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Verse: 2 Esdras 3:5
et dedit Adam corpus mortuum. Sed et ipsum figmentum manuum tuarum erat, et insuflasti in eum spiritum vitae, et factus est vivens coram te.
5and it gave you Adam, a lifeless body? Yet he was the creation of your hands, and you breathed into him the breath of life, and he was made alive in your presence.
The Greek, and Latin that is translated as “creation” in English is translated in Lisu as ꓟꓵ ꓚꓰꓼ ꓟꓲ ꓚꓰꓼ — my tshe mi tshe, verbatim translated as “place — make — earth — make.” This construction follows a traditional four-couplet construct in oral Lisu poetry that is usually in the form ABAC or ABCB. (Source: Arrington 2020, p. 58)
In American Sign Language it is translated with a sign that signifies creating out of nothing. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Creation” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
The name that is transliterated as “Adam” in English is translated in Finnish Sign Language with the sign signifying “rib” (referring to Genesis 2:21). (Source: Tarja Sandholm)
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 Translator2002, 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.
In Ezra’s prayer (verses 4-36) Revised Standard Version uses archaic pronouns for God (for example, thou and thy) and archaic verbs for God’s actions (for example, didst). It uses such language when characters speak directly to God. However, this archaic language should not be imitated in other languages since it reflects nothing in the Latin. New Revised Standard Version does not use it here.
O sovereign Lord: The Latin phrase for sovereign Lord (domine dominator or dominator domine) occurs nine times in the book. Here it refers to God (also in 2 Esd 5.23; 12.7; 13.51), but sometimes it refers to an angel (2 Esd 4.38; 5.38; 6.11; 7.17, 58 [possibly also 7.75, where there is a textual problem]). Good News Bible usually renders it “Lord and Master,” which is a good model.
Didst thou not speak at the beginning when thou didst form the earth—and without any help—and didst command the dust and it gave thee Adam, a lifeless body?: Here Ezra is recalling the creation account given in Genesis, especially 2.4-7 (compare Psa 33.6, 9). This question is rhetorical and may be rendered as one or more strong statements (so Good News Bible, Contemporary English Version). In this context the verb speak means “give a command.” Without help may be translated “you alone” (Good News Bible). The first half of this question may be rendered “you alone spoke [or, gave a command] at the beginning of time and created the earth [or, world].” And didst command the dust and it gave thee Adam, a lifeless body may be expressed as “You commanded the dust to form the lifeless body of Adam” or “At your command the dust produced the lifeless body of Adam” (Good News Bible). The two Revised Standard Version footnotes here may be ignored.
Yet he was the workmanship of thy hands may be rendered “But then with your hands you worked with his body.”
And thou didst breathe into him the breath of life may be translated “and you breathed life into him.”
And he was made alive in thy presence may be expressed as “and he became a living person right there in front of you.”
Good News Bible provides a good model for verses 4-5. Another possible model is:
• 4 and prayed, “O Lord and Master, you alone gave the command in the beginning, and created the world. Then you commanded the dust, 5 and it produced Adam, a body without life. But then you used your hands and shaped this dead body and breathed life into it. Immediately he became a man right there in front of you.
Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on 1-2 Esdras. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2019. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.
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