pronoun for "God"

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 ta (他) is written; where he is referred to as divine, especially after the ascension, the reverential ta (祂) is used.”

In Kouya, Godié, Northern Grebo, Eastern Krahn, Western Krahn, and Guiberoua Béte, all languages of the Kru family in Western Africa, a different kind of systems of pronouns is used (click or tap here to read more):

In that system one kind of pronoun is used for humans (male and female alike) and one 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 in the following way: “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 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, but most translations, especially those published in the 21st century, do not. Two other languages where this is also done (in most Bible translations) are the closely related Indonesian and Malay. In both 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. ).

See also first person pronoun referring to God.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Gender of God .

Translation: Chinese

在现代汉语中，第三人称单数代词的读音都是一样的（tā），但是写法并不一样，取决于性别以及是否有生命，即男性为“他”，女性为“她”，动物、植物和无生命事物为“它”（在香港和台湾的汉语使用，动物则为“牠”）。这些字的部首偏旁表明了性别（男人、女人、动物、无生命事物），而另一偏旁通常旁提示发音。

到1930年为止，基督教新教《圣经》经过整整一百年的翻译已经拥有了十几个译本，当时的一位圣经翻译者王元德新造了一个“神圣的”代词“祂”，偏旁“礻”表示神明。一般汉语读者会立即知道这字的发音是tā，而这个偏旁表示属灵的事物，因此他们明白这个字指出，三位一体的所有位格都没有性别之分，而单单是上帝。

然而，最重要的新教圣经译本（1919年的《和合本》）和天主教圣经译本（1968年的《思高圣经》）都没有采用“祂”；虽然如此，许多其他的圣经译本采用了这个字，另外还广泛出现在赞美诗和其他基督信仰的书刊中。（资料来源：Zetzsche）

《吕振中译本》的几个早期版本也使用“祂”来指称“上帝”；这个译本的《新约》于1946年译成，整部《圣经》于1970年完成。克拉默斯（Kramers）指出：“‘他’的这种新写法（即‘祂’）产生了一个小问题，就是在指称耶稣的时候，是否一律使用这个敬语代词？《吕振中译本》遵循的原则是，在称呼耶稣这个人的时候，用一般的‘他’，而在称呼耶稣神性的时候，特别是升天之后的耶稣，则用尊称‘祂’。”

Translator: Simon Wong

Translation commentary on Isaiah 2:4

He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many peoples: The conflicts between nations will be settled by Yahweh’s intervention. This verse continues the thought of verse 3. The verbs judge and decide are legal terms. They are directly related to Yahweh’s teaching and word, which proceed from Zion where he dwells in his Temple (verse 3). Judge may be rendered “be a judge” (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), “settle disputes” (Good News Translation), or “settle arguments” (Contemporary English Version). The verb decide is a synonym for judge. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “arbitrate,” and Bible en français courant says “be a referee.”

As noted earlier, the phrases the nations and many peoples form an inclusio for verses 2-4. As in verse 3, many is poetic and refers to all nations. The first two lines of this verse are different from the parallel text in Micah 4.3. Here we have the nations parallel to many peoples, while in Micah “many peoples” is parallel to “strong nations afar off.” The words “strong” and “afar off” in Micah should not be added in Isaiah.

The last four lines of this verse depict what will happen when Yahweh settles disputes between warring peoples. War will not occur again. Isaiah pictures an idyllic scene in which metal weapons are turned into farming tools, a picture of peace between peoples. There is a reversal of this imagery in Joel 3.10, where farming tools are turned into weapons. So the metaphors about weapons and farm implements probably come from a traditional saying rather than from Isaiah or Micah originally.

They shall beat their swords into plowshares: The verb beat refers to the work of the blacksmith, hammering heated metal into the required shape. Here blacksmiths heat weapons above the fire and hammer them into farm tools. If a verb exists for this work of the blacksmith, translators should use it, rather than a general word for beat. The basic “sword” was a long, straight, pointed, two-edged piece of metal with a handle. It could cut and stab. Jdg 3.16 speaks of a sword that was about 18 inches (or, 45 centimeters) long, but swords were normally longer than that. Israelite plows were made of wood and had metal tips that fitted onto wooden prongs. Plowshares are these metal tips. A sword and a plow tip are close enough in size for the image here to be appropriate in Hebrew. Good News Translation suggests “plows,” but this causes a problem because a Western-type plow is massive in comparison with a sword. For many cultures a “hoe” would be much more appropriate in size, and probably also much better known. Such an adjustment is possible here, but a translator might first consider “plow tip” as a new expression.

And their spears into pruning hooks: This line is parallel to the previous one, choosing a different weapon to be turned into a different farming tool. The same action of heating and hammering metal into a new shape is implied here (the verb beat). A “spear” was a long wooden rod with a short, pointed, two-edged metal blade attached to the end of it. A “pruning hook” was a short knife-like blade attached to a wooden handle. A farmer used it to cut off unwanted or dead branches of fruit trees and other trees. Just as the sword and the plow tip were comparable in size, so were the metal parts of the spear and the pruning hook. For pruning hooks, New Jerusalem Bible has “sickles,” but “pruning knives” (Good News Translation) is the more common understanding. Where a “pruning knife” is unknown, translators may choose another metal farming tool that is similar in size to a large knife.

Where metal farming tools and weapons that resemble those mentioned in these two lines are not known or used, translators can consider a generic description; for example, “They will destroy their weapons of war and make [or, turn them into] tools for farming.”

Nation shall not lift up sword against nation: The idiom lift up sword against pictures the use of swords to attack an enemy in war. Good News Translation drops the image for clarity, saying “Nations will never again go to war.” Another possible model is “One nation will not attack another any more.” However, if sword has been used in the third line, translators could try to maintain the image by changing the verb from lift up to “use.”

Neither shall they learn war any more: In 1.17 Israel was urged to “learn to do good.” This line refers to the practice of teaching the next generation the art of warfare (see Jdg 3.2). In the future, however, military training won’t be needed anymore, which further indicates there will be peace. Revised Standard Version is not quite satisfactory here, because learn war is not idiomatic English. New Jerusalem Bible is clearer with “no longer will they learn how to make war.” Another good model is “nor will they train for war anymore.” Good News Translation “never prepare for battle again” is acceptable, as long as it doesn’t imply the existence of a standing army that does not need to go into action.

Some translation examples for this verse are:

• Yahweh will settle disputes between nations,
and decide cases between many peoples;
they will hammer their swords into plow tips,
their spears into pruning knives;
nations will not attack one another,
nor will they learn the art of warfare any more.

• God will be the judge between nations,
and settle arguments between various peoples;
they will then turn their swords into farm tools,
and their spears into pruning knives;
one nation will not attack another,
and they will no longer teach how to fight.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .