inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Heb. 12:10)

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 inclusive form (including the writer and the readers of this letter).

Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.

complete verse (Hebrews 12:10)

Following are a number of back-translations of Hebrews 12:10:

  • Uma: “Our parents in the world advise us for just a few years. Their advising has its limitations, for they advise us according to what is good in their sight. But God advises us in order that we get what is good, in order that we become holy like him.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Our (incl.) fathers in the world when they punished us (incl.) it wasn’t for long and in their punishing they followed what they thought good. But God when he punishes us (dual), he punishes us (dual) for our (incl.) good so that we (incl.) become righteous/straight like he is.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “As for our father here on earth, it’s only for a short time that he trains us according to what he thinks is good. But as for our (incl.) father in Heaven, the reason He trains us is so that we might be helped, and that we might be righteous also, like Him.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because our fathers on this earth, it was only how many years that they admonished us according to what they thought was right. But God’s admonishing us is based on what he knows will lead to our betterment which is our sharing in his holiness.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “As for the correction by our parents, it was only until we were full-grown people, and (it was) according to whatever was their perception of what was for the benefit of us children. But as for God’s correction, it truly is for our benefit so that we will live very far from all sin just like him.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Now our fathers here on earth, during the days they brought us up, whipped us when they thought it would do us good. But God, when he whips us, it truly is proper to do so because he does all that is good for us. He wants that we walk in all that is good, just like God does all that is good.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Honorary "are" construct denoting God (“train/discipline”)

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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 usage of an honorific construction where the morpheme are (され) is affixed on the verb as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. This is particularly done with verbs that have God as the agent to show a deep sense of reverence. Here, kunrens-are-ru (訓練される) or “train/discipline” is used.

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

Translation commentary on Hebrews 12:10

The contrast between human fathers and the heavenly Father is now expanded a little.

Our human fathers may be expressed as “Our own fathers” or “Our fathers on earth,” as in verse 9.

Punished is once more the word translated corrects in verse 6.

For a short time in the Greek is literally an understatement, “for a few days,” as in King James Version and Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente; Phillips, unnecessarily, says “during the brief days of childhood.” This is a usual expression of time, found also in James 4.14. It is also possible but less likely that purpose may be implied, as in New American Bible‘s “to prepare us for the short span of mortal life” (see Gen 47.9; Psa 109.8). For a short time may be rendered as “for the short time that we were children” or “for the limited time while we were still children.”

As it seemed right to them: Revised Standard Version‘s “at their pleasure” modifies King James Version‘s “after their own pleasure,” which sounds cruel to a speaker of modern English. The writer and his readers knew that the father, especially under Roman law, had almost absolute power over his children, and was therefore considered to be the final judge of how best to bring them up. As it seemed right to them may be rendered “as they thought it was best” or “as they thought they should punish us.”

But God does it: Revised Standard Version‘s “he” is God, and most modern translations say so. The statement but God does it for our own good may be rendered as “but when God punishes us, it is for our own good” or “… it is in order to help us.”

So that we may share his holiness expands for our own good and makes it more specific. Holiness, rather surprisingly, translates a Greek word not used anywhere else in the New Testament, except in some manuscripts of 2 Corinthians 1.12. It means primarily, not good conduct, but what makes God different from human beings. Share his holiness therefore means practically the same as share the divine nature in 2 Peter 1.4, though the Greek is different. Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente and Biblia Dios Habla Hoy bring this out by “to make us holy as he is holy”; Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, more precisely, says “that we may participate in his perfection.” In some languages, however, the term “holy,” when it is applied to individuals, means “dedicated to God” or “consecrated to God.” In such cases it would be difficult to use the same term for “holy” in reference both to people and to God himself. An equivalent might be “so that we might be like God” or “… be in a measure like God.”

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Letter of the Hebrews. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .