formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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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 formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

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

Translation commentary on 2 Thessalonians 1:12

See also the notes on verse 10 and the introductory notes on verses 11-12.

This verse describes what will happen if Paul’s prayer in the previous verse is fulfilled. The name of someone is virtually the same, in biblical language, as the person himself, but this way of speaking is not always natural in current speech, and so Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch omits it: “thereby our Lord Jesus will be honored … through what he works in you.” Good News Translation and some other translations turn the passive verbs of the original (literally “thus will be glorified the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in you, and you in him”) into the active. “In you,” like “in the saints” in verse 10, may mean either “by you” (cf. Bible en français courant), “among you,” (Translator’s New Testament) or “because of you” (Barclay). The difference between the first two possibilities is slight, and the third is the least likely. Translator’s New Testament‘s translation of the second phrase is attractive: “you will be honoured because you belong to him.”

In this way may be expressed in some languages as a condition, for example, “if this happens.” In other instances one may express the meaning by using a phrase of means, for example, “by doing this.”

Since you is really the agent of the activity of causing glory to the Lord Jesus, it may be better in some languages to translate the first clause of this verse as “by doing this you will cause the Lord Jesus to receive glory,” “… cause his reputation to be lifted up,” or “… cause him to be looked upon with wonder.”

The elliptical clause and you from him may be rendered as “and he will cause you to have glory,” or “… to be honored.”

On the grace of our God, see the notes on 2 Thess. 1.2. The idea that the name of our Lord Jesus will receive glory … by the grace of … the Lord Jesus Christ is complicated for reasons which have nothing to do with language, and it is not the translator’s responsibility to resolve this kind of difficulty. Translator’s New Testament (cf. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch) makes it less obvious by beginning a new sentence: “May our God and the Lord Jesus Christ graciously make this come true.” It may be useful to relate the final phrase of verse 12, by the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the immediately preceding elliptical expression, and you from him, for it is obvious that the honor which the Lord Jesus is to give to the believers in Thessalonica will be a result of the goodness of God. One can, therefore render this final expression as “this will happen because our God and the Lord Jesus Christ are so good to you,” “… are so gracious to you,” or “… are so exceedingly kind to you.”

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Second Letter to the Thessalonians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1976. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .