inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Gal. 5:5)

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”).

“Gal. 5:5 taken out of its context might be the basis of a sermon in which speaker and audience were included in the “we wait for the hope…,’ but the context of v. 4 indicates a contrast between Paul’s message and that of the Judaizers, and thus an exclusive we.”

Source: Velma B. Pickett in The Bible Translator 1964, p. 88f.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments