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 to do this is through the usage (or a lack) of an honorific prefix as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. When the referent is God, the “divine” honorific prefix mi- (御 or み) can be used, as in mi-te (御手) or “hand (of God)” in the referenced verses.
Have pity on me, have pity on me, O you my friends: the double plea for mercy in this line is seen in Psalm 123.3a “Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy on us.” Good News Translation and others do not repeat the plea. Its purpose is to express the degree of Job’s need for a show of compassion on the part of his friends. The word translated friends does not occur in the list of persons in verses 13-14, and is applied here to the three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar. In some languages the line may be rendered idiomatically; for example, “You who are my friends, have a warm heart for me,” “My friends, I beg you let your livers feel for me,” or “You friends, warm your insides for me.”
For the hand of God has touched me: the image is that of God’s hand representing the action of God which is responsible for Job’s suffering. Touched is an understatement. The sense is that God’s hand has struck Job down—a violent, destructive blow. It is used in this sense in 1.11, 19; 5.19. This line gives the reason why Job calls for mercy. In languages in which touched will not signify the violence done to Job, the thought must be expressed differently; for example, “because God has struck me down,” “because the hand of God has knocked me to the ground,” or “because God has violently attacked me.”
Quoted with permission from Reyburn, Wiliam. A Handbook on Job. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1992. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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 show different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.
In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).