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.

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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 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 9:5

For thou hast done: At first it is a bit surprising to see Good News Translation introducing the metaphor “Your hand,” where the Greek text has simply “you.” Ordinarily Good News Translation moves in the other direction. But a closer look shows what it intends. The “you” is emphatic as subject of this sentence, and the figure of speech “Your hand” draws attention to it. New American Bible accomplishes the same end by a slight grammatical twist: “It is you who were the author of….” Contemporary English Version has “I know that you caused….”

These things and those that went before and those that followed … things that are now, and those that are to come: Translators should beware here. The text is awkward, though clear enough; it would be easy to produce a confusing translation. The Greek reads literally “For you did the things before those things and those things and the things afterward and the things now and the things afterward you designed.” It is clear enough that a sentence break belongs after “afterward.” It is also clear that “those things,” which is used twice, refers to the incidents involving Simeon in Gen 34 and spoken of in verses 2-4. The chronological order (pre-Simeon things, Simeon things, post-Simeon things) is given in the text, but it is hard to express that clearly in English. Both Good News Translation and Revised Standard Version bring “those things” forward (Revised Standard Version these things), so as to connect more clearly with the events of verses 2-4. Then they speak of events before and after that time. Any pronouns used here must make a definite connection with the events of verses 2-4. Judith’s survey of God’s acts in history speak of God active in the past, present, and future, but this is a time span with two focal points centering on two individuals: Simeon and his descendant Judith.

Yea, the things thou didst intend came to pass may also be expressed as “You also control what [or, those things that] will take place in the future.”

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• I know that you caused all of these things to happen, and all other things in the past as well. You planned everything. You control what is happening now and what will take place in the future.

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.