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, the Jarai translation uses the inclusive pronoun, including everyone. The Adamawa Fulfulde translation uses the exclusive pronoun.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Amos 9:10:
Kupsabiny: “All my people who are sinners will be killed, those who say, ‘Bad matters/things will never get us.’ ’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “All the sinners among my people who say ‘disaster will not come to us, ‘Nothing bad will happen to us’ will be killed with swords.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “the wicked-ones among you (plur.) can- not also -get-through from my punishment but-rather they will- all -die in battle/war. They were the ones-who-say that there (is) nothing bad as-it-is-told/(kuno) will-come to them.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “From among my people, all you sinful people who say, ‘We will not experience disasters; nothing evil will happen to us,’ will be killed by your enemies’ swords.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)
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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 first person singular and plural pronoun (“I” and “we” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used watashi/watakushi (私) is typically used when the speaker is humble and asking for help. In these verses, where God / Jesus is referring to himself, watashi is also used but instead of the kanji writing system (私) the syllabary hiragana (わたし) is used to distinguish God from others.
Who say/all those who say. Whether or not the first part of this verse is combined with verse 9, the translator must be careful of the relationship between it and what goes before. It continues the theme begun in verse 7 that the LORD is not treating the people of Israel any differently from the other nations in spite of the fact that they are “my people.”
It may be helpful to start a new sentence and translate something like “You/These are the same sinners who say…”
Evil shall not overtake or meet us (Hebrew: You will not let disaster come near us or overtake us)/God will not let any harm come near us. If there is a problem with a quotation inside another quotation, the translation can easily say something like “that God will not let any harm come near you.”
Revised Standard Version has changed the Hebrew here, but in this case it would be better to follow such translations as New English Bible and The Translator’s Old Testament (“You will not let any harm overtake us or meet us”), except that it may be necessary to show who the “you” refers to. The most likely reference is to God himself, which is in keeping with the theme of 9.7-10, that Israel is wrong in thinking God will spare it because the people are God’s own people. Good News Translation is a good model: God will not let any harm come near us. The two verbs in Hebrew (overtake and meet) represent two parts of the same event, and should be translated according to what is natural and effective in the language.
Quoted with permission from de Waard, Jan & Smalley, William A. A Handbook on Amos. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1979. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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