inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (2Cor. 7:14)

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 (excluding the addressee).

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

complete verse (2 Corinthians 7:14)

Following are a number of back-translations of 2 Corinthians 7:14:

  • Uma: “Before I ordered him to go [to you], I told him all about your goodness of heart, I made-big your name. It’s a good thing, relatives, that you didn’t embarrass me. Like all that I say to you, it’s all true, so also all that I told to Titus praising you, none of it was wrong, it was all true.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “I had praised you when Titus and I talked together at the time when he had not yet come to you. I am also happy because when he went there I was not ashamed of what I said because he saw that my praising you was really true/genuine. All that I said to you is true. And it is already seen that what I said to Titus is also true.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “I boasted about you to Titus and what I boasted about was true. Always what we say to you is true; in the same way also it was true what I said to Titus about you.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because previously we (excl.) boasted-about you to him, and (reassurance particle) I have not been-caused-shame because of what I said. Because here-now it has been confirmed that our (excl.) boasting-about you to him was true just the same as the truth of all that we (excl.) have been saying to you.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Before Tito left here, I was really praising you to him. And now, I am not ashamed about what I said for you have now fulfilled everything. Therefore just as everything we (excl.) tell you is true, it has become evident that all that of which I was boasting to Tito concerning you is also true.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “When Titus had not yet gone there, I told him that I surely knew that you would pay attention to the word I sent to you. And according to that word I told Titus is truly what you did. Thus is seen that it is true what I told Titus, just as when I was there where you are, all was true what I told you.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on 2 Corinthians 7:14

For: this word introduces a statement about why Paul was pleased that Titus was so happy.

In Greek this verse begins with the word if. It is clear in the context that Paul is not really expressing doubt about whether he expressed pride in the Corinthians. To avoid a misunderstanding by English readers, Good News Translation and many other versions do not use the “if” construction.

The verb put to shame is in the passive in Greek. Good News Translation uses the active voice and makes the subject explicit: “you have not disappointed me.” Martin says “you did not embarrass me.” Some languages speak of “seeing shame” and so translate “you did not cause me to see shame.”

A few Greek manuscripts have the word “always” rather than everything. The two words are similar in spelling. Revised Standard Version follows the preferred manuscript reading. It is not clear whether Good News Translation (also Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Nueva Biblia Española) is following the Greek reading “always” here or whether the Good News Bible translator understands everything we said to mean “we have always spoken.”

The tense in Greek (we said) may point to a specific time in the past (Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, Revised English Bible) or to the past as a whole (Good News Translation, Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, Nueva Biblia Española). Also possible but less likely is that the verb is an epistolary aorist (see comments on 8.17), in which a verb in the past tense is used for the present. If the last interpretation is accepted, then Paul is referring to what he has written earlier in this letter (see 1.12-14 and 4.2).

The exact meaning of the words before Titus is not clear. The fact that some Greek manuscripts have the word “to” instead of “before” indicates that some scribes thought the word “before” was ambiguous. Though Good News Translation (and New Revised Standard Version) may be correct in translating these words as “to Titus,” the Greek is ambiguous and may be translated as “before” in the sense of “in the presence of Titus” (Revised English Bible).

Proved true: more literally “became true.” Anchor Bible renders this “turned out to be true.” Or possibly one may translate “people can see that what we boasted to Titus is true [or, not a lie].”

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 .