inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Prov 1:11)

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, the Jarai translation use the exclusive pronoun. The Adamawa Fulfulde translation first uses the exclusive pronoun (“with us” in English) and then the inclusive pronoun.

Translation commentary on Proverbs 1:11

The structure of verses 11-14 sets out the words that the sinners are imagined as saying in their attempt to lead the young person astray. This can be seen clearly in Revised Standard Version, which follows the Hebrew form closely.

“If they say”: Note that Good News Translation begins with “Suppose they say” in order to make clear that the proposals are given as an example of what sinners might suggest doing. Some other translations have “They might say to you. . ..” Contemporary English Version relates verse 10 to verse 11 by saying in verse 10 “Don’t be tempted . . . [verse 11] when they say. . ..” Similarly some translations begin verse 11 with “Those people talk like this. . ..” Translators may find the Contemporary English Version model helpful.

“Come with us” opens the invitation to the young person to participate with evildoers. The pronoun “us” is exclusive here, but it must be inclusive from the next clause onward, where the “sinners” describe what they and the young man will all do together.

“Let us lie in wait for blood”: “Lie in wait” renders a military expression referring to an ambush, that is, to hide and take someone by surprise. A common rendering is “hide beside the road, and when somebody comes. . ..” “Blood” here means to shed someone’s blood, that is, to kill them.

“Let us wantonly ambush the innocent”: The imagined proposal of the sinners continues. “Wantonly” renders an adverb meaning “without cause,” “groundless,” or “for no good reason.” Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version say “for the fun of it.” “Ambush”, which means to lie hidden or to lurk, is parallel in sense with “lie in wait”. “Innocent” refers to people who are helpless in that they have no way to protect themselves and are unaware of the ambush being laid for them.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

complete verse (Proverbs 1:11)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 1:11:

  • Kupsabiny: “If they say to you that we go and ambush some people who are innocent on the way/path and kill (them), refuse their words/things.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “They may say — ‘Come with us,
    Let’s hide and kill someone!
    Let’s attack and loot unsuspecting people..!’” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “or go with them if they say, ‘Come, you (sing.) join us (excl.); let- us (excl.) -lie-in-wait for the innocent people and let- us (incl.) -kill them.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “if/when they say, ‘Come so that we will wait-for someone we will kill, even-though he has no sin/crime.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 1:11

1:11

The three lines of this verse each contain part of the sinners’ invitation to the young man, so all three lines are parallel. However, the last two lines are more closely related to each other, since they have parallel parts that are similar in meaning.

11a If they say, “Come along,

11b
let us lie in wait for blood,

11c
let us ambush the innocent without cause,

1:11a

If they say: The words If they say introduce one long quotation that contains several different statements (1:11–14). The conclusion to these statements does not occur until 1:15. In some languages, it is not natural to separate an “if” clause from its conclusion in this way. If that is true in your language, there are a number of possible solutions:

• Start 1:11 with a command that is similar to the command in 1:10b to not give in to these sinners. For example:

⌊Do not listen to them⌋ if they say, “Come, join us(excl.).

• Do not use an “if” clause to introduce the quotation. For example:

They may say, “Come and join us… (New Living Translation (2004))

Come along: This is an invitation for the young man to join a gang of highway robbers.

1:11b–c

let us lie in wait for…let us ambush: The Hebrew verbs that the Berean Standard Bible translates as let us lie in wait for and let us ambush are very similar in meaning. The first verb is often used about animals that hide and wait for a chance to kill their prey. The second verb means “to hide.” In this context, the purpose of hiding is to attack someone from ambush.

blood…the innocent: In this verse, blood is a figure of speech that represents a person who will be murdered. To “lie in wait for blood” means to hide and wait for a chance to murder someone.

“Innocent blood” is a common word pair in the Old Testament. In this verse, it is separated into two lines because of the parallelism. By putting innocent in the last line, the author builds to a climax. Not only are these sinners planning to ambush and kill someone, they are actually intending to kill a person who is totally innocent.

1:11c

without cause: The Hebrew phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as without cause emphasizes that there is no valid reason for the attack.

Here are some other ways to translate this:

wantonly ambush the innocent (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
plan an ambush for the innocent without provocation (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
attack some innocent people for the fun of it (Good News Translation)
-or-
waylay some innocent person who has done us no harm (Revised English Bible)

In some languages, it may be redundant or awkward to have both the ideas of “innocent” and without cause in the same sentence. This may especially be true if the word “innocent” is expressed by a phrase such as “someone who has done no wrong.” If that is true in your language, you may need to leave one of these two ideas implicit. For example:

waylay someone who has done absolutely nothing wrong

General Comment on 1:11b–c

In some languages, it may be clearer or more natural to combine and/or reorder the parallel parts in 1:11b–c. If that is true in your language, be sure that you communicate the meaning of both verse parts. For example:

Let us ambush and kill some innocent people for no reason.

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