inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Neh 4:19)

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 translation uses the inclusive pronoun, including everyone.

complete verse (Nehemiah 4:19)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Nehemiah 4:19:

  • Kupsabiny: “Then I said to the people together with all the leaders, ‘This work is so wide/extensive, to the extent that it has caused us to scatter ourselves the way the wall is.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “I said to the leaders/[lit. heads], officers, and to the residents, ‘What we (excl.) work-on is wide and we (excl.) are-widely-separated on the stone-wall,” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Then I said to the collective-people, to their leaders and officials, ‘This fence that we are making is long and we have-become-mutually-distant,” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • English: “Then I said to the officials, the other important men, and the other people, ‘This wall is very long, and we are far apart from each other along the wall.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Nehemiah 4:19

For nobles, officials, and the rest of the people, see the discussion on Neh 2.16.

The work is great and widely spread: Great and widely spread is literally “great and expanded.” Nehemiah points to the work and describes it as “extensive and spread out” (New International Version) or “very spread out” (New Living Translation). Revised English Bible says “The work is great and extends over much ground.”

We are separated on the wall: Since the work was being done along the two and a half kilometers (a mile and a half) of the wall, the builders were far apart and could not easily be defended.

Far from one another means that there was a long distance between the people. Each person was far from his “brothers” (BNT) or from his “neighbour” (Revised English Bible).

Quoted with permission from Noss, Philip A. and Thomas, Kenneth J. A Handbook on Nehemiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2005. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .