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Normally a speaker refers to himself as “I” and the person he is speaking to as “you.” Sometimes in the Bible a speaker refers to himself or to the person he is speaking to with terms other than “I” or “you.”
Description
- First person — This is how a speaker normally refers to himself. English uses the pronouns “I” and “we.” (Also: me, my, mine; us, our, ours)
- Second person — This is how a speaker normally refers to the person or people he is speaking to. English uses the pronoun “you.” (Also: your, yours)
- Third person — This is how a speaker refers to someone else. English uses the pronouns “he,” “she,” “it,” and “they.” (Also: him, his, her, hers, its; them, their, theirs) Noun phrases like “the man” or “the woman” are also third person.
Reason This Is a Translation Issue
Sometimes in the Bible a speaker uses the third person to refer to himself or to the people he is speaking to. Readers might think that the speaker was referring to someone else. They might not understand that he meant “I” or “you.”
Examples From the Bible
Sometimes people used the third person instead of “I” or “me” to refer to themselves.
But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep.” (1 Samuel 17:34 ULT)
David referred to himself in the third person as “your servant” and used “his.” He was calling himself Saul’s servant in order to show his humility before Saul.
Then Yahweh answered Job out of a fierce storm and said,
“… Do you have an arm like God’s? Can you thunder with a voice like his?” (Job 40:6, 9 ULT)
God referred to himself in the third person with the words “God’s” and “his.” He did this to emphasize that he is God, and he is powerful.
Sometimes people use the third person instead of “you” or “your” to refer to the person or people they are speaking to.
Abraham answered and said, “Look, I have undertaken to speak to my Lord, even though I am only dust and ashes!” (Genesis 18:27 ULT)
Abraham was speaking to the Lord, and referred to the Lord as “My Lord” rather than as “you.” He did this to show his humility before God.
So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart. (Matthew 18:35 ULT)
After saying “each of you,” Jesus used the third person “his” instead of “your.”
Translation Strategies
If using the third person to mean “I” or “you” would be natural and give the right meaning in your language, consider using it. If not, here are some other options.
(1) Use the third person phrase along with the pronoun “I” or “you.”
(2) Simply use the first person (“I”) or second person (“you”) instead of the third person.
Examples of Translation Strategies Applied
(1) Use the third person phrase along with the pronoun “I” or “you.”
But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep.” (1 Samuel 17:34)
But David said to Saul, “I, your servant, used to keep my father’s sheep.”
(2) Simply use the first person (“I”) or second person (“you”) instead of the third person.
Then Yahweh answered Job out of a fierce storm and said, “… Do you have an arm like God’s? Can you thunder with a voice like his?” (Job 40:6, 9 ULT)
Then Yahweh answered Job out of a fierce storm and said, “… Do you have an arm like mine? Can you thunder with a voice like mine?”
So also my heavenly Father will do to you if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart. (Matthew 18:35 ULT)
So also my heavenly Father will do to you if each of you does not forgive your brother from your heart.