Gender in Bible translation concerns various issues, such as thegender of God andgeneric antecedents in reference topeople.Bruce Metzger states that the English language is so biased towards the male gender that it restricts and obscures the meaning of the original language, which was more gender-inclusive than a literal translation would convey.[1]Wayne Grudem disagrees, believing that a translation should try to match the words of the original language rather than introduce the translator's opinion as to whether the original words meant to include both sexes or not, and that trying to be gender-neutral results in a vague and contorted writing style.[2] Michael Marlowe argues from a third standpoint, that the cultures in the Bible werepatriarchal.[3] The topic has theological and political undercurrents.Jesuit scholar Paul Mankowski says that inclusive-language translators are bowing to feminist political taboos rather than trying to translate accurately, while Marmy Clason says that their opponents are motivated by hostility to feminism rather than fidelity to the original meaning.[4]
TheNew Revised Standard Version (NRSV) was one of the first major translations to adoptgender-neutral language.[1] The King James Version translated at least one passage using a technique that many now reject in other translations, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God" (Matt. 5:9). The Greek wordυἱοὶ (huioí) that appears in the original is usually translated as "sons", but in this passage the translators chose to use the term "children" that included both genders.[5] Opponents of gender neutral language believe that readers who are not familiar with the original languages can be influenced by a compromised meaning they believe is feminist.[6]
There are a number of ways to translate the names of God into English fromHebrew. Hebrew uses only four consonants for the name—Yod-Heh-Waw-Heh (יהוה,YHWH)—hence it is called theTetragrammaton.[7] Some modern English bibles render this asLORD—L capital, andord in small capital case. Others useYahweh, and the oldKing James Version usedJehovah. In English, outside Bible translations, the tetragrammaton is often written asYHWH orYHVH.[8]
The original meaning of this form is connected with the "I AM" of Exodus 3:14 (and it probably contains a Hebrew masculine verb prefix—theY oryod).[9] Sometimes this word is rendered into English by using HebrewAdonai, instead of attempting to directly translateYHWH, following an ancient Jewish custom of respect.[10]
The Hebrew wordAdonai literally meansmy lord (with pseudo-plural), and is usually translated asLord.[11]
Many prayers use one or more of the names for God many times within the same paragraph. The first time it appears a proper name is used, while further instances use a third person pronoun (he, she or it). English speakers usually use masculine or feminine third person pronouns to refer to people and animals, and the third person pronoun—"it"—to refer to (inanimate) objects. Traditionally, in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim writing, the third-person pronoun "He" has been used to refer to God in English translations.[12][13]
The idea of God being an "It" rather than a "he" or "she" does have some support in Jewish, Christian and Islamic rationalist medieval thought, much of which was based onNeo-Aristotelian philosophy. Some medieval philosophers of all three of these religions took great pains to make clear that God was in no waylike a person, and that all apparently physical descriptions of God were only poetic metaphors.[14]
In theChinese language, translators of the Christian Bible used a specialChinese character to act as a divine pronoun,祂 (Pinyin:tā), which is, in essence, the universal third person pronoun for all objects and persons; however, personhood (as well as gender) can be distinguished in writing. The normal pronoun forhe,他 (also readtā), is also used in generic cases. Theradical亻 (rén) therein marks personhood (distinct from non-human referents), not simply gender alone.礻 (shì), the radical in the divine pronoun祂, marks the "elevated personhood" of divinity, without implying anything about the gender of the divinity referred to.[15]