1st person pronoun referring to God (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 first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.

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

See also pronoun for “God”.

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

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. )

Honorary "rare" construct denoting God (“say”)

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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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme rare (られ) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, ōse-rare-ru (仰せられる) or “say” is used.

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

Honorary "are" construct denoting God (“send”)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, tsukawas-are-ru (遣わされる) or “send” is used.

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

Translation commentary on Exod 3:15

Verse 15 begins a long discourse spoken by God to Moses that continues to the end of the chapter. Within this discourse are embedded quotes where Moses is told what he is to say to the Israelites and to the king of Egypt, but in verse 16 he is told what he is to say that God told him to say. This is a quote within a quote within a quote. Before translating verse 15, therefore, translators should notice in Revised Standard Version the alternation of double quotation marks and single quotation marks, and especially the single quotes in verse 16. In languages that have difficulty showing a third level of embedded quotes, it may be easier to change to indirect discourse, as Good News Translation has done both here and in verse 16. (See also the discussion of third-level quotes at 7.16.)

God also said to Moses may be omitted (as in verse 14) if it is clear that God is still speaking. The LORD is the sacred name, YHWH, that is here revealed to Moses. The substitution of the title “LORD,” with four capital letters, is the usual way in English of handling this four-letter word that was long considered too holy to pronounce. It translates the oral tradition of substituting the word ʾadonay, “lord,” when reading aloud, rather than pronouncing the name Yahweh, which was the written text. (See the comment at 3.2a.)

Good News Translation often uses indirect rather than direct speech in order to avoid quotations within quotations. So here Good News Translation has “Tell the Israelites that I, the LORD, … have sent you to them.” This unfortunately shifts the focus from the sacred name Yahweh in verse 15 to the basis for the name, ʾehyeh, in verse 14 (where Good News Translation uses the direct speech!). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch tries to combine the two terms, ʾehyeh and YHWH, at this point: “The ‘Lord’ (I-am-here) is my name for all time.” But this also confuses the name itself with the basis for the name. If a translator wishes to use the name Yahweh at this point, one may say “I, Yahweh, the God….”

Some translations resort to transliterating the name (either “Yahweh” or “Jehovah”) in the few instances where the significance of a personal name is crucial to the meaning of the text and would be lost with the traditional use of LORD. For example, New English Bible uses JEHOVAH here, in the following verse, and in 6.3. Whatever option is chosen, a footnote explaining the problem is strongly recommended.

The God of your fathers means the God of “your ancestors,” as in verse 13. (For the God of Abraham, … Isaac, … and Jacob, see the comment at 3.6.) This is my name forever refers to the name YHWH, not to the “I am” on which the name is based. Thus I am to be remembered only confirms the previous statement. Remembered here means “called to mind,” “kept in mind,” or “not forgotten.” Throughout all generations refers to all future descendants as the ones who are to remember this name. Good News Translation expresses it well: “this is what all future generations are to call me.”

Quoted with permission from Osborn, Noel D. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Exodus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1999. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .