inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (2Cor. 10:3)

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, 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 10:3)

Following are a number of back-translations of 2 Corinthians 10:3:

  • Uma: “We(excl.), we (excl.) are just human. But when we (excl.) oppose people who reject us (excl.), we (excl.) oppose them with strength that is from God. Our(excl.) behavior is not like that of people who don’t know God, nor do we (excl.) only use the skills of mankind. We(excl.) use strength from God. We(excl.) can be compared to soldiers to knock-down the fortresses of the enemy. Its meaning, with strength from God” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “It is true that we (excl.) are just human, but we (excl.) don’t use human expertise to oppose/fight teaching which is not true.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “It’s really true that we are jut ordinary people; but the way that we (excl.) fight against evil doesn’t come from the minds of ordinary people.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “It’s true granted that we (excl.) are mere people like you, but our (excl.) way of warring-against evil is not human.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Admittedly we (excl.) too are people here in this world, but in our (excl.) contending-with/fighting the opponents of God’s work here in the world, we (excl.) do not trust on our own ability, which is only the ability of man.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Truly I am just a person, but I do not do God’s work by my own words.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on 2 Corinthians 10:3

Paul uses terms drawn from the realm of the military in verses 3-6. In the following notes on these verses, attention will be drawn to this technical terminology, and renderings that preserve this imagery in English will be suggested.

A literal translation of this verse is “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not fight [as soldiers] according to the flesh” (compare King James Version and New American Standard Bible). Thus Paul uses words from the accusation in the previous verse to defend himself. Paul acknowledges that Christians live in the world, that is, in their fleshly bodies, but “worldly motives” do not guide their life. One rather dynamic rendering of this in an African language is “It is true that we are only human, but we do not fight in a human way.”

Though what Paul says in verses 3-5 is true for all Christians, in the immediate context of chapter 10 the first person pronoun we should be translated as exclusive here, as well as in all of chapter 10—that is, the readers are not included. Very likely the first person plural pronouns and verbs in 10.3-16 are epistolary plurals. Moffatt, An American Translation, and Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente use first person singular forms in these verses.

The verb translated as carrying on a … war in Revised Standard Version is a military term in Greek. A comparable term in English is to “wage war” (Anchor Bible and New International Version) or “make war” (Moffatt). Knox attempts to maintain the image while showing the figurative sense, by translating “fight our battles” (so also Revised English Bible). This military metaphor continues through verse 6. In languages that require a direct object for the verb “make war,” it will be possible to say “make war against other people.” In other languages translators may be able to change the structure to say something like “… as in a normal war.”

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 .