pronoun for "God"

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 tā (他) is written; where he is referred to as divine, especially after the ascension, the reverential tā (祂) is used.”

In Kouya, Godié, Northern Grebo, Eastern Krahn, Western Krahn, and Guiberoua Béte, all languages of the Kru family in Western Africa, a different kind of system of pronouns is used (click or tap here to read more):

In that system, one kind of pronoun is used for humans (male and female alike) and others 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: “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 and Orthodox 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 or The Orthodox New Testament, but most translations do not. Other languages where this is also done (in most Bible translations) are Twents as well as Indonesian and Malay. In the latter two 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. ).

See also first person pronoun referring to God.

Learn more on Bible Odyssey: Gender of God .

Translation: Chinese

在现代汉语中，第三人称单数代词的读音都是一样的（tā），但是写法并不一样，取决于性别以及是否有生命，即男性为“他”，女性为“她”，动物、植物和无生命事物为“它”（在香港和台湾的汉语使用，动物则为“牠”）。这些字的部首偏旁表明了性别（男人、女人、动物、无生命事物），而另一偏旁通常旁提示发音。

到1930年为止，基督教新教《圣经》经过整整一百年的翻译已经拥有了十几个译本，当时的一位圣经翻译者王元德新造了一个“神圣的”代词“祂”，偏旁“礻”表示神明。一般汉语读者会立即知道这字的发音是tā，而这个偏旁表示属灵的事物，因此他们明白这个字指出，三位一体的所有位格都没有性别之分，而单单是上帝。

然而，最重要的新教圣经译本（1919年的《和合本》）和天主教圣经译本（1968年的《思高圣经》）都没有采用“祂”；虽然如此，许多其他的圣经译本采用了这个字，另外还广泛出现在赞美诗和其他基督信仰的书刊中。（资料来源：Zetzsche）

《吕振中译本》的几个早期版本也使用“祂”来指称“上帝”；这个译本的《新约》于1946年译成，整部《圣经》于1970年完成。克拉默斯（Kramers）指出：“‘他’的这种新写法（即‘祂’）产生了一个小问题，就是在指称耶稣的时候，是否一律使用这个敬语代词？《吕振中译本》遵循的原则是，在称呼耶稣这个人的时候，用一般的‘他’，而在称呼耶稣神性的时候，特别是升天之后的耶稣，则用尊称‘祂’。”

Translator: Simon Wong

Scriptures Plain & Simple (Mark 1:1-8)

Barclay Newman, a translator on the teams for both the Good News Bible and the Contemporary English Version, translated passages of the New Testament into English and published them in 2014, “in a publication brief enough to be non-threatening, yet long enough to be taken seriously, and interesting enough to appeal to believers and un-believers alike.” The following is the translation of Mark 1:1-8:

This is the Best News Ever,
       and it’s about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

It began, just as God had announced
       in the book by the prophet Isaiah:

              I’m sending my messenger
                     to prepare the way for you.
              Listen to the voice shouting in the desert,
                     “Make a straight path for the Coming One’.”

So John Dipper showed up in the desert,
shouting for everyone to hear: “It’s turn around time!
       Do this and be baptized, if you hope to be forgiven!”

From Jerusalem and all over Judea,

       multitudes swarmed around John like flies —
they openly confessed their sins,
       and he baptized them in the River Jordan.

John Dipper wore garments of camel hair
with a leather strap around his waist —
       his food was locusts and honey from the fields.

His message: “Someone more powerful will come,
       and I’m not worthy to be his lowest slave.
My baptism is merely with water —
       his baptism is with the Holy Spirit!”

Honorary "rare" construct denoting God ("come")

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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, ko-rare-ru (来られる) or “come” is used.

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

3rd person pronoun with high register (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 third person singular and plural pronoun (“he,” “she,” “it” and their various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. While it’s not uncommon to avoid pronouns altogether in Japanese, there are is a range of third person pronouns that can be used. In these verses a number of them are used that pay particularly much respect to the referred person (or, in fact, God, as in Exodus 15:2), including kono kata (この方), sono kata (その方), and ano kata (あの方), meaning “this person,” “that person,” and “that person over there.”

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

See also third person pronoun with exalted register.

Translation commentary on Mark 1:7

Exegesis:

ekērussen ‘he proclaimed’ (cf. v. 4): the imperfect continues to describe John’s habitual activity, the message which accompanied his baptism.

ekērussen legōn ‘he preached saying’: this construction, consisting of a verb plus the participle of another verb, which is practically a synonym of the first, is common and reflects Semitic influence. There is no need, in English translation, to reproduce both verbs (cf. Translator’s New Testament, Manson, The Modern Speech New Testament, Moffatt, Knox, Zürcher Bibel).

erchetai ‘he comes’: the present tense is often used with a future meaning (Moffatt “is to come”); in this verse there is an emphasis on the immediacy of the action, ‘is coming’ (Translator’s New Testament), ‘is on the way.’

ho ischuroteros mou ‘the one stronger than I’: ischus ‘strength’ refers primarily to physical strength – by extension it takes on the idea of power, might, greatness (cf. 3.27): ‘mightier’ (The Modern Speech New Testament, Moffatt, Revised Standard Version, Manson, Knox), ‘greater’ (Translator’s New Testament).

opisō mou ‘behind me’: the phrase goes with erchetai ‘is coming behind me.’

opisō (1.17, 20; 8.33, 34; 13.16) ‘behind,’ ‘after’: as an adverb it refers both to time and place (not used of time in the N.T.); as a preposition, with the genitive case, as here, it is also used of time and place (Abbott-Smith sees Septuagint influence). Here the idea is clearly that of time (cf. Acts 13.25 erchetai met’ eme ‘comes after me’), although some commentators see the idea of rank, ‘a follower of mine.’

hou … autou ‘whose … of him’: this use of the relative hos ‘who’ and the pronoun autos ‘he,’ both in the genitive case, is a construction which reflects Semitic influence, although, as Lagrange points out, it is not unknown in Greek itself. In translation, therefore, there is no need to reproduce both the relative hou ‘whose’ and the pronoun autou ‘of him’ since both refer to the same thing, i.e. ton himanta tōn hupodēmatōn ‘the thong of the sandals’ (cf. a similar construction in 7.25, and see Taylor, 60 and literature referred to). The relative hou ‘whose,’ it is to be noticed, does not refer to hikanos ‘worthy’ as though it meant ‘worthy of him’: rather, like autou ‘of him,’ it refers to ‘the thong of the sandals.’

hikanos (10.46; 15.15) “competent, qualified, able, with the connotation worthy … for something.”

kupsas lusai ‘stooping to loose’: such a verbal construction is quite common, in which two different actions are described by the participle of one verb plus the regular form (required by grammar) of the other. The meaning is the same it would be if both verbs were in the infinitive: kupsai kai lusai ‘to stoop and to loose.’

kuptō (only here in Mark) ‘stoop (down)’: the participle modifies the subject of eimi ‘I am,’ not ‘the thong of his sandals.’

luō (7.35; 11.2, 4, 5) ‘loose,’ ‘unbind,’ ‘release’: to untie the thong of the sandal was the menial task of a slave.

Translation:

In most translations the first problem to be encountered in this verse is the existence of the double verbs of speaking, preached, saying. In many languages one must use one verb or the other, but not both, or people will say, “What did he do, preach or say?” Often these terms are mutually exclusive. On the other hand, there are a number of languages, e.g. several of the Quechua dialects of South America, which use double verbs of speaking, but one is used at the beginning of an utterance, and the other at the end, somewhat parallel to “he said … said he.” In a sense they serve in the place of quotation marks and as such are very convenient. In still other instances this Semitic type of expression fits quite naturally, e.g. in Barrow Eskimo.

Having noted (Mark 1.4) that some indirect expressions must be turned into direct ones, we must also indicate the fact that frequently the reverse process is obligatory. For example, in Eastern Maninkakanverses 7 and 8 must be cast into an indirect form: ‘he said that after him would come one….’

Comparatives, such as mightier than I are seemingly very awkward to translate in some languages, for in such instances comparison is only accomplished by means of a combined positive-negative statement, e.g. ‘there is more his power; more there is not my power’ (Tzotzil), ‘he has great power; I do not have great power’ (as in the case of a number of so-called Bantu tongues). These types of positive-negative statements must not be interpreted on the basis of their literal retranslation into English. They are just as much genuine “comparatives” (if we may use the term) as the construction with which we are familiar in Indo-European languages. Another common form of comparative uses a verb meaning ‘to surpass,’ e.g. ‘his power surpasses my power.’

What, however, adds to the difficulty of this verse is the fact that the adjective worthy is difficult to translate in many languages, for close equivalents are often not adjectives. This should not be surprising, for worthy is not an abstraction of easily definable qualities (cf. red, good, beautiful), but of relative social position and capacity. In Guerrero Amuzgo the phrase I am not worthy to is translated ‘I can’t be used to….’ In Huichol worthy is ‘to have the right to….’ In Inupiaqthe equivalent is ‘to be on the same level so as to…’; in Tzotzil a possible rendering is ‘measure up to…’; and in San Mateo del Mar Huave one must say ‘reach to.’

The expression after me comes must be treated in some languages as a kind of comparative. For example, in the Highland Oaxaca Chontal this verse reads ‘I come first; he comes later.’

Mightier must be interpreted in terms of authority, and not physical strength, e.g. ‘will order more people around’ (Huichol) or ‘will be more a chief’ (San Mateo del Mar Huave).

Sandals must often be translated by a type of footgear with parallel functions, even though some details of construction are dissimilar, e.g. ‘boots’ (Barrow Eskimo) or ‘thongless sandals’ (Yatzachi Zapotec), which are ‘removed’ rather than ‘untied’ (‘removing’ is the functional equivalent).

In any translation the arrangement of the constituent parts of this verse must be entirely dependent upon requirements of the structure involved, e.g. ‘He spoke God’s word, saying, Someone is coming after me, his power surpasses mine. I am not worthy to bend over and untie his shoestrings’ (Kpelle).

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1961. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator's Notes on Mark 1:7

1:7a

And: The word And here connects what John wore and ate to what John did and said. As with 1:6c, use a natural way in your language to connect this verse to the preceding verse. Many English versions start this verse with a separate sentence. For example:

He announced (God’s Word)
-or-
This is what John preached to the people (New Century Version)

he began to proclaim: The Greek clause that the Berean Standard Bible translates as he began to proclaim is literally “he was proclaiming/preaching, saying….” The word “proclaiming/preaching” is from the same Greek verb as “preaching” in 1:4b. See the note there.

This clause introduces a summary of what John preached regularly. But 1:4 indicates that he also preached about repentance and baptism. It is good to express 1:7a so that it does not imply that John’s message was only the words 1:7b–c. For example:

In the course of his preaching he said (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
John also told the people (Contemporary English Version)

1:7b

After me will come: The phrase After me means “later than me [in time].” John’s work had already started. Jesus would begin his work soon afterwards. The Greek verb form that the Berean Standard Bible translates as will come is more literally “is coming.” It indicates that Jesus was coming very soon. He was about to begin his work while John was still alive.

In some languages, a literal translation of After me may imply that Jesus did not come until after John died. If that is true in your language, you should translate in a different way. For example:

Someone is coming soon who is far greater than I am (New Living Translation, 1996 edition)
-or-
I have already started my work. Very soon someone else will arrive/come…

One more powerful than I: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as powerful here refers to greatness. The Christ was greater or more important than John. John was not saying that the Christ was physically stronger than he was.

1:7c

the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie: In Jewish culture, only a slave would untie someone’s sandals. John mentioned this action to indicate that Jesus was very important. Jesus was of such great status that John did not feel worthy even to serve as Jesus’ slave. If the meaning of this action is not clear to your readers, here are some options to consider:

• Mention the action and indicate the symbolic meaning. For example:

I feel inadequate to even serve him like a slave by stooping and loosening the ties of his sandals.

• Omit the action and translate only its meaning. For example, the New Living Translation, 1996 edition says:

I am not even worthy to be his slave. (New Living Translation, 1996 edition)

If you use a word like “slave,” be sure that your translation does not imply that Jesus owned slaves.

straps…sandals…untie: In some areas sandals are not used. In other areas, sandals do not need to be untied. If that is true in your area, you may use a more general word, such as shoes. It may also be more natural to focus on removing the shoes, since that was the purpose for untying the straps. For example:

I am not even qualified to bend down to take off his shoes.
-or-
Because of his greatness, I would be ashamed to even remove his shoes.

straps of whose sandals: The word sandals means a type of shoe. The sandals that people wore at that time were usually made from a piece of leather that formed the bottom of a shoe. People tied leather straps onto this piece of leather and then wrapped them around the foot and lower legs.

Section 1:9–11

John baptized Jesus

The previous section described how John the Baptizer prepared people for the coming of Jesus. The present section forms a transition from the work of John to the work of Jesus. Jesus came to John to be baptized. After John baptized Jesus, God’s Spirit descended on Jesus in the form of a dove, and God spoke to him from heaven. These were signs that Jesus was the Messiah whom God had sent.

You will probably want to translate this section before you decide on a section heading. Here is another example of a heading for this section:

The baptism of Jesus

There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 3:13–17; Luke 3:21–22.

Paragraph 1:9–11

1:9a

In those days: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as In those days is literally “And it happened in those days.” This phrase introduces the event that follows. It refers to the time when John was preaching to people and baptizing them. While John was doing these things, Jesus arrived at the place where John was.

Most English versions do not translate the phrase “And it happened,” because it is not natural in English. Consider how your language introduces the next major part of a story. Translate in a way that is natural for your language.

Jesus came: Languages differ in the way they use words like “come” and “go.” In some languages it may be more natural to say “went” or “traveled” instead of came.

In some languages it may also be natural to make explicit that Jesus “arrived” at that location. It may be necessary to specify that he came to John or to where John was baptizing. This implicit information may fit in either 1:9a or 1>9b. For example:

During those days, Jesus traveled from Nazareth in Galilee and arrived in the wilderness where John was baptizing.

from Nazareth in Galilee: Nazareth was a town with about two thousand people. Galilee was an area in the northern part of the country of Israel. In some languages it may be helpful to indicate some of this information. For example:

from Nazareth in the province of Galilee (Good News Bible)
-or-
from Nazareth town in the region of Galilee
-or-
from Nazareth in the district of Galilee

It may also be helpful to include a footnote with more information. For example:

Nazareth was a town in the province/region of Galilee where Jesus and his parents lived. Jesus grew up there but later lived in Capernaum. About 2000 people lived in Nazareth.

1:9b

was baptized by John: The phrase was baptized by John is passive. In some languages it may be more natural to use an active phrase. For example, the Contemporary English Version says:

John baptized him in the Jordan River. (Contemporary English Version)

baptized: See the notes on 1:4a and 1:8a for ways to translate baptized.

in the Jordan: The Jordan refers to the Jordan River. In some languages you may need to make this explicit. For example:

in the river Jordan

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