inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Deut 1:27)

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 and the Adamawa Fulfulde translation both use the inclusive pronoun, including everyone.

complete verse (Deuteronomy 1:27)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 1:27:

  • Kupsabiny: “They grumbled there in their tents saying, ‘God hates us. That is why he made us get up from the country of Egypt wanting to hand us over to the Amorites for them to destroy us.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “In your tents, constantly grumbling, you said, "It is because the LORD hates us that He brought us out of Egypt to destroy us by giving us into the hands of the Amorites.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “You (plur.) sulked in your (plur.) tents and said, ‘The LORD is-angry-with us (incl.), so he caused- us (incl.) -to-come-out from Egipto in-order to-be-delivered into the hands of the Amornon to-destroy us (incl.).” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Your ancestors stayed in their tents and complained saying ‘Yahweh hates us. So he has brought us here from Egypt just to allow the Amor people-group to destroy us.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 1:27

You murmured in your tents: this was a rather passive revolt, not an active one in which people left their tents and hurled angry accusations against Moses. Instead of murmured the translation should be “grumbled” or “complained.” A translation should be careful to use an appropriate word for a dwelling that can be taken down and carried (tents), not a permanent construction (“houses” or “homes”). Something like “You stayed in your tents and grumbled” (Contemporary English Version) is a good model.

And said: the complaints were the exact opposite of the truth. It was out of love and compassion that Yahweh had delivered the Israelites from Egypt, the land of slavery, and he had promised to be with them and to assure them success as they took possession of the land of Canaan (see, for instance, 4.37-38). But they accused God of hating them and of bringing them out of Egypt in order to exterminate them.

Hate in certain languages is expressed as “being enemies of,” so in this context we may say “The LORD [or, Yahweh] must consider us his enemies,” or “In Yahweh’s sight we must be his enemies.”

To give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us: the phrase “the hand of the Amorites” means that the Amorites would do the killing; God would allow the Israelites to be captured and killed by the Amorites. It is important to translate the whole statement in such a way that the clear subject of the verb “destroy” or “kill” is Yahweh, not the Amorites (as in Good News Translation). New Jerusalem Bible has “… and so destroy us” (with Yahweh as the subject). An alternative model is:

• “… he brought us out of Egypt, just so he could give us over to the Amorites, and in that way destroy us.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .