inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (2Cor. 1:5)

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 exclusive form that only refers to Paul himself. SIL International notes that an inclusive that includes the reader of the letter might also be intended.

In Huautla Mazatec and Mal, the translators selected the inclusive we, in Tok Pisin, the exclusive pronoun.

Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff. and David Filbeck in The Bible Translator 1994, p. 401ff.

complete verse (2 Corinthians 1:5)

Following are a number of back-translations of 2 Corinthians 1:5:

  • Uma: “The suffering that Kristus got, much of that also we (excl.) get. But much also is the strength of heart that we (excl.) get from Kristus.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Because our (excl.) being persecuted is great like the persecution of Almasi, God’s helping us (excl.) is also great because of Almasi.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Even though we have to suffer great difficulty because we’ve been made one with Christ, also because of Christ, God’s help to us is big.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because the manyness of our being-hardshipped like the sufferings of Cristo, exactly the same is the bigness of what God uses-to-help us because of our being-united with Cristo.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “For this is the truth, no matter how many are the hardships we endure because of our being united/tied-together with Cristo, much more plentiful is the comfort of mind/inner-being that we receive because of our being united/tied-together with him.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “When we suffer much like what suffering Christ went through, yet Christ will abundantly comfort our hearts then.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
  • Highland Totonac: “Because just as we have more than enough of His sufferings in the same way we have more than enough of that which is Christ’s means of comfort.” (Source: Herman Aschmann in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 171ff. )

Christ, Messiah

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The Greek Christos (Χρηστός) is typically transliterated when it appears together with Iésous (Ἰησοῦς) (Jesus). In English the transliteration is the Anglicized “Christ,” whereas in many other languages it is based on the Greek or Latin as “Kristus,” “Cristo,” or similar.

When used as a descriptive term in the New Testament — as it’s typically done in the gospels (with the possible exceptions of for instance John 1:17 and 17:3) — Christos is seen as the Greek translation of the Hebrew mashiaḥ (המשיח‎) (“anointed”). Accordingly, a transliteration of mashiaḥ is used, either as “Messiah” or based on the Greek or Latin as a form of “Messias.”

This transliteration is also used in the two instances where the Greek term Μεσσίας (Messias) is used in John 1:41 and 4:25.

In some languages and some translations, the term “Messiah” is supplemented with an explanation. Such as in the German Gute Nachricht with “the Messiah, the promised savior” (Wir haben den Messias gefunden, den versprochenen Retter) or in Muna with “Messiah, the Saving King” (Mesias, Omputo Fosalamatino) (source: René van den Berg).

In predominantly Muslim areas or for Bible translations for a Muslim target group, Christos is usually transliterated from the Arabic al-Masih (ٱلْمَسِيحِ) — “Messiah.” In most cases, this practice corresponds with languages that also use a form of the Arabic Isa (عيسى) for Jesus (see Jesus). There are some exceptions, though, including modern translations in Arabic which use Yasua (يَسُوعَ) (coming from the Aramaic Yēšūa’) alongside a transliteration of al-Masih, Hausa which uses Yesu but Almahisu, and some Fula languages (Adamawa Fulfulde, Nigerian Fulfulde, and Central-Eastern Niger Fulfulde) which also use a form of Iésous (Yeesu) but Almasiihu (or Almasiifu) for Christos.

In Indonesian, while most Bible translations had already used Yesus Kristus rather than Isa al Masih, three public holidays used to be described using the term Isa Al Masih. From 2024 the government will use Yesus Kristus in those holiday names instead (see this article in Christianity Today ).

Other solutions that are used by a number of languages include these:

  • Dobel: “The important one that God had appointed to come” (source: Jock Hughes)
  • Noongar: Keny Mammarap or “The One Man” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Mairasi: “King of not dying for life all mashed out infinitely” (for “mashed out,” see salvation; source: Lloyd Peckham)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “One chosen by God to rule mankind” (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Bacama: Ma Pwa a Ngɨltən: “The one God has chosen” (source: David Frank in this blog post )
  • Binumarien: Anutuna: originally a term that was used for a man that was blessed by elders for a task by the laying on of hands (source: Desmond Oatridges, Holzhausen 1991, p. 49f.)
  • Noongar: Keny Boolanga-Yira Waangki-Koorliny: “One God is Sending” (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang)
  • Uab Meto: Neno Anan: “Son of heaven” P. Middelkoop explains: “The idea of heavenly power bestowed on a Timorese king is rendered in the title Neno Anan. It is based on the historical fact that chiefs in general came from overseas and they who come thence are believed to have come down from heaven, from the land beyond the sea, that means the sphere of God and the ghosts of the dead. The symbolical act of anointing has been made subservient to the revelation of an eternal truth and when the term Neno Anan is used as a translation thereof, it also is made subservient to a new revelation of God in Jesus Christ. The very fact that Jesus came from heaven makes this translation hit the mark.” (Source: P. Middelkoop in The Bible Translator 1953, p. 183ff. )

In Finnish Sign Language both “Christ” and “Messiah” are translated with sign signifying “king.” (Source: Tarja Sandholm)


“Christ / Messiah” in Finnish Sign Language (source )

Law (2013, p. 97) writes about how the Ancient Greek Septuagint‘s translation of the Hebrew mashiah was used by the New Testament writers as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments (click or tap here to read more):

“Another important word in the New Testament that comes from the Septuagint is christos, ‘Christ.’ Christ is not part of the name of the man from Nazareth, as if ‘the Christs’ were written above the door of his family home. Rather, ‘Christ’ is an explicitly messianic title used by the writers of the New Testament who have learned this word from the Septuagint’s translation of the Hebrew mashiach, ‘anointed,’ which itself is often rendered in English as ‘Messiah.’ To be sure, one detects a messianic intent on the part of the Septuagint translator in some places. Amos 4:13 may have been one of these. In the Hebrew Bible, God ‘reveals his thoughts to mortals,’ but the Septuagint has ‘announcing his anointed to humans.’ A fine distinction must be made, however, between theology that was intended by the Septuagint translators and that developed by later Christian writers. In Amos 4:13 it is merely possible we have a messianic reading, but it is unquestionably the case that the New Testament writers exploit the Septuagint’s use of christos, in Amos and elsewhere, to messianic ends.”

Translation commentary on 2 Corinthians 1:5

For: the transition word may be important in the receptor language. Here it indicates a close causal relationship with what has just been said. A number of translations render the word For explicitly, while others depend on the structure to show this relationship. Still others use words like “indeed” (Phillips), or “in effect” (Bible en français courant and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), or “it is true” (Knox).

We share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings is literally “the sufferings of Christ abound to us.” There are two possible interpretations here: (1) The meaning may be that Paul and Timothy have suffered much because of their preaching about Jesus Christ, and Paul considers this suffering to be a part of the sufferings of Jesus through their union with Christ (so Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation). Or (2) the meaning may be that, as Christ’s suffering was great on behalf of the senders of the letter (Revised English Bible: “extends to us”), so Paul and Timothy’s consolation is great on behalf of the Corinthians (so New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, and the reading in the footnote of RSV). New Revised Standard Version says “For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant through Christ.” Either interpretation seems equally possible in terms of grammatical structure and context. Translators should feel free to choose the interpretation that seems correct to them.

So: because of the difference between sharing in suffering and sharing in comfort, it may be necessary in some languages to use a conjunction marking that contrast at this point. Contemporary English Version, for example, has “but also….”

We share abundantly in comfort too may mean that Paul and Timothy are abundantly comforted by God (Revised Standard Version) or that they themselves give abundant comfort to others (so New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, and the reading in the footnote of RSV). Some English versions have taken the word twice translated “abound” or share abundantly as meaning “overflow” (see New Jerusalem Bible, New International Version, New English Bible, and the translation by Barclay [Barclay]). The whole verse then yields something like “Because just as the sufferings of Christ are spilling over into our lives, in the same way comfort through Christ is also spilling over to us.” It is, however, equally probable that the last part of the verse may mean “spilling over from us.”

Through Christ: according to verse 4 God is the source of comfort. Christ is the intermediary through whom God comforts.

On the pronoun we see the comments on 2 Cor. 1.4.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellingworth, Paul. A Handbook on Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .