that follow. In fact, An American Translation has “Since I, the LORD, am your God, … you must have no other gods beside me.” Your God is literally “your [singular] ʾelohim.” It may be advisable to change to the plural in this verse, for the setting suggests that Yahweh is speaking to all the people, not just to Moses. (But see the introduction above.) One also may express this sentence as “I am Yahweh, your [plural] God” or “I am Yahweh, the God whom you worship.”

Who brought you out of the land of Egypt also uses the singular you, but translators may render it as plural if that is more natural style. Brought you out is literally “I caused you to go out.” Out of the house of bondage is discussed at 13.3.

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .