inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (2Cor. 10:12)

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, 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 10:12)

Following are a number of back-translations of 2 Corinthians 10:12:

  • Uma: “We(excl.) really don’t dare to follow the behavior of those there [where you are] that put their own selves forward. We(excl.) are not the same as they. They, they praise each other, they say that they are good in their own sight. How stupid they are!” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “We (excl.) don’t dare compare ourselves to those people who make themselves great. They think-mistakenly that they are the ones who know what is the best. They are really stupid/dull. Because those people make their own customs the-ones-to-be-copied. Therefore even whatever they do, good or bad, according to them it is only good.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “We really are cowards to imitate the activity of some of the people there who are puffed-up with pride. They suppose mistakenly that they are the ones who can decide what good works are. They are very stupid! For when people imitate their behavior, they say that it’s very good. However, when people don’t imitate them, they say that those people who do not imitate them are mistaken.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “We (excl.) admittedly don’t want to compare ourselves with those aforementioned-people who boast-about themselves. It’s as if their minds are lacking! Because their measure of their goodness, it is their very own behavior.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “It’s not possible/acceptable that we (excl.) include ourselves or make ourselves(excl.) like those who are elevating themselves, for is it not so that, as for them, they are without equal? But that is not true. In their stupidity, they are all making-themselves-the-same-as-each-other with just their own understanding/perception.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “But concerning the word I speak, I am not able to say that I will do like those other people do, who speak, elevating themselves. They think that they are greater wise-people than other people. But these are people who are stupid. These only hunt for how to be better than their fellow teachers.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
  • Warlpiri: “Are you people forcing me so that I live like those ones who reckoning they are important boast about themselves? They are ignorant, not knowing! They just follow their word, and they make up and establish their own law so that they all can call themselves good.” (Source: Carl Gross)

Translation commentary on 2 Corinthians 10:12

Paul is speaking with a bit of irony or sarcasm as he states that he and his co-workers would not dare to consider themselves as equals to those who commend themselves. Paul is referring, of course, to his opponents in Corinth.

Venture: the same verb is used in verse 2 above and translated “showing,” but implies showing boldness. Here, however, the context is slightly different. This verb is also found in Rom 5.7 and 15.18. The idea is to “dare” (New Revised Standard Version, Contemporary English Version) or “to be so bold as to” (compare New American Bible).

To class or compare ourselves: the two words used here are very similar in form and meaning. They form a kind of play on words in Greek. One commentator suggests the English words “to pair and compare” as similar. But it will probably be impossible to reflect the original wordplay in most languages. Languages have different ways of talking about sorting things into groups or classes. Some speak of putting things (or people) in the same row or line, while others may use another image such as “the same basket” or “the same bag.”

Who commend themselves: this is the same expression used frequently throughout this letter. See comments at 3.1; 4.2; 5.12; 6.4; and 7.11.

But: the conjunction here introduces and underlines the contrast with those who “commend themselves.” Anchor Bible has “indeed.” Paul now begins to speak directly and harshly, no longer with sarcasm.

Measure … compare: the first verb here is the usual one for measuring anything. The second is the same as the verb translated similarly above. Paul’s enemies are themselves their own standard of measurement. The idea of compare is expressed in some languages as “look at along side of” or “examine together with.”

Some manuscripts do not have the last two words of this verse (they are without understanding) and the first two words of verse 13 (But we). The editors of the UBS Greek New Testament explain the absence of these words in a few manuscripts as the result of an accidental omission. Nearly all translations agree in retaining these words, though a few (Moffatt) follow those manuscripts that omit them. Some other ways of expressing they are without understanding are as follows: “they lack knowledge,” “their discernment fails,” or “they need insight from others.”

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 .