inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Num 20:15)

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 the king of Edom.

complete verse (Numbers 20:15)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 20:15:

  • Kupsabiny: “Our forefathers went to Egypt and lived there for many years. Those people made our forefathers suffer.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “Our ancestors went to the land of Egypt. And we lived in the land of Egypt for a long time. We, together with our ancestors, were treated badly by the Egyptians.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Our (excl.) ancestors went to Egipto, and our (excl.) staying there was long. We (excl.) and our (excl.) ancestors were-oppressed by the Egiptohanon,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “You know that our ancestors went down to Egypt. You know that they stayed there for many years. They suffered because the rulers of Egypt caused them to become their slaves and to work very hard.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Numbers 20:15

How our fathers went down to Egypt: Our fathers may be rendered “our ancestors” (Good News Translation). Went down does not mean that they descended to a lower point. Rather, the Hebrew verb here (yarad) usually indicates movement away from the land of Israel, while the verb meaning “go up” (ʿalah) indicates movement toward Israel (see the comments on 13.17). Given this contrast, Good News Translation says simply “went,” which is a rather flat translation. Parole de Vie expresses much better what the Hebrew verb here implies by rendering this clause as “In the past, our ancestors departed for Egypt.”

And we dwelt in Egypt a long time is literally “and we lived in Egypt many days,” which New Century Version renders “and we lived there for many years.”

And the Egyptians dealt harshly with us and our fathers may be rendered “But later the Egyptians were cruel to us” (Contemporary English Version).

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .