addressing God

Translators of different languages have found different ways with what kind of formality God is addressed.

Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or modern 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 the most recent Manchu translation of 1835 (a revision of an earlier edition from 1822), God is never addressed with a pronoun but with “father” (ama /ᠠᠮᠠ) instead. Chengcheng Liu (in this post on the Cambridge Centre for Chinese Theology blog ) explains: “In Manchu tradition, as in Chinese etiquette, second-person pronouns could be considered disrespectful when speaking to superiors or spiritual beings. Manchu Shamanist prayers avoided si [‘you’] and sini [‘your’] for this very reason. To use them for God would be, in Lipovzoff’s [one of the two translators] words, ‘the most uncouth and indecent way to speak to the Almighty — as if He were a servant or slave.’ There was also a grammatical problem. In Manchu, si and sini could refer to both singular and plural subjects. For a faith that insisted on the singularity of God, this was potentially confusing. By contrast, repeating ama removed any ambiguity.”

In Dutch, Afrikaans, Gronings, and Western Frisian translations, God is always addressed with the formal pronoun.

See also formal pronoun: disciples addressing Jesus, female second person singular pronoun in Psalms.

complete verse (Psalm 74:3)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 74:3:

  • Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
    “Turn over the feet pointing to these eternal ruins
    all this destruction the enemy has brought on the sacred place.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “The enemies have destroyed everything that is in the temple.
    Direct Your steps also toward this.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “Go and look-(at) the continuing ruin of the temple because of what the enemies have-done.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “You see all the things that the enemies have destroyed,
    you walk in the House of God that was left to destroy completely.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Uende uone mji ambao umeharibika kabisa!
    Maadui wameharibu kila kitu patakatifu.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “Walk along and see where everything has been totally ruined;
    our enemies have destroyed everything in the sacred temple.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

enemy / foe

The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Ge’ez, and Latin that is translated as “enemy” or “foe” in English is translated in the Hausa Common Language Bible as “friends of front,” i.e., the person standing opposite you in a battle. (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

In North Alaskan Inupiatun it is translated with a term that implies that it’s not just someone who hates you, but one who wants to do you harm (Source: Robert Bascom), in Tarok as ukpa ìkum or “companion in war/fighting,” and in Ikwere as nye irno m or “person who hates me” (source for this and one above: Chuck and Karen Tessaro in this newsletter ).

In Cherokee it is either translated as “the one(s) who reprimand(s) you” or “the one(s) feared.” (Source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 47)

sanctuary

The Hebrew, Greek, Ge’ez, and Latin that is translated as “sanctuary” in English is translated in the Contemporary Chichewa translation (2002/2016) with opatulika or “separated place.” This is understood in a religious setup as a place designated for worship. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

Japanese benefactives (irete)

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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 benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

Here, irete (入れて) or “put in” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Psalm 74:3

The psalmist invites God to inspect the ruins of the Temple and see for himself what the enemy has done. The ruins are “total” (Good News Translation); the Hebrew word “everlasting, perpetual” is not used to indicate that they will never disappear, but to emphasize the fact that the enemy has wrecked and ruined everything. New English Bible “what was ruined beyond repair”; Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, New Jerusalem Bible “endless ruins”; Bible en français courant “ruins already ancient.” Direct thy steps (Good News Translation “Walk over”) translates what is literally “lift up your steps,” for which Bible en français courant has “climb up.” The meaning may be “rouse yourself to action” (so New Jerusalem Bible “Bestir Yourself”). Direct thy steps and Good News Translation‘s “Walk over these…” imply making a careful inspection of the ruined Temple. Accordingly in some languages it will be necessary to say something more akin to Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, “Come and see…,” or “Climb up and look at….”

Sanctuary: as in 20.2 the Hebrew here is “holy place,” which Good News Translation correctly renders “Temple.” Elsewhere it is referred to as “house (of Yahweh)” or as “Temple” (as in 5.7), or “meeting place” (as in verse 4a). Translators should determine whether to render all such terms as in the Hebrew and Revised Standard Version. In any case, the reader must understand clearly that the reference is to the Temple in Jerusalem.

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 .