inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Gen 43:7)

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 exclusive pronoun, excluding Jacob, while the Jarai also uses the inclusive pronoun.

complete verse (Genesis 43:7)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 43:7:

  • Kankanaey: “‘Yes granted,’ they said answering, ‘but that ruler kept-repeating to ask-questions concerning us (excl.) and our (excl.) families. ‘Is your father still-(alive)? Are there other siblings of yours?’ he said. It-was-mandatory that we (excl.) answer his questions. Would we (excl.) have known that he would tell us (excl.) to fetch Benjamin?'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Newari: “They said — ‘That man asked us, ‘Is your father still living? Do you also have other brothers.’ So saying he examined [us] carefully. We also answered his questions. How could [lit.: what did] we know that he would say like this, ‘Bring your younger brother here’ ?” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “They replied, ‘It is because he kept on asking us about our (incl.) family. He asked if our (excl.) father (is) still alive and if we (excl.) still have some other siblings/(brothers). Of course we (excl.) answered him. Who would-have thought that he would-say to us (excl.) that we (excl.) were-to-bring our (excl.) sibling/(brother) there to him?'” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “One of them replied, ‘The man asked about us and about our family. He said, ‘Is your father still living? Do you have another brother?’ We had to answer his questions. We could not know that he would say, ‘The next time that you come down here, bring your brother with you!’/How could we know that he would say, ‘The next time that you come down here, bring your brother with you!”” (Source: Translation for Translators)

2nd person pronoun with low register (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 second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. The most commonly used anata (あなた) is typically used when the speaker is humbly addressing another person.

In these verses, however, omae (おまえ) is used, a cruder second person pronoun, that Jesus for instance chooses when chiding his disciples. (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also first person pronoun with low register and third person pronoun with low register.

Translation commentary on Genesis 43:7

The man questioned us carefully about …: questioned us carefully is another use of the intensive verb construction used in Gen 43.3. Examples of the way it is rendered in different translations are “That man asked us many questions” and “He kept on asking us questions about….”

The statement that The man questioned us does not agree with what happened in the interview with Joseph in chapter 42. There the brothers gave this information to Joseph in order to convince him that they were not spies but rather a family unit. The discrepancy is considered by some interpreters to be due to different text sources; however, in many parts of the world, readers will naturally understand it as the brothers changing their story to show themselves in the best light.

Kindred refers to relatives in general, as in 31.3 and 32.9, but in this context the reference is to their close family, in particular their father and another brother.

Saying, which here serves as an introduction to the question, must often be adjusted to say, for example, “He asked us…,” “What he asked us was ‘Is your father…?’ ” If it is not natural to use direct speech here, we may say, for example, “He asked us if our father was still alive and if we had another brother.”

What we told him was in answer to these questions: this is literally “We said to him upon the mouth of these words.” We may translate this, for example, “We had to answer the questions he asked us.” See Good News Translation. Some translations say “We only answered his questions.”

Could we in any way know that he would say…?: in any way know is a further use of the intensive verb construction noted above. This question assumes a negative reply and may be rephrased; for example, “we could not know that he would say…” or “we didn’t know that he was going to tell us to….” As a “how” question we may translate “How could we [be expected to] know that he would say…?”

Bring your brother down: Revised Standard Version makes this direct speech. Note that Good News Translation uses indirect speech. Both are possible. Bring … down is spoken from the point of view of Egypt. It may be more natural to say “Bring your brother here,” or “Bring your brother to me.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

3rd person pronoun with high register (Japanese)

Click or tap here to see the rest of this insight.

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 third person singular and plural pronoun (“he,” “she,” “it” and their various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. While it’s not uncommon to avoid pronouns altogether in Japanese, there are is a range of third person pronouns that can be used.

In these verses a number of them are used that pay particularly much respect to the referred person (or, in fact, God, as in Exodus 15:2), including kono kata (この方), sono kata (その方), and ano kata (あの方), meaning “this person,” “that person,” and “that person over there.” (Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )

See also third person pronoun with exalted register.