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, translators typically select the inclusive form (including the addressee).
Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.
Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Corinthians 10:6:
- Uma: “All that happened to the Yahudi people long ago, it happened so that we would get teaching. The purpose is that we not desire evil things like them long ago.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “Now, what happened to them we (incl.) should take as an example/a lesson so that we (incl.) don’t desire to do bad as they did.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “The reason all these things happened to them is so that we might be warned as to what would happen to us if we, like them, desire to do evil.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “All these-things that happened to them, we ought to learn from so that we will be careful to not desire evil like they (did)” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tagbanwa: “These things that happened like this, they are a warning to us so that we will not let indulging in evil things dominate our mind/inner-being like they constantly did.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
- Tenango Otomi: “The disaster encountered by our ancestors will also be what we encounter if we do what God does not look well upon, like doing the evil they did.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
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