inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Heb. 13:14)

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 inclusive form (including the writer and the readers of this letter).

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

complete verse (Hebrews 13:14)

Following are a number of back-translations of Hebrews 13:14:

  • Uma: “For in this world, we do not have a permanent dwelling-place. We seek the dwelling-place that is future.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “For there is no town where we (incl.) can remain/stay here in this world. Instead that is what we (incl.) are expecting/hoping-for a town there in heaven.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Because we’re not always going to have to live here on earth, but rather we are expecting a true town in the future which will be our dwelling place without end.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because it’s not on this earth that we will live forever but instead our minds are concentrated on the town/country that we will live-in in-the-future.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Because our permanent dwelling-place is not here in this world, but rather (it’s) that far-from-ordinary city in the future. That’s our destination.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Because here on earth there is for us no city which is forever. Rather we await another city, that which will be afterwards.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Hebrews 13:14

This verse contrasts the city which is to come with a city for us here on earth. As often in Hebrews, the language of time and space is intertwined. This verse recalls 11.10, 16. The difference between the city which is to come and the heavenly country of 11.16a is one of language, not of meaning. They are both pictures of the state of being made perfect (11.40), which even for Christians still lies in the future. Bijbel in Gewone Taal perhaps rightly emphasizes the permanence at the expense of other aspects of the city, such as size: “we have here no permanent place to live”; Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente “a city in which we remain forever.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch throws the emphasis on the changing state of human life: “On earth there is no city in which we can stay,” but in view of 12.26-27, and also 1.11-12, this does not seem to give the whole meaning, which should include the idea that no city is permanent. Another possible restructuring of the first half of this verse would be “For here on earth we have no place to dwell which will always be ours.”

Looking for renders the verb used in 11.14. It is a strong Greek word which implies, not usually looking for something which is lost, but longing and striving to obtain something which is out of reach and out of sight. To come does not imply movement but means “in the future.”

We are looking for the city which is to come may be expressed as “we are looking for a future city” or “… for a city which will exist in the future.” A literal rendering of we are looking for might mean only “going around seeking to discover.” If so, it may be better to employ an expression such as “we strongly desire to have a city which will be ours in the future.”

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Letter of the Hebrews. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .