Gender in Bible translation
Gender in Bible translation concerns various issues, such as the gender of God and generic antecedents in reference to people. 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. 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. Michael Marlowe argues from a third standpoint, that the cultures in the Bible were patriarchal. 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.
The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) was one of the first major translations to adopt gender-neutral language. 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". The Greek word υἱοὶ 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. 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.
Translation of the names of God
There are a number of ways to translate the names of God into English from Hebrew. Hebrew uses only four consonants for the name—Yod-Heh-Waw-Heh —hence it is called the Tetragrammaton. Some modern English bibles render this as LORD—''L capital, and ord in small capital case. Others use Yahweh, and the old King James Version used Jehovah. In English, outside Bible translations, the tetragrammaton is often written as YHWH or YHVH.The original meaning of this form is connected with the "I AM" of Exodus 3:14. Sometimes this word is rendered into English by using Hebrew, instead of attempting to directly translate, following an ancient Jewish custom of respect.
The Hebrew word literally means my lord, and is usually translated as Lord''.
Third person pronouns for God
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. 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 objects. Traditionally, in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim writing, the third-person pronoun "He" has been used to refer to God in English translations.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 on Neo-Aristotelian philosophy. Some medieval philosophers of all three of these religions took great pains to make clear that God was in no way like a person, and that all apparently physical descriptions of God were only poetic metaphors.
In the Chinese language, translators of the Christian Bible used a special Chinese character to act as a divine pronoun, 祂, which is, in essence, the universal third person pronoun for all objects and persons; however, personhood can be distinguished in writing. The normal pronoun for he, 他, is also used in generic cases. The radical 亻 therein marks personhood, not simply gender alone. 礻, the radical in the divine pronoun 祂, marks the "elevated personhood" of divinity, without implying anything about the gender of the divinity referred to.