Language-specific Insights

inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Matt. 17:4 / Mark 9:5 / Luke 9:33)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse (“Lord, it is good for us to be here” in English translations), Yagua, Yakan, and Western Bukidnon Manobo translators selected the exclusive form (excluding Jesus), whereas Avaric, Tagbanwa, Jarai, Tok Pisin, Fijian, and Adamawa Fulfulde translators chose the inclusive form (which includes Jesus).

Source: Paul Powlison in Notes on Translation with Drills, p. 165ff. and Magomed-Kamil Gimbatov and Yakov Testelets in The Bible Translator, p. 434ff. 1996.

SIL International Translation Department (1999) documents that there are reasonable differences of opinions about the use of the inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun for this verse mentioned above.

In Mark and Luke the second plural pronoun (“let us put us a tent” in English) is always translated with an exclusive pronoun (excluding Jesus). Likewise, in Fijian, the exclusive trial keitou (I and two others but not you) and in Tok Pisin tripela (three of us) is used, specifically including Peter, James and John, but not Jesus.

slow of heart

The Greek that is often translated as “slow of heart” in English is translated as

  • “the heart is hard” in Zarma
  • “very heavy in heart” in Uab Meto
  • “blocked-hearted” in Indonesian
  • “lazy to think” in Tae’
  • “having a heart that delays” in Shona (translation of 1963)
  • “failing-heart-people” in Adamawa Fulfulde (source for this and above: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • “hard-headed” in Kupsabiny (source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • “You guys tuberfully-dug are beeswax” in Mairasi (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • “dull heart” in Low German (source: translation by Johannes Jessen, publ. 1933, republ. 2006)
  • ebony

    Ezekiel reports traders who brought hovnim to Tyre. Coupled with ivory, the Hebrew word hovnim could have referred to either Asian or African products. In 1982 Zohary (Plants of the Bible. Cambridge University Press, 1982) stated that the identity of the hovnim in Ezekiel is unclear. He said that at best we can say that both Asian and African merchandise were shipped to Dedan, a Phoenician commercial center on the Arabian coast. Since then, however, Hepper (Baker Encyclopedia of Bible Plants, Baker Book House, 1992), who believes that trading with the Far East was less than many other scholars have alleged, has said that this tree is not the Asian Ebony Diospyros ebenum we know today but a leguminous tree Dalbergia melanoxylon, which grows all across Africa along the southern edge of the Sahara Desert. Evidence for this, he says, is that the Old Egyptian cognate hbny found in hieroglyphs refers to Dalbergia melanoxylon.

    If hovnim are from Africa, they could be Dalbergia melanoxylon, as Hepper asserts, or one of the many species of the genus Diospyros found throughout the continent, such as Diospyros mespiliformis. The latter is a huge, widespread forest tree up to 35 meters (115 feet) tall. Dalbergia melanoxylon is a smaller, spiny tree reaching a height of 6‑7 meters (20‑23 feet). It inhabits the dry savanna areas from Ethiopia across to Senegal and as far south as southern Africa, where it is called “zebrawood.” The leaves are compound, with the leaflets nearly opposite one another on the spine. It has white flowers that hang in loose clusters, and around October they give way to flat, papery seedpods about 6 centimeters (2.5 inches) long and 1 centimeter (1/2 inch) wide. The Asian ebony, if that is what hovnim refers to, is found in India and Sri Lanka, grows to 10 meters (33 feet) tall, and has evergreen leaves. The inner part of the trunk is black, which makes it an attractive wood for carvers, who inlay the wood with ivory.

    There are hundreds of species of ebony in tropical areas of the world (eighty in the Americas, ninety-four in Africa, and two hundred in Asia). In Africa the tree that produces most of the true ebony is Diospyros mespiliformis, which is found all the way from Senegal to the Red Sea and Arabia and southward to Southwest Africa and the Transvaal. In Nigeria it is called kanran or kanyan (Adamawa Fulfulde nelɓe). Surprisingly, both the Yoruba and Igbo Bibles in Nigeria have used eboni, perhaps reflecting the urbanization and Anglicization of those societies (or at least of the translators!). The Hausa word kanya correctly refers to the ebony tree. Diospyrus ebenum, found in India and Sri Lanka, might possibly have been on the world market in Bible times. A local word for this tree could be used in translations. If Hepper is correct, then the Dalbergia melanoxylon, locally known in Africa as “ebony” and also used for carving, should be used. Other transliteration possibilities are ebene (French) and ebenuz (Spanish).

    Dalbergia species are also found in Central and South America under the names of palisander, kingwood, or tulipwood. A species in India is called blackwood or rosewood. In all these places the wood is used for radio cabinets, musical instruments, buttons, knife handles, chess pieces, and decorative carvings for tourists.

    Dalbergia melanoxylon, photo by Nigel Hepper

    Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)

    inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Ps 2:3)

    Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

    The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

    For this verse, the Jarai and the Adamawa Fulfulde translation both use the inclusive pronoun.

    For the the third person plural possessive pronouns (“their”), the Khoekhoe uses the dual, referring to the “Lord and his anointed.” (Source: project-specific notes in Paratext)

    inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Gen. 33:12)

    Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

    The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

    For this verse, the Jarai and Adamawa Fulfulde translators selected the inclusive form (including Jacob).

    inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Gen. 37:7)

    Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

    The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

    For this verse, both the Jarai translation and the Adamawa Fulfulde translation use the inclusive pronoun, since “we” refers to Joseph and his brothers.

    inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Gen. 37:8)

    Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

    The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

    For this verse, both the Jarai translation and the Adamawa Fulfulde translation use the exclusive pronoun (excluding Joseph).

    inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Gen. 37:10)

    Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

    The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

    For this verse, both the Jarai translation and the Adamawa Fulfulde translation use the exclusive pronoun (excluding Joseph).