inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Ezek 24:19)

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 exclusive pronoun, excluding Ezekiel.

complete verse (Ezekiel 24:19)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Ezekiel 24:19:

  • Kupsabiny: “Then people asked me, ‘Oh, are you not crying for your wife?’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Then the people asked me, ‘What do you mean by doing that?’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Then the people asked me, ‘What do the things that you are doing signify to us?’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Ezekiel 24:19

And the people said to me: The people are Ezekiel’s fellow exiles, those who had been taken from Jerusalem and brought to Babylonia by Nebuchadnezzar. The verb said may be rendered “asked” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version) since this clause introduces a question.

Will you not tell us what these things mean for us, that you are acting thus?: The people knew from experience that Ezekiel’s strange actions (in this case, refusing to mourn his wife in the conventional manner) usually contained a message, but they could not understand what the message was. So they asked him to explain what it meant for them. It is important to reflect this personal application in translation. New Living Translation does this by saying “What does all this mean? What are you trying to tell us?” In some languages translators will find it more natural to express the request the people make as a statement, such as “Tell us [or, Please tell us] what the way you are behaving means for us.” Contemporary English Version has simply “Why aren’t you mourning for your wife?”

Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .