inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Deut 1:22)

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 inclusive pronoun, including everyone.

complete verse (Deuteronomy 1:22)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Deuteronomy 1:22:

  • Kupsabiny: “And/But then they answered me, ‘Let us send (some) (young) men to go ahead, so they can go and spy out the land, and then let them bring us word about the path/road that we shall go/take and come to tell us the cities which we shall find there.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “At that time all of you came to me and said — "Let us send men ahead to spy out the land [and] bring [us] information [about] which way to go and how to go to the cities are to which we are going."” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “‘Then all of you (plur.) came-near to me and said, ‘Let- us (incl.) first -send men to spy-(out) the land in-order-that we (incl.) can-tell them our (incl.) way/route and the towns/cities we (incl.) will-go-to.’” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “But all of your ancestors came to me and said, ‘Before we go, we should first send some men there to explore the land, in order that they can return and tell us which will be the best road to go there and what kind of towns are there.’” (Source: Translation for Translators)

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 Deuteronomy 1:22

Then all of you came near me: or, “Then all of you came to me” (Contemporary English Version). Instead of the word Then, The New English Bible [New English Bible], Revised English Bible, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch begin with “But,” which better suits the context. Instead of immediately obeying the order to invade the land and take possession of it, the Israelites propose a delaying course of action; this may be seen as the first indication of their lack of faith.

Let us send men before us: in Num 13.1-2 it is God who orders that the twelve spies be sent out. Contemporary English Version prefaces this sentence with “Before we go into the land, let’s send….” This may be helpful.

That they may explore the land for us, and bring us word again: New Revised Standard Version “bring back a report to us” is an improvement over the literal rendering “bring us word again.” A simpler way of expressing this is “and can tell us about….”

Of the way by which we must go up: the purpose of the spies’ exploration of the land would be to decide which would be the best route to take in their invasion of the land, and to find out how strong and heavily defended were the cities that they would have to conquer. Again, go up does not necessarily mean to go to a higher elevation (see verse 21).

The cities into which …: in today’s world cities are usually much larger than most of the communities named in the Bible, and “towns” (Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible) is a more accurate term. For a comment on the translation of “towns,” see verse 1.

Into which we shall come: the translator must be aware of the point of view of the narrative. As they attacked the cities, the Israelites were “going” into them; from the point of view of the cities they would be “coming” into them. In most languages “going” will be the more natural point of view. However, in certain languages all directional information depends on where the speaker is located. In such a case translators should generally place the writer of Deuteronomy in the area of Canaan.

Contemporary English Version has a helpful alternative model for this verse:

• Then all of you came to me and said, “Before we go into the land, let’s send some men to explore it. When they come back, they can tell us about the towns we will find and what roads we should take to get there.”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .