inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Deut 26:6)

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 exclusive pronoun, excluding the priests. The Adamawa Fulfulde translation uses the inclusive pronoun, including everyone.

complete verse (Deuteronomy 26:6)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 26:6:

  • Kupsabiny: “The people of Egypt did bad things to us. They harassed us and beat us with heavy work of slavery.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “But the Egyptians, oppressing us, gave us sorrow and adversity. And they forced us to do hard work.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “But the Egiptohanon oppressed us (excl.). They caused- us (excl.) -to-suffer and forced to work.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Then the people of Egypt treated them very harshly , and they forced them to become their slaves and to work very hard.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Deuteronomy 26:6

The Egyptians treated us harshly: Contemporary English Version has “were cruel and had no pity on us.” By a dramatic shift to the first person plural us, the Israelite becomes part of the events that had taken place centuries before.

Treated us harshly, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage: again three terms that are similar in meaning are used to stress the cruel oppression they suffered in Egypt (see Exo 1.8-14). Contemporary English Version uses four verbs: “The Egyptians were cruel and had no pity on us. They abused our people and forced us into slavery.” Good News Translation uses two verbs, combining the last two. An alternative model is:

• The Egyptians treated us harshly and made us do hard labor [or, work very hard] until our spirits [or hearts, or livers] were sore [or, broken].

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 .