inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Heb. 5:11)

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, translators typically select the exclusive form (excluding the readers of the letter).

Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.

complete verse (Hebrews 5:11)

Following are a number of back-translations of Hebrews 5:11:

  • Uma: “Relatives, actually there is still much that I would like to say to you about Yesus and Melkisedek, but it is hard to make-clear/explain to you because it is like you are making-yourselves-deaf / pretending-to-be-deaf, you don’t set your ears to hear teaching.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Na, about this, I would like to say much yet but it is hard to explain to you because you are dull now, you can’t understand.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “There is much that I would like to tell you about the priesting of Melchizedek and Jesus; however, it is difficult to explain it because you no longer can understand it. It’s as if it no longer penetrates into your minds.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “There is yet much that I want to make-known to you about this, but it’s difficult to explain to you, because your heads have become-hard and you aren’t quick to understand.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “There is much that I could say here concerning the priesthood of Jesus and Melquisedec but well, it would be hard to explain to you now because it’s like your heads have become hard.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “I want to tell you about this word I am speaking of. But it is hard to speak about it because you do not understand what I am telling you.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

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 formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Hebrews 5:11

We probably means “I, the writer” (so Moffatt, Barclay). There is no suggestion that the letter comes from a group of people, and ancient writers commonly used “we” as an equivalent of “I.”

There is much we have to say may be expressed as “I have many words that I want to say” or “I have many thoughts that I want to write.”

What is this matter? The Greek is literally “about this.” Two translations are possible: (a) “about him,” that is, Melchizedek (so New English Bible), or (b) “about this,” that is, the subject of Melchizedek as an illustration of Christ’s work (Knox “of Christ as priest,” Phillips “about this high priesthood”). There is little difference in meaning. It is, however, better to make the translation specific, especially at the beginning of a section, and to avoid vague phrases such as “about this” or “about him.” Most translations choose meaning (b), which may be expressed clearly as “about Christ being a high priest like Melchizedek,” or more simply “about what I have just said” or “… have just written.”

Translations should make it clear that the teaching which is to come (beginning in chapter 7) is not hard or difficult in itself, but hard to present in such a way that the readers will understand. As Moffatt put it in his commentary, “The fault lies with you, not with the subject.” Barclay translates “it is not easy for me to put it in a way that you will understand.” Other possibilities for translating it is hard to explain to you are “it is difficult to find just the words with which I can explain this to you” or “for me to explain this to you is not at all easy.”

You are so slow to understand does not mean that the readers are in a permanent state of low intelligence. They have had time to understand, but they still do not. Indeed, there is a danger that they will fall back into a state worse than the one they were in before they became Christians (6.4-6). The Greek includes both past and present: “have become and now are slow to understand.” The readers have become less keen in their understanding of the Christian faith and are in danger of abandoning their faith completely.

Slow to understand here, and lazy in 6.12, are expressed by the same word in the Greek, and there seems to be a contradiction. We do not want you to become lazy (6.12) may mean (a) “we do not want you to become still lazier than you are,” or (b) “we do not want you to go on being lazy” or “slow to understand.” (b) is rather more likely. Knox (“listless no more”) and Moffatt (“instead of being slack”) realize the danger of translating 5.11 in such a way that it contradicts 6.12, and they therefore support (b). There seems no reason to avoid the problem, as both Good News Translation and Revised Standard Version do, by translating slow to understand differently in 5.11 and 6.12. The Greek word means “dull” or “hard of hearing,” with the additional idea of being slack or inattentive, too mentally lazy to listen to what is said. Many translations, like Good News Translation, replace “hear,” used in a figurative sense, by the nonfigurative understand.

Because you are so slow to understand may be rendered as “because so much time is necessary for you to understand what is meant.” Sometimes slow to understand may be expressed better in a negative form; for example, “you do not understand at all quickly.” In some instances slow to understand is expressed idiomatically; for example, “you listen only with your outer ears” (with the implication that the thoughts never really enter the mind) or “the words pass so slowly into your hearts.”

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Letter of the Hebrews. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Hebrews 5:11

Section 5:11–6:12

Grow up in your faith, and do not give up

In Section 5:11–6:12 the author interrupted his teaching about God appointing Christ as the high priest in order to tell his listeners to mature in their faith and to warn them not to stop believing in Christ. After this warning (6:4–12), he will continue to teach them in 6:13–7:28 about the priesthood of Jesus and Melchizedek.

Remember to translate the section before choosing a heading for it. Some other possible headings are:

Warning about abandoning Christ
-or-
Do not be lazy but become mature followers of Christ

Paragraph 5:11–14

In verses 11–14 the author told his listeners that they were like babies who do not understand much about God and his Word. He told them that they ought to be like teachers, not like babies.

5:11a

We have much to say about this: The author put the phrase about this at the beginning of the sentence to emphasize it. In some languages it is more natural to begin the sentence in a different way, as modelled by the Berean Standard Bible. In other languages it may be preferable to follow the Greek word order. For example:

About this we have much to say (New Revised Standard Version)

We: Here the author used the word We to refer to himself, as was common for Greek authors. The word We does not include the readers, and it does not indicate that there is more than one author of Hebrews. In many languages it is more natural and accurate to use “I” here. See the examples in the following note on “have much to say.”

have much to say: In Greek the phrase have much to say is more literally “much (is) the word.” It indicates that the author wants to explain much more about Christ being our high priest in the order of Melchizedek. Some other ways to translate the phrase are:

there is much to tell you
-or-
There are many more things I would like to tell you

The author already said something about Christ and Melchizedek in 5:7 and 10. So in some languages it may be helpful to indicate that he has more to say about that topic. For example:

There is much more we would like to say about this (New Living Translation (2004))

about this: The phrase about this refers to the topic that the author has been discussing in 4:14–16 and 5:1–10. That topic is that Christ is our great high priest and his priesthood is like the priesthood of Melchizedek (5:10).

Some ways to refer back to this topic are:

• Refer to the topic in a general way. For example:

About this topic/matter

• Refer to the topic more specifically. For example:

There is much that I could say here concerning the priesthood of Jesus and Melchizedek

5:11b

but it is hard to explain, because you are dull of hearing: In this part of the verse the author tells his listeners why it is difficult to explain Christ’s high priesthood to them. The reason is that they are dull of hearing. As a result, it is hard to explain the topic to them in a way that they can understand. Some other ways to translate this result and its reason are:

it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand (New International Version)
-or-
it is not easy to explain it to you because you do not seem to really listen

In some languages it is more natural to change the order of the reason and result so that the reason comes first. For example:

But you don’t seem to listen, so it’s hard to make you understand. (New Living Translation (1996))

hard to explain: The Berean Standard Bible phrase hard to explain is one word in Greek. This word often refers to a topic that is difficult to understand in itself. However, in this context the author indicates that his topic is hard to explain to them because they are lazy in listening to it. They do not think about it carefully enough to understand it. Some other ways to translate this word are:

difficult to make it clear to you
-or-
hard to make you know/understand

because you are dull of hearing: This clause tells the reason why it was difficult for the author to explain the high priesthood of Christ to his listeners. The reason is that they were too lazy (slow) to understand it. The word the Berean Standard Bible translates as dull means “slow/lazy” and is translated as “sluggish” in 6:12, but it does not occur anywhere else in the NT.

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

because you are so slow to understand (Good News Translation)
-or-
you have become too dull/lazy to understand it

In some languages there is a figure of speech for this meaning. For example:

your heads/ears have become too hard

The author said this to encourage his listeners to try harder to understand what he wanted to teach them. Translate this meaning in a natural way in your language.

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