inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (1Thess. 2:11)

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 Fijian, the paucal exclusive forms neitou and keitou (“of me and a few [two or slight more]”) are used instead. This choice is understandable in view of the introduction found in both letters to the Thessalonians, where the writer Paul indicates clearly that the letters were co-authored by two other colleagues, Silas and Timothy, hence the use of a pronoun referring to three people (“Paul, Silas and Timothy”).

Source: Joseph Hong in The Bible Translator 1994, p. 419ff.

complete verse (1 Thessalonians 2:11)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Thessalonians 2:11:

  • Uma: “You yourselves know our caring for each of you, like a father caring for his children. We strengthened and fired-up your hearts,” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “You know that our (excl.) customs to each of you were like the custom of a father to his children.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “You know that what we did toward each one of you was good, for it was like the behavior of a father to his children.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “You also know that the way we (excl.) were with each one of you was like the way of a father with his children.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “For isn’t it so that our (excl.) regarding/treatment of each one of you which you observed was like the treatment by a father of his children?” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “You also know about the word we explained to you, and encouraged your hearts, each of you. Like a father does to his children he cares for, thus we did to you.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)

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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 formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).

(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

Translation commentary on 1 Thessalonians 2:11

All editions of the Greek New Testament do not mark the division between verses 11 and 12 at the same point in the text. Some editions, followed by some versions (e.g. King James Version Revised Version Revised Standard Version New English Bible), include We encouraged you, we comforted you in verse 11. Good News Translation, here as elsewhere, follows the verse division of the UBS Greek New Testament.

Again, Paul appeals to what the Thessalonians themselves know. In verse 9 he has said that he did not want to be a burden to “any one” of them. Here, he reinforces this personal reference by the emphatic each one of you (New English Bible has “we dealt with you one by one”; Bijbel in Gewone Taal “each [one] personally”). Paul has already called his readers “brothers” and compared himself and his companions to a nursing mother (v. 7). Now he compares the Christian family relationship with the relationship between a father and his children. In verse 7 Paul was thinking of the intimacy of a shared life; here he chooses the relationship between a father and his children, because the teaching and preaching function of the evangelists is in focus. This sentence has no main verb in Greek. We treated is supplied by Good News Translation Translator’s New Testament (New English Bible “we dealt with”). In some languages it may be difficult to supply an appropriate corresponding expression. One may, in some cases, employ a phrase such as “you know that our relation to each one of was….” In other instances it may be necessary to use a more specific expression, for example, “you know that we helped each one of you just as a father helps his own children.”

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1976. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator's Notes on 1 Thessalonians 2:11

2:11

For you know: The Greek phrase which the Berean Standard Bible translates as For you know is literally “just as you know.” Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

As you well know… (Revised English Bible)
-or-
As you know (New Revised Standard Version)

Paul now gave the Thessalonians some examples of the holy, righteous, and blameless way that he and his companions had behaved when they were in Thessalonica.

we treated each of you: The words we treated are not in the Greek text in 2:11. The Berean Standard Bible has included these words to make the connection with 2:10b clear. Most modern English versions add a similar verb and you will probably also need to do that.

as a father treats his own children: In 2:7, Paul had already compared himself and his companions to a mother who gently cared for her children. Here he compared himself and his companions to a father who teaches his children how to behave.

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