addressing God

Translators of different languages have found different ways with what kind of formality God is addressed.

Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or modern English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.

As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator 2002, p. 210ff. ), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.

In these verses, in which humans address God, the informal, familiar pronoun is used that communicates closeness.

Voinov notes that “in the Tuvan Bible, God is only addressed with the informal pronoun. No exceptions. An interesting thing about this is that I’ve heard new Tuvan believers praying with the formal form to God until they are corrected by other Christians who tell them that God is close to us so we should address him with the informal pronoun. As a result, the informal pronoun is the only one that is used in praying to God among the Tuvan church.”

In Gbaya, “a superior, whether father, uncle, or older brother, mother, aunt, or older sister, president, governor, or chief, is never addressed in the singular unless the speaker intends a deliberate insult. When addressing the superior face to face, the second person plural pronoun ɛ́nɛ́ or ‘you (pl.)’ is used, similar to the French usage of vous.

Accordingly, the translators of the current version of the Gbaya Bible chose to use the plural ɛ́nɛ́ to address God. There are a few exceptions. In Psalms 86:8, 97:9, and 138:1, God is addressed alongside other “gods,” and here the third person pronoun o is used to avoid confusion about who is being addressed. In several New Testament passages (Matthew 21:23, 26:68, 27:40, Mark 11:28, Luke 20:2, 23:37, as well as in Jesus’ interaction with Pilate and Jesus’ interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well) the less courteous form for Jesus is used to indicate ignorance of his position or mocking.” (Source Philip Noss)

In the most recent Manchu translation of 1835 (a revision of an earlier edition from 1822), God is never addressed with a pronoun but with “father” (ama /ᠠᠮᠠ) instead. Chengcheng Liu (in this post on the Cambridge Centre for Chinese Theology blog ) explains: “In Manchu tradition, as in Chinese etiquette, second-person pronouns could be considered disrespectful when speaking to superiors or spiritual beings. Manchu Shamanist prayers avoided si [‘you’] and sini [‘your’] for this very reason. To use them for God would be, in Lipovzoff’s [one of the two translators] words, ‘the most uncouth and indecent way to speak to the Almighty — as if He were a servant or slave.’ There was also a grammatical problem. In Manchu, si and sini could refer to both singular and plural subjects. For a faith that insisted on the singularity of God, this was potentially confusing. By contrast, repeating ama removed any ambiguity.”

In Dutch, Afrikaans, Gronings, and Western Frisian translations, God is always addressed with the formal pronoun.

See also formal pronoun: disciples addressing Jesus, female second person singular pronoun in Psalms.

complete verse (Habakkuk 3:10)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Habakkuk 3:10:

  • Kupsabiny: “The mountains saw you and trembled. Rivers poured out and the whirlwind came to the ocean with waters roaring.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The mountains saw you and trembled.
    The rain comes pouring from the sky
    and the deep ocean will make a loud noise and waves will be churned up.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “The mountains are like people that when they see you (sing.) they trembled.
    It rained so hard;
    the water in the sea roared and the waves become-bigger.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “The mountains that see you (sing.),
    they tremble with their fear
    and it-rained strongly.
    The deep oceans, they rumbled/roared,
    and their waves became-strong.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “It is as though the mountains saw you doing that,
    and they trembled.
    Floods rushed by;
    it was as though the deep ocean roared and caused its waves to rise up high.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Habakkuk 3:10

The description of the storm and its effect continues, in terms very similar to those of Psalm 77.16-18. The mountains saw thee and writhed: the Hebrew word translated “writhe” is often associated with the movements a woman makes in childbirth (compare Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “like a woman who lies in birth pangs”). Other terms used in English versions are “shiver” (Jerusalem Bible), “tremble” (New American Bible), and “rock” (New Jerusalem Bible). This movement may refer either to an earth tremor accompanying the storm, or more probably to the effect of flash floods running down the mountain sides. Many languages have a term that refers to the movements of a woman in labor, and if such a term does not sound strange when applied to mountains, it may be good to use it here for poetic effect.

The raging waters swept on: this refers to the newly formed streams dashing down the mountains, or to the “torrent of rain” (New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible) as it falls from the sky. Good News Translation takes this second interpretation and says “water poured down from the skies.” Compare Bible en français courant “torrential rains flood the earth.”

The deep gave forth its voice: the Hebrew word translated the deep is the same word as that used in Gen 1.2. It has overtones of cosmic forces opposed to God (compare verse 8). In the Hebrew world view, the deep referred to “the waters under the earth,” and Good News Translation translates in these terms. However, it is possible that in this context the prophet is thinking of the sea roaring as the flooded rivers pour into it (compare Bible en français courant, New American Bible “the ocean,” New English Bible “the deep sea”).

The last line, it lifts its hands on high, fits well with the interpretation of the deep as the ocean. Its hands then refers to the waves rising high in the storm. Good News Translation states this meaning in nonfigurative language as “their waves rose high” (compare New International Version). An alternative translation model for these two lines is “the sea roared, and its waves rose high” or “the sea made a roaring sound and its waves bubbled up and frothed.” For cultures which live in the mountains far away from any sea, one may have to say something like this: “the huge lake made a roaring sound…” or “the great expanse of water made a roaring sound….”

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. & Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on the Book of Habakkuk. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1989. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Habakkuk 3:10

3:10a The mountains saw You and quaked;

The mountains see you (sing.) and tremble.
-or-
The mountains will see you and will shake with fear.
-or-

⌊It will be as though⌋ the mountains see you ⌊do that,⌋ and they will begin to tremble.

3:10b torrents of water swept by.

Rain comes down and streams of water pass by.
-or-
Water will pour down from the sky and cause great floods.

3:10c The deep roared with its voice and lifted its hands on high.

The deep ⌊ocean⌋ shouts out and lifts high its waves.
-or-
Ocean waves will roar and rise.
-or-
The sea will make a loud noise, and its waves will rise high.

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Commentaire sur la traduction de Habaquq 3.10

Ce verset semble décrire un tremblement de terre ou un immense orage, dont les effets sont similaires à ce qui est décrit en Ps 77.17-18.

Les montagnes t’ont vu : elles tremblent : ici les montagnes sont personnalisées. Elles regardent le Seigneur, et commencent à trembler. Voir Habaquq 3.6. Le texte ne dit pas de quelles montagnes il s’agit. Une référence générale sera donc préférable. t’ont vu : il s’agit d’un langage figuré difficile à rendre dans certaines langues. Les montagnes n’ont pas la capacité de voir ou de regarder. Mais les traducteurs n’auront pratiquement pas le choix ici : il faut rendre le texte tel quel.

tremblent rend un verbe qui veut dire soit « trembler de peur », soit « se tordre de douleur », comme une femme lors d’un accouchement. Les traducteurs devraient trouver un verbe qui convient, sans oublier qu’il s’agit d’un langage figuré. Ainsi on peut garder le verbe trembler, ou utiliser d’autres verbes comme « être agité » ou « se convulser » (Chouraqui). On pourrait imaginer que les mouvements de l’eau font s’écrouler les montagnes, mais en fait, le texte dit d’une manière imagée que le regard ou la vue du Seigneur bouleverse toute la nature. On peut alors dire « A te voir, les montagnes tremblent » ou « ont tremblé ».

Une trombe d’eau est passée décrit des pluies très fortes, qui envahissent l’espace.

Une trombe d’eau est littéralement « une averse d’eaux ». La Bible en français courant rend bien cette notion en parlant de « pluies torrentielles ». Il s’agit presque d’un « déluge » (Bible de Machaira). Les traducteurs devraient trouver une expression idiomatique, et si possible poétique, pour parler de cette averse. On pourra aussi utiliser une tournure verbale, par exemple, « la pluie tombe très fort… »

passe rend littéralement le verbe hébreu, mais on peut utiliser d’autres termes. La Bible en français courant propose par exemple « des pluies torrentielles inondent la terre ».

l’Abîme a donné de la voix : ici le prophète décrit un grand bruit venant de l’Abîme. En Gen 1.2 et 7.11, le même mot hébreu évoque une grande quantité d’eau, en général des eaux souterraines. Il suggère des forces cosmiques opposées à Dieu. Ailleurs dans l’AT, le mot est souvent mis en parallèle avec le mot « mer » (Job 28.14 ; Ps 33.7). Ainsi, dans ce contexte, il est possible que le prophète pense à l’océan : « le grand océan mugit » (Bible en français courant), « le grand océan rugit » (Parole de Vie). Dans certaines langues, on parlera tout simplement de « la mer », ou de « la grande étendue d’eau ».

a donné de la voix est une traduction littérale de l’hébreu. Les traducteurs devraient trouver une expression qui convient, si possible une expression poétique. Il est clair que la mer ne donne pas de la voix, mais dans certaines langues, on peut dire qu’elle « gronde », « a fait un grand bruit », ou « crie ». Les traducteurs devraient essayer de garder l’image.

il a tendu ses mains vers le haut : il s’agit encore une fois d’une image qui représente l’Abîme. En disant que l’Abîme (ou la mer) tend ses mains vers le haut, il s’agit certainement d’une description des vagues. Dans beaucoup de langues, il serait difficile de parler des mains de l’océan. Ainsi la La Bible du Semeur propose « lançant bien haut ses vagues », et la Parole de Vie dit « il lance ses vagues jusqu’au ciel ». Si possible, les traducteurs devraient essayer d’imiter ce langage imagé.

Source: Ellington, John; Margot, Jean-Claude & Zogbo, Lynell. Habaquq – Manuel de traduction – Commentaire linguistique et exégétique de la Bible. Alliance biblique universelle, 2013.