inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Job 15:10)

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 Job.

complete verse (Job 15:10)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 15:10:

  • Kupsabiny: “The elders agree with our thoughts
    and those elders are also bigger/older that your father.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “There are people living among us who are already old and white-haired.
    There are men living among us who are even older than your father.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “We (excl.) have-learned from people who are already old, older than your (sing.) father!” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Job 15:10

Both the gray-haired and the aged are among us: in 12.12 Job said “Wisdom is with the aged.” If Eliphaz is referring to himself, he is claiming wisdom by virtue of being older than Job. In that case he claims what he accused Job of claiming. There are several ways of understanding gray-haired and aged. Both are singular and may refer to a single class of people, that is, “old men.” They may refer to Eliphaz and his companions, who then would be older than your (Job’s) father. Although this seems doubtful, it is the view taken by Revised Standard Version, New English Bible, New International Version, Bible en français courant, and others. New Jerusalem Bible translates “One of us is…”; Traduction œcuménique de la Bible “Look, here among us is an old man, and the other older in years than your father.” Another view is that Eliphaz refers to old men of wisdom in general, as Moffatt says, “Gray hairs and age are on our side,” and as is shown in Good News Translation. It is not possible to eliminate any of these, but it does seem best in the context to assume, as does Good News Translation, that the wisdom of the gray-haired and the aged from times before Job’s father is present in the learning of Eliphaz and his companions. Bible en français courant renders verse 10 “There are among us people of great experience, richer in years even than your own father.” In some languages the thought of Good News Translation may be expressed “We learned our wisdom from men having only one hair; those men were born long before your father.” In other languages this may be expressed “Old men with wrinkled faces taught us wisdom; they lived long before your own father.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, Wiliam. A Handbook on Job. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1992. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .