What is the right way to handle capitalizing pronouns that refer to God?

from the old testament

• Hebrew does not have capital or lowercase letters—they simply have one symbol per consonant. Therefore, when the Hebrew Scriptures were originally written, all characters were uniformly written. As a result, there is no textual basis for specifically capitalizing pronouns referring to God in the Hebrew Bible. Yet the reverence shown to the name of God in early Jewish tradition is unmistakable. The Tetragrammaton (YHWH) is treated with the utmost respect—so much so that later Jewish tradition avoided pronouncing it altogether, often substituting “Adonai” (Lord) when reading aloud. It is with a similar reverence that some believers and Bible translations today choose to capitalize divine pronouns.
• A common modern Bible translation that capitalizes pronouns is the NASB. For example, it translates Isaiah 6:1b as, “I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.” Notice that “His robe” has the pronoun, “his,” capitalized. Contrast that with the ESV’s translation of the same verse: “I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.” In that case, the “his” in “his robe” is not capitalized. Both are stylistic choices. The ESV is not disrespecting God. Instead, the translators are grammatically consistent, translating all pronouns the same. Conversely, while the NASB is showing a particular reverence for God, capitalizing the pronouns diverges from the original Hebrew.
• While capitalizing divine pronouns can introduce respect, because they are not in the original Hebrew, sometimes using them can cause confusion. This is because not all passages are perfectly clear whether or not a divine entity is being referenced (e.g., Genesis 32:30). The risk of capitalizing divine pronouns is that the reader may start to rely on them, rather than the context, to understand a passage. Because there are several difficult passages in Scripture that scholars struggle to untangle, any theology obtained from a capitalized (or not) pronoun is not grounded in grammar but on a translation's particular view of what a passage might mean.

from the new testament

• Like Hebrew, the Greek of the New Testament does not follow our modern capitalization practices. While Greek does have distinct capital and lowercase letters, the earliest Greek manuscripts were written entirely in uppercase letters and without spaces or punctuation. For example, the phrase “Jesus said to him” would appear as something like: ΙΗΣΟΥΣΕΙΠΕΝΑΥΤΩ. Those are all capital Greek letters with no visual distinction between words or indication of divine pronouns.
• When modern translators decide to capitalize “He” in reference to Jesus, they do so based on the theological conviction that He is God, rather than from a grammatical distinction found within the pronoun used.
• Jesus, for His part, referred to Himself (the Son) and the Father using common Greek pronouns. For example, He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing” (John 5:19–20). Notice that Jesus used the standard pronouns when saying “his accord” and that the Father shows “all that he himself is doing.” While the NASB capitalizes those pronouns, Jesus’ example of using normal pronouns teaches us that reverence is communicated primarily by content.

implications for today

Whether or not you choose to capitalize divine pronouns, your decision must be grounded in your reverence for God. If you are doing it out of pressure to conform or from tradition, then you should reconsider your choice because everything we do should be for God’s glory (1 Corinthians 10:13). Capitalized pronouns is a matter of Christian liberty (Romans 14:5). Because Scripture does not command that we do (or don’t do), we shouldn’t command others to do what we prefer. If we do, we start sinning!

For some, capitalizing divine pronouns serves as a visual reminder of God’s greatness. It helps them remember to whom the text refers. For others, following standard grammar rules maintains smoother readability and avoids obscuring interpretive difficulties.

What matters most is not the form of the pronoun, but the heart of the one reading or writing it. In the end, whether you prefer “he” or “He,” the greater concern is that you are reading what He has said—and obeying it.