addressing God

Translators of different languages have found different ways with what kind of formality God is addressed. The first example is from a language where God is always addressed distinctly formal whereas the second is one where the opposite choice was made.

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight

Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or 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 Dutch and Western Frisian translations, however, God is always addressed with the formal pronoun.

See also female second person singular pronoun in Psalms.

Japanese benefactives (-sete)

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 benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. Here, -sete (せて) or “let/allow (for me)” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).”

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Joel 3:11

Hasten and come: The Hebrew verb rendered Hasten occurs only here in the Bible. Some scholars believe it means “help someone” (see the GNT footnote); for example, New English Bible renders this line as “Rally to each other’s help” (similarly Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). Others understand it to mean “assemble” (so King James Version, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Luther). Translators are free to choose any of these meanings here, but the sense of hurrying is probably best here (so Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Bible en français courant, Segond).

All you nations round about are the nations surrounding Judah. They are the neighboring nations, but this expression can include nations farther away, such as Persia and other world powers. Some languages may prefer to begin the verse with this vocative phrase for naturalness.

Gather yourselves there does not specify where the nations are to gather. The next verse shows that it is “the valley of Jehoshaphat,” the valley mentioned in verse 2. Good News Translation follows English style by making this information explicit here, saying “and gather in the valley” (similarly Bible en français courant). Some languages may prefer to be even more explicit by saying “and gather in the Valley of Jehoshaphat.” However, it is not clear whether the adverb there belongs at the end of this line or at the beginning of the next line. The punctuation marks added to the Hebrew text by the Masoretes place it with the next line, so that it refers to the place where God is asked to send his army. This decision is followed by the Vulgate, the Peshitta, King James Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, Einheitsübersetzung, and Luther. It seems more likely to connect there with the place where the nations are to gather, using it with this clause, as in the Septuagint, Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, New International Version, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, An American Translation, and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible.

Bring down thy warriors, O LORD: This appears to be a prayer to God spoken by the prophet or else by the people. Bring down is better rendered “Send down” (Good News Translation) in English. The Hebrew word for warriors is the same word translated “mighty men” in verse 9 and “warrior” in verse 10. Here it seems to refer to Yahweh’s army of angels, which is in view in the common Hebrew expression rendered “LORD of hosts [or, armies].” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch (1982) makes this interpretation explicit here by rendering this line and the previous one as “(And when they are gathered there, Lord, then cause your mighty angels to attack them!)” Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch make explicit the purpose of sending Yahweh’s army: “to attack them.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch uses parentheses to indicate that these words are no longer part of the Yahweh’s message to the nations, while Good News Translation sets off the last line as a separate stanza for the same reason. The break in Yahweh’s speech may also be marked by adding quotation marks at the end of the third line of this verse to close it and by inserting a quote frame at the beginning of verse 12 to reopen it. However, in any translation this change should also be made clear by the use of pronouns or similar devices.

New English Bible emends the Hebrew text to read “and let the coward show himself brave” (similarly Biblia Dios Habla Hoy), but there is no textual evidence to support this change, as noted in Hebrew Old Testament Text Project.

Quoted with permission from de Blois, Kees & Dorn, Louis. A Handbook on Joel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2020. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .