addressing God

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

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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, and Western Frisian translations, God is always addressed with the formal pronoun.

See also female second person singular pronoun in Psalms.

Translation commentary on Isaiah 37:16

Verse 16 is the invocation of Hezekiah’s prayer. He praises Yahweh by stressing his kingship, his uniqueness, his universality, and his creative power. This invocation is full of theological significance, especially since Sennacherib has mocked Yahweh, claiming that Yahweh is powerless to help Judah.

For O LORD of hosts, see the comments on 1.9; for God of Israel, see 17.6.

Who art enthroned above the cherubim pictures Yahweh seated on his throne above the cherubim. A “cherub” (singular form of cherubim) is a human-like creature with wings, whose existence was part of the imaginary world of many ancient Mediterranean cultures. Gen 3.24 says they guarded the entrance to the Garden of Eden; Psa 18.10 speaks of Yahweh riding through the heavens, seated on one. The cherubim here were two statues of these winged creatures. They were carved out of olivewood and covered with gold. They were placed in the Most Holy Place of the Temple, next to the Covenant Box (see 1 Kgs 6.23-28). For the Israelites they had a guardian role in the Temple, protecting the approach to God’s presence. Translating cherubim may be a challenge (see the discussion on “seraphim” at 6.2). Translators should avoid saying “angels.” Good News Translation suggests “winged creatures,” but this could also apply to birds. Another possibility is “winged heavenly creatures.” Otherwise the simplest solution may be to transliterate the term, and explain it in the glossary.

Thou art the God, thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: Yahweh is also the only God and ruler over all earthly kingdoms. This statement is especially significant in the context of the challenge from Assyria. Thou art the God, thou alone stresses the uniqueness of Yahweh, stating that there is only one divine world ruler. This view becomes more evident in the later chapters of this book. Originally, under Moses, the Israelites recognized the existence of other gods but were allowed to worship only one, Yahweh, but later the idea that there could only be one God was spelled out clearly (see, for example, 44.6). The Hebrew text places the first pronoun translated thou at the head of this clause, so it is emphatic. The genitive construction God … of all the kingdoms of the earth refers to God’s rule over all nations, whether they recognize him or not. This whole clause may be rendered “You, you alone are God over all the nations of the world.”

Thou hast made heaven and earth means God created everything. Heaven and earth represent the universe and everything in it. Good News Translation seems to limit their meaning by speaking only of “the earth and the sky.” Good News Translation also reverses the order of these terms for naturalness in English. Revised Standard Version reflects the natural order in Hebrew (compare 1.2). Even if other languages prefer a different order, it is important that the terms used cover all that has been created in the universe.

Translation examples for this verse are:

• “O LORD of hosts, Israel’s God, you who are seated on the throne between the winged beings, you alone are God of all the kingdoms of the world, you are the one who created the heavens and the earth.

• “Almighty Yahweh, the God whom Israel worships, you who are enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God and ruler of all the world’s kingdoms, Creator of all in heaven and earth.

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 .