inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Rom. 9:24)

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 inclusive form (including the writer of the letter and the readers).

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

gentiles / nations

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The Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin that is often translated as “gentiles” (or “nations”) in English is often translated as a “local equivalent of ‘foreigners,'” such as “the people of other lands” (Guerrero Amuzgo), “people of other towns” (Tzeltal), “people of other languages” (San Miguel El Grande Mixtec), “strange peoples” (Navajo (Dinė)) (this and above, see Bratcher / Nida), “outsiders” (Ekari), “people of foreign lands” (Kannada), “non-Jews” (North Alaskan Inupiatun), “people being-in-darkness” (a figurative expression for people lacking cultural or religious insight) (Toraja-Sa’dan) (source for this and three above Reiling / Swellengrebel), “from different places all people” (Martu Wangka) (source: Carl Gross).

Tzeltal translates it as “people in all different towns,” Chicahuaxtla Triqui as “the people who live all over the world,” Highland Totonac as “all the outsider people,” Sayula Popoluca as “(people) in every land” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Chichimeca-Jonaz as “foreign people who are not Jews,” Sierra de Juárez Zapotec as “people of other nations” (source of this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.), Highland Totonac as “outsider people” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), Uma as “people who are not the descendants of Israel” (source: Uma Back Translation), “other ethnic groups” (source: Newari Back Translation), and Yakan as “the other tribes” (source: Yakan Back Translation).

In Chichewa, it is translated with mitundu or “races.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)

See also nations.

complete verse (Romans 9:24)

Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 9:24:

  • Uma: “We are the ones he called to get that blessing, not just from among the Jews but from among those who are not Jews also.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “We (incl.) hep are his chosen ones. We (incl.) are not only from the Yahudi nation/tribe but from the nations/tribes not Yahudi also.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “We’re the ones He has chosen, however; those whom He has chosen are not just Jews, but rather He has also chosen people who are not Jews.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “We indeed are those people whom God called, and not only we (excl.) who are Jews but you also who are Gentiles.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “God called us. Not only Jews he called, but also the people who aren’t Jews he called.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Japanese benefactives (meshite)

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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 benefactive construction as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017.

Here, meshite (召して) or “call” is used in combination with kudasaru (くださる), a respectful form of the benefactive kureru (くれる). A benefactive reflects the good will of the giver or the gratitude of a recipient of the favor. To convey this connotation, English translation needs to employ a phrase such as “for me (my sake)” or “for you (your sake).” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on Romans 9:24

As mentioned earlier, this verse is the continuation of the Greek sentence begun in verse 22. We are the ones whom actually has no grammatical antecedent in the two previous verses, but, as mentioned in the comments on verse 23, the reference must be to the word rendered objects. The Jerusalem Bible, like the Good News Translation, has already made this identification explicit in verse 23 (“people he had prepared for this glory long ago”) and the Jerusalem Bible again makes that identification explicit in verse 24 (“we are those people”; cf. New English Bible “such vessels are we”).

The final phrases of verse 24, not only from among the Jews but also from among the Gentiles, may be rendered as “some of us are Jews and some of us are Gentiles” or “this includes some Jews and some Gentiles.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1973. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .