The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek that is typically translated in English as “joy” or “happiness” is translated in the HausaCommon Language Bible idiomatically as farin ciki or “white stomach.” In some cases, such as in Genesis 29:11, it is also added for emphatic purposes.
Other languages that use the same expression include Southern Birifor (pʋpɛl), Dera (popolok awo), Reshe (ɾipo ɾipuhã). (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
Following are a number of back-translations of Jude 1:24:
Uma: “Praise God, because he has power/authority to take-care-of us so that we do not fall, until we stand in front of him in his light, we will have no faults and our hearts will be happy.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “God is able to care for us (dual)/watches-over us so that we (dual) will not (lit. be carried to) sin. He is the only one who can take our (dual) sins away so that there will be no sin of ours that he can see when we (dual) are brought there into his presence. We (incl.) will really be glad there in his radiant presence.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Our (incl.) thanks to God is very big. He is the one who knows how to help us (incl.) so that we might not be separated from him. He is the one who knows how to bring us (incl.) before him in the future in the golden going-home-place, and there will be nothing to blame us (incl.) for, and our joy then will be very great.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “May the only-one God who saves us through Jesu Cristo our Lord be praised/honored forever. He is able to protect you so that you don’t stumble to sin, and in-the-future you will have absolutely no fault/deficiency when he causes-you -to-stand in front of him, and great will be your happiness to look-closely at his dazzling godhood. He is praised/honored, because he is the highest and all-powerful God who has no limit to his authority beginning from the very-first and today/now and forever. Amen.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “It is really essential that God be praised, he who is really well-able to take care of you so that you won’t be misled and fall-down in sin. And he can cause you to come into the presence of his far-from-ordinary praiseworthiness/glory with big happiness, there being no longer anything for him to find fault with.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
Tenango Otomi: “God alone has wisdom, and he has the power to guard you so that you will not sin. He will cause you to stand in the presence of God. At that time you can be happy because no sin will be found against you.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
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 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. ).
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-mae (御前) or “before (God)” in the referenced verses. In some cases in can also be used in reference to being before a king, such as in 1 Samuel 16:16.
The person to whom praise is addressed in the doxology is God. To him is linked with “to the only God, our Savior” in verse 25. In many languages translators will need to introduce “God” at this point rather than at the beginning of verse 24 and say, for example, “The only God, our [inclusive] Savior, is able to keep….” (See the alternative translation model at the end of the comments on verse 25.) Jude does not simply refer to God, but he mentions two functions of God that are directly related to Jude’s readers. First, he describes God as able to keep them from falling. The expression to him who is able is used in two other doxologies (Rom 16.25; Eph 3.20) and emphasizes God’s power and sufficiency. The word translated falling is literally “stumbling” and is a very popular metaphor in the Old Testament, particularly in the book of Psalms, where the psalmist refers to God’s power to prevent him from falling into the traps laid down by the enemy (see Psa 140.4-5; 141.9; 142.3). In Jude falling may have the general meaning of being defeated by any problem or difficulty, or of giving in to sin. But perhaps here it focuses on the particular meaning of a person losing faith and ceasing to be a follower of Christ, together with the consequences of receiving judgment. This of course happens if Jude’s readers rely on their own strength in dealing with the godless. But in the end it is God who will give them victory over these people and their false teachings.
The second attribute of God is his ability to make people sinless and bring them into his very presence. The formula used by Jude is similar to formulas present in other New Testament doxologies (Col 1.22; Eph 1.4), indicating that this is a standard formula. To present you is to put you in front of, to put you before. The word for without blemish was used originally to describe animals that were brought for the temple sacrifice; they were to be perfect in every way, without defect of any kind (see 1 Peter 1.19 for example). In other parts of the Bible this word is used of the moral purity and integrity that should characterize people who come to worship God (for example, Psa 15.2; Pro 11.5; Eph 1.4; Heb 9.14). This is the sense in which it is used here. Glory refers to God’s being and presence, characterized by radiance, majesty, and greatness. Here it perhaps has overtones of the manner in which God appears at the end of time. The whole expression before the presence of his glory therefore simply means “before his glorious presence” (Good News Translation).
With rejoicing further characterizes those who are presented before God. This also has overtones of the joy and exultation of God’s people when he reveals himself to them at the end of the age. The Greek construction clearly suggests that with rejoicing is parallel to without blemish, suggesting perhaps that joy is a result of being pronounced not guilty at the final judgment. If this is correct then the translation must show clearly this relationship. Some translations have tried to do this, like Good News Translation “faultless and joyful,” Jerusalem Bible “bring you safe to his glorious presence, innocent and happy,” and Translator’s New Testament “present you, blameless and rejoicing, in his glorious presence.”
Quoted with permission from Arichea, Daniel C. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Letter from Jude. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. 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).