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.

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight

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 Judith 16:14

With this verse one should compare Psa 33.6, 9; 104.30.

Let all thy creatures serve thee may be rendered “Let all your living things serve you.”

Thou didst speak, and they were made may be translated “You spoke and gave them life.”

Thou didst send forth thy Spirit: In both Greek and Hebrew “spirit” and “breath” are represented by one word, and it is often difficult to decide in English between the two. In the light of Gen 2.7, “breath” is to be preferred here. Revised Standard Version‘s Spirit has become “spirit” in New Revised Standard Version. Contemporary English Version uses “breath” with “his breath created them,” but Good News Translation avoids the problem of using “spirit” or “breath” by saying “you breathed on them.”

It formed them is literally “it built.” “Built” is a strange word to choose in Greek, but it surely means “created” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). A recent opinion (Levison) notes that while Psa 104.30 (Greek Psa 103.30) says “you sent forth your spirit and they were created,” the word “built, formed” is used in the Greek of Gen 2.22, where God “builds” from Adam’s rib the first woman. Perhaps this could explain why the word is chosen for this psalm sung by Judith.

There is none that can resist thy voice: Voice here refers to God’s “command” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version). So one may translate “When you give a command, no one can oppose you.”

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Judith. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.