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. Two 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

Translation commentary on Mark 6:56

Exegesis:

Most of the words of this verse have already been dealt with: eisporeuomai ‘enter’ (1.21); kōmē, polis, agros ‘village, city, country-town’ (5.14; 6.6); parakaleō ‘request’ (1.40); hina of content ‘that’ (5.10, 18); kan ‘if only,’ ‘at least’ (5.28); himation ‘cloak,’ ‘garment’ (2.21); haptomai ‘touch’ (1.41); sōzō ‘heal,’ ‘cure’ (5.23).

en tais agorais (7.4; 12.38) ‘in the market places’ (perhaps ‘in the town squares,’ ‘in the village centers’): not every town and hamlet had its own market place.

tous asthenountas (only here in Mark; cf. the adjective asthenēs 14.38) ‘those who were feeble,’ i.e. the sick.

kan tou kraspedou tou himatiou autou hapsōntai ‘they might touch at least the fringe of his garment.’

kraspedon (only here in Mark) ‘edge,’ ‘border,’ ‘hem’; probably here not in the general sense, but in the specific sense of ‘tassel’ (in Hebrew tsitsith) worn by pious Jews on each of the four corners of the cloak (cf. Mt. 23.5).

Lagrange calls attention to the distinction between the aorist hēpsanto ‘they touched’ and the imperfect esōzonto ‘they were made well’ in the last clause: ‘And as many as touched it (momentary act) they were being made well (one after the other).’

Translation:

Came is probably better rendered as ‘went’ in most languages, for the point of view of the narrator is that of a companion of Jesus, not of those to whom he was coming.

Villages, cities, or country is paralleled by ‘small villages, large towns, and hamlets in the country.’ In Latin America market places are equivalent to ‘plazas,’ the central, open squares of the towns, often used for markets, at least on certain days.

There is a confusion in subject reference in the verb besought. Is the meaning here (1) that those who laid the sick in the market places requested Jesus to allow the sick to touch the hem of his garment (probably more accurately the tassel, though this would be difficult to translate in many languages), or (2) that the sick pleaded with Jesus to be able to touch his garment? It may very well be that both would be true, not only would the “sponsors” of the sick try to get Jesus to pay attention to their friends or relatives, but the sick would themselves ask for help. In many languages, however, one cannot preserve such an ambiguity, and hence one must choose between those who brought the sick and the sick themselves, in which case it is probably more in keeping with the context to employ the latter alternative.

Were made well may be translated as ‘got well,’ ‘became well,’ or ‘were healed.’

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 6:56

6:56

And wherever He went—villages and towns and countrysides—they laid the sick in the marketplaces: The Berean Standard Bible uses dashes on both sides of the phrase villages and towns and countrysides. These dashes indicate the places where Jesus went. He went into villages, towns and the countryside.

In some languages, dashes are not common. It may be more natural to follow the God’s Word:

Whenever he would go into villages, cities, or farms

6:56a

And: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as And connects 6:56a to 6:55b. It shows that the story continues. Many English versions do not translate this conjunction explicitly here. You should connect 6:56a to 6:55b in the way that is natural in your language.

countrysides: The Greek noun that the Berean Standard Bible translates as countrysides also means “farms” (as in the Good News Bible). Here it refers to the rural areas as opposed to villages and towns.

6:56b

in the marketplaces: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as marketplaces refers to large, open areas where people came to buy and sell things. Another way to translate this word is with a general expression. For example, the New Jerusalem Bible says:

in the open spaces

6:56c

and begged Him just to let them touch the fringe of His cloak: This clause is indirect speech. In some languages it may be more natural to translate what the people said to Jesus as direct speech. For example:

They begged Jesus, “Please allow this sick person to touch at least the edge of your clothes.”

them: The pronoun them refers to the sick people. If you use a direct quote, as above, consider whether a singular noun such as “sick person” may be more appropriate. Each group of people who carried a sick person may have begged Jesus to let the sick person whom they carried touch Jesus.

the fringe: Some ways to translate the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as fringe are:

• Translate it generally as hem, border, or edge of a garment. For example, the Good News Bible says:

the edge of his cloak

• Translate it specifically as the fringe or tassel of a garment. Jewish men wore an outer garment with a fringe or tassel consisting of four blue and white threads. These hung down from the four corners of a Jewish man’s outer garment to remind him to keep the commandments. (Guelich note on Mark 6:56 (page 357).) (See Numbers 15:38–39.)

For example, the New Living Translation says:

the fringe of his robe

cloak: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as cloak refers to a long, outer garment.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

robe
-or-
garment
-or-
clothes

This same word occurs in 5:27b–28. You should translate it here as you did there.

6:56d

all who touched Him: The sick touched either Jesus himself or his clothes.

were healed: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as were healed is passive. If your language would not use a passive here, you can say:

became well/healthy
-or-
were no longer sick

If you need to say who healed the people, you can say:

God healed everyone who touched Jesus.
-or-
God removed the sicknesses of all who touched Jesus.

Paragraph 7:1–5

In the first paragraph of this section, Mark introduced the topic of ritual uncleanness. He did this by telling an incident in which the Pharisees and teachers of the law rebuked Jesus. They rebuked him because his disciples had not followed the Jewish tradition of washing their hands in a special way before they ate.

In the middle of this paragraph (7:2b–4), Mark explained some of these Jewish traditions. He did this so that his readers would understand why the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders were upset with Jesus and questioned him.

In Greek, 7:2–5 forms one long sentence. The Revised Standard Version has a long sentence in 7:3–4, and the Berean Standard Bible has a long sentence in 7:1–2. In your translation, use sentences that are a normal length in your language.

7:1a

Then: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Then introduces what the religious leaders did next after the events in Mark 6. Here are some other ways to begin this story:

One day (New Living Translation)
-or-
After this

You should begin this story in a way that is natural in your language.

the Pharisees: The Pharisees were a Jewish religious group or party. It was very important to them to obey all of the Jewish religious laws very carefully and in detail. Here are some ways to translate this word:

• Transliterate the word Pharisees according to the sounds of your language and indicate that it refers to people. For example:

Farisi members
-or-
Parise adherents

• Transliterate the word Pharisees and indicate that it refers to a group of people with certain beliefs. For example:

people belonging to the Parise religious sect/group
-or-
members of the religious group called the Farasi

You may also want to include an explanation of Pharisees in the glossary of your translation.

the scribes: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as scribes refers to men who copied the laws of Moses by hand in New Testament times. Besides copying the Scripture, their main task were to study, interpret, and teach the laws of Moses and related Jewish laws and traditions.

Here are some other ways to translate this term:

the teachers of the Law of Moses (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
the teachers of religious law (New Living Translation)
-or-
the experts in the law (NET Bible)

See how you translated this word in 1:22c and 3:22a. See also teacher of the law in the Glossary.

who had come from Jerusalem: The phrase who had come from Jerusalem can be understood in two ways:

(1) It refers to both the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. Both groups came from Jerusalem. For example, the New Living Translation says:

One day some Pharisees and teachers of religious law arrived from Jerusalem

(New American Standard Bible, New Living Translation, New Century Version)

(2) It refers only to the teachers of the law. Only the teachers of the law came from Jerusalem. This implies that the Pharisees were already there. For example, the English Standard Version says:

Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem

(English Standard Version, Revised English Bible)

The Greek text and many English versions are ambiguous. If possible, you should also leave it ambiguous. If you must choose, it is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). This fits the parallel passage in Matthew 15:1.

7:1b

gathered around Jesus: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as gathered around indicates that the Pharisees and teachers of the law came to where Jesus was. They wanted to see him.

© 2008 by SIL International®

Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.