inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (2Cor. 10:11)

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 exclusive form (excluding the addressee).

Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.

complete verse (2 Corinthians 10:11)

Following are a number of back-translations of 2 Corinthians 10:11:

  • Uma: “So, since their words are thus, tell them like this: like the harshness of our (excl.) words in our (excl.) letters, like that also will be our harshness when we (excl.) arrive there.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “The people like that should think that whatever we (excl.) say in a letter while we (excl.) are not there, that is also what we (excl.) are going to do there in your presence.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “The person who speaks like this, he must understand that what we say by means of a letter, when we are not there with you, is the same thing that we will do when we arrive there.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Those who are saying that, it would be good if they remember that what we (excl.) say in our (excl.) letters, that indeed also is what we (excl.) will put-into-practice (lit. make-true) when we (excl.) arrive there.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Those people who think like that need to know that whatever words I wrote now that I am far away from you, that is exactly what I will do when we are face to face.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “But concerning those who say this, they should know surely that not only when I write a letter to send to you that I speak strongly. Rather also I am able to speak strongly at the time I go there to speak with you.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on 2 Corinthians 10:11

Let such people understand: such people is literally “such a one.” See comment on 2 Cor. 10.7, and note that it will be important to translate here in a way that will refer to the person mentioned in verse 7. The verb form used here expresses Paul’s wish that the person or persons involved would realize and admit the fact that Paul is consistent in his dealing with the Corinthians. In some languages it may be better to use the first person singular pronoun as the subject of the sentence, as in New Jerusalem Bible, “I should like that sort of person to take note….”

What we say by letter: it will be more natural in many languages to translate as in Good News Translation, “what we write in our letters.”

Absent and present mean “away from you [in Corinth]” and “there with you [in Corinth]” (Good News Translation, Bible en français courant).

When present may also be expressed “when I come” (Revised English Bible). Some translations need to indicate that this will not be Paul’s first visit: “when I come again” or “when I return to you” (see also 10.2).

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellingworth, Paul. A Handbook on Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .