inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Job 38:35)

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 Job.

complete verse (Job 38:35)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Job 38:35:

  • Kupsabiny: “Can you throw lightning
    and make (it) do as you want?” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Can you direct the bolts of lightning along their way?
    Do they say, "Here we are?"” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Can- you (sing.) -command the lightning to flash? Can- you (sing.) -cause- it -to-obey you (sing.)?” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Job 38:35

Can you send forth lightnings…? asks if Job can make lightning like God does in 36.32, where he commands the lightning to strike. The form of the verb translated as send forth means “release, unleash,” as in 12.15; 20.23. In 36.32; 37.11-13, the lightnings are God’s servants, and they do as he wishes. That they may go means go to the place where Job is, or “come to where you are,” as if these personal servants are returning for further orders.

The lightnings then say Here we are, which is the plural form of the response formula said by Moses to the LORD in Exodus 3.4, and by Samuel to Eli in 1 Samuel 3.4-6. Good News Translation “At your service” suggests a servant ready to do what his master tells him. Good News Translation supplies a good translation model for verse 35. It may also be rendered, for example, as “Can you send the lightning flashing so it will return to you and ask ‘Where next, Master?’ ”

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 .