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.

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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.

Translation commentary on Psalm 41:10 - 41:12

The psalm closes with a prayer; the psalmist is confident that the LORD will answer him because of his, the psalmist’s, righteous character.

For be gracious see comments on 4.1; raise me up means get me out of my sickbed, that is, restore me to health. The psalmist wants revenge (requite; see use of the term in 31.23; 35.12); he is sure that his enemies are the object of Yahweh’s anger also.

In some languages thou art pleased with me must be recast to say “I have pleased you” or “I have made you glad.”

For the psalmist the proof of Yahweh’s favor is the defeat of his enemies (verse 11). Good News Translation has reversed the order of the two lines of this verse, as a more natural order in English. Triumphed translates a verb that means “to shout in triumph.” My enemy has not triumphed over me may be recast sometimes as direct speech by saying, for example, “because my enemy has not been able to say ‘I have defeated you,’ ” or indirectly, “because you have not let my enemy say that he won the victory.”

In verse 12 my integrity describes the psalmist as one who follows the LORD’s will in everything (see 7.8c and comments). Revised Standard Version translates the verbs in verse 12 as perfects, thou hast upheld me … and set me; Biblia Dios Habla Hoy translates them as petitions; Bible en français courant and Good News Translation as future tense; New English Bible as present tense. Upheld translates a verb meaning grab hold of, hold on to, in the sense of helping or rescuing, or else to hold up, to keep from falling (see its use in 16.5b; 63.8b).

The meaning of verse 12b, in thy presence for ever, is the same as expressed in 16.11 and 23.6. Anderson comments: “he will be restored to God’s favour, and will enjoy his blessings as long as he lives.” Some take the word presence (literally “face”) here to mean the presence of Yahweh in the Temple.

Dahood takes the prayer to mean that the psalmist wants to be taken directly into the presence of Yahweh without dying, as were Enoch and Elijah, and there live forever, but this idea has not been proven. In thy presence must sometimes be translated “where you are,” or “in the place where you are,” or “in the place where people come to worship you.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on the Book of Psalms. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1991. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .