inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Prov 1:13)

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 translations both use the inclusive pronoun, including everyone.

Translation commentary on Proverbs 1:13

Not only will the sinners kill the innocent; they will also rob them.

“We shall find all precious goods”: “Find” means to “seize,” “capture,” or “take away.” “Precious” is used in Job 28.16 to refer to gems of great value. “Goods” translates a noun used a number of times in Proverbs in the sense of “wealth” or “possessions.” The context makes clear that “precious goods” refers to highly prized material goods taken as loot.

“Fill our houses with spoil”: “Fill” does not mean to fill to overflowing as with a liquid; it has the sense of putting a lot of things in. Moffatt says “cram our houses.” “Spoil” refers to the goods and property that are taken from the slain victims. For a model translation see Good News Translation.

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 1:13)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 1:13:

  • Kupsabiny: “Do not accept when/if (they) say that, ‘When we do like that we shall plunder all the good things from those people so that we may fill up our houses.’” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “And by plundering their valuable goods
    we will fill our treasuries.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “We (incl.) can-get from them expensive/valuable things, and let- us (incl.) -fill our (incl.) houses with our (incl.) plunder/take-by-force.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “We will take their valuable possessions so that we will fill our houses with what-is-stolen.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 1:13

1:13

Notice that the parallel lines are similar in meaning:

13a
We will find all manner of precious goods;

13b
we will fill our houses with plunder.

1:13a

We will find all manner of precious goods: It is implied that the criminals will find all manner of precious goods (both money and possessions) from those they have murdered. That will cause them to become rich. Some other ways to translate this clause are:

We’ll take their valuables (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
We’ll find all kinds of riches (Good News Translation)

1:13b

we will fill our houses: The phrase fill our houses does not mean to fill the houses until they are literally “full.” It means that the criminals will put many things in their houses.

with plunder: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as plunder refers to valuable things that are taken by force. For example:

with stolen goods (New Century Version)

General Comment on 1:13a–b

In this kind of parallelism, the second line often has a stronger or more specific meaning than the first line. For example, “fill our houses” has a stronger meaning than “find,” and “plunder” is more specific than “all manner of precious goods.” In some languages, it may be possible to use parallel lines like this.

In other languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder the parallel parts in 1:13a–b. For example:

We will rob them and fill our houses with the valuable things we have taken.
-or-
We will take their valuable possessions and fill our houses with what we have stolen.

Express the meaning clearly and naturally in your language.

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