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.
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 19:31:
- Kankanaey: “On one-occasion, the older-sibling said, ‘Our (dual) father is already getting-old and there-is-no man in this land with-whom- we (dual) -will-get-married.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Newari: “One day the big daughter said to her younger sister — ‘Our father has already become an old man. There are no husbands in this world to marry us.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
- Hiligaynon: “One day, the older child said to her younger-one, ‘Our (incl.) father is now old and there is no man here whom we (incl.) can-marry so-that we can-give-birth like what is done everywhere.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
- English: “One day the older daughter said to the younger daughter/her sister, ‘Our father is old, and there is no man in this area who can have sex with us, as people all over the earth do.” (Source: Translation for Translators)