Passover

The Hebrew and Greek pesach/pascha that is typically translated in English as “Passover” (see below) is translated in a variety of descriptive ways of various aspects of the Jewish festival. (Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight):

  • Ojitlán Chinantec: “the feast of the passing by of God’s angel”
  • Lalana Chinantec: “the day would come which is called Passover, when the Israel people remember how they went out of the land of Egypt”
  • Huehuetla Tepehua: “the celebration when they ate their sheep”
  • Umiray Dumaget Agta: “the celebration of the day of their being brought out of bondage”
    (source for this and above: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
  • Obolo: ijọk Iraraka — “Festival of Passing” (source: Enene Enene)
  • Guhu-Samane: “special day of sparing” (source: Ernest Richert in The Bible Translator 1965, p. 198ff. )
  • Yakan: “The festival of the Isra’il tribe which they call For-Remembering” (source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Wolof: “Festival of the day of Salvation” (“the term ‘pass over’ brings up the image of a person’s crossing over a chasm after death”) (source: Marilyn Escher)
  • Bura-Pabir: vir kucelir fəlɓəla kəi — “time-of happiness-of jumping-over house”
  • Berom: Nzem Gyilsit Nelɔ — “Festival-of jumping-of houses”
  • Nigerian Fulfulde: Humto Ƴaɓɓitaaki / Humto Sakkinki — “Festival-of passing-over”
  • Hausa: Bikin Ƙetarewa — “Festival-of going-over” (source for this and three above: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
  • Jula: “Feast of end of slavery” (source: Fritz Goerling)
  • Bafanji: laiŋzieʼ — “pass-jump over” (source: Cameron Hamm)
  • Tiéyaxo Bozo / Jenaama Bozo: “Salvation/Rescue (religious) feast” (source: Marko Hakkola)
  • Sabaot: Saakweetaab Keeytaayeet — “Festival of Passing-by” (source: Iver Larsen)
  • Language spoken in India and Bangladesh: “Festival of avoidance”
  • Vlax Romani: o ghes o baro le Nakhimasko — “the Day of the Passing”
  • Saint Lucian Creole: Fèt Délivwans — “Feast of Deliverance” (source: David Frank)
  • Finnish: pääsiäinen (“The term is very probably coined during the NT translation process around 1520-1530. It is connected to a multivalent verb päästä and as such refers either to the Exodus (päästä meaning “to get away [from Egypt]”) or to the end of the Lent [päästä referring to get relieved from the limitations in diet]. The later explanation being far more probable than the first.”)
  • Northern Sami: beas’sážat (“Coined following the model in Finnish. The Sami verb is beassat and behaves partly like the Finnish one. Many Christian key terms are either borrowed from Finnish or coined following the Finnish example.”)
  • Estonian: ülestõusmispüha — “holiday/Sunday of the resurrection” — or lihavõttepüha — “holiday/Sunday of returning of meat”
  • Karelian: äijüpäivü — “the great day” (“Here one can hear the influence of the Eastern Christianity, but not directly Russian as language, because the Russian term is Пасха/Pasha or Воскресение Христово/Voskresenie Hristovo, ‘[the day of] the resurrection of Christ,’ but the week before Easter is called as the great week.”) (Source for this and three above: Seppo Sipilä)
  • Russian (for Russian speaking Muslims): праздник Освобождения/prazdnik Osvobozhdeniya — “Festival of-liberation” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)
  • Spanish Sign Language: pass through + miracle (source: John Elwode in The Bible Translator 2008, p. 78ff. )


    “Passover” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

  • English: Passover (term coined by William Tyndale that both replicates the sound of the Hebrew original pesah — פסח as well as part of the meaning: “passing over” the houses of the Israelites in Egypt) — oddly, the English Authorized Version (King James Version) translates the occurrence in Acts 12:4 as Easter
  • Low German: Osterfest “Easter” (translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006)

Many Romance languages follow the tradition from Latin that has one term for both “Easter” and “Passover” (pascha). Portuguese uses Páscoa for both, Italian uses Pascha, and French has Pâque for “Passover” and the identically pronounced Pâques for “Easter.”

In languages in francophone and lusophone (Portuguese speaking) Africa, indigenous languages typically use the Romance word for “Easter” as a loanword and often transliterate pesach/pascha. In Kinyarwanda and Rundi Pasika is used, in Swahili and Congo Swahili Pasaka, and in Lingala Pasika. In some cases, the transliteration of “Passover” is derived from the European language, such as Umbundu’s Pascoa (from Portuguese) and Bulu’s Pak (from French).

As John Ellingworth (in The Bible Translator 1980, p 445f. ) points out “in most contexts only the presence or absence of the definite article distinguishes them [in French la pâque for Passover and Pâques for Easter]. Since most African languages do not have definite articles, there remains no way to distinguish between the two terms where the general population has borrowed the word for Easter and the Bible translators have borrowed the word for Passover to use in their translation. Some even consider the references to [Passover] before the death of Christ as prophetic!”

See also this devotion on YouVersion .

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Passover .

teacher

The Greek that is translated as “teacher” (also: “master”) in English is translated in the 1941 Yiddish by Einspruch as rebe (רֶבּי) or “Rabbi” in an effort to identify Jesus as a teacher of the Jews. (Source: Naomi Seidmann in Elliott / Boer 2012, p. 151ff.)

Likewise, a number of Hebrew translations, including the 2018 and 2020 editions by the The Bible Society in Israel also use “Rabbi” (רַבִּי).

See also rabbi.

disciple

The Greek that is often translated as “disciple” in English typically follows three types of translation: (1) those which employ a verb ‘to learn’ or ‘to be taught’, (2) those which involve an additional factor of following, or accompaniment, often in the sense of apprenticeship, and (3) those which imply imitation of the teacher.

Following are some examples (click or tap for details):

  • Ngäbere: “word searcher”
  • Yaka: “one who learned from Jesus”
  • Navajo (Dinė), Western Highland Purepecha, Tepeuxila Cuicatec, Lacandon: “one who learned”
  • San Miguel El Grande Mixtec: “one who studied with Jesus”
  • Northern Grebo: “one Jesus taught”
  • Toraja-Sa’dan: “child (i.e., follower) of the master”
  • Indonesian: “pupil” (also used in many Slavic languages, including Russian [ученик], Bulgarian [учени́к], Ukrainian [учень], or Polish [uczeń] — source: Paul Amara)
  • Central Mazahua: “companion whom Jesus taught”
  • Kipsigis, Loma, Copainalá Zoque: “apprentice” (implying continued association and learning)
  • Cashibo-Cacataibo: “one who followed Jesus”
  • Huautla Mazatec: “his people” (essentially his followers and is the political adherents of a leader)
  • Highland Puebla Nahuatl: based on the root of “to imitate” (source for this and all above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Chol: “learner” (source: Larson 1998, p. 107)
  • Waorani: “one who lives following Jesus” (source: Wallis 1973, p. 39)
  • Ojitlán Chinantec: “learner” (Source: M. Larson / B. Moore in Notes on Translation February 1970, p. 1-125.)
  • Javanese: “pupil” or “companion” (“a borrowing from Arabic that is a technical term for Mohammed’s close associates”)
  • German: Jünger or “younger one” (source for this and one above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • German New Testament translation by Berger / Nord (publ. 1999): Jüngerinnen und Jünger or “female and male disciples.” Note that Berger/Nord only use that translation in many cases in the gospel of Luke, “because especially according to Luke (see 8:13), women were part of the extended circle of disciples” (see p. 452 and looked up at his disciples).
  • Noongar: ngooldjara-kambarna or “friend-follow” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • French 1985 translation by Chouraqui: adept or “adept” (as in a person who is skilled or proficient at something). Watson (2023, p. 48ff.) explains (click or tap here to see more):

    [Chouraqui] uses the noun “adept,” which is as uncommon in French as it is in English. It’s an evocative choice on several levels. First, linguistically, it derives — via the term adeptus — from the Latin verb adipiscor, “to arrive at; to reach; to attain something by effort or striving.” It suggests those who have successfully reached the goal of their searching, and implies a certain struggle or process of learning that has been gradually overcome. But it’s also a term with a very particular history: in the Middle Ages, “adept” was used in the world of alchemy, to describe those who, after years of labor and intensive study, claimed to have discovered the Great Secret (how to turn base metals like lead into gold); it thus had the somewhat softened meaning of “someone who is completely skilled in all the secrets of their field.”

    Historians of religion often use the term adept with reference to the ancient mystery religions that were so prevalent in the Mediterranean in the centuries around the time of Jesus. An adept was someone who, through a series of initiatory stages, had penetrated into the inner, hidden mysteries of the religion, who understood its rituals, symbols, and their meaning. To be an adept implied a lengthy and intensive master-disciple relationship, gradually being led further and further into the secrets of the god or goddess (Isis-Osiris, Mithras, Serapis, Hermes, etc.) — secrets that were never to be revealed to an outsider.

    Is “adept” a suitable category in which to consider discipleship as we see it described in the Gospels? On some levels, the link is an attractive one, drawing both upon the social-religious framework of the ancient Mediterranean, and upon certain aspects of intimacy and obscurity/secrecy that we see in the relationship of Jesus and those who followed him. The idea that disciples are “learners” — people who are “on the way” — and that Jesus is portrayed as (and addressed as) their Master/Teacher is accurate. But the comparison is unsatisfactory on several other levels.

    First, the Gospels portray Jesus’s ministry as a largely public matter — there is relatively little of the secrecy and exclusiveness that is normally associated with both the mystery cults and medieval alchemy. Jesus’s primary message is not destined for a small, elite circle of “initiates” — although the Twelve are privy to explanations, experiences and teachings that are not provided to “the crowds.” For example, in Matthew 13:10-13:

    Then the disciples came and asked him, “Why do you speak to [the crowds] in parables?” He answered, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. The reason I speak to them in parables is that ‘seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.’”

    Etymologically, adeptus suggests someone who “has arrived,” who has attained a superior level of understanding reserved for very few. However, what we see in the Gospels, repeatedly, is a general lack of comprehension of many of Jesus’s key teachings by many of those who hear him. Many of his more cryptic sayings would have been virtually incomprehensible in their original context, and would only make sense in retrospect, in the wake of the events of Jesus’s passion, death, and resurrection. The intense master-student relationship is also lacking: the Gospels largely portray “the disciples” as a loose (and probably fluctuating) body of individuals, with minimal structure or cohesion. Finally, there seems to be little scholarly consensus about the degree to which the mystery cults had made inroads in Roman-ruled Palestine during the decades of Jesus’s life. According to Everett Ferguson in his Backgrounds of Early Christianity.

    Although Christianity had points of contact with Stoicism, the mysteries, the Qumran community, and so on, the total worldview was often quite different….So far as we can tell, Christianity represented a new combination for its time…. At the beginning of the Christian era a number of local mysteries, some of great antiquity, flourished in Greece and Asia Minor. In the first century A.D. the vonly mysteries whose extension may be called universal were the mysteries of Dionysus and those of the eastern gods, especially Isis.

    And Norman Perrin and Dennis C. Duling note, in their book The New Testament:

    Examples of such mystery religions could be found in Greece… Asia Minor… Syria-Palestine… Persia… and Egypt. Though the mysteries had sacred shrines in these regions, many of them spread to other parts of the empire, including Rome. There is no clearly direct influence of the mysteries on early Christianity, but they shared a common environment and many non-Christians would have perceived Christians as members of an oriental Jewish mystery cult.56

    Given the sparse archaeological and literary evidence from this period regarding mystery cults in Roman Palestine, and the apparent resistance of many Palestinian Jews to religious syncretism, Chouraqui’s use of the noun adept implies a comparison between the historical Jesus and mystery cults that is doubtful, on both the levels of chronology and religious culture. Personally, I believe this choice suggests a vision of Jesus that distances him from the religious world of ancient Judaism, thus creating a distorted view of what spiritually inspired him. But the idea of the disciples as “learners” on a journey (as the Greek term suggests) is a striking one to consider; certainly, the Gospels show us the Twelve as people who are growing, learning, and developing…but who have not yet “arrived” at the fullness of their vocation.

Scot McKnight (in The Second Testament, publ. 2023) translates it into English as apprentice.

In Luang several terms with different shades of meaning are being used.

  • For Mark 2:23 and 3:7: maka nwatutu-nwaye’a re — “those that are taught” (“This is the term used for ‘disciples’ before the resurrection, while Jesus was still on earth teaching them.”)
  • For Acts 9:1 and 9:10: makpesiay — “those who believe.” (“This is the term used for believers and occasionally for the church, but also for referring to the disciples when tracking participants with a view to keeping them clear for the Luang readers. Although Greek has different terms for ‘believers’, ‘brothers’, and ‘church’, only one Luang word can be used in a given episode to avoid confusion. Using three different terms would imply three different sets of participants.”)
  • For Acts 6:1: mak lernohora Yesus wniatutunu-wniaye’eni — “those who follow Jesus’ teaching.” (“This is the term used for ‘disciples’ after Jesus returned to heaven.”)

Source: Kathy Taber in Notes on Translation 1/1999, p. 9-16.

In American Sign Language it is translated with a combination of the signs for “following” plus the sign for “group.” (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“disciples” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

In British Sign Language a sign is used that depicts a group of people following one person (the finger in the middle, signifying Jesus). Note that this sign is only used while Jesus is still physically present with his disciples. (Source: Anna Smith)


“Disciple in British Sign Language (source: Christian BSL, used with permission)

See also disciples (Japanese honorifics).

Mark 14:12 - 21 in Mexican Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 14:12-21 into Mexican Sign Language with back-translations into Spanish and English underneath:


© La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios

Retrotraducciones en español (haga clic o pulse aquí)

Ya empezó la fiesta de los panes sin levaduro y los judíos acostumbraban a matar una ovejar como ofrenda para la fiesta de Pascua.

Nosotros, los discípulos dijeron: “Jesús, ¿dónde está el lugar donde haremos preparaciones para la fiesta de Pascua?”

Jesús eligió a dos (y dijo): “vayanse a Jerusalén y verán un hombre caminando cargando una jarra de agua, uds dos siganlo y llegarán a una casa.

Vean al dueño y preguntenlo: ‘Maestro, dinos, ¿dónde está el cuarto para nuestra comida de la noche en la fiesta de Pascua?’

El dueño (dirá): ‘Sí, hay un cuarto arriba vamonos’, y subirán junto con él y verán un cuarto grande y completamente listo, y uds dos hagan las preparaciones. Vayanse.”

Los dos discípulos fueron y vieron todo exactamente como les había dicho y empezaron a preparar, y después en la noche Jesús y los doce discípulos fueron a la casa, y estaban comiendo alrededor de la mesa.

Jesús dijo: “Yo les digo la verdad, uno de uds que comen conmigo me traicionará.” Ellos se desanimaron y dijeron uno al otro: “¿yo?” “¿yo?”.

Jesús otra vez les explicó: “Les digo la verdad, este mismo plato en lo cual mojamos nuestro pan para comerlo, uno de los discípulos me traicionará.

Porque hace mucho un profeta escribió en un rollo diciendo: ‘En el futuro un hombre traicionará al hijo del hombre al muerte’, y lo que escribió y dijo (pasará) exactamente.

Pero el hombre que me traicionará, huy, será castigado fuertemente, será una lastima, habría sido mejor que no hubiera nacido.”


The feast of unleavened bread was starting and the Jews were accustomed to kill a sheep as an offering for the feast of Passover.

We, the disciples, asked: “Jesus, where is the place where we are to make preparations for the Passover feast?”

Jesus chose two (and said): “‘Go to Jerusalem and you will see a man walking, carrying a jar of water, follow him and you will arrive at a house.

See the owner and ask him: ‘Master, tell us, where is the room for our evening meal during the Passover feast?’

The owner (will say): ‘Yes, there is a room upstairs, let’s go’, and you will go up with him and see a big room completely ready and you two can make the preparations. Go now.”

The two disciples went and saw everything exactly like he had told them and they began to prepare, and afterwards in the night Jesus and the twelve disciples went to the house and they were eating around the table.

Jesus said: “I tell you the truth, one of you who is eating with me will betray me.” They were discouraged and said to each other: “Me?” “Me?”

Jesus told them again: “I tell you the truth, this bowl, the same that you and I dip our bread in to eat it, one of the disciples will betray me.

“Because long ago a prophet wrote in a scroll saying: ‘In the future a man will betray the Son of Man to his death’ and what he wrote and said (will come to pass) exactly.

“But the man that will betray me, wow, he will be punished severely, what a pity, it would have been better had he not been born at all.”

Source: La Biblia en LSM / La Palabra de Dios

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Mark 14:22-26 in Mexican Sign Language >>

Mark 14:12-26 in Russian Sign Language

Following is the translation of Mark 14:12-26 into Russian Sign Language with a back-translation underneath:


Source: Russian Bible Society / Российское Библейское Общество

The first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread had begun. This feast lasts only seven days. This feast has been around for a long time. Here is the country of Egypt. The Jews were slaves there. Slavery lasted for many years. A man named Moses freed the Jews from slavery, broke their chains. This is the story of the feast that the Jews still celebrate. On the first day of the feast, the Jews sacrifice a lamb, cook it and eat it in memory of these events.

The disciples asked Jesus:

— Today is the first day of the holiday. Where shall we gather to have a festive meal?

Jesus chose two disciples and said to them:

— Go to the city. There you will see a man with a jug of water. Follow him. He will enter a house. You will tell the owner of the house: “Our teacher asks to give us a room for a festive meal.” The owner of the house will agree and take you to the second floor. There will be a room, large, clean, with dishes and utensils. There you will be able to prepare food for us.

The two disciples went into the city. There they really met a man with a pitcher of water, the owner of the house gave them a room on the second floor; everything happened exactly as Jesus said. The two disciples made all the preparations. Evening came. Jesus and the disciples entered the house, went up to the second floor, sat around the table and began to feast.

Jesus said to his disciples:

— I tell you for sure: one of my disciples will betray me! This man is among us, he eats with us.

The disciples began to look at each other anxiously and ask: “Jesus, am I the one who will betray you?”

Jesus said:

— The man who dips bread into this dish with me, he will betray me.

The disciples were alarmed. Jesus said:

— It is written in the scriptures that the Son of God, who became man, that is, me, must die. But the man who betrays me — woe to him! It would have been better for him not to have been born into this world.

Jesus took the bread, said a prayer of thanksgiving, broke the bread into pieces and began to distribute it to the disciples. The disciples ate the bread.

Jesus said to his disciples:

— This bread is my body!

Jesus took the cup of wine, thanked God and said to the disciples, “Drink this wine.” And the disciples drank wine from the cup.

Jesus said:

— This wine in this cup is my blood.

God makes a new covenant with people. My blood is shed to save many people. I tell you for sure: I will not drink this wine on earth anymore. Then, when the day of the Kingdom of God comes, then I will drink new wine there.

The disciples sang a psalm, went out and climbed the Mount of Olives.

Original Russian back-translation (click or tap here):

Начался первый день праздника Пресных хлебов. Этот праздник длится всего семь дней. Этот праздник возник давно. Вот страна Египет. Евреи там были рабами. Много лет продолжалось рабство. Человек по имени Моисей освободил евреев из рабства, порвал их цепи. Это история праздника, который евреи отмечают до сих пор. В первый день праздника, евреи приносят в жертву ягненка, готовят его и едят в память об этих событиях.

Ученики спросили Иисуса:

— Сегодня первый день праздника. Где мы соберемся, чтобы совершить праздничную трапезу?

Иисус выбрал двух учеников и сказал им:

— Идите в город. Там вы увидите человека с кувшином воды. Идите за ним. Он войдет в один дом. Вы скажете хозяину дома: «Наш учитель просит дать нам комнату для праздничной трапезы». Хозяин дома согласится и поведет вас на второй этаж. Там будет комната, большая, чистая, посуда с утварью. Там вы сможете приготовить для нас еду.

Два ученика пошли в город. Там они действительно встретили человека с кувшином воды, хозяин дома дал им комнату на втором этаже; все исполнилось в точности, как говорил Иисус. Два ученика сделали все приготовления. Наступил вечер. Иисус с учениками вошли в дом, поднялись на второй этаж, сели вокруг стала и стали пировать.

Иисус сказал ученикам:

— Говорю вам точно: один из учеников предаст меня! Этот человек среди нас, ест вместе с нами.

Ученики стали тревожно переглядываться и спрашивать: «Иисус, не я ли предам тебя?»

Иисус сказал:

— Человек, который макает хлеб вот в это блюдо вместе со мной, он предаст меня.

Ученики были встревожены. Иисус сказал:

— В писании написано, что Сын Бога, ставший человеком, то есть я, должен умереть. Но тому человеку, который предаст меня, — горе ему! Лучше бы ему было не рождаться на этом свете.

Иисус взял хлеб, прочитал молитву благодарения, разломал хлеб на части и стал раздавать ученикам. Ученики ели хлеб.

Иисус сказал ученикам:

— Этот хлеб — это тело мое!

Иисус взял чашу с вином, поблагодарил Бога и сказал ученикам: «Пейте это вино». И ученики отпивали из чаши вино.

Иисус сказал:

— Это вино в этой чаше — это кровь моя.

Бог с людьми заключает новый договор. Моя кровь проливается ради многих людей, чтобы спасти их. Говорю вам точно: это вино на земле я больше пить не буду. Потом, когда наступит день Царствия Божьего, тогда там я буду пить новое вино.

Ученики пропели псалом, вышли и поднялись на Масличную гору.

Back-translation by Luka Manevich

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Mark 14:27-31 in Russian Sign Language >>

complete verse (Mark 14:14)

Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 14:14:

  • Uma: “If he enters a house, say to the house owner: ‘The Teacher says: ‘Where please is the place I can make the Paskah Feast with my disciples?'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “And when he enters a house, say to the owner of that house, ‘The teacher commanded to ask you as to where ko’ the room is for him and his disciples to have the feast for the Celebration For-Remembering.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Follow him to the house where he enters in and say to the owner of that house, the boss is asking you in which room he is to eat with his disciples on this Feast of Passing By.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Follow (him) to the house that he enters, and say to the house owner, ‘Our Lord said where is the room where he will go eat-with us (excl.) who are his disciples for the fiesta?'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “And say to the house-owner, ‘Our(excl.) Teacher sent-us-to-ask where is the room in which it is possible/acceptable to eat this evening meal which is Passed-by, together with his disciples.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)

formal pronoun: Jesus addressing his disciples and common people

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.

Here, Jesus is addressing his disciples, individuals and/or crowds with the formal pronoun, showing respect.

In most Dutch translations, Jesus addresses his disciples and common people with the informal pronoun, whereas they address him with the formal form.

1st person pronoun referring to God (Japanese)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

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 first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

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

See also pronoun for “God”.