inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Acts 16:10)

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, translators typically select the exclusive form (excluding the addressee). (Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.)

In Rincón Zapotec, the pronoun needed an addition and was translated as “I, Luke, who write this, was there and I joined Paul” to clarify that it was not Paul who spoke. (Source: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)

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