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”.

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

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, iw-are-ru (言われる) or “say” is used.

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

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 25:15

Thus the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: Good News Translation does not translate Thus, but many translations do with an expression such as “Here is what the LORD, Israel’s God, told me to do” or “This is what the LORD … said to me.”

Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath: For the cup as a symbol of God’s wrath, see 49.12; 51.7; Psa 75.8; Isa 51.17, 22; Ezek 23.31-33. The whole construction this cup of the wine of wrath is difficult, and so Good News Translation renders “a wine cup filled with my anger.” It is legitimate on the basis of the context to identify the anger as the LORD’s, as Good News Translation has done. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch differs sightly from Good News Translation: “Take this wine cup from my hand. It is filled with my anger.” A slight variation of this is “Take this cup. The wine in it represents my anger” or “Take this cup. The wine in it represents the punishment I will bring on those who drink it.” If wine is not known, translators can use an expression like “fermented fruit juice,” possibly adding “called wine” since this is such an important symbol in the Bible (see 13.12).

Drink it: In many languages people do not drink a cup, but rather the contents of the cup. This is the basis for Good News Translation “drink from it.” Others have “drink what is in it.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Jeremiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2003. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .