inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (2Cor. 10:16)

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 10:16)

Following are a number of back-translations of 2 Corinthians 10:16:

  • Uma: “to the point that the width of our (excl.) working-area also will increase. For we (excl.) want to take the Good News to villages that are farther away than you. We(excl.) don’t want to take the Good News to people who have already heard the Good News, lest [lit., don’t-don’t] we (excl.) get proud [lit., have big hearts] speaking of the results [fruit] of our (excl.) work, when actually we (excl.) are working in another’s work-area. [lit., spot another has cleared for agriculture (used figuratively here)]” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Then when your trust is already strong, we (excl.) can also go and proclaim the good news about Almasi in the places on the other side of you. Because we (excl.) only want to boast about work that is given to us (excl.), not about the work/doings of other people.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And by means of this it will be possible for us to spread the Good News there in the far towns which are on the other side of you. For we do not want to boast about that which other people have done in the towns where God did not send us.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “so we (excl.) can go preach the good news in farther-away towns which still have no one who is teaching. Because we (excl.) don’t want to boast-about what others have worked-on, saying that that work is our (excl.) business (same word as jurisdiction).” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “It would really be good if (we) will be able to teach the Good News in the places beyond where you are. But we (excl.) really are not falsely-claiming-for-ourselves in-which we (excl.) are boasting of the hard work of others (as if it were our own).” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Afterwards, there in other towns beyond where you live I can then continue working in telling the good news. But not where there already are believers living where some other person has preached will I do my work.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.

One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on 2 Corinthians 10:16

Gospel: that is, the Good News about Jesus Christ.

In lands beyond you probably refers to new territory to the west, as far as Spain (see Rom 15.24, 28). The word translated lands beyond is a noun created from an adverb meaning “beyond.” It is used only here in all the New Testament. Some versions supply the noun “lands” (Revised English Bible as well as Revised Standard Version), others have “regions” (New International Version) or “areas” (Barrett). There is no particular focus on political entities, as Good News Translation might suggest. So it is probably better to use a more general geographical term such as “regions.” Since Spain is to the west of Corinth, it can be legitimate to translate “in areas to the west of you.”

Without boasting of work already done in another’s field repeats the thought of verse 15a. Some may prefer to translate this as a separate sentence: “[By going into places where no one has preached the Good News] we will not praise ourselves for work that other people have already done in those places where God gave them work to do.”

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 .